In our January 2024 news roundup, we highlight six stories every communicator should know about - from updates in artificial intelligence to changes in the media landscape.
Let's dive in!
OpenAI has launched the GPT Store, a marketplace within its ChatGPT ecosystem, where paid users can buy and sell specialized chatbot agents based on the company's language models.
While ChatGPT Plus already provides customized bots, the GPT Store expands opportunities for users to offer and monetize a wider range of tools.
These chatbot agents can have unique personalities or themes, covering areas such as salary negotiation, lesson planning and recipe development.
(via TechCrunch)
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that the company is actively developing open-source Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
In this endeavor, Meta plans to bring two of its AI research teams, FAIR (Facebook AI Research) and GenAI, closer together to collaborate on building full general intelligence.
The ultimate goal is to open source this AGI responsibly, ensuring widespread access for the benefit of everyone.
(via VentureBeat)
The Los Angeles Times said it planned to lay off at least 115 employees — more than 20% of the newsroom — starting Tuesday, January 23rd, one of the largest staff cuts in the newspaper’s 143-year history.
(via The Associated Press)
Sports Illustrated, the venerable bible of sports journalism, has been in decline for years, as the internet annihilated print magazines and cost-cutting turned the weekly publication into a monthly and whittled its staff. But recently, the magazine received perhaps its toughest blow yet.
The company that publishes Sports Illustrated said in an email to employees that it was laying off many of them, leaving in doubt what lies ahead for the publication.
(via The New York Times *Login required)
Google Cloud has launched a suite of new tools for retailers, utilizing generative AI to enhance online shopping experiences and overall retail operations.
Key features include a generative AI-powered chatbot for personalized product recommendations and a large language model to improve product searches.
These tools are part of the broader trend of generative AI influencing the retail industry, following Amazon's introduction of a similar AI tool for sellers.
(via CNBC)
Amazon introduced a new AI tool in its mobile app to answer shoppers' product questions.
The tool prompts users to ask about an item and quickly provides answers by summarizing information from reviews and the product listing.
This generative AI tool aims to save customers time by swiftly addressing common product questions, eliminