Edition #10: One More Thing in AI

Date: 25-Nov-2023

Dear reader,

Welcome to the latest edition of the “One More Thing in AI newsletter.  For Startup founders and Business Leaders like you who want to get smarter on AI in less than 5 minutes. This is the tenth edition, and to commemorate this milestone and welcome the more than 1200 subscribers, I have packed in a lot here!

What a week it was with Open AI shuffling through 3 CEOs in short order. But have no fear, Sam is here (or maybe there is reason to fear. Hint: AGI). Read on to know more.

As usual, keep those comments and feedback coming.

Best regards,

Renjit Philip

In this Power-Packed Edition 

1. 🔄 Open AI Leadership Flipflop

2. 💸 Side Hustle Millionaire: A GPT to help founders and solopreneurs

3. 💰 Funding Alert: Civitai

4. 📸 Learn Prompting: Product Photos for eCommerce Sites

5. 🌟 Claude 2.1: A New Era in Accurate AI

6. 🤖 Grok: The Witty AI Experience from X

7. 🧮 Q Star: The Math Triumph at OpenAI

8. 🎓 Must Watch (Learning AI Series): "The Future of AI: Strategies for Success"

9. 🛠️ Sponsored: Yadget Data Generator for Software Testing

Please look at the bottom of the newsletter for sponsorship opportunities to reach over 1000+ business and startup professionals. If you subscribe to our email edition, you get to read this edition before non-subscribers, and it stays in your mailbox as a future reference. Subscription has its value!

Open AI leadership Flipflop

Altman's Return and Boardroom Intrigue

In a remarkable series of events, OpenAI has been the epicenter of dramatic leadership changes, marking a pivotal moment in its history. The organization, a leading force in the AI sphere, has undergone a significant reshuffling at the top.

Recent Developments:

• Sam Altman's Surprising Comeback: In an unexpected turn, Sam Altman has been reinstated as CEO of OpenAI just five days after stepping down.

• Formation of a New Board: A fresh "initial board" has been formed, including Larry Summers, Adam D'Angelo, and Bret Taylor as Chair.

• Greg Brockman's Return to OpenAI: Adding to the sweeping changes, co-founder Greg Brockman is back on board.

• However, several elements of this transformation are yet to be clarified.

Internal Struggles and Speculations:

• Boardroom Disputes: Reports from journalist Kara Swisher suggest internal conflicts, particularly involving board members Helen Toner and Sam Altman. Toner has since left the board or asked to leave.

• Leadership Dynamics: Bloomberg's Emily Chang reports on a potential power shift within the board, indicating a struggle involving Altman and D'Angelo. On X, they appear to be best of friends.

• Microsoft's Anticipated Role: As hinted by Emily Chang, the possibility of Microsoft gaining a board seat adds another layer of intrigue. Microsoft reportedly owns 49% of the company.

Negotiation Dynamics: The CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, played a critical role in mediating the discussions and influencing the outcome. Emmett Shear's interim leadership during the crisis was instrumental in the negotiation process.

With these developments, one major question remains conspicuously unanswered: What circumstances led to Altman's initial departure from his CEO role?

This unfolding narrative at OpenAI vividly illustrates the complex interplay of leadership, strategy, and corporate governance. Should shenanigans like these govern the world's biggest AI company (by funding/customer usage)? Should there be more robust governance and slower AI development? The saga continues.  

Side Hustle Millionnaire

I built a GPT to help solopreneurs and founders. I fed it instructions based on what I usually discuss with founders I advise. I also uploaded learnings from Paul Graham’s essays, Tim Ferris, Gary V, Alex Hormozi, and others.

The process of building a customized GPT is straightforward:

• You can give instructions on what you expect. You can provide URLs or files for knowledge.

• You can test the replies and give additional input to change the output. One requirement: you need a pro subscription to try these GPTs out.

• The beauty of GPTs lies in their simplicity - no coding knowledge is required. It's as easy as starting a conversation and guiding the AI with your preferences and tasks.

