Mentions of the “metaverse” were relatively few and far between in Meta’s quarterly earnings call this week — we counted a mere seven mentions compared to 23 for “AI” — but the company’s investment into its vision of a VR-connected social future remains colossal.
Starting in 2021, Meta began breaking out its Reality Labs VR and AR division into its own segment for financial reporting purposes. That makes it possible to see just how much Meta is pouring into those areas, and the numbers are staggering.
Meta reported $13.7 billion in operating losses for Reality Labs for 2022, more than the already jaw-dropping $10.2 billion it sunk into the division in 2021. Reality Labs brought in $2.16 billion last year in revenue, a drop from $2.27 billion in 2021.
Google worked to reassure investors and analysts on Thursday during its quarterly earnings call that it’s still a leader in developing AI. The company’s Q4 2022 results were highly anticipated as investors and the tech industry awaited Google’s response to the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which has the potential to threaten its core business.
During the call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai talked about the company’s plans to make AI-based large language models (LLMs) like LaMDA available in the coming weeks and months. Pichai said users will soon be able to use large language models as a companion to search. An LLM, like ChatGPT, is a deep learning algorithm that can recognize, summarize and generate text and other content based on knowledge from enormous amounts of text data. Pichai said the models that users will soon be able to use are particularly good for composing, constructing and summarizing.
“Now that we can integrate more direct LLM-type experiences in Search, I think it will help us expand and serve new types of use cases, generative use cases,” Pichai said. “And so, I think I see this as a chance to rethink and reimagine and drive Search to solve more use cases for our users as well. It’s early days, but you will see us be bold, put things out, get feedback and iterate and make things better.”
Bing users said a ‘new Bing’ interface just appeared — and disappeared — this morning. Microsoft is reportedly integrating OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT into its search engine, with plans to announce the update soon.
Microsoft is reported to be capitalizing on the success of ChatGPT by integrating the AI chatbot into its search engine Bing. But what might that look like? We may now have some idea, thanks to Bing users who said a new, AI-assisted version of the search engine mysteriously appeared (and disappeared) earlier today.
Student and designer Owen Yin reported seeing the “new Bing” on Twitter this morning.
The world’s biggest commercial aircraft makers seem increasingly convinced that autonomous passenger flight is a question of when, not if.
Where it stands: Flying today’s high-tech passenger jets is often a matter of setting up and overseeing their autopilot and other automated systems — but we’re not yet at a point where computer systems can entirely replace human pilots.
Driving the news: “Autonomy is going to come to all of the airplanes eventually,” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told Bloomberg TV at an event this week marking the delivery of the last commercial 747.
Google’s competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT may appear as soon as next week. The company will hold an event in Paris on Wednesday, Feb. 8, where it will discuss plans for its search engine.
The company isn’t revealing much about the event. The description merely says (Opens in a new window) : “We’re reimagining how people search for, explore and interact with information, making it more natural and intuitive than ever before to find what you need. Join us to learn how we’re opening up greater access to information for people everywhere, through Search, Maps, and beyond.”
It’s possible the event could focus more on Google’s conventional products, rather than AI. However, in an earnings call on Thursday, CEO Sundar Pichai said Google is preparing to unleash its AI programs to the public.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates knows a thing or two about paradigm shifts, having played a key role in personal computers becoming a thing. Today, he believes, an equally important development is beginning with ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence tools.
“A.I. is going to be debated as the hottest topic of 2023. And you know what? That’s appropriate. This is every bit as important as the PC, as the internet,” Gates recently told Forbes, adding that he now spends about 10% of his time talking with Microsoft teams about their product road maps, despite having been long retired and focused on philanthropy.
ChatGPT, of course, is the A.I. chatbot that’s been making waves with its ability to respond to typed questions with eerily human-like responses. Launched a few months ago, ChatGPT now attracts more than 100 million monthly active users, according to a research note published Wednesday by UBS. It easily reached 100 million faster than TikTok or Instagram, the bank’s analysts noted, adding, “In 20 years following the internet space, we cannot recall a faster ramp in a consumer internet app.”
We are living in an age of rapid technological advancement, and with this growth comes a digital divide. Professor Luciano Floridi of the Oxford Internet Institute / Oxford University believes that this divide not only affects our understanding of the implications of this new age, but also the organization of a fair society.
The Information Revolution has been transforming the global economy, with the majority of global GDP now relying on intangible goods, such as information-related services. This in turn has led to the generation of immense amounts of data, more than humanity has ever seen in its history. With 95% of this data being generated by the current generation, Professor Floridi believes that we are becoming overwhelmed by this data, and that our agency as humans is being eroded as a result.
According to Professor Floridi, the digital divide has caused a lack of balance between technological growth and our understanding of this growth. He believes that the infosphere is becoming polluted and the manifold of the infosphere is increasingly determined by technology and AI. Identifying, anticipating and resolving these problems has become essential, and Professor Floridi has dedicated his research to the Philosophy of Information, Philosophy of Technology and Digital Ethics.
We must equip ourselves with a viable philosophy of information to help us better understand and address the risks of this new information age. Professor Floridi is leading the charge, and his research on Digital Ethics, the Philosophy of Information and the Philosophy of Technology is helping us to better anticipate, identify and resolve problems caused by the digital divide.
Watch as Baidu, the leading Chinese tech giant, takes on the world-renowned AI model ChatGPT in this exciting showcase of cutting-edge technology. Discover how China is establishing itself as a major player in the global AI arms race and learn about the advancements Baidu is making in the field.
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