This Week in AI: TV Streamers and Thermostats are Getting Smarter
For August 9, 2024: Tech stocks tumble on AI fears, Google's Gemini enters our TVs, ByteDance goes up against OpenAI.News
The stock market was hit with a physics lesson this week, when the tech stocks that seemed to fly ever higher began to find their way down.
Major tech stocks from Apple to Intel, NVIDIA to AMD, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta all were hit at some point in the past week, wiping a combined $1 trillion in market value from Wall Street on Monday alone, with massive investors like Goldman Sachs are starting to publicly debate when the billions of dollars invested into AI will actually pay off.
The next few months will likely offer a chance at a bounceback. The back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons are revving up, and this year many companies are hoping new AI features for their laptops, desktops, smartphones and tablets will be enough to convince people to upgrade.
In the meantime, expect a lot more AI announcements over the coming weeks.
On August 13, Google is set to hold an event at its Mountain View, California headquarters, during which the tech giant is expected to announce its next-generation devices including the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro smartphones, and of course a bunch of new AI features too.
Speaking of Google...
Google launches $99 TV Streamer with AI
Google's moving past its Chromecast and Android TV to a new device called the Google TV Streamer, complete with AI. This $99 device, which sits at the base of your TV rather than hanging off the HDMI port like in the past, is designed to stream 4K video to your TV while also acting as a smart home hub.
Google believes its most compelling feature will be its Gemini AI, which will help identify shows and movies you may like across Netflix, Disney Plus, YouTube TV, Apple TV and more, based on your preferences. Not only will Google's AI build lists for you, but it can also create suggestions for each member of your home.
The tech giant is also using its Gemini AI to create summaries, aggregate reviews and offer season-by-season breakdowns.
Google also announced a redesign for its $279 Nest smart thermostat, with AI features to make "micro-adjustments based on your patterns to keep you comfortable while also saving both energy and money." It'll also offer recommendations, such as disabling ventilation when outdoor air quality is bad, or changing target temperatures to avoid extra energy charges.
ByteDance takes on OpenAI's Sora
Just half a year after OpenAI announced its Sora technology that creates videos from a text prompt, TikTok owner ByteDance is now launching a similar product called Jimeng AI for mobile devices. The app, whose name translates to "immediate dream," was initially launched for desktop computers in May according to the South China Morning Post, and is now available to iPhone and Android users in China.
While OpenAI's Sora is still in limited testing, Jimeng is more broadly available, allowing users to create at least two-dozen images or videos for free, with an option to create more through a monthly subscription.
This is just the latest of many AI-powered apps and tools that have launched in China, offering competition to US startups such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity.
Shortly before Apple announced its Apple Intelligence technology, for example, EV-Maker Polestar launched a new smartphone it designed to be an AI-powered companion while in the car. The product, only available in China, reportedly included an AI that could curate photos, answer questions and help users reply to chat conversations.
More art free features from ChatGPT
The best features of OpenAI's ChatGPT were previously locked behind the company's paywall, but no longer. Free users were recently given limited access to the latest GPT 4o model, and now the DALL-E 3 feature is also available on the service's free tier. DALL-E generates images from text prompts, and is integrated directly into the ChatGPT. The company says "We’re rolling out the ability for ChatGPT Free users to create up to two images per day with DALL·E 3."
But if just two free images a day is cramping your (artistic) style, there are other ways to access DALL-E 3 for free, including using Microsoft's Copilot Designer, which just requires a Microsoft user account.Read more: AI Tools and Tips
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Ian Sherr is a widely published journalist who's covered nearly every major tech company from Apple to Netflix, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and more for CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNET. His stories and their insights have moved markets, changed how companies see themselves and given readers a unique view into how some of the world’s most powerful brands operate. Aside from writing, he tinkers with tech at home, is a longtime fencer -- the kind with swords -- and began woodworking during the pandemic.
