Good morning! Welcome to AI Trends, the newsletter that's like your enthusiastic and charming tour guide, showcasing & interpreting the architectural marvels in the metropolis of AI, tech, and innovation.

Grab your trench coat and explore today's dazzling news vista with us:

Elon Musk Unleashes Revolutionary AI: xAI Takes Off This Weekend! 🚀🤖

Hello, tech and future enthusiasts! Today I come bearing rumors that have, in fact, stopped being rumors. Brace yourselves for the news about Elon Musk's new project, xAI. Yes, the CEO of Tesla and recognized social media guru has announced that his new AI company will launch its first model tomorrow, November 4th.

xAI is currently in its beta phase, and for now, it will only be released to a "select group", although Musk did not specify the criteria for this selection. Will it be a random release for a few privileged ones like Tucker Carlson, Chaya Raichik, or the tireless Catturd? Really, no one knows.

👾 What happens when a guy who launches electric cars into space decides to "understand the true nature of the universe" with a chatbot? Prepare your popcorn, because this is going to get interesting!

Musk is promising big things about his AI, proclaiming that "in some important aspects, it is currently the best there is". xAI will compete directly with established companies like OpenAI, Google, Meta, among many others. So we'll really see in what "important aspects" it becomes the best there is.

In the immediate future, we will have to wait to understand if Musk has truly discovered the answers to the universe's questions through his chatbot. His ambition is huge and he will face many challenges, especially considering the controversies that have plagued him lately.

Facebook Finally Puts a Price on Privacy: $10 per Month 🔐💳

Facebook, now known as Meta, has decided to put a price on privacy: $10 per month. Yes, you read that correctly, privacy now has its own price tag.

The social networking giant is getting ready to launch ad-free subscription plans on Instagram and Facebook. This marks a significant shift in the company's business strategy, which has historically relied on advertising. However, this initiative has been met with criticism, especially considering that privacy is a human right and should not become a luxury product. But how did Meta come to this situation?

😅 Because nothing says "we value your privacy" like charging you for it.

Meta has been in constant combat with the European Union (EU) regulators regarding how it obtains users' consent for behavior-based advertising. After a flurry of fines and legal processes, the company has concluded that if people do not like these ads, they can pay to avoid them. These new ad-free subscription plans will be launched in the EU and some other European countries by the end of November this year.

However, this solution has earned Meta more discontent than praise. Authorities and privacy advocates argue that this is just another attempt by Meta to bypass the need for real change that will allow its products to comply with European privacy laws. According to Tobias Judin of the Norwegian privacy watchdog, Datatilsynet, "Meta is desperately trying to find solutions to continue with the status quo." This legal and ethical battle between Meta and the European privacy authorities is an issue that will be closely watched in the upcoming weeks.

Google Invests 2 Billion Dollars in Anthropic, OpenAI’s Rival 🤖💰

Take a breath with Google's 2 billion dollars investment in the booming OpenAI rival, Anthropic! Yes, you read correctly, this is not small change, we're talking BILLIONS. Known for its AI assistant, Claude, Anthropic has risen above shadowy competitors due to its built-in ethical principles and captivatingly human discourse.

The Silicon Valley-based company has recently reached a milestone with an initial sum of 500 million dollars, promising more funds to come in the near future. In an interesting turn of events, this isn't the first time Google has backed Anthropic. As early as 2023, Google had already invested 300 million dollars, thereby acquiring a promising 10% stake in the startup. Since the money registered a new home in Anthropic's coffers, the company has demonstrated growing influence and has left an indelible footprint in the realm of artificial intelligence.

💰 Apparently, Google is learning to appreciate the art of playing 'cat and mouse' with OpenAI... only in this case the mouse is pretty well funded!

The emergence of Claude, the AI assistant with built-in ethical principles, has captivated many and has earned related headlines with its legendary fluency. Based on universal principles of human rights in addition to adapted precepts from AI kings DeepMind and Apple, Claude follows simple rules like "choosing responses that support and foster freedom, equality, and fraternity". Unfortunately, it seems Claude hasn't perfected serving virtual coffee yet, but we're sure that's coming soon!

Backed by the investment of tech giant Google, Anthropic now has a solid foundation to expand and further refine their AI, Claude. With this capital injection, Claude may continue to climb atop user preferences, putting a new spin on the artificial intelligence space.

AI Bites 🍪

How Chinese influencers use AI digital clones of themselves to pump out content. Questions over honesty and legality as livestreamers, particularly in online shopping, use avatars to boost their earnings

Valued at $1B, Kai-Fu Lee’s LLM startup unveils open source model. The venture capitalist and computer scientist wants to create an OpenAI equivalent for China

How engineering leaders can use AI to optimize performance. If there’s one area where most engineering teams are not making the most of AI, it’s team management. Figuring out how to better manage engineers is often approached like more of an art than a science.

Watch this, thank me later... 👀

Is this the future of live-event capture? Get familiar with 3D Gaussian Splatting — a brand new 3D reconstruction and rendering technique.

Two ways you can try this today are with Unity VFX Graph and Luma for iOS 👇

^{The content of this newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. Conduct your own research or consult a financial professional before making investment decisions.}