Google: Gemini AI demo video was faked; Apple Blocking Android’s new iMessage app

🙅‍♀️ Apple has seemingly found a way to block Android’s new iMessage app. Link

• Apple has stopped Beeper, a service that enabled iMessage-like features on Android, and faced no EU regulatory action.

• Efforts by Nothing and Beeper to bring iMessage to Android failed due to security issues and Apple's intervention.

• Apple plans to support RCS messaging next year, improving Android-to-iPhone messages without using iMessage.

🎥 Google admits that a Gemini AI demo video was staged. Link

• Google's demonstration of its new AI model, Gemini Pro, was partially fabricated, with the company admitting to speeding up video footage and shortening outputs, misleading the public about the model's capabilities.

• The demo, meant to showcase Gemini Pro's advanced image recognition and reasoning skills, was exaggerated, as the AI was given more time to analyze images than shown, raising doubts about its actual performance.

• This incident follows Google's previous AI launch mishaps, including a false claim by its ChatGPT competitor, Bard, casting further doubt on the company's AI developments and claims.

🤖 X begins rolling out Grok, its ‘rebellious’ chatbot, to subscribers. Link

• Grok, a ChatGPT competitor developed by xAI, Elon Musk’s AI startup, has officially launched and integrates real-time X data into its responses.

• Distinct from ChatGPT, Grok possesses a unique personality with a touch of wit, answering provocatively compared to more reserved AI counterparts.

• While Grok enhances the subscription value of X by offering conversational AI experiences, it remains text-only but plans for multimodal abilities are underway.

🐭 Immersive VR goggles for mice unlock new potential for brain science. Link

• Researchers at Northwestern University have developed miniature virtual reality (VR) goggles for mice, offering more immersive experiences and accurately simulating natural environments to better study neural circuits underlying behavior.

• Unlike existing VR systems that use flat screens, the new goggles provide a 180-degree field of view for each eye, enabling the simulation of overhead threats and eliminating surrounding environmental distractions.

• This advancement in VR technology for mice reduces training times, enhances the precision of brain studies, and makes neurobiological research more accessible due to the goggles' simplicity and lower cost.

🦙 Meta trials Purple Llama project for AI developers to test safety risks in models. Link

• Meta has launched Purple Llama, an open-source project aimed at helping developers enhance trust and safety in generative AI models, with collaborations from major tech entities like AWS, Google Cloud, Intel, AMD, Nvidia, and Microsoft.

• The project includes tools like CyberSec Eval for testing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in AI models and Llama Guard, a language model to identify and filter inappropriate or harmful content.

• Purple Llama represents a comprehensive approach to AI safety, combining both offensive and defensive strategies (red team and blue team) to mitigate risks associated with generative AI models.

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