China targeting US' AI firms

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Today we will discuss-

• 👨‍⚖️Microsoft-OpenAI collaboration under EU lens

• 👨‍🏫 Google in legal battle for alleged patent infringement

• 🎲US AI industry faces threats from China and cybercriminals

• 😱9 fantastic AI tools you might not have heard of

All this and more - Let's dive in!

👩‍🍳What’s cooking in the newsroom?

EU to launch investigation into Microsoft's OpenAI investment, citing merger worries

🧐News - Microsoft's hefty investment in OpenAI could face a major roadblock in the form of a full-blown merger probe by the European Union. In a move signaling potential concerns, EU officials announced a wide-ranging investigation into the competitiveness of virtual worlds and generative AI markets.

🤨What is it that the EU is concerned about?

• As part of the broader assessment, the commission expressed its intent to delve into the agreements formed between major players in the digital market and generative AI developers and providers. Notably, the Microsoft-OpenAI collaboration emerged as a focal point for the EU's scrutiny, prompting an examination under the EU Merger Regulation. The commission stated that it is actively seeking information from various digital industry leaders and soliciting input from interested parties.

• The European Commission has extended invitations for relevant information and viewpoints, with stakeholders given until March 11 to submit their responses. This move reflects the EU's commitment to ensuring fair competition and understanding the implications of major investments and collaborations in the dynamic and rapidly evolving fields of virtual worlds and generative artificial intelligence.

The outcome of this investigation will undoubtedly be closely watched as it unfolds within the broader context of digital innovation and market dynamics in the European Union.

Google faces $1.67B patent infringement lawsuit over AI processor technology

👩‍💻News - Alphabet's Google faced a federal jury in Boston on Tuesday, defending itself against a $1.67 billion claim from computer scientist Joseph Bates, alleging patent infringement related to processors powering artificial intelligence technology in Google products.

👨‍🏫What was the lawsuit all about? Singular Computing, Bates' company, argued that Google copied his patented technology after extensive meetings between Bates and Google representatives from 2010 to 2014. Kerry Timbers, representing Singular Computing, claimed that Google incorporated Bates' innovations into its Tensor Processing Units, integral for AI features in products like Google Search, Gmail, and Google Translate. Timbers asserted that rather than licensing Bates' technology, Google surreptitiously replicated it.

🕵️‍♀️How did Google respond? Google's lawyer, Robert Van Nest, contended that the individuals designing Google's chips had never met Bates. Van Nest emphasized independent design and dismissed Bates as a "disappointed inventor," highlighting his unsuccessful attempts to persuade various companies, including Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI to adopt his technology.

The trial sheds light on a high-stakes legal battle involving allegations of intellectual property theft and independent chip design within the competitive landscape of AI technology.

FBI Director Wray warns of Chinese and cybercriminal threats targeting US AI firms

👩‍🔬News - The American AI edge is under attack, according to stark warnings from top national security officials. In a virtual roundtable, FBI Director Christopher Wray and General Paul Nakasone, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, painted a worrying picture of American AI leadership being targeted by both nation-states like China and sophisticated cybercriminals.

Wray highlighted the sheer dominance of American AI, with 18 of the world's top 20 companies hailing from the U.S. "China and other foreign adversaries are actively targeting that innovation, that intellectual property," he asserted. This stolen knowledge, combined with the growing power of generative AI, is seen as a game-changer for attackers.

💁‍♀️What’s more? Wray further likened Generative AI to taking "junior varsity athletes and making them varsity," allowing for more sophisticated and believable attacks. But the threat is escalating – "we are rapidly approaching a stage where the varsity adversaries" will also leverage this technology, pushing the boundaries of cybercrime.

While much of the focus has been on AI as a weapon, Wray emphasized the FBI's critical role in "defending American AI research and development," safeguarding the very source of American innovation. Protecting this intellectual property is seen as an urgent national security matter, crucial for maintaining the U.S.'s competitive edge in this critical field.

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👩🏼‍💻What else is happening?

• AI fuelling dating and social media fraud, EU police agency says

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration grants real-time liver ablation AI clearance

• Jim Cramer says today’s market is more interested in AI technology for advertising, not healthcare solutions

• New material found by AI could reduce lithium use in batteries

• Intel drives ‘AI Everywhere’ into automotive market at CES

🎃AI life hacks

• AI spreadsheet - AI spreadsheet tools can automate repetitive tasks and help you get more out of your spreadsheets. These tools can write and explain formulas, translate spreadsheets, and generate templates, saving you a lot of time and effort, especially if you work with spreadsheets frequently.

• Use AI to code - Make use of AI to code faster and more efficiently. AI code generation tools like GitHub Copilot can suggest functions, write code, complete tasks, and even write entire applications. They can also help you debug code and find and fix errors. This can be a huge time-saver, especially if you're not an experienced coder.

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👩🏼‍🚒Discover mind-blowing AI tools

1. SpellForge.ai - A platform that helps optimize and improve the quality of AI language models (LLMs) in your existing release pipeline

2. VideoMyListing - An AI-powered tool that creates engaging videos to promote listings on various platforms like Airbnb, Etsy, and more

3. Free AI Therapist - A helpful information assistant that provides therapy-like support

4. Detail: Video Camera & Editor - An app designed for iPad that allows users to record and edit videos with ease

5. Neuproscan - An AI platform that uses MRI scans to predict the likelihood of a patient developing Alzheimer's disease

6. Kansei.app - An AI language learning platform that offers personalized language practice through immersive conversations with lifelike personas

7. Frame - An all-in-one collaboration tool that aims to streamline and simplify the way teams work

8. Helpfull - An AI-powered business name generator that helps users create unique and catchy names for their businesses

9. Verkada - An AI-powered video security platform that offers smart, secure, and easy-to-manage solutions

📜Historic moments

• 2017 - The introduction of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) revolutionized art and technology, enabling highly realistic AI-generated images. This sparked profound discussions about creativity and AI's role in shaping artistic vision, blurring the lines between human artists and AI collaborators.

• 2014 - DeepMind's AI model conquered Atari 2600 games, which was a landmark event. Powered by deep reinforcement learning, the AI mastered various games, learning from raw sensory data—underscoring AI's potential for complex tasks.

• 2021 - OpenAI's Jukebox debuted by producing diverse music genres and styles, emanating from OpenAI's research. Jukebox stood as a prominent venture within OpenAI's AI research endeavors, showcasing AI's prowess in creativity and elevating the landscape of music composition and production.