📝 Google responds to THAT memo
PLUS: Indian startup replaces support staff with an AI chatbot
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Happy Wednesday, fellow humans. 👋
Our beloved Beehiiv platform just launched an AI feature that helps you write content in various different tones and lengths, translate text into 6 different languages, and create custom AI images simply by describing what you want.
We haven’t had a chance to use it, but we can’t wait to try it out 🙌
Let’s dive into it…
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🧵 In today's edition:
🦜 Anthropic releases Claude 2.0
🧪 Founder personality tests
📝 Google responds to THAT memo
🤑 AI Fundraising News
🤖 Top AI News
🦜 Anthropic releases Claude 2.0
Big news coming out of Anthropic HQ.
The AI research and safety company has officially released an updated version of its open-source ChatGPT rival, Claude, which promises:
Longer and more nuanced responses
Fewer hallucinations
100,000 tokens - a significant upgrade from their previous 9000 token limit.
The company claims that Claude 2 is "2x better at giving harmless responses compared to Claude 1.3,” and early users appreciate the chatbot’s improved ability to explain its reasoning.
Claude 2's coding capabilities have also improved, making it emotionally stable and “harder to fool” than its predecessor.
The chatbot is now publicly available in the open beta experience and through their API in the US and UK.
Go crazy - and let us know what you think!
Read more: Engadget
🧪 Founder personality tests
Over the years, founders have had to struggle to get meetings with VCs.
Referrals. Quirky cold emails with whacky subject lines. Or the OG way of having the most talked-about product.
But it turns out the one thing VCs genuinely care about is ~personality~.
Kentucky-based Connetic Ventures has developed 'Wendal,' a platform that uses AI to assess founders on 13 entrepreneurial traits to determine whether a meeting will prove worthwhile for investors.
A founder personality test of sorts.
Why this method? Because Connetic Ventures believes that “the pitch” is old-fashioned and “inserts inherent biases into the earliest part of the investing process.” They hope to change the process for the better.
The firm launched Wendal in 2020 and has seen great success, with 52% of Connetic’s companies being female or minority-owned (8x higher than the VC average).
Wendal is also efficient, allowing the Connetic team to make a yes or no decision within 30 mins.
Overall: This is one of the most unique VC applications I’ve seen, possibly ever. We couldn’t get access to their fund returns, but it will be interesting to see how this investing strategy plays out in the long run.
Read more: TechCrunch
📝 Google responds to THAT memo
Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind
Remember that memo posted by a Google AI researcher which argued Google and OpenAI lack what is needed to succeed in the AI industry? That open-source AI models are a more capable alternative?
Well, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, confirmed the leaked memo was legit but disagreed with its conclusion, expressing confidence in Google’s future in AI.
His reasons?
Google has a rich history of being ultra-competitive and really innovative.
The newly merged Google Brain and Google DeepMind teams are filled with A+ players constantly working on new innovations and breakthroughs.
He cited past projects, like AlphaFold and TensorFlow, that are open-sourced, with more in the pipeline.
Overall: Hassabis believes that Google has a very bright future in the AI space but is also responsible for safely deploying AI tools and resources.
And one thing is for sure - as we progress closer to AGI, it will become crucial to understand how to stop bad actors from using AI for malicious purposes.
Read/listen to his interview with The Verge here.
Read more: The Verge
🤑 AI Fundraising News
Prompt engineering startup Vellum.ai raises $5M as demand for generative AI services scales.
Raft, which services freight forwarders, closes $30M Series B led by Eight Roads VC.
🗞️ AI Quick-Bytes
What else is going on?
Artists are losing the battle against AI. Glaze, a tool that's found a way to trick algorithms, is giving them a fighting chance.
Dukaan replaces support staff with an AI chatbot and says it is efficient, while humans are overqualified and fussy.
Programs to detect AI discriminate against non-native English speakers show study.
Sapphire Ventures plans to invest over $1B in enterprise AI startups
China’s search engine pioneer unveils open-source large language model to rival OpenAI
Netflix’s AI-assisted green screen bathes actors in eye-searing magenta
🐦️ Tweet of the day
After spending some time with Claude 2, I've uncovered some interesting use cases for myself that might be useful for others too:
1/ UX writing. I often use Claude to generate initial explorations of UX copy for things like tooltips, error messages, and in-product text.
— Karina Nguyen (@karinanguyen_)
5:40 PM • Jul 11, 2023
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And that does it for today's issue.
As always, thanks for reading. Have a great day, and see you next time! ✌️
— Haroon: (definitely) Not A Robot and @haroonchoudery on Twitter
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