Today: Jul 27, 2024

AI updates: Times sues OpenAI, Bezos supports search startup invest

7 months ago

TLDR:

  • The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement. The lawsuit claims that OpenAI illegally used copyrighted materials from the Times to train its language model GPT-4. Microsoft, which has invested in OpenAI, was also named in the lawsuit.
  • Perplexity AI, a start-up backed by Jeff Bezos, has raised $74 million in funding. The company aims to provide direct and immediate responses to user search queries by leveraging AI technology.
  • US Chief Justice John Roberts discussed the impact of AI on the legal field in his Year-End Report to the Federal Judiciary. He noted that AI could democratize access to legal resources but emphasized the importance of human intuition and judgement in the courtroom.
  • OpenAI is launching the GPT Store, where users can buy and sell custom AI agents. The most popular agents will be featured on leaderboards, and users can earn money based on how many people are using their agents.
  • Microsoft has introduced a new Copilot key on its keyboards, which will link users directly to its AI feature. This move follows Microsoft’s integration of OpenAI’s language model GPT-4 into its products like Microsoft 365 and Bing.

The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement. The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI used copyrighted materials from the Times to train its language model GPT-4. Microsoft, which has invested in OpenAI and integrated GPT-4 into its products, is also named in the lawsuit. This is the first lawsuit filed against a major news organization against OpenAI. Similar lawsuits have been filed by prominent authors who claim that their works have been illegally used to train language models. The lawsuit argues that the scraping of content from the Times has enabled OpenAI and Microsoft to produce content which users might consult as an alternative to the Times, potentially impacting the latter’s subscription and ad revenue. It also highlights the risk of language models “hallucinating” or fabricating information, which could pose a reputational risk to the Times. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and the destruction of all language models and training data that have incorporated copyrighted materials from the Times.
Jeff Bezos has invested $74 million in Perplexity AI, a start-up that aims to provide direct and immediate responses to user search queries. The company uses AI technology, including OpenAI’s, to generate summaries to user queries. Perplexity AI is betting that users will prefer this model of online search over the current model of providing a list of links to other websites. Former Google executives Jeff Dean and Susan Wojcicki have also made personal investments in the start-up.
In his Year-End Report to the Federal Judiciary, US Chief Justice John Roberts discusses the impact of AI on the legal field. He acknowledges the potential of AI to democratize access to legal resources and information, particularly for those who cannot afford a lawyer. However, he emphasizes the importance of human intuition and judgement in the courtroom, highlighting the role of subtle cues that humans are better at perceiving and interpreting compared to machines. Roberts urges caution and humility when adopting AI in the legal profession.
OpenAI is launching the GPT Store, where users can buy and sell custom AI agents. The store will feature leaderboards showcasing the most popular agents, and users will have the opportunity to earn money based on the number of people using their agents. OpenAI announced the creation of custom GPT agents in November and originally planned to launch the GPT Store the same month. However, the launch was delayed due to internal issues at OpenAI.
Microsoft has introduced a new Copilot key on its keyboards, which will link users directly to its AI feature. This move follows Microsoft’s integration of OpenAI’s language model GPT-4 into its products. The Copilot key is described as a transformative moment and will serve as the entry point into the world of AI on Windows PCs. Microsoft will showcase the new keyboard at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and plans to make it available starting in late February.