OpenAI has announced a $200 per month subscription tier for power users of ChatGPT as part of its '12 Days of OpenAI' event, where the company will reveal updates and new features daily until December 23. This move is part of a series of announcements, including the release of the full version of its 'reasoning' o1 model. The event aims to keep users engaged with OpenAI's latest developments.
X has introduced a new AI image generator model called "Aurora" to Grok, which produces highly photorealistic images with minimal restrictions, similar to Grok's previous model. Available in the "Grok 2 + Aurora beta" option, users can access it until they reach the X Premium subscription limit. Aurora can generate images of copyrighted characters and public figures but avoids creating nudes. Despite its realism, some generated images exhibit anatomical inaccuracies.
OpenAI is reportedly launching a new ultra-premium subscription service called ChatGPT Pro, priced at $200 per month. This service will offer unlimited access to advanced AI models like o1 and GPT-4o, as well as an advanced voice mode and a new o1 mode. The price is significantly higher than the existing ChatGPT Plus plan, which costs $20 per month. The new service is expected to cater to users who rely heavily on ChatGPT for professional purposes, despite its steep cost.
Three key members of Google's NotebookLM team, including team lead Raiza Martin, are leaving to start a new stealth startup. The startup aims to create consumer-facing AI products that are accessible and useful to everyday people, leveraging the latest AI models. While details about the startup's focus remain undisclosed, the team has received significant support from outside Google. The startup is in its early stages and has not yet announced any funding.
The Apple Watch offers a range of third-party apps to enhance productivity, including Todoist for task management, Drafts for note-taking, Focus for time management, AutoSleep for sleep tracking, Streaks for habit tracking, and Fantastical for calendar management. These apps provide various functionalities like voice commands, reminders, and progress tracking, helping users stay organized and minimize distractions without relying on their phones.
Raspberry Pi has launched the Pico 2 W, a $7 microcontroller board featuring wireless capabilities, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2. The board is built around the RP2350 microcontroller and supports development in C, C++, and MicroPython. It offers dual-core processing with both Arm Cortex-M33 and RISC-V cores, 4 MB of flash memory, and 520 KB of SRAM. The Pico 2 W is designed for hobbyists and industrial use, with options to purchase in bulk. A non-wireless version is available for $5.
Partiful, a New York-based event-planning app, has been named Google's "App of the Year" for 2024, despite its predominantly iOS user base. Founded in 2020 by Joy Tao and Shreya Murthy, the app allows users to design event pages, manage RSVPs, and sync events with calendars. It has raised $27.34 million in funding, with a pre-money valuation of $120 million. Partiful's popularity is largely among Gen Z users in the U.S., with over a million downloads this year, mostly from the Apple App Store.
The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming that OpenAI's AI models were trained using millions of copyrighted articles from The Times without permission. This has raised significant concerns about copyright laws in relation to AI development. While tech companies like Microsoft are integrating these AI models into their products, media companies are frustrated that their copyrighted content is being used without compensation. The situation highlights the complex balance between protecting copyright and advancing AI technology, with no quick resolution in sight.
A leaked email from 2010 shows that Mark Zuckerberg, then CEO of Facebook, raged at his employees and ordered the leaker of internal Facebook plans to resign after TechCrunch published a story claiming that Facebook was "secretly building a phone." Zuckerberg warned all employees that everything they do is confidential and that if they couldn't handle that, they should "just leave." The email's leak came thanks to the "Internal Tech Emails" Twitter account. Zuckerberg has fired thousands of employees from his new company, Meta, in recent months.
