xAI's $6B funding quest and Japan expansion

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🌏 xAI's $6B funding quest and Japan expansion
🎙️ Ukraine unveils AI spokeswoman Victoria

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🌏 xAI's $6B funding quest and Japan expansion

xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup, is expanding its operations to Japan and actively seeking $6 billion in funding to compete with Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The company recently introduced Grok-1.5V, a multimodal model capable of processing various forms of visual information, including documents, diagrams, charts, screenshots, and photographs.

What to know:

• Japan has emerged as a focal point for major tech investments, with OpenAI establishing a new office and releasing a custom GPT-4 model tailored for Japanese language processing.

• Microsoft has committed $2.9 billion to hyperscale cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Japan.

• Google is investing $1 billion in subsea cables to enhance digital connectivity between the US and Japan, while Oracle and Amazon Web Services have pledged $8 billion and $15.24 billion, respectively, to bolster cloud computing and AI infrastructure in the region.

• xAI's expansion to Japan and pursuit of significant funding highlight the intensifying competition in the AI industry, particularly against OpenAI and its partnership with Microsoft.

As xAI seeks to establish a strong presence in the region and secure substantial funding, the competition between AI startups and tech giants is expected to drive innovation and shape the future of artificial intelligence.

🎙️ Ukraine unveils AI spokeswoman Victoria

Ukraine has unveiled Victoria, an AI-generated spokeswoman who will deliver official statements on behalf of the country's foreign ministry. While the visual component is AI-generated, the statements will be written and verified by human diplomats.

What to know:

• The initiative aims to save time and resources for diplomats while showcasing Ukraine's technological capabilities.

• Victoria's appearance and voice are modeled after Rosalie Nombre, a singer and former contestant on Ukraine's version of The Bachelor reality show.

• To prevent the spread of fake statements, official releases by Victoria will be accompanied by a QR code linking to text versions on the ministry's website.

• The spokeswoman's first comments will focus on consular services, a currently controversial topic due to the recent suspension of such services for men of fighting age living abroad.

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Quick reads

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🏆 Pipelines Forrester named Databricks a Leader in Data Lakehouses and Cloud Data Pipelines, recognizing its AI-powered Data Intelligence Platform.