🎭️ AI manipulation

🧵 In today's edition:

• 💵 Would you pay to access Google AI?

• 🎭️ AI manipulation

• 🇨🇦 Canada’s massive $2.4B bet

• 🛠️ AI Tools to Check Out (NEW!)

• 🤑 AI Fundraising News

• 🐦 Tweet Post of the Day

💵 Would you pay to access Google AI?

Google, the internet's favorite free playground, is reportedly considering charging admission for its new AI-powered search features.

What does that mean? Users might need to subscribe to access advanced AI capabilities augmenting Google's core products. These upgraded services may include its ChatGPT rival "Gemini" and other AI-enhanced search features.

Why would Google consider this?

• It emphasizes the immense costs of developing large language models and advanced AI systems.

• Plus, with Microsoft, Apple, and others continuing to invest in the space, Google may feel compelled to charge for its latest AI advancements to keep up.

Naturally, adding a price tag to this service could upset users who are accustomed to receiving them entirely free from Google.

However, the tech giant seems to be betting on people's willingness to pay for a top-tier AI search experience.

Read more: BBC

🎭️ AI manipulation

It turns out that somehow, AI can decipher how to influence human behavior by… watching us cook in a video game.

Researchers demonstrated that AI can now learn to sway our actions simply by watching human collaboration without any direct interaction.

How?

• Researchers first gathered data from human pairs preparing meals in the co-op cooking game Overcooked, performing tasks like chopping vegetables and serving soup.

• An AI then analyzed these interactions using an "offline reinforcement learning" technique.

• Rather than learning through hands-on trial-and-error, the AI developed an influence strategy from observed human coordination.

The results?

• When interacting with real people, the AI excelled at earning bonuses that required subtly guiding its human partner to perform certain actions—like using a specific dish or avoiding onions.

• It achieved this through strategic actions like blocking certain ingredients until the human partner took the hint.

• In one instance, the AI inferred its partner's overall food preparation strategy from past actions and consistently prevented them from performing inefficient actions.

Overall: While this could enhance human-AI teamwork in areas like healthcare, the ethical implications are evident because an AI that learns to secretly influence our choices and actions could become alarmingly powerful.

Read more: Science News

🇨🇦 Canada’s massive $2.4B bet

Canada isn’t backing down in the AI race. 

To further their national AI agenda, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a $2.4B package to supercharge the nation's AI capabilities.

Here’s the TL;DR: 

• This investment aims to enhance Canada's AI ecosystem - from advancing research and infrastructure to accelerating startup growth and productivity, all while ensuring safe and responsible AI development.

• Their primary focus is a $2B investment in high-quality computing power, which will give Canadian AI innovators access to the most advanced technology.

• A new "AI Compute Access Fund" will provide an immediate boost, while a "Canadian AI Sovereign Compute Strategy" presents a long-term plan for local infrastructure.

• Plus, hundreds of millions more are allocated for a range of actions, from promoting AI adoption across key industries to retraining workers affected by automation and even launching a new "Canadian AI Safety Institute" to study AI risks.

With GenAI sparking technological competition, Canada is making a substantial bet that its innovative brainpower, supported by federal backing, can allow it to lead the AI revolution.

Read more: Canadian PM release

🛠️ AI Tools to Check Out

• (Sponsored) Kin: A private and personal AI with long-term memory. It learns from your conversations to offer personalized assistance and emotional support 24/7 to help you navigate your life. Check it out!

• Persuva: An AI-powered platform designed for businesses to create persuasive, high-converting ad copy to maximize their revenue and growth. Check it out!

• Dubbing AI: Free real-time AI voice changer that supports over 40 languages. It also supports highly emotional vocal expressions such as screaming, sighing, singing, mumbling, and whispering. Check it out!

_{You can support us by checking out our sponsors! Have anything you’d like to share with over 40k AI enthusiasts? Sponsor Not A Bot}

🤑 AI Fundraising News

• ValidMind raises $8.1M in Seed funding to ensure the regulatory and reputational integrity of all AI models for every financial institution.

• SydeLabs AI raises $2.5M in seed funding to provide solutions that identify security and safety vulnerabilities in enterprise AI systems.

🐦 Tweet Post of the Day

The AI companies are out in full force this YC season 😤