This Month
‘Try the future’: New ChatGPT AI agents promise to do your jobs
Drawing on three pre-existing OpenAI products, ChatGPT Agent lets users ask AI to take control of multi-step and fairly complex tasks.
Square Peg emerges with stake in hot AI start-up Thinking Machines
The local venture capital co-founded by Paul Bassat has secured an investment in the AI business, in one of the largest ever funding rounds in Silicon Valley.
‘Everything is becoming more split’: the global AI divide
In the race for cutting-edge AI systems and computing power, a handful of countries and companies are gaining control of our digital future.
OpenAI, Perplexity take aim at Chrome to raid $300b search goldmine
In the war of AI browsers, both OpenAI and Perplexity are developing search engines with built-in AI agents to rival Google Chrome.
In Pictures: Tech titans gather for day three of Sun Valley billionaire camp
Jeff Bezos, Cliff Obrecht and Bill Gates are among the rich and powerful gathering for the third day at Allen & Company’s annual Sun Valley Conference in Idaho.
Not a job but a calling: New tactic in the AI talent war
With tech companies in a no-holds-barred fight for the best people, the pitch has become less about pay and more about what’s actually being built.
Whose interests would OpenAI’s blueprint serve?
Be wary of taking economic advice from a company that has everything to gain from accelerating Australia’s AI adoption.
May
Sam Altman’s $10b bet to give OpenAI its ‘iPhone moment’
Artificial intelligence is helping computers get to the toughest destination of all: your face.
OpenAI taking on Apple is the beginning of the end of the iPhone
Sam Altman’s acquisition of a storied design firm positions him as a contender to the legacy of Steve Jobs: not just reshaping software, but also reimagining devices.
Two books tell a similar tale about OpenAI. It is worrying
Sam Altman is a beguiling character. The first things you notice about him are his slight stature and the intensity of his gaze.
OpenAI reveals plan to build global capacity with governments
OpenAI says it plans to invest in efforts outside the US to develop the infrastructure to run AI systems, building on its US Stargate efforts.
April
What is Elon Musk’s IQ?
The questionable measure of intelligence has now been uncoupled from any test and functions as a general-purpose human ranking system that implies invincibility, prosperity and virility.
OpenAI finalises biggest ever tech funding round at $US300b valuation
The ChatGPT maker has closed the largest private funding round in history, at $US40 billion, led by Japanese investor SoftBank.
March
A new type of AI is coming that will generate trillions (and remake the world)
Every week, I meet engineers and entrepreneurs working on AI who tell me that change – the kind of transformation we’ve never seen before – is just around the corner.
Be afraid: Google’s new AI assistant will remember your search history
The tech giant has unveiled updated artificial intelligence tools, including a feature that learns from your web browsing, while OpenAI says the US will lose to China if it can’t use copyrighted work.
February
‘Astonishingly good advice:’ Altman rates new ChatGPT
OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman says chatting with its new GPT-4.5 model feels like having a conversation with a thoughtful person.
A one-person company worth $1b? AI could make it a reality
Tech start-ups typically raised huge sums to hire armies of workers and grow fast. Now AI tools are making workers more productive and spurring “tiny team” success.
OpenAI board rejects Musk’s $153b bid to control company
OpenAI’s chairman said the board had “unanimously” rejected Elon Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition.
Musk will pull OpenAI bid if it remains a non-profit, lawyers say
If OpenAI’s board “is prepared to preserve the charity’s mission”, then Elon Musk will withdraw his hostile bid for control of the ChatGPT maker.
Sam Altman calls Musk ‘insecure’ as AI race gets personal
The OpenAI chief accused the billionaire of playing games over his offer for control of the start-up. “I wish he would just compete by building a better product”.