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A Manhattan Project For AI

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Welcome back to The Prompt.

The USCC, a Congressional commission on U.S. relations with China, on Tuesday unveiled its annual report. One proposal in it is an initiative to fund the development of AI that is as smart or smarter than humans, similar to the Manhattan Project that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, Reuters reports. (One of the commissioners quoted by Reuters is Jacob Helberg, who Forbes profiled here.)

The proposal comes as the rivalry between the U.S. and China intensifies over artificial intelligence, as both nations race to develop advanced technology. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said that public-private partnerships would be key, but did not provide specific details for funding plans.

Now let’s get into the headlines.

BIG PLAYs

Facebook parent Meta is forming a new unit focused on building AI products for businesses, Axios reports. The new group will be led by Clara Shih, former CEO of Salesforce AI, and is tasked with creating products for the 200 million businesses on the social platform. In September, Facebook unveiled an AI business chatbot for handling customer service and transactions for businesses through Messenger and WhatsApp — an example of the type of product Shih’s new group may be aiming to create.

PEAK PERFORMANCE

Google is rolling out a new “memory” feature for its Gemini AI service, TechCrunch reports, which allows paying users to ask the AI to remember specific interests or preferences, like their favorite type of cuisine. The idea is to give the bot more context about users so it can tailor responses to them — like suggesting Mexican taquerias if they ask for a list of nearby restaurants. The feature is similar to ChatGPT’s memory ability, launched in February. Google said user memories are “never shared or used” to train its AI models.

AI DEALS OF THE WEEK

Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI is reportedly raising $6 billion to buy 100,000 Nvidia chips for its supercomputer in Memphis, according to CNBC. The funding would nearly double the company’s valuation to $50 billion, the publication reports, up from $24 billion in May when it announced another $6 billion fundraise. The bulk of the new cash, $5 billion, is coming from sovereign funds in the Middle East, and the rest is from other investors. The deal is expected to close next week.

Tessl, an AI startup that automates software development, has raised a $100 million Series A, led by Index Ventures with participation from Accel, GV, and Boldstart. It follows a previously unannounced $25 million seed round led by GV and Boldstart. The company lets developers enter specs into a platform then uses AI to code and auto-maintain the project.

DEEP DIVE

If the future of business is AI, then these are the people leading the charge.

As artificial intelligence continues its march into the mainstream — generating billions in investment and research — it has gained particular traction in enterprise. Almost two-thirds of organizations say they’re now using AI in at least one business function, up from a third last year, according to a May report from consulting giant McKinsey. And 67% expect their companies to invest even more in AI over the next three years.

The executives in charge of making those deployments are often Chief Information Officers, navigating new terrain with a fast evolving technology full of possibility. These new opportunities mean there may be no job in the corporate C-suite that has changed more in recent years than the CIO. This list honors them and those beyond that title: Chief Information Security Officers, Chief Digital Officers, Chief Technology Officers, and the like.

Now in its fifth year, the Forbes CIO Next list recognizes executives in the U.S. across a wide array of sectors: trillion-dollar tech giants like Google and Microsoft, banks and financial services firms like Visa and Capital One, household brands like Coca-Cola and United Airlines, and even government officials from NASA and the city of San Francisco.

In 2024, generative AI was a unifying trend for many of the organizations honored. Some are using chatbots to help employees conjure up answers for their armies of customer service representatives. Others are using AI models to help train employees internally on company policies, or mitigate cybersecurity threats. Still others are using AI to manage supply chains and handle logistics. For many, the deployments have resulted in tangible gains, like revenue growth, time saved and operations scaled. Not every CIO on the list is pushing their company heavily into AI, but it’s a persistent driving force as workplaces look to adapt for the future.

To compile this list, Forbes sent out a call for nominations and consulted with experts and trade organizations to find worthy candidates. After reviewing hundreds of names, Forbes staffers poured through applications to find 50 standouts that exemplify excellence in the role. Of note, this list isn’t ranked; instead, it’s meant to be a spotlight on the best and brightest in the field. We prioritized candidates who are making big impacts at their companies, with recent accomplishments and tangible successes.

Read the full CIO Next List on Forbes.

AI INDEX

$16 million

The minimum amount that OpenAI is paying the publisher DotDash Meredith to license its content, AdWeek reports. The digital media company, which publishes People magazine and Food & Wine, made the disclosure in the latest earnings report of parent company IAC. The $16 million figure is the “fixed” component, so it could go up depending on the “variable.” OpenAI has several licensing deals with other publishers, including Axel Springer, The Atlantic and News Corp. The DotDash Meredith contract is sizably smaller than its News Corp deal, reportedly valued at more than $250 million.

QUIZ

This household brand has sparked controversy for its “uncanny” AI-generated holiday ads.

  1. Campbell’s
  2. McDonald’s
  3. Coca-Cola
  4. M&M’s

Check if you got it right.

MODEL BEHAVIOR

Did you think Pokemon Go was all fun and games? Turns out that when you were playing the popular mobile game, trekking across town to capture a Snorlax, you were probably unwittingly training a new AI model for gamemaker Niantic, aimed at mapping the physical world. Last week, the company announced it was building a Large Geospatial Model, or LGM, which makes predictions about the physical environment akin to a language model like OpenAI’s GPT makes predictions about text, reports 404 Media. The publication notes that the technology could be suited for robot navigation or military purposes.

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