💻️ Copilot+ PCs

🧵 In today's edition:

• 💻️ Copilot+ PCs

• 🫥 What does this ScarJo incident teach OpenAI us?

• 📈 Here comes Nvidia

• 🛠️ AI Tools to Check Out

• 🤑 AI Fundraising News

• 🐦 Tweet Post of the Day

💻️ Copilot+ PCs

It looks like those old-school Windows PCs that you know and hate are officially making a comeback. 

In an event on Monday, Microsoft unveiled Copilot+ PCs, a new category of Windows PCs designed for AI. These cutting-edge devices feature powerful new silicones capable of an incredible 40+ TOPS (trillion operations per second), all-day battery life, and access to the most advanced AI models.

Here’s what’s new: 

• Recall: A new AI experience that allows users to instantly find and remember what they have seen or done on their PC. 

• Cocreator: A feature that enables near real-time AI image generation and video editing directly from their device. 

• Live Captions: Live translations of audio from 40+ languages into English subtitles.

Microsoft has partnered with leading OEMs, including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung, to bring exciting new Copilot+ PCs to market, starting at $999. The company has also introduced the first-ever Copilot+ PCs from Surface: the all-new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop.

Overall: With Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft aims to mark the most significant change to the Windows platform in decades, reimagining the entire PC experience with AI. 

Satya Nadella seems confident that their new line of PCs can give Apple a run for its money, but I guess only time will tell if they can overcome Apple's chokehold on consumers.

Read more: Microsoft Blog

🫥 What does this ScarJo incident teach OpenAI us?

Scarlett Johansson's recent legal threat against OpenAI over them (allegedly) copying her voice without permission has set the stage for a broader battle between actors and tech giants over the use of their likenesses in AI systems. 

Voice actors have already filed lawsuits, while the SAG-AFTRA union is rallying lawmakers to bar AI companies from misappropriating members' voices and images.

In case you’re unfamiliar with what happened, here’s a quick TL;DR: 

• Johansson claimed Sam Altman asked her to provide her voice for their AI assistant, but she declined.

• The company then released a demo voice called "Sky" that sounded uncannily like her.

• She has hired legal counsel and threatened potential claims against OpenAI over the similarity.

Why is this a big deal?

• This incident highlights growing tensions as more AI firms are being accused of indiscriminately harvesting copyrighted works and personal data to train their AI models without consent or compensation. 

• SAG-AFTRA has been advocating for new federal laws to protect performers' rights to use their voices and likenesses. In fact, this was a big part of their agreement that ended the months-long actors' strike. 

Overall: Voice artists like Paul Lehrman are suing AI startups after reporting getting far less work as the technology replicates their voices without permission. 

So, this legal battle could have wide ramifications across Hollywood, where a recent survey found that most business leaders believe AI will lead to significant job losses. 

Read more: Hollywood Reporter

📈 Here comes Nvidia

Nvidia is showing no signs of slowing down.

The chip designer and AI leader delivered another blockbuster earnings report on Wednesday, smashing Wall Street forecasts and sending its stock rallying to record highs. 

What do we mean? For the quarter ended April 30th, the company reported jaw-dropping profit growth of 628% year-over-year to $6.12 per share, and revenues skyrocketed 268% to $26 billion.

How are they growing so fast, you ask? Great question: 

• These results were driven by insatiable demand for Nvidia's chips powering artificial intelligence systems. 

• The company's AI-focused data center division earned $22.6 billion, up 427% from a year ago, and now accounts for most of Nvidia's sales.

• To provide more context, its data center revenues last quarter were 20 times higher than just three years prior, in early 2020, before the current AI boom took off.

• Plus, Nvidia has become the prime beneficiary as tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and others double down on GenAI.

The chipmaker also announced a 10-for-1 stock split, making its lofty ~$950 share price more affordable for smaller investors while keeping its $2.3 trillion valuation intact as the third largest public company.

Analysts remain overwhelmingly bullish, with not a single sell rating and expectations for 90% revenue growth this fiscal year to $112 billion.

Overall: While Nvidia has shifted from gaming chips to an AI focus, the market's demand for its semiconductors, which power the AI revolution, has transformed it into a $2 trillion behemoth dominating the tech world.

Read more: Forbes

🛠️ AI Tools to Check Out

• Lindo: Describe your business and get everything you need, from landing pages to automated organic lead generation with AI. Check it out!

• Keymate: Elevate your research, projects, and daily use with search, browse, and long-term memory. Check it out!

• Repeto: Supercharge your study sessions with our AI-driven platform. Have it analyze papers. Generate practice material. Write AI-supported essays. And brainstorm concepts with visualizations. Check it out!

🤑 AI Fundraising News

• Nory raises $16M in Series A funding to help global restaurants build sustainable businesses and increase profitability. Its AI system offers data insights for optimal staffing, demand prediction, inventory management, and other key decisions.

• Praktika raises $32.5M in Series A funding to deliver an automated tutorship experience empowered by generative AI avatars.

• DeepL raises $300M in funding to develop a language AI platform for human-like translation and writing.

🐦 Tweet Post of the Day

Interesting thoughts from the CTO at Microsoft 👇️