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This Week in AI: Perplexity, KPMG Job Cuts, Microsoft Recall, GPT-5 Previews & More
KPMG announces a major AI-driven restructuring plan to cut 250 jobs and save $80M annually. Perplexity AI faces challenges in the search engine market.
8

minutes

June 15, 2024
This content was generated using AI and curated by humans

KPMG, a leading accounting firm, has announced a significant restructuring plan aimed at overhauling its consulting business. This AI-driven initiative is expected to cut up to 250 senior jobs and save the company an additional $80 million annually. The restructuring is part of a broader effort to align KPMG's operations with its global counterparts and to meet the growing demand for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI).

KPMG's Major AI and Cost-Cutting Overhaul

Paul Howes, the National Managing Partner of Consulting at KPMG, emphasized the need for the firm to evolve in response to client expectations. He noted that traditional methods and legacy services are no longer in high demand, necessitating a rapid and foundational shift in the business. The restructuring will impact approximately 250 roles, with some employees facing redundancies. However, the firm aims to redeploy and upskill as many staff members as possible to areas of high demand.

The exact number of job losses remains unclear, but those affected will be contacted by June 21. The firm has already outlined its blueprint for the restructuring and will enter a consultation period before finalizing the plan in August. This move comes shortly after KPMG launched KymTax, a generative AI tool designed to assist tax professionals in navigating legislation, materials, and documents.

Overall, KPMG's restructuring plan reflects a strategic shift towards leveraging technology to transform its consulting services, ensuring that the firm remains competitive and capable of meeting future demands.

Perplexity AI Faces Challenges Amidst AI-Driven Search Engine Competition

Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence startup, has raised significant funding from notable tech investors, including Jeff Bezos, to challenge Google in the search engine market. However, the company is already encountering obstacles, particularly from news media companies that object to its business practices. Perplexity's AI-driven search chatbot is competing against tech giants like Google and Apple, which are integrating similar AI features into their products.

Perplexity's CEO, Aravind Srinivas, has been defending the company after it published a summarized news story that closely resembled a Forbes investigative piece without proper attribution. Forbes discovered other instances of similar content being used without permission. Additionally, the Associated Press found that another Perplexity feature was generating fake quotes from real people, including a former town official from Martha's Vineyard.

Srinivas stated that Perplexity aims to build positive relationships with news publishers and ensure their content reaches a wider audience. He emphasized that the company is an aggregator of information and has updated its practices to highlight sources more prominently following feedback from Forbes. Perplexity is also exploring revenue-sharing partnerships with news publishers.

Randall Lane, chief content officer of Forbes Media, described the dispute as a critical moment in the conversation about AI and its impact on journalism. He stressed the importance of respecting proprietary reporting and the hard work of journalists. Lane criticized Perplexity for acting like a media company and publishing stories without proper acknowledgment.

Perplexity, co-founded by Srinivas in 2022, positions itself as a combination of Wikipedia and ChatGPT, offering clean and concise answers to users' questions. The company sells a subscription for premium features and plans to introduce an advertising-based service. Unlike other AI companies, Perplexity does not train its own foundation models but relies on existing large language models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta Platforms. Despite its rapid growth, Perplexity's user base remains small compared to platforms like ChatGPT and Google's services.

The debate highlights the challenges faced by online content creators and the need for responsible AI practices. Experts suggest that companies like Perplexity should incorporate best practices and safeguards from the outset to avoid issues related to content aggregation and misinformation.

Pioneering AI Developments of the Week

In the latest episode of the AIW podcast, the hosts delve into a series of significant developments in the world of artificial intelligence, focusing on AI safety, regulatory measures, and new technological advancements.

AI Safety Summit and Global Commitments

The discussion kicks off with a recap of the AI Safety Summit held in the UK, where the LLY declaration was signed by 28 countries, signaling a strong commitment to AI safety. This was followed by President Biden's signing of an executive order in the US, marking the first AI-related directive with the force of law. The executive order aims to guide various departmental agencies on AI-related matters. Reggie Townson, Vice President of Data Ethics at SAS, was present at the signing, highlighting the importance of ethical considerations in AI development.

G7 Voluntary Code of Conduct for AI

The conversation then shifts to the G7 countries' agreement on a voluntary code of conduct for AI, emphasizing the need for global cooperation in AI governance. This code aims to address the lack of current regulations by setting certain commitments for AI development and deployment.

Elon Musk's Grok AI Bot

Elon Musk's latest venture, Grok, an AI bot designed to rival ChatGPT, also takes center stage. Grok, developed by Musk's company XAI, is modeled on the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and aims to provide quirky, humorous responses. The bot is currently in a limited release phase, leveraging real-time data from Twitter, which Musk acquired and revamped. Despite its smaller size compared to GPT-4, Grok has shown promising performance, raising questions about Musk's double standards given his previous calls to slow down AI development.

OpenAI's Developer Conference Highlights

The podcast also covers OpenAI's recent developer conference, where they unveiled several new features. The highlight was the introduction of GPT-4 Turbo, which boasts a significantly larger context window of 128,000 tokens, allowing users to input entire books into a single prompt. Additionally, OpenAI has reduced the cost of using their models, making them more accessible.

OpenAI's new GPT Builder tool enables users to create custom GPT models with specific instructions and data uploads, democratizing AI development. This tool allows for the creation of specialized assistants, which can be published in a GPT store, similar to an app store, where developers can monetize their creations.

Broader Implications and Future Trends

The podcast also touches on the broader implications of these advancements, such as the potential for AI to replace human commentators in real-time scenarios like sports events. OpenAI's models now support multimodal capabilities, including image and audio input and output, further expanding their practical applications.

The episode concludes with a discussion on other major players entering the AI race. Amazon has launched Project Olympus, a large language model initiative led by Rohit Prasad, former head of Alexa. In China, a new startup called 01 AI, backed by Alibaba, aims to create a ChatGPT competitor. IBM has also announced a $500 million venture fund to invest in generative AI startups, underscoring the industry's shift towards generative AI technologies.

Overall, the podcast highlights the rapid advancements and growing interest in AI, emphasizing the need for ethical considerations and global cooperation in its development and deployment.

GPT-5 Previews, Google's Next BIG AI, Military AI, AI Devices, and Slowing Down?

The video transcript delves into several significant developments and concerns in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). It begins with a startling revelation about Chinese researchers who have designed robot dogs equipped with machine guns, capable of rivaling human marksmen. This demonstration underscores the potential for autonomous systems to revolutionize warfare, raising ethical and safety concerns about the future of AI in military applications.

Google's DeepMind and Project Astra

The discussion then shifts to Google's DeepMind and its advancements in AI, particularly focusing on a new project called Astra. This project aims to ingest live streaming videos to assist with practical tasks, such as aiding the elderly in remembering where they placed their medicine or car keys. The CEO of DeepMind highlights the potential of AI to handle large context windows, enabling the processing of extensive texts and videos, which could transform research and everyday tasks.

Microsoft's Controversial "Recall" Feature

Microsoft's controversial "recall" feature is another focal point. Initially designed to capture and store screenshots of desktop activity to make users' lives easier, it faced backlash due to privacy concerns. Critics argued that the feature, if misused, could lead to significant privacy breaches. Microsoft has since made the feature opt-in rather than default, emphasizing the importance of user consent and security in AI applications.

Elon Musk's Supercomputer Ambitions

Elon Musk's ambitious plan to build the world's largest supercomputer in Memphis is also discussed. This supercomputer aims to support the next generation of AI models, addressing the current limitations in compute capacity. The project underscores the growing energy demands of AI and the need for sustainable power solutions, such as nuclear energy, to support these massive data centers.

Debate on AI Growth Trends

The transcript also touches on the debate within the AI community about whether current AI advancements are following an exponential growth trend or if they will eventually plateau. This discussion is crucial as it influences how researchers and companies plan for future AI developments. The potential for automated AI research is highlighted as a game-changer that could lead to exponential growth by enabling AI systems to improve themselves continuously.

AI-Enabled Glasses by Brilliant Labs AR

In a lighter segment, the video showcases a demo of AI-enabled glasses by Brilliant Labs AR. These glasses leverage generative AI to provide real-time assistance, such as translating text or suggesting nearby stores. This demo illustrates the practical applications of AI in everyday life and hints at a future where AI seamlessly integrates into our daily routines.

Microsoft's CTO on Future AI Models

Finally, the video features insights from Microsoft's CTO, who suggests that upcoming AI models could perform at the level of PhD students, indicating a significant leap in AI's reasoning capabilities. This advancement could pave the way for AI to handle more complex tasks and potentially automate AI research itself.

In summary, the video transcript covers a broad spectrum of AI developments, from military applications and privacy concerns to groundbreaking projects and future trends. It highlights the transformative potential of AI while also addressing the ethical and practical challenges that come with such rapid advancements.

This blog post is AI generated with input from the following sources:

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