Apple, Oracle, Microsoft and OpenAI All Working Together
Too bad cats and dogs are not involved. Yet.
Hey folks,
I know many of you profess to be tired of "AI" but I keep covering it because it's worth it. Many of you are also tired of hearing about Apple, but I'm covering it again today because Apple's approach to AI is significantly different in a way that's worth paying attention to.
But listen, you can also read about the new entry-level Galaxy Watch and Framework open-sourcing more of its IP. So it's a win for everyone, right?
Tom
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Big Story
"Apple and OpenAI aren’t paying each other yet, says Bloomberg - The Verge" https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/13/24177550/apple-openai-chatgpt-deal-payment-revenue-sharing-chatbot
"Here’s how Apple’s AI model tries to keep your data private - The Verge" https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/13/24175985/apple-intelligence-ai-model-local-cloud-privacy-how-it-works
"OpenAI to use Oracle’s chips for more AI compute - The Verge" https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/12/24177188/openai-oracle-ai-chips-microsoft
"Apple Proved That AI Is a Feature, Not a Product | WIRED" https://www.wired.com/story/apple-intelligence-ai-feature-not-product/
A few pieces of news around Apple and OpenAI, the biggest of which is that they aren't paying each other. Yet. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the initial deal is for exposure. Gurman's report does indicate a plan for revenue sharing in the future where Apple would presumably get a cut of any referrals to OpenAI's paid service. Presumably, this all might be a sticking point keeping Google from reaching a deal.
The Verge's Umar Shakir also has a very well-done explanation of how Apple's AI works. For one, Apple says it does not train its model on any of your data. It trained on a combination of publicly available material and licensed material and filtered out sensitive info like credit card numbers and low-quality data like profanity, etc. Very Apple.
It fine-tunes the model on-device to be good at the kinds of things it's going to be used for, like proofreading, which makes it better and faster. That's another reason its image models have limited art styles, so it can be fine-tuned to be good at those and not give you extra fingers. And it also benefits from operating the whole stack, optimizing the path from request to the Neural Engine in Apple Silicon. That's a main reason so few Apple devices support it at launch.
There's also a little more info on the Private Cloud Compute. Not only is it end-to-end encrypted but there is no remote shell for the cluster that handles user requests, so there's no accidental or malicious way to easily get into a request. And Tim Cook told Marques Brownlee that Apple will only ask a user to use ChatGPT if a request involves “world knowledge” that is “out of domain of personal context.”
There's also the news that OpenAI is teaming up with Oracle to run some of the Azure AI Platform that powers ChatGPT on Oracle infrastructure. That's not exactly related to Apple as it is to OpenAI's continually growing demand. But Apple integration will be a boost to that demand.
And a hat tip to Wired's Will Knight with an excellent take that Apple gets that AI is a feature, not a product.
More Stories
"Samsung’s Galaxy Watch FE is its new entry-level smartwatch - The Verge" https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/13/24176939/samsung-galaxy-watch-fe-price-specs "Samsung Announces $200 Galaxy Watch FE - Thurrott.com" https://www.thurrott.com/wearables/303968/samsung-announces-200-galaxy-watch-fe
Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch FE, its entry-level watch. It only comes in one size, 40mm, and has a slightly smaller 1.2-inch OLED display than other Galaxy Watch models. It also will be a little slower with a last-gen Samsung Exynos W290 chip. The battery is a little smaller too, and there's no temperature sensor. Otherwise, the rest of the sensors are about the same. A Bluetooth/WiFi-only version will go on sale June 24th for $200. An LTE-enabled one will arrive later this year for $250.
The existing Galaxy Watches are $300 and $400, so this is a nice price point to add in.
"A new OpenAI Sora rival just landed for AI videos – and you can use it right now for free | TechRadar" https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/a-new-openai-sora-rival-just-landed-for-ai-videos-and-you-can-use-it-right-now-for-free
If you're not in OpenAI's private beta for Sora, which most of us aren't, there's a competitive way to try generative video from Luma AI, called Dream Machine. You'll need a Google account and some patience as lots of people have decided to sign up, so requests are taking a while to return a result. It also limits the length and resolution more than Sora to five seconds at 1360 x 752. For free, you get 30 generations a month, but you can pay for plans with 400-1,200 generations ranging from $30 to $500 a month.
