Paul Stenhouse: The AI wars are heating up, AI safety, and Oprah's ABC special

The AI wars are heating up 

Reports are out today that Amazon has selected Anthropic to be its AI partner for the new Alexa devices.  

Reuters notes that initial versions Amazon's own AI proved insufficient, often struggling with words and responding to user prompts. It's thought that this enhanced AI assistant will be a subscription service costing $5 to $10 a month. Amazon already has a minority stake in the company. 

Open AI is seeking investment too, and both Apple and Nvidia are interested, valuing the company at $100 billion. Apple is already planning to integrate ChatGPT into iOS and Siri, and Nvidia is a key supplier for Open AI. 

 

AI Safety is in the government spotlight 

Both OpenAI and Anthropic will share their models with the US Government's Safety Institute. Together with the UK they will evaluate safety risks and mitigate potential issues. There's a bill waiting for California's Governor's signature which will force AI companies in the state to take specific safety measures before training advanced models - that's the first in the country specifically targeting AI. That law would force companies to be able to quickly and fully shut the model down, prevent unsafe post-training modifications, and prevent critical harm. 

 

Oprah is going to educate America about AI 

She's doing a special for the ABC Network here called ‘AI and the Future of Us’, where she'll interview Bill Gates and Sam Altman among others to explain how AI works, as well as the possibilities and risks ahead. 

 

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