Welcome, AI Enthousiasts!

In today’s AI newsletter:
→ AI Newsflash
→ OpenAI is gearing up to launch its new AI model, "Strawberry” within the next 2 weeks
→ Waymo's driverless cars outperform humans
→ iPhone 16 gets AI superpowers
→ New robot butler does your chores
→ What it’s actually like to use Gemini in Google Workspace
→ 5 Best AI-Assistants

Reading time: 14 minutes

AI Newsflash

Audible announced plans to create AI voice replicas of select US-based audiobook narrators, including a royalty-sharing model for AI-narrated books.

Roche expanded its digital pathology open environment, integrating over 20 AI algorithms from eight new collaborators to enhance cancer diagnostics and research.

Researchers introduced Robot Utility Models (RUMs), a zero-shot method for training robot policies that can perform new tasks in unfamiliar environments.

SambaNova launched SambaNova Cloud, claiming it's the world's fastest AI inference platform, running Llama 3.1 70B at 461 tokens per second and 405B at 132 tokens per second at full precision.

Salesforce introduced Industries AI, embedding over 100 industry-specific AI capabilities across 15 industry clouds to address unique challenges.

Glean raised over $260 million in new funding at a whopping $4.6 billion valuation, co-led by Altimeter and DST Global, to expand its Work AI platform.

Anthropic introduced Workspaces in its API Console, allowing developers to manage multiple Claude deployments with granular controls for spend limits, rate limits, and access management.

UBS developed an AI tool capable of analyzing 300,000 companies in 20 seconds to generate M&A ideas and identify potential buyers.

OpenAI
OpenAI is gearing up to launch its new AI model, "Strawberry” within the next 2 weeks

OpenAI's highly anticipated AI model, "Strawberry," is now slated for release within the next two weeks, moving up from its originally planned fall debut, according to testers cited by The Information.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Focus on reasoning: Strawberry is designed to excel in tasks requiring advanced logical reasoning, like complex math, coding, and business planning.

• "Thinking" period: The model will introduce a 10-20 second pause before generating responses, enhancing accuracy for more intricate queries.

• Post-training technique: Strawberry uses a unique post-training fine-tuning method, reducing the need for multiple prompts, which sets it apart from earlier models.

• New pricing structure: It will be available as a standalone option in ChatGPT, possibly with rate limits and a higher-tier option for faster responses.

• Early feedback: While it shines in handling complex tasks, testers noted slower processing times for simpler queries and some struggles with delivering personalized responses.

Strawberry is aimed at supporting software development and research, setting the stage for OpenAI’s next model, "Orion." Read more.

Waymo
Waymo's driverless cars outperform humans

A new deep dive into Waymo’s crash data reveals that driverless cars are proving to be much safer than human-driven vehicles, with far fewer injury-related crashes and airbag deployments per mile.

What you need to know:

• Waymo’s vehicles have logged over 22 million miles, with only 20 crashes causing injuries reported.

• That crash rate is less than a third of what we’d expect from human drivers in similar conditions.

• Of 23 severe crashes, 16 involved human drivers rear-ending Waymo cars.

• Waymo estimates its cars are one-sixth as likely as human-driven vehicles to be involved in crashes that trigger airbag deployment.

As Waymo continues to scale its robotaxi service - now providing 100,000 rides per week - these safety stats are a game changer. The data suggests that AI-powered self-driving cars could play a major role in reducing road accidents and injuries.

Apple
iPhone 16 gets AI superpowers

Apple just introduced the iPhone 16, built from the ground up with the new A18 chip and packed with Apple Intelligence (AI) features that are set to change the way we use our phones.

Everything that you need to know:

• Writing Tools: The AI can rewrite your emails and notes, create custom emojis for conversations, and help you edit anything you type.

• Photos and Videos: You can now search for specific photos or videos using simple, natural language, and the AI will find them instantly.

• Priority and Focus: AI summarizes your emails and notifications, highlighting what’s most important so you can stay focused on the stuff that matters.

• Visual Intelligence: The new camera, combined with on-device AI, analyzes images without storing them and easily connects to third-party apps like ChatGPT.

• Siri: Siri just got smarter—now able to understand more complex requests, add context to answers, and take actions on your phone with just a simple command.

This launch marks a new chapter for Apple and Siri, bringing powerful AI features right into your everyday life. Apple’s taking AI seriously, building its own models while still working seamlessly with tools like Google and ChatGPT.

Weave
New robot butler does your chores

Weave just introduced Isaac, a personal robot designed to help with all sorts of household tasks, with the first units set to ship by fall 2025.

Here’s the scoop:

• Isaac can handle chores like cleaning up, folding laundry, and organizing your home, all on its own.

• You can control it with voice or text commands, and there’s an app for customizing what it does.

• For privacy, Isaac’s camera neatly folds away into an included enclosure when not in use.

• Weave is pricing Isaac at $59,000, or offering a payment plan of $1,385 per month over 48 months, with a $1,000 reservation fee for the first 30 U.S. buyers.

As the competition heats up in the world of smart personal robots, we’re getting closer to seeing these handy helpers in homes. With options like Tesla’s Optimus, 1X’s NEO Beta, China’s AGIBOT, and now Weave’s Isaac, the future of never folding laundry again is just around the corner!

Google Gemini
What it’s actually like to use Gemini in Google Workspace

If you're anything like us, you’ve probably overlooked using Google Gemini right inside Google Workspace.

With a Gemini Advanced account, you can access Gemini in Google Docs, Sheets, Gmail, and Slides (just hit the diamond-shaped Gemini button in the top right).

A lot of people we’ve spoken to have been hesitant to dive into Gemini, and we get it—this chatbot has a bit of a reputation for errors and hiccups.

But we decided to give Gemini another try. Here’s what we found:

Where Gemini shines:

• Google Docs: Great at auto-summarizing, offering suggestions, and even rewriting documents.

• Gmail: Useful for focused tasks like finding specific emails, summarizing them, or extracting links.

For instance, Gemini successfully pulled up AI-related emails from a particular date, summarized a newsletter, and even extracted most of the links.

Where Gemini falls short:

• Google Sheets: It handles small data well, but larger datasets? Not so much. You might run into timeouts or inaccurate results.

• Google Slides: While it can help with individual slides, it struggles to maintain consistent designs across the deck.

Example: We tested Gemini with a 33K-row spreadsheet of Dutch zip codes, and here’s how it went:

• Auto-summary timed out.

• Couldn't generate insights (even incomplete ones).

• Failed to create a population calculation formula (a task Gemini itself recommended).

Our takeaway: Right now, Gemini works best when generating brand-new content, but it’s less reliable with existing data. For more complex requests, you might want to jump straight into the Gemini Advanced chatbot for better results.

5 Best AI-Assistants

Koala.sh: This tool helps you generate content quickly while optimizing for SEO, making it perfect for blog posts, articles, and other written content.

AskCodi: A coding assistant that generates code snippets, offers helpful suggestions, and supports software development in multiple programming languages.

CoralAI: Boosts productivity with features like note-taking, scheduling, and task management, making it a great option for both personal and professional use.

Success.AI: Aids in personal and business growth by providing AI-driven insights and automation to streamline workflows and boost efficiency.

ChatSimple: Simplifies communication with an AI chatbot that automates customer service, provides instant responses, and handles online inquiries.

That’s a wrap!

We had a lot to talk about, so let’s wrap it up. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot over an e-mail and we wil get you a response within 24 hours.

If you have specific feedback or anything interesting you’d like to share, please let us know by replying to this email.