"Apple and Google won’t be able to stop third-party app stores in Japan - The Verge" https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/13/24177599/apple-google-japan-law-third-party-app-stores-competition
"Japan enacts law to curb Apple, Google's app dominance" https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/06/bc2d7f45d456-japan-enacts-law-to-curb-apple-googles-app-dominance.html
Japan just passed a law that will come into force before the end of 2025 prohibiting "designated providers," aka Google and Apple so far, from blocking third-party app stores on their platforms in the country. It also requires them to allow third-party billing services and to make it easier for users to change default settings and browsers and prohibit prioritizing their own products in search results. And yes, Epic Games has already announced plans to bring Fortnite to iOS in Japan in late 2025.
"Framework open sources the 3D CAD design files for its modular 16-inch laptop - Liliputing" https://liliputing.com/framework-open-sources-the-3d-cad-design-files-for-its-modular-16-inch-laptop/
If you recall, Framework is the laptop system that is modular so you can swap out displays, drives, ports, and even the motherboard to continually upgrade. Framework has released open source 3D CAD files of its laptop so you can create your own custom accessories as well. That comes on the heels of previous open source releases of documentation around its input modules, expansion bay, expansion cards, and Webcam. Framework also says it has caught up on backorders and the 16-inch laptop is now in stock and shipping within 1-2 weeks of orders.
For Context
"[Updated: Epic Statement] Major Epic Leak Hints at Unannounced Games Coming to Epic Games Store" https://wccftech.com/major-epic-leak-hints-at-unannounced-games-coming-to-epic-games-store/
After a leak of unpublished titles coming to the Epic game store, Epic has released an update to stop unpublished titles from being surfaced in the Epic Games store. Running an App Store is hard.
"Dave Burke no longer Android engineering VP, Google 'Platforms' undergoing reorg" https://9to5google.com/2024/06/12/android-reorg-dave-burke-reorg/
He's kind of the face of Android demos and has been running the show since 2014, so a big shift. He says he wants to focus on AI and Bio projects? We'll see if that's right or if he's about to leave and create a startup.
"You’ll soon be able to join Discord calls directly from your PS5 - The Verge" https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/13/24177548/discord-ps5-integration-calls-from-console
This puts it just about on par with the Xbox.
"Samsung offers plan to speed up delivery of AI chips | Reuters" https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/samsung-announces-turnkey-approach-ai-chipmaking-2024-06-12/
Everybody wants a piece of that AI chip market, and we should not forget that Samsung is a formidable chip company. It can integrate its memory chip, foundry, and chip packaging services to make delivery faster.
"Artifact’s DNA Lives on in Yahoo’s Revamped AI-Powered News App | WIRED" https://www.wired.com/story/yahoo-news-app-relaunch-artifact/
If you were a fan of Artifact, you can now use Yahoo News, which has ingested its soul.
Interesting Reads
"China Is Testing More Driverless Cars Than Any Other Country - The New York Times" https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/13/business/china-driverless-cars.html
"Microsoft Refused to Fix Flaw Years Before SolarWinds Hack — ProPublica" https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-solarwinds-golden-saml-data-breach-russian-hackers
"How Amazon blew Alexa’s shot to dominate AI, according to employees who worked on it | Fortune" https://fortune.com/2024/06/12/amazon-insiders-why-new-alexa-llm-generative-ai-conversational-chatbot-missing-in-action/
"Roku owners face the grimmest indignity yet: Stuck-on motion smoothing | Ars Technica" https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/06/roku-owners-face-the-grimmest-indignity-yet-stuck-on-motion-smoothing/
"Japan's beloved cats get healthcare help from AI | Reuters" https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/japans-beloved-cats-get-healthcare-help-ai-2024-06-13/