Welcome back!

OpenAI is finally rolling out the long-awaited Advanced Voice Mode for all ChatGPT Plus users. This update brings five new voices and enhanced customization options, though it notably excludes users in the EU. Let’s dive in…

Today’s Summary:

• 🎤 OpenAI releases Advanced Voice Mode

• 💡 New Google Gemini AI versions

• 🧠 Sam Altman predicts AI Superintelligence in 10 years

• ⚛️ Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power Microsoft AI

• 🖥️ Jony Ive joins OpenAI hardware project

• 🌍 OpenAI launches MMLU dataset

• 🧑‍💻 Alibaba Qwen rivals GPT-4 in coding

• 2 new tools

TOP STORY

OpenAI releases Advanced Voice Mode to all ChatGPT Plus users, except in the EU

The Summary: OpenAI is rolling out its Advanced Voice feature to all ChatGPT Plus and Team users. Starting today and set to be completed this week, the update includes five new voices, enhanced accents for better multilingual interactions, custom instructions, and improved memory features.

Key details:

• Five new voices introduced : Arbor, Maple, Sol, Spruce, and Vale, bringing the total to nine

• Supports over 50 languages

• New design with a blue animated sphere replacing the black dots

• Includes custom instructions and improved memory for tailored responses

• Plus and Team users will be notified via the mobile app

• The rollout excludes users in the EU, UK, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein.

Why it matters: OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode has been highly anticipated by users. The selective regional rollout points to ongoing regulatory challenges in deploying advanced AI features worldwide.

GOOGLE

Google Gemini models get major upgrades and price cuts

The Summary: Google has released updated Gemini AI models that are faster, more capable, and cheaper. The new Gemini-1.5-Pro-002 and Gemini-1.5-Flash-002 offer improved performance in math, long context, and vision tasks. With over 50% price reductions and increased rate limits, developers can now build more efficiently using Gemini. The updates also include faster outputs, lower latency, and customizable safety filters.

Key details:

• Gemini-1.5-Pro-002 input token prices dropped by 64%, output tokens by 52%, effective October 1, 2024, for prompts under 128K tokens

• Models show a 20% improvement on challenging math benchmarks, rivaling o1-preview

• Developers can now process 1,000-page PDFs and repositories with over 10,000 lines of code using Gemini long-context capabilities

• Rate limits increased to 2,000 RPM for 1.5 Flash and 1,000 RPM for 1.5 Pro, allowing for more scalable applications

Why it matters: Google’s aggressive price cuts and performance boosts could reshape the competitive landscape of AI development. By making powerful models more efficient for developers, Google is advancing the entire AI applications ecosystem.

Try it in AI Studio

OPENAI

OpenAI CEO predicts AI Superintelligence in less than 10 years

The Summary: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman published a rare personal blog post “The Intelligence Age” outlining his vision for an AI-driven future. He predicts the arrival of superintelligent AI within "a few thousand days" and emphasizes the transformative power of deep learning. He foresees AI solving complex problems, increasing global prosperity, and bringing about an "Intelligence Age." While acknowledging potential risks, he remains optimistic about AI's overall impact on society.

Key details:

• Altman suggests superintelligent AI could emerge within 10 years

• He credits deep learning as the driver for the next leap in human progress

• Envisions personal AI teams helping individuals accomplish almost anything

• Stresses the importance of reducing compute costs and make it abundant to democratize access to AI

• The blog post comes amid reports of OpenAI seeking a $150 billion valuation

Why it matters: Altman's predictions provide a glimpse into the mindset behind one of the world's leading AI companies. His optimistic outlook contrasts with concerns about AI's societal impact, fueling ongoing debates about the technology's future trajectory and its consequences.

Read Altman’s Full Post

QUICK NEWS

Quick news

• Jony Ive confirms involvement in AI hardware project with OpenAI

• Three-Mile Island nuclear plant reopening to power Microsoft AI

• OpenAI releases MMLU test dataset in 14 languages

• Alibaba Qwen 2.5 7B coder matches GPT-4 in coding tasks

TOOLS

🥇 New tools

• Buyscout - AI copilot for online shopping (Chrome extension)

• Sunrise - Guided journaling app for mindfulness