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OpenAI released Sora, its highly anticipated text-to-video AI generator, now available for ChatGPT Plus and Pro users. With features like storyboard-guided prompts and seamless blending, Sora promises to open new creative possibilities. Let’s unpack...

Today’s Summary:

• 🎥 OpenAI launches Sora video AI

• 🆓 X’s Grok AI goes free

• 🌧️ DeepMind GenCast beats traditional weather forecast

• 🏆 Gemini-exp-1206 beats GPT-4o

• 🔎 Reddit unveils AI Answers search tool

• ⚡Google launches Paligemma 2 vision model

• 🛠️ 2 new tools

TOP STORY

OpenAI launches Sora video generator

The Summary: OpenAI has launched Sora, a text-to-video AI model available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers. Users can create videos up to 20 seconds long at resolutions up to 1080p using text prompts, images, or existing videos. The tool offers advanced features like video remixing, seamless blending, and storyboarding.

Key details:

• Pricing structure: Plus users ($20/month) get up to 50 priority videos at 720p/5s, Pro users ($200/month) get up to 500 priority videos at 1080p/20s, with a credit system

• A storyboard tool guides frame-by-frame prompts for precise scene control

• All videos include C2PA metadata and watermarks

• Technical and safety details are outlined in the Sora System Card

• Launch excludes the EU, UK, and CH due to regulations. See the list of supported countries.

Why it matters: After months of anticipation since its February preview, Sora finally lands in users' hands. OpenAI's move to make text-to-video generation widely available opens up new creative possibilities.

Try it at Sora.com - How to generate videos on Sora (guide)

X

Grok AI opens gates to all X users

The Summary: X has removed the Premium subscription requirement for its Grok AI chatbot, giving free access to all users within usage limits. Users can send 10 messages and generate 10 images every two hours. The move comes as xAI secured $6 billion in new funding. Additionally, X's new image generator, Aurora, is set to launch platform-wide within a week, offering more photorealistic rendering and precise visual details.

Key details:

• Free users get 10 Grok messages and 10 image generations per 2-hour window, along with 3 free image analyses daily

• xAI closed a $6 billion funding round, doubling its total funding to $12 billion

• Aurora image generator can handle complex tasks like rendering text, logos, and intricate visual details

• Less than 1% of X users had Premium access to Grok before this change, making this a 100x expansion in reach

Why it matters: This move positions X as a new competitor in the free AI tier currently dominated by ChatGPT and Claude. It signals a strategy focused on user growth rather than immediate revenue generation.

Try Grok on X

RESEARCH

DeepMind GenCast AI breaks 15-day weather forecasting barriers

The Summary: DeepMind's GenCast weather model delivers 15-day forecasts in just 8 minutes, outperforming traditional systems that require hours on supercomputers. The AI generates over 50 weather scenarios and predicts extreme events with impressive accuracy. In tests against the world's leading forecast system ECMWF, GenCast achieved 97.2% accuracy while running on a single chip.

Key details:

• Processes 40 years of weather data to predict 80+ atmospheric variables

• Can predict cyclone paths up to a week before landfall, reducing emergency costs

• Makes wind power generation predictions beyond current standards

• Breaks the theoretical 14-day forecast limit scientists thought impossible since the 1960s

Why it matters: This breakthrough could transform disaster preparedness and renewable energy planning on a global scale. The speed and accessibility of GenCast - needing just one chip instead of a supercomputer - allows advanced weather forecasting for regions that can't afford expensive systems.

Nature Research Paper

QUICK NEWS

Quick news

• Gemini-exp-1206 hits #1 in leaderboards beating GPT-4o

• Google debuts Paligemma 2 open-source vision model

• Reddit introduces AI Answers search tool

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