Did Amazon Really Lose the AI Race? Microsoft Calls Alexa 'Dumb'

Amazon

Amazon's efforts to upgrade Alexa with advanced AI have encountered significant hurdles. In September 2023, they shared plans for a new Alexa large language model (LLM), indicating a major enhancement. However, progress has been slow ever since. Former employees, shedding light on the situation, reveal structural dysfunction and technological challenges within Amazon that have repeatedly postponed the deployments.

The backdrop includes Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's pointed criticism in March 2023, where he reportedly labeled Alexa as "dumb as a rock". This critique underscored broader industry perceptions about Alexa's perceived limitations compared to competitors like Google and Meta.

Despite Amazon's $4 billion investment in AI startup Anthropic and partnerships aimed at leveraging advanced LLM models like Anthropic's Claude, integration difficulties persist. Privacy concerns and internal organisational politics have compounded these challenges, hampering efforts to integrate cutting-edge AI capabilities into Alexa effectively.

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Soverign AI

Two of Europe’s leading AI startups, Germany’s Aleph Alpha and Finland’s Silo AI, have partnered to promote “Soverign AI” across the continent. Their goal is to provide a comprehensive solution for European industrial firms exploring generative AI.

“We are delighted to partner with a company that shares our values on Sovereign AI, and I am especially excited about our mutual commitment to advancing open-source models that support European languages” said Peter Sarlin, co-founder and CEO of Silo AI.

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YouTube

YouTube is taking strong steps to make sure viewers see ads by potentially using server-side ad injection, a method that could defeat current ad-blocking tools. This move is aimed at pushing more people to pay for YouTube Premium to avoid ads.

The company is experimenting with inserting ads directly from their servers. This means that ads would be embedded into the video streams before they reach the user's device, making traditional ad-blocking methods ineffective.

However, when avoiding ads becomes too difficult, it discourages people from trying. YouTube's new strategy may not affect those who already watch ads or pay for Premium, but it's getting harder for the majority who want to skip ads without paying.

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Material Nexus

The UK based startup discovered MagNex, a new rare earth free magnet. It’s a potential game-changer in industries like EVs and microchips.

The company used its ML algorithm to identify and analyse over 100 million combination of materials to produce a viable rare earth free magnet. “AI powered materials design will not only impact magentics but the entire field of material science” said Dr Jonathan Bean, CEO of Materials Nexus

European demand for rare-earth metals, crucial for technologies like EVs and microchips, is set to surge five-fold by 2030. However, heavy reliance on China for these materials poses significant supply chain risks amid geopolitical tensions.

^{Golden Nuggets}

Another effective productivity hack for today is the "Eat That Frog" technique. This method involves tackling your most important or challenging task first thing in the morning.

Steps:

• Identify Your "Frog": Choose the most critical task.

• Prioritize It: Start your day with this task.

• Focus Until Done: Work on it until it's completed or significantly progressed.

By handling the toughest task first, you set a positive tone for the rest of your day and reduce procrastination.

^{Tools to try}

• Artbreeder: AI tool for creating and blending unique artworks through collaborative evolution.

• Runway ML: Platform for using machine learning models in video editing and image synthesis.

• AIVA: AI composer that creates music for films, video games, and commercials.

• Deep Dream Generator: Tool for generating surreal, dream-like images from photos using neural networks.

• Pikazo: An AI art app that transforms photos into stunning artworks by applying various artistic styles.

• DoodleLens: AR app that animates hand-drawn doodles for interactive creativity.

• Synthesia.io: uses AI-powered virtual actors to bring video scripts to life, allowing users to create videos without needing to appear on camera themselves.

^{Seasoned Insights}

• SpaceX CEO sued for sexual harassment. Read more

• Microsoft Chose Profit Over Security and Left U.S. Government Vulnerable to Russian Hack. Read more

• Samsung announces accelerated plan for AI chip delivery. Read more

• Healthcare's New Hero with Superpowers in Diagnosis and Discovery! Read more

• Home Security Cameras Are Getting Smarter With AI. Read more

^{Remote Vacancies in Tech}

• AI Engineer Intern at Foxit, US

• Founding AI Engineer (LLM & ML) at MAIHEM (YC W24), UK

• DevOps Engineer ( Entry Level ) at TeKtalent Inc, UK

• DevOps Engineer at Therapy Brands, US

• Data Scientist at The Fountain Group, US

• Data Engineer at Robert Half, US