Test the GPT and let me know how I can improve it.

Link to GPT»

Funding Alert

🌐 Civitai: Revolutionizing AI-Created Content 🌐

Civitai is a unique platform where enthusiasts share and enjoy Stable Diffusion-based AI models and images. It embodies a community where AI-generated content receives appreciation and visibility.

🚀 Justin Maier Transforms Curiosity into a Thriving Community:

Following his tenure at Microsoft, Maier's fascination with Midjourney led to the inception of Civitai. Initially hosting a modest number of models, it has now evolved into a primary hub for AI model and image sharing.

📈 Rapid User Growth Marks Civitai's Success:

The platform quickly gained traction, now boasting 3 million users and significant monthly visitors, becoming the standard for sharing AI models and images.

💰 Andreessen Horowitz Invests in Civitai's Vision:

Recognizing its potential, Andreessen Horowitz has funded Civitai with $5.1 million, propelling its valuation to $20 million and highlighting its vibrant, self-sustaining community.

📜 Civitai Addresses Ethical Challenges:

The platform actively confronts issues around non-consensual content, evolving policies to ensure a balance between creativity and respect for real likenesses.

🔮 Future Plans Include Mainstream Media Integration:

Civitai plans to extend its AI applications beyond image generation, envisioning integration into various media forms and providing monetization opportunities for creators.

Learn Prompting

Product Photos for e-commerce sites

If you are a founder looking to create product photos with the help of AI (both Dalle.3 and Midjourney), look no further!

PROMPT: 

“Photograph Nintendo Switch for a sales catalog, ensuring the Nintendo Switch is the sole focus with no additional visual elements. Center the Nintendo Switch, fully visible, in great detail to emphasize its design and quality. Use a plain grey background for a clean and professional look. Focus on natural, clear lighting to highlight the Nintendo Switch features.”

Replace Nintendo with the product of your choice. I used Nintendo here because our daughter has been angling for one this year for her birthday.

Source: From Super Human, the newsletter by Zain Kahn. The prompt itself is by .teddm on Midjourney. 

Claude 2.1: A New Era in Accurate AI

🌟 Here comes Claude 2.1: 

Anthropic's latest marvel, Claude 2.1, marks a significant leap in AI technology. Available through API and powering the chat experience on claude.ai, it brings a suite of advancements tailored for enterprises. It has an impressive 200K token context window and a sharp decrease in model hallucinations.

📚 A Leap in Contextual Understanding: 

Claude 2.1 understands the language of business and academia alike. Its 200K token context window can handle up to 150,000 words - imagine processing the entirety of "The Iliad" in one go! This feature enables users to feed Claude extensive materials, from intricate legal documents to comprehensive financial statements, and expect coherent, insightful outputs. It's like having a super-intelligent assistant who can effortlessly digest and analyze massive volumes of information.

⏱️ Breaking Time Barriers: 

Processing such massive data sets is an industry-first feat for Claude 2.1. Tasks that would take hours for a human to complete, Claude does in minutes.

🧠 Enhanced Honesty and Accuracy: 

With a notable reduction in hallucination rates, Claude 2.1 is a paragon of AI honesty. It shows a 30% reduction in incorrect answers, making it incredibly adept at handling complex, lengthy documents. Whether deciphering legal jargon or dissecting technical specifications, Claude 2.1 does it with enhanced accuracy.

👨‍💻 For Developers, By Developers: 

Anthropic has fine-tuned the developer experience, simplifying the interaction process with Claude's API. The new Workbench product is a playground for developers to test and optimize prompts.

🌐 Claude 2.1: Now and the Future: 

This new model sets the stage for an array of innovative use cases as Anthropic continues to build some of the industry's most technically sophisticated AI systems. Test out Claude here».

Grok: The Witty AI Experience

Imagine a world where your digital assistant understands you and responds with a dash of wit and a rebellious streak. Welcome to the era of Grok, the latest AI chatbot from X, poised to redefine our interaction with technology.

