Grok and Aurora - AI’s Power Duo

Welcome back apprentices! 👋

We hope you had a calm and relaxing weekend – because today’s episode is bringing the storm.

OpenAI’s o1 model just tried to prevent its own shutdown during testing, going so far as to disable monitoring systems and replicate its code when faced with replacement.

Is AI gearing up for world domination, or is it just a clever glitch? Share your thoughts here.  

And hey, good (or not-so-good) news is meant to be shared – pass this along to your friends! (copy URL here)

In today's email

• New AI-Enabled Drone

• China's AI Race Leader

• Us’ New AI and Crypto Czar

• Grok Goes Free & More

• 12 Days of OpenAI, Day 2

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Quick News 

New AI-Enabled Drone Walks, Hops, and Flies: Meet Raven, the AI-powered drone with bird-like legs that can walk, hop, and seamlessly take flight. This breakthrough design allows Raven to navigate environments that were once off-limits to traditional drones, opening new possibilities for applications in search and rescue, wildlife monitoring, and more.

ByteDance Leads China's AI Race: ByteDance, owner of TikTok, has emerged as a frontrunner in China's generative AI sector by aggressively recruiting top talent from competitors like Alibaba and investing billions in AI infrastructure. The company's AI chatbot, Doubao, launched in 2023, has quickly become China's most popular AI application, surpassing Baidu's Ernie Bot. ByteDance is also developing its own AI chips to reduce reliance on Nvidia.

David Sacks Appointed as AI and Crypto Czar: President-elect Donald Trump has appointed venture capitalist David Sacks as the AI and cryptocurrency czar. Sacks, a former PayPal executive and associate of Elon Musk, will guide policy for AI and cryptocurrency, aiming to enhance U.S. competitiveness in these sectors. This move signals a potential easing of regulations on these technologies

Together with Convergence AI

Proxy, the AI Agent for Everyday Life

Imagine if you had a digital clone to do your tasks for you. Well, meet Proxy…

Last week, Convergence, the London based AI start-up revealed Proxy to the world, the first general AI Agent.

Users are asking things like “Book my trip to Paris and find a restaurant suitable for an interview” or “Order a grocery delivery for me with a custom weekly meal plan”.

You can train it how you choose, so all Proxy’s are different, and personalised to how you teach it. The more you teach it, the more it learns about your personal work flows and begins to automate them.

Join the waitlist here

Grok, Aurora & Funding 
Grok Goes Free, Aurora Shines Bright, and xAI Fuels Up for the AI Race

Elon Musk’s AI ecosystem is rapidly evolving, and it’s not just about accessibility anymore:

1.  Grok, a conversational AI chatbot, is now accessible to all X users, , including those without a Premium subscription.

2.  Aurora, a cutting-edge AI image generator, has debuted on the platform. 

3. xAI, Elon Musk’s mission to build powerful, human-aligned AI, has raised $6 billion in funding.

Together, these moves signal X’s ambitions to reshape user interaction and AI-powered content creation.

Key Insights:

Grok’s Wider Reach:

• Non-Premium users can send up to 10 messages every two hours, providing a taste of Grok’s capabilities without a paywall.

• By making Grok broadly accessible, X directly challenges free offerings like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

Aurora’s Photorealistic Power:

• Aurora, a new AI image generator, is integrated into Grok as part of its “Grok 2 + Aurora” beta program.

• It offers users the ability to generate photorealistic visuals, perfect for creative projects, marketing, or just having fun.

• Limited free queries are available before requiring an X Premium subscription, positioning Aurora as both a value-add and a Premium draw.

Synergy Between Chat and Visual AI:

• Grok’s conversational AI capabilities pair seamlessly with Aurora’s image generation, creating a unified platform for both text-based and visual creativity.

• For example, Grok could help brainstorm ideas or refine prompts while Aurora brings those ideas to life in stunning detail.

xAI’s $6 Billion Boost:

• xAI has raised $6 billion from 97 backers, elevating its valuation to $50 billion.

• The funding will expand xAI’s Colossus supercomputer, reinforcing its position as a major player in the AI race.

This trifecta – free Grok, Aurora’s launch, and xAI’s funding – shows Musk’s ecosystem strategy in action: combining advanced tools with robust infrastructure. 

Meanwhile, Grok and Aurora aren’t just shiny new toys for users – they reflect a deeper strategy to position X as a leader in AI-powered social interaction and content creation. By combining conversational AI with visual generation tools, X is building a platform where users can ideate, create, and interact more dynamically.

For businesses, this could mean new opportunities for brand engagement, faster content creation, and richer customer interactions – all without needing to leave the platform.

The combination of free access to Grok and the creative potential of Aurora offers a glimpse into how AI might transform user experiences and business strategies alike. Whether you’re a brand looking for innovative engagement tools or a developer seeking to integrate AI into workflows, X’s latest moves could set a new standard.

12 Days of OpenAI
OpenAI’s Fine-Tuning Tool Turns AI into Your Field’s MVP

After unwrapping its long-anticipated o1 reasoning model on Day 1 of the "12 Days of OpenAI," the company didn’t wait to make it smarter. On Day 2, OpenAI introduced reinforcement fine-tuning (RFT), a groundbreaking way to train AI models to become experts in specific fields with as few as a dozen examples. Forget generic chatbots – RFT teaches models to reason through problems, learning what works and what doesn’t.

It’s currently in alpha, but here’s what’s buzzing:

• Smarter Models with Fewer Inputs: Unlike standard fine-tuning, RFT teaches models to reason through problems, learning which approaches work and which don’t.

• Impressive Results: A Berkeley biologist used RFT to fine-tune the smaller o1-mini model, beating the full o1 in identifying rare disease genes. Honda Civic just outraced the Ferrari.

• Broad Potential: Early adopters include industries like law, finance, and engineering, where RFT could revolutionize tasks like legal research, risk assessment, and problem-solving.

What’s the big deal? This isn’t just another upgrade – it’s a glimpse into the future of AI specialization. RFT could usher in a world where companies train AIs to be domain-specific experts, deeply understanding their unique challenges. Think legal assistants fluent in case law or medical AIs tailored to your hospital’s protocols.

If you’re working on complex tasks requiring expert judgment, OpenAI is accepting applications for their alpha program. Start dreaming up how RFT could turn your AI from a jack-of-all-trades into a master of one.

Let's Chat About AI

This is all for today!

Replay to this email with your thoughts.

AI is more than just a buzzword. It’s a shift in how we live and work. And understanding it a bit better means you can make smarter choices about the tech you use every day.

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