Microsoft is in a complex business relationship with OpenAI, where the early investor gets access to the latest AI tech and OpenAI gets access to computing power. They have just reached a “non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the next phase of our partnership.” This could allow OpenAI to go for-profit, under the control of a non-profit entity said to retain an ownership stake of more than $100 billion. Many takes on this today, but OpenAI has been moving away from Microsoft for funding, operations and cloud computing lately. The final deal will likely include some kind of a new investment in the now $500 billion company, and may unlock further market opportunities for OpenAI.
More at: OpenAI and Microsoft’s joint statement, x.com announcement, Reuters, Axios.
OpenAI goes to the movies
A new animated a-list movie, «Critterz» is under development using «OpenAI’s resources.» It should be ready for the Cannes Film Festival, meaning production time will be drastically sped up to only nine months. The script is written by part of the team from «Paddington in Peru», and it is spearheaded by Chad Nelson, who is a creative specialist at OpenAI. The technique looks to be to feed drawings to a large language model and have it animate them. The movie therefore streamlines animation, but wont skimp on voice actors, Gizmodo writes.
More at: The Wall Street Journal, Gizmodo and Engadget.
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Gemini now supports audio files, but popular request
According to Josh Woodward, Google’s vice president of Gemini, audio files was the number request by users of the app — and now it is finally ready. Free users get up to ten files and 10 minutes of audio, and five prompts per day. Pro an Ultra users get up to three hours — enough for a good lecture to process. Gemini also supports video at 5 minutes for free, and one hour for paid tiers.
More at: The Verge, Google’s support doc and Josh Woodward’s x post,
Judge rejects settlement in Anthropic’s copyright case
In a salty court sessions this week, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, worried the settlement would both sell out the authors with copyright claims, and leave Anthropic open to more lawsuits in the future, the Associated Press writes. He now wants a «drop dead list» or the pirated books by September 15 and has set a September 25 hearing to see if his concerns get addressed, and then «We’ll see if I can hold my nose and approve it,» Alsup said in closing.
More at: The Associated Press, Engadget, and The Verge
Albania gets world’s first AI-powered minister
Not a minister for AI, but a minister made by AI, that is. The Albanian Socialist Party won big in their May elections, where public corruption played a big role. It is also one of the EU’s major gripes in membership talks. Therefore, the incoming government has decided to install an AI model, named «Diella», as the minister for public procurement, that will be un-bribable and untainted by graft, to make Albania «a country where public tenders are 100% free of corruption,» Reuters writes.
More at: Reuters, Agence France Press and Politico.