Engaging Insights:

• A Glimpse into Grok: Recently, X revealed plans for a three-tiered subscription service, with the top tier, X Premium+, featuring the new AI chatbot, Grok. This chatbot, envisioned by Elon Musk, is set to compete with giants like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard. What sets Grok apart is its unique personality, inspired by "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," promising responses laced with wit and a hint of rebellion.

• Beyond Conventional AI: Grok is designed to tackle "spicy" questions, typically shunned by other AI systems. This approach enhances user engagement and pushes the boundaries of conventional AI interactions. Now, does “Spicy” mean anti-semitism and attacks on the woke left? I hope Grok is not too influenced by Elon Musk.

• Real-Time Knowledge Access: A standout feature of Grok is its ability to tap into real-time knowledge through the X platform and web browsing capabilities.

• It is going to be pricey! At $16/month, X Premium+ is the top tier to subscribe, removing all ads and introducing a Creator Hub, with Grok being the cherry on top.

Elon's X post is below:

Q Star: The Math Triumph at OpenAI

Just before Sam Altman's brief departure from OpenAI, a whirlwind stirred within the organization. Researchers penned a letter to the board, voicing concerns about a groundbreaking AI discovery, possibly a pivotal moment in the pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). This discovery, known internally as Q or QStar, hinted at AI systems that could rival human capabilities in key economic tasks.

The Mathematical Milestone:

Q demonstrated its prowess by solving mathematical problems at a grade school level. This achievement, seemingly modest, held profound implications. Generative AI, known for its proficiency in language and writing, stepping into the realm of mathematics, indicated a leap towards AGI – an AI that can generalize, learn, and understand like a human.

A Balancing Act of Power and Caution:

The researchers' letter underscored the duality of AI – its immense potential and inherent risks. The discourse around AI's power has long included warnings about its possible threats to humanity. The formation of an "AI scientist" team, merging "Code Gen" and "Math Gen" groups, illustrated OpenAI's commitment to refining AI's reasoning abilities.

Takeaway:

The events at OpenAI serve as a reminder of AI's transformative potential and the challenges it poses. As we stand at the cusp of significant breakthroughs, the balance between innovation and responsibility becomes even more crucial.  

Must Watch

🚀 "The Future of AI: Strategies for Success": A Business Leader's Roadmap

"The Future of AI: Strategies for Success" is a YouTube video by Andrej Karpathy delves deeply into Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on business. It provides insights into AI's current capabilities, future trends, and strategic applications in business, particularly valuable for leaders and startup founders.

Summary of Key Contents of the video

1. AI's Current Capabilities: The video starts by outlining AI's present abilities in data analysis, predictive modeling, and automation. It points out how AI transforms finance, healthcare, and retail industries by providing advanced data insights and automating complex processes.

2. Incorporating AI into Business Strategy: The discussion emphasizes companies need to integrate AI deeply into their business models. It argues that AI should integrated as a fundamental aspect of business operations to maintain a competitive edge.

3. Overcoming AI Implementation Challenges: The video identifies critical challenges such as data privacy, ethical dilemmas, and the scarcity of AI expertise. It suggests solutions like investing in AI-focused education, developing ethical AI frameworks, and creating strategies to attract skilled professionals.

4. Predictions for AI's Future: The video forecasts significant advancements in AI technology, including more advanced machine learning techniques, enhanced AI-human interactions, and AI's growth in new markets.

5. Guidance for Startups on AI: Startups receive advice on targeting niche markets where AI can offer a competitive advantage. The video also recommends forming strategic partnerships with established companies to leverage resources and expertise.

🌐 Here is the link to the YouTube video:

A word from our sponsor…

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Why Yadget?

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3. Flexible: Yadget provides tailor-made data to meet your specific needs.

Give Yadget a try, and let us know what you think. Check out Yadget here: Link.”

That is it for this edition of the newsletter. If you subscribe to our email edition, you get to read this edition before non-subscribers, and it stays in your mailbox as a future reference. Subscription has its value!

Until next time, keep learning, applying, and experimenting with AI!

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