Welcome to Get The Gist, where every weekday we share an easy-to-read summary of the latest and greatest developments in AI—news, innovations, and trends—all delivered in under 5 minutes! ⏱

In today’s edition:

• Microsoft Revives Nuclear Power Plant to Meet Growing AI Energy Demands

• Alibaba and Nvidia Team Up to Drive Innovation with New AI Car Tech

• Sam Altman Teams Up with Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs to Build a Revolutionary AI Device

• GitHub Announces Preview of Two New OpenAI Models

• And more AI news….

Top Developments

Microsoft

Microsoft Revives Nuclear Power Plant to Meet Growing AI Energy Demands

The Gist: Microsoft has partnered with Constellation to restart a Pennsylvania nuclear plant to support its AI operations. The plant will provide 835MW of low-carbon energy, aligning with Microsoft’s push for more sustainable power despite challenges with rising emissions from data centers.

Key Details:

• Power Deal: Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement to receive energy from the Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor, which had been closed since 2019.

• Plant Revival: The reactor will undergo significant upgrades and must pass safety approvals before resuming operations.

• Historical Context: The plant is near the infamous Unit 2, site of the 1979 meltdown, though Unit 1 is considered safe for continued use.

• Sustainability Goals: While Microsoft aims to be carbon-negative by 2030, its AI operations have driven up emissions, leading to investments in nuclear energy, carbon credits, and other offsets.

Alibaba/Nvidia

Alibaba and Nvidia Team Up to Drive Innovation with New AI Car Tech

The Gist: Alibaba Cloud has teamed up with Nvidia and Banma Network Technology to launch an advanced multimodal model for automotive applications, enhancing the in-car experience through sophisticated AI-powered voice assistants.

Key Details:

• The new system integrates Alibaba’s Qwen language models with Nvidia’s Drive AGX Orin platform to support intelligent driving.

• This collaboration aims to significantly reduce costs and improve response times in real-time AI processing for vehicles.

• The LMM solution allows voice assistants in cars to engage in conversations, provide recommendations, and execute commands effortlessly.

• Users can even place food orders like a milkshake through voice commands while driving, making for a convenient and interactive experience.

Sam Altman

Sam Altman Teams Up with Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs to Build a Revolutionary AI Device

The Gist: Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is collaborating with renowned Apple designer Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs to develop a new AI-centric device. The startup aims to create groundbreaking technology that goes beyond existing devices, with backing from prominent investors.

Key Details:

• Altman, Ive, and Powell Jobs are working together on a new AI device company, with funding from Ive and Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective.

• Jony Ive, who led the design of iconic Apple products, is central to developing this new AI device.

• The venture is set to raise up to $1 billion in startup funding by the end of 2024, though the product concept and release date are still being finalized.

• Altman sees this project as a chance to explore what new AI-driven platforms could achieve, beyond traditional smartphones.

Quick Gist

LinkedIn has paused using UK users' personal data to train AI models following pressure from UK regulators, particularly the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)(Read More).

At the UN Summit of the Future, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a $120 million Global AI Opportunity Fund aimed at expanding AI education and training worldwide (Read More).

Perplexity AI, backed by Jeff Bezos, is developing a disruptive "sponsored" question ad system to challenge Google's ad model, in discussions with major brands like Nike and Marriott, and plans to launch by year-end (Read More).

Grzegorz Swirszcz, a former AI expert at Google DeepMind, has been appointed Quant Research Director at the London-based hedge fund Qube Research & Technologies (Read More).

Tech giants, including Meta, Google, and Amazon, are pushing for more lenient regulations in the EU's upcoming AI Act, the first comprehensive global framework for AI governance (Read More).

ByteDance has denied plans to develop its own AI semiconductors or replace NVIDIA in the short term, while still exploring semiconductor initiatives for long-term goals (Read More).

GitHub announced the preview of two new OpenAI models, o1-preview and o1-mini, designed to enhance reasoning capabilities in coding, now available for developers using GitHub Copilot and Models (Read More).

THAT’S IT FOR TODAY!