Geek Morning News
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OpenAI may provide AI capabilities for iPhone; Xiaomi responds to Lei Jun being trapped in an Ideal car: Boss chats very well; Taobao and JD.com cancel 618 presale | Geek Morning News
By Li Yuan on 2024/04/28
Summary
Bing's daily active users exceed 140 million; Alphabet's market value surpasses $2 trillion for the first time; Amazon introduces Dash Carts with "smart shopping cart" technology; China unveils self-developed brain-computer interface "Braincopter II."
Apple in Negotiations with OpenAI to Add Artificial Intelligence Features to iOS
On April 27th, Bloomberg reported that Apple is currently in talks with OpenAI to potentially collaborate on deploying GPT technology in iOS/iPadOS 18.
The core of the negotiations, as per Bloomberg, revolves around utilizing OpenAI's technology to power AI chatbots in iOS/iPadOS 18, with the possibility of this chatbot serving as "Siri 2.0."
Previously, Mark Gurman mentioned that Apple is developing a large-scale language model to run on-device, prioritizing response speed and privacy protection. This model is expected to form the foundation of Apple's future generative AI capabilities, running entirely on devices rather than in the cloud. (Source: IT Home, Wall Street News)
Taobao and JD have both canceled their pre-sale events for this year's 618 shopping festival, with products going on sale in late May.
According to a report by Jiemian News "Dianchang" on April 27th, during the 2024 618 period, both Taobao and JD have scrapped their pre-sale mechanisms.
A document from Taobao's merchant recruitment revealed that late April to early May will be dedicated to promoting the 618 event; the first wave of sales will take place in mid to late May, focusing on user engagement; and from 8 p.m. on May 31st to June 20th will mark the second wave of sales for a full-scale outbreak.
Another document aimed at JD's business partners mentioned that JD's 618 event will kick off at 8 p.m. on May 31st with direct sales of goods, followed by special periods, peak periods, and return periods.
Official announcements regarding the events have not been made yet. For reference, last year's JD 618 pre-sale event started on May 23rd, while Tmall began on May 26th. It is expected that both platforms will soon release strategies for the 618 event. (Source: IT Home)
Nadella: Microsoft Bing's daily active users exceed 140 million, a 40% increase.
On April 27th, during a recent earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Microsoft Bing has surpassed 140 million daily active users, largely attributed to the Bing AI introduced by Microsoft last year, resulting in a 40% growth in daily active users.
Microsoft stated that before the launch of Copilot last year, Bing had 100 million daily active users in March 2023. Copilot (previously known as Bing AI Chat) significantly attracted users, leading to the current 140 million daily active users, a 40% increase.
Nadella also mentioned that advertising during the Super Bowl further encouraged American users to use Copilot, enhancing the visibility and impact of Microsoft's AI services. Nadella stated, "This quarter, we also launched Copilot on our advertising platform to help marketers use AI to generate product images, titles, and descriptions." (Source: IT Home)
Image Source: Visual China
Alphabet's Market Value Surpasses $2 Trillion for the First Time
On the last trading day of the week in the U.S. stock market, Alphabet's stock price surged nearly 10%, pushing its market value to $2.15 trillion, just behind Nvidia's $2.19 trillion. In just one day on Friday, Alphabet's market value increased by $195.93 billion, making it the third largest single-day market value increase in history for a company.
Alphabet becomes the fourth company in history to reach a market value of $2 trillion, following Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
The company reported first-quarter revenue of $80.5 billion, with earnings per share of $1.89, surpassing market expectations of $78.7 billion and $1.51 per share. Among these, "Google Search and Other" advertising revenue reached $46.2 billion, exceeding the expected $45 billion. YouTube's performance also exceeded expectations. Google Cloud revenue was $9.6 billion, a 28% year-over-year increase, surpassing the expected $9.4 billion, driven by the continued expansion of demand for AI-related computing.
Forrester analyst Nikhil Lai pointed out that the strong revenue from search and YouTube indicates that "the uncertainty of monetizing conversational search and the challenges of measuring brand media have not yet affected Alphabet's bottom line." (Source: cnBeta, Zhitong Finance)
Amazon announced that it is licensing its "Dash Cart" technology, an intelligent shopping cart, to third parties following the success of its "Just Walk Out" technology, which uses cameras to identify items for checkout. The move aims to establish Amazon's dominance in related technologies.
In 2018, Amazon introduced the cashier-less convenience store "Amazon Go" utilizing the "Just Walk Out" technology. In March, reports indicated that Amazon is shifting from the Just Walk Out cashier-less technology in its large grocery stores Amazon Fresh to the smart shopping cart Dash Cart. This allows customers to scan items as they place them in the cart for pricing. Despite the apparent automation of the Just Walk Out technology, it still requires human intervention and labeling.
Amazon is promoting the Dash Cart technology, believing that consumers prefer using smart shopping carts that can scan and hold items, enabling automatic checkout, especially in settings like large grocery stores.
Image Source: YouTube
Google Plans to Invest $3 Billion in New Data Centers and Establish $75 Million Google AI Fund
On April 27th, Google announced a $3 billion investment for the construction or expansion of data center campuses in Virginia and Indiana.
Additionally, Google also revealed the establishment of a $75 million AI fund aimed at helping people learn new skills, develop businesses, and advance their careers.
On April 25th, Amazon's cloud computing division also stated its intention to invest $11 billion in building a new data center in Indiana, creating 1,000 job opportunities. (Source: IT Home)
Musk Initiates Lawsuit Demanding OpenAI Former Board Members Provide Ultraman Removal Documents
On April 27th, according to reports, Tesla's CEO Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, requesting OpenAI, Sam Altman, and former board member Helen Toner to hand over documents related to the decision to remove Sam Altman from OpenAI and reinstate his position. Helen Toner played a crucial role in the process of the temporary removal of OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman last year.
Elon Musk demanded the relevant information be provided by May 21st. Helen Toner, who serves as the Director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University, did not immediately respond to Bloomberg's request for comment. (Source: IT Home)
On April 27th, the top model of vivo X100 Ultra, with the model number "V2366HA," has officially been approved for sale, featuring 80W wired fast charging.
The main difference between the top model and the standard version is the satellite communication capability. The device is registered as a "Tiantong-1 Satellite Mobile Communication System Terminal" instead of the usual "5G phone."
The vivo X100 Ultra will connect to China Telecom's Tiantong-1 satellite system, enabling communication for calls and messages even in situations with no network or signal. Notably, this is vivo's first-ever satellite communication phone.
In terms of core specifications, the vivo X100 Ultra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen3 mobile platform, equipped with a Samsung 2K E7 centered hole-punch AMOLED curved screen, and a large battery exceeding 5000mAh capacity. (Source: )
On April 27th, the "Brain-2" intelligent brain-machine interface system was officially launched, filling the gap in China's high-performance invasive brain-machine interface technology.
In animal experiments, by implanting a small film with soft filaments inside the skull, monkeys can control a robotic arm to grab a "strawberry" using only their "thoughts."
Unlike the semi-invasive brain cortex electrical signal acquisition system "Brain-1," the newly released "Brain-2" uses invasive single-neuron electrical signal acquisition by implanting electrodes into the monkey's brain, significantly enhancing the precision of signal acquisition and decoding.
The high performance of "Brain-2" is attributed to three core components developed in China: high-throughput flexible microelectrodes, a thousand-channel high-speed neural signal acquisition device, and a generative neural decoding algorithm based on feedforward control strategy.
The algorithm used in "Brain-2" is also domestically developed, capable of establishing precise mapping between brain cortex neural activity and motor parameters. (Source: )
Xiaomi executive denies Lei Jun being locked in car by Li Xiang: Two bosses had a pleasant conversation
On April 27th, it was reported that at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun was rumored to have been locked in a car by Li Xiang, the CEO of Li Xiang Auto, sparking discussions.
On April 27th, Xu Jieyun, special assistant to the chairman of Xiaomi Group, reposted a related Weibo post to refute the rumor: "It's fake, I was right next to Li Xiang. The actual situation was that Mr. Lei sat in the L6 for a test drive, and at that time, he was commenting on how comfortable the armrests on both sides were placed, which was very reasonable from a design perspective. Jokes are jokes, everyone, don't take them seriously." (Source: IT Home)
Image source: Weibo. The original Weibo post that was reposted has been deleted.
*Header image source: AI-generated
Beijing Brain II Brain-Machine Interface Google Dash Cartsvivo X100 Ultra Alphabet 618 OpenAI Apple
