xAI’s Aurora vanishes + OpenAI’s 12-day blitz 🌌🤖

xAI’s image generator Aurora pulled after hours, while OpenAI kicks off a holiday spree of AI updates.

December 09, 2024

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OpenAI’s Sora video generator won’t launch in the EU or UK initially, citing region-specific compliance reviews, a hurdle other tech giants like Meta and Microsoft have also faced.

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Latest headlines 👇

xAI, the AI division of X, rolled out its advanced image generator, Aurora, within Grok over the weekend, only to pull it down hours later. Aurora impressed users with its lifelike depictions of people and animals, surpassing rivals like Mystic. However, its swift disappearance raises questions.

Elon Musk described Aurora as an "internal image generation system" still in beta. The removal is speculated to address safeguards, as Aurora could generate images of public figures like Musk and Sam Altman with uncanny accuracy. Users are now back to the Flux 1.1 Pro model, with Aurora potentially returning in a more refined state.

Former OpenAI engineer Alexis Conneau and Google veteran Coralie Lemaitre have teamed up to launch WaveForm, a startup creating advanced audio AI technology. The system aims to go beyond traditional speech-to-text by capturing intonation and emotion, addressing the "Speech Turing Test"—making human-AI interactions indistinguishable.

WaveForm has raised $40 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. While specifics are under wraps, the startup plans to prove itself in the consumer market before targeting B2B applications, with potential use cases ranging from education to emotional AI companions.

China’s regulator has launched an antitrust probe into Nvidia’s 2019 $7 billion purchase of Mellanox, focusing on compliance with commitments like sharing product data with rivals. The move follows U.S. restrictions on Nvidia’s AI chip sales to China, escalating tech tensions. Analysts highlight Nvidia’s critical role, driving projected 18% profit growth for major tech firms in 2025.

A U.S. breast-screening program using AI-enhanced mammograms reported a 21% increase in cancer detection, according to DeepHealth. Involving 747,604 women, the study showed AI acting as a "second set of eyes" helped radiologists spot anomalies. Researchers acknowledged selection bias but attributed the detection improvement largely to AI. Further randomized trials are planned to validate these findings.

Reddit is rolling out Reddit Answers, an AI-powered tool that summarizes information from across the platform, offering links to source posts. Designed to bypass Google for Reddit searches, it pulls timely content directly from the platform. Currently available in the U.S. and on iOS, Reddit Answers aims to enhance how users explore Reddit's vast content.

OpenAI has launched its festive "12 days of ship-mas," unveiling a series of AI updates and products daily, starting December 5th. The first announcement included the release of the upgraded o1 reasoning model and a new $200/month ChatGPT Pro subscription, offering advanced tools like GPT-4o and exclusive reasoning features. Upcoming reveals are rumored to include Sora, OpenAI’s text-to-video AI generator, alongside more features and demos.

Stay tuned for daily updates. Read more.