Good morning. Do you still use a smart speaker? Once the hot gadget du jour, it’s been a while since the category generated much buzz, especially after generative AI tools like ChatGPT arrived on the scene.
This week will see a couple of the big players try to rekindle the flame for smart home devices. Amazon kicks things off on Tuesday with its fall hardware launch event, where new Echo speakers, presumably running the new Alexa Plus, are expected. And on Wednesday, it will be Google’s turn, with a Gemini for Google Home event. Our eyes, and ears, will be open.
Today’s tech news below—Alexei Oreskovic
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Apple's private chatbot
Apple has created an impressive AI-powered chatbot similar to the likes of OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude, according to Bloomberg. The chatbot is called Veritas, and is capable of conducting conversations with users as well as helping with tasks like editing photos.
But this isn't a chatbot for you and me. According to Bloomberg, Veritas is an internal tool Apple developed for its employees to help test new features with Siri, Apple's real intended vehicle for its generative AI technology. And Apple has no plans to release Veritas as a standalone consumer app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who calls this a mistake, and is calling for Apple to release the AI chatbot as a standalone app.
Siri has some "baggage," says Gurman. "Apple risks muddying what could be breakthrough AI technology by solely embedding it within this existing platform. Launching the chatbot as a standalone app could generate far more interest."
What do you think?
EA's next level: going private?
Electronic Arts' days on the public markets could be coming to an end, as a group of investors move to buy out the video game giant and take it private.
The company is in advanced talks about a $50 billion deal with Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Friday. The deal would likely represent the largest leveraged buyout of all time, the WSJ noted.
For EA, which owns some of the most popular video game franchises, including including sports titles like Madden and FC, the deal would mark the latest twist in a long history. Founded in 1982, EA was a pioneer of video games for some of the first PCs and has been involved in pretty much every iteration of the video game industry since then.—AO
Nvidia's circular deals
Nvidia's recent deal to invest $100 billion into OpenAI's infrastructure has put a spotlight on a business practice that some worry could eventually spell trouble for the AI industry.
So-called "circular" deals, or revenue "roundtripping," in which a company invests in, or lends money to, its own customers, have become increasingly common among AI companies. To some, it's dredging up memories of the dotcom implosion two decades ago when telecom companies engaged in similar practices.
In addition to its deal with OpenAI, Nvidia also has invested in CoreWeave, which supplies data center capacity to OpenAI and is also an Nvidia customer. And according to a story in The Information, Nvidia agreed this summer to spend $1.3 billion over four years renting some 10,000 of its own AI chips from Lambda.
The problem with such circular deals is that they can give investors an inflated perception of the true demand for AI, and the web of interconnections can exacerbate the damage if the market goes south. —Jeremy Kahn
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