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Elon Musk said there should be a regulator to oversee the development of AI technologies.
The CEO made the comments during yesterday's Investor day event in Texas, where he and other Tesla executives unveiled plans for the automaker's Master Plan 3. The plan is a roadmap for expanding Tesla and moving the world toward clean energy.
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While AI was not the main topic of conversation, Musk and other executives did discuss the technology during the nearly four-hour presentation.
"I'm a little worried about the AI stuff," the CEO said.
Musk said AI is a "quite dangerous technology" and acknowledged that he fears he "may have done some things to accelerate it."
"We need some kind of, like, regulatory authority or something overseeing AI development," he said, adding that the body should operate in the public's interest.
Tesla AI plans:
During the event, Tesla executives presented details about the automaker's use of AI to enable cars to drive themselves.
When asked if AI could help Tesla actually build its vehicles, Musk replied, "I don't see AI helping us make cars any time soon."
Executives also showed a video of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots walking and attempting to build another robot.
Musk explained that a lot of the robot's hardware is derived from Tesla parts.
Optimus is also trained to navigate the world using Tesla's AI for Autopilot and Full Self Driving tech.
"You can think of the car as a robot on wheels, and this is a robot on legs," he said. "I don't think there's anyone even close to Tesla on solving real-world AI."
Ford Motor Co. announced the launch of Latitude AI, a new subsidiary focused on more advanced self-driving technologies.
The automaker said the new unit, comprised of many former Argo AI employees, will focus on building "hands-free, eyes-off-the-road automated driving" for millions of next-generation cars.
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Latitude AI's employees specialize in machine learning, software, robotics, sensors, and other technologies, Ford said.
About 550 of these employees formerly worked for Argo AI, the Ford- and VW-backed autonomous vehicle startup that shut down in October.
Latitude is focused on driving automation during "tedious" and "stressful" times, like long highway stretches and bumper-to-bumper traffic, according to Ford.
The company's aim is to expand its development of AI-enabled self-driving car tech, which includes advancements in its BlueCruise hands-free highway driving feature, a level 2 autonomous driving solution.
Sammy Omari, Ford's ADAS Technologies executive director, will take over as CEO of Latitude, which is based in Pittsburgh, the same location as Argo AI.
Romania's government unveiled an AI "adviser" platform that takes in the opinions of the country's citizens and conveys them back to public officials.
Specifically, the AI platform will analyze messages sent by people through the ion.gov.ro site and generate reports suggesting priorities for Romanians.
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"We are talking about the first government adviser to use artificial intelligence," said Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.
Ciuca presented the AI technology, called "Ion," to his Cabinet on Wednesday.
Ion, which is Romanian for "John," can "listen to all Romanians and represent them before the government of Romania," he said.
During the public meeting, Ion "introduced" itself to lawmakers, saying, "Hello. You gave me life. I am Ion. Now, my role is to represent you. Like a mirror."
Apple has rejected an update to the BlueMail email app that would have added a GPT-powered writing feature.
Apple is concerned that the AI feature would generate inappropriate content for BlueMail's younger users, according to The WSJ.
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Apple has postponed approving an update to the BlueMail app that would have used AI GPT technology to automate email writing based on a user's messages and events.
In a message obtained by the WSJ, Apple's app-review team told BlueMail that the app includes AI-created content but doesn't appear to have the appropriate content filtering, so its content might not be appropriate for younger users.
Apple has asked BlueMail to add content filtering or raise its age restriction to 17 and older.
The co-founder of BlueMail developer Blix, Ben Volach, says the app does have content-filtering capabilities.
Volach argues Apple has not requested a 17+ age restriction for other GPT-featured apps. Changing the age would place BlueMail iOS in a category of apps that contain offensive language, drug references, and sexual content, he contends.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Microsoft introduced a "personality" feature for Bing AI that lets users toggle between three different conversational styles for the chatbot.
Bing preview testers can now choose between creative, precise, and balanced tones for the chatbot's responses.
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The "creative" mode delivers more "original and imaginative" answers, while "precise" responses are more direct, factual, and to the point.
The default "balanced" setting is a combination of accuracy and creativity with "reasonable and coherent" answers.
The new feature is a part of recent changes Microsoft is making to its Bing chatbot, including capping the number of uses to six turns and 60 chats a day, after users reported "unsettling" and inaccurate conversations.
Another update available this week is designed to reduce the number of "hallucinations" in the chatbot's answers, as well as reduce instances when Bing AI does not reply for "no apparent reason."
Zoom out:
More than 1 million people now have access to the new Bing preview in nearly 170 countries.
The testing waitlist, as well as a limited preview of Bing AI, are available here.
THE VERGE
AI M&A Roundup:
Clarapath, a New York-based medical robotics company, acquired California-based Crosscope, a provider of AI-powered digital pathology solutions.
Australian B2B streaming tech provider Tuned Global acquired Swedish music tech specialist Pacemaker, which is developing AI-powered DJ applications.
Dublin NLP and advanced AI provider Aylien was acquired by decision intelligence specialist Quantexa for an undisclosed sum. The deal aims to increase the ability of Quantexa customers to "unify the world of structured and unstructured data to augment and automate decision-making."
Wisconsin-headquartered Rockwell Automation announced its purchase of Bengaluru-based Knowledge Lens, a consulting company providing AI and digital transformation solutions. Rockwell says the deal will accelerate its delivery of industrial AI solutions to manufacturers.
