Welcome again to Week in Evaluation. This week, we’re OpenAI’s final — and largest — announcement from its “12 Days of OpenAI” occasion; Apple’s potential entrance into the foldable market; and why Databricks is selecting to attend to go public. Let’s get into it.
P.S. We’re off for the vacations! Week in Evaluation can be again in your inbox within the new yr.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman introduced the successors to its o1 reasoning mannequin household: o3 and o3-mini. Whereas the fashions are usually not broadly accessible but, security researchers can join a preview. The reveal marks the top of the corporate’s “12 Days of OpenAI” occasion, which noticed bulletins for real-time imaginative and prescient capabilities, ChatGPT Search, and even a Santa voice for ChatGPT. You possibly can make amends for every part you missed right here.
The Ray-Ban Meta good glasses acquired a giant improve this week. Members of Meta’s early-access program can now obtain firmware v11, which provides “stay AI.” The function lets wearers constantly converse with Meta AI to reference issues they mentioned earlier within the dialog — and it really works with real-time video. Reside translation between English and Spanish, French, or Italian, in addition to performance with Shazam are additionally included in v11.
UnitedHealth’s Optum left an AI chatbot, utilized by staff to ask questions on claims, uncovered to the web — and anybody might entry it with an internet browser. Whereas the chatbot didn’t seem to comprise or produce delicate private or protected well being data, its inadvertent publicity comes at a time when its guardian firm faces scrutiny for its use of AI instruments and algorithms to allegedly override medical doctors’ medical choices and deny affected person claims.
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Oura nabs $200M: The good ring maker closed a $200 million Collection D funding spherical, bringing the corporate’s valuation to $5.2 billion. Oura says the money will assist the corporate increase its product choices and additional put money into product, science, AI, and extra. Learn extra
Now you can name ChatGPT from a landline: In an effort to make ChatGPT accessible to as many individuals as doable, OpenAI introduced a 1-800 quantity to name the chatbot — even from a landline or a flip telephone. Customers can name 1-800-CHATGPT, and the AI assistant will reply by way of the telephone. Learn extra
Tesla tries to spice up Mannequin S gross sales: After abandoning its free Supercharging for all times supply in 2018, Tesla is bringing it again for some Tesla Mannequin S automobiles on the finish of the yr. Nevertheless it’s necessary to notice that Tesla additionally simply elevated the value for the Mannequin S by $5,000. Learn extra
Google desires to tackle Sora: Google DeepMind introduced Veo 2, a next-gen video-generating AI. Veo 2 can create two-minute-plus clips in resolutions as much as 4k. That’s 4x the decision — and over 6x the length — that OpenAI’s Sora can obtain. Learn extra
Apple eyes the foldable market: Apple is aiming to launch two foldable units within the subsequent few years, in accordance with a report from The Wall Avenue Journal. One other report from Bloomberg, nonetheless, claims the corporate’s focus is on an enormous, foldable iPad. Learn extra
Bob Lee verdict: A San Francisco jury discovered Nima Momeni responsible of second-degree homicide within the deadly 2023 stabbing of Bob Lee, the Money App creator and former CTO of Block. The jurors determined Lee’s homicide was not premeditated and located Momeni not responsible of first-degree homicide. Learn extra
Perplexity acquires Carbon: Perplexity acquired Carbon, a small startup specializing in connecting AI programs to exterior knowledge sources. The corporate says Perplexity will quickly have the ability to search by way of your recordsdata and work messages in Notion, Google Docs, or Slack someday in early 2025. Learn extra
Temu continues to be on high: Temu was as soon as once more essentially the most downloaded free app within the U.S., in accordance with Apple’s record of high apps and video games throughout the App Retailer. The buying app moved into the No. 1 slot final yr, stealing the place from TikTok. Learn extra
GitHub launches free model of Copilot: GitHub now has a free model of its standard Copilot code completion/AI pair programming software. Till now, builders needed to pay a month-to-month price, with solely verified college students, lecturers, and open supply maintainers getting free entry. Learn extra
Google releases its personal “reasoning” mannequin: Google has launched Gemini 2.0 Flash Considering Experimental, what it calls its new “reasoning” AI mannequin. It’s presently within the experimental phases, and from our transient testing, there’s definitely room for enchancment. Learn extra
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To IPO or to not IPO: Databricks simply closed one of many largest funding rounds ever, elevating a staggering $10 billion. Naturally, expertise traders had been fast to ask what this implies for the corporate’s extremely anticipated IPO. In an interview at Axios AI Summit, CEO Ali Ghodsi stated “it’s dumb to IPO this yr” and is as an alternative ready till no less than 2025. Databricks is utilizing this “Collection J” to let early staff money out and proceed rising. Whereas 2024 was unsure in some ways, the IPOs of ServiceTitan, Reddit, and different firms have largely been profitable. However, as Maxwell Zeff writes, why threat it when you may simply elevate as a lot cash as Databricks? Learn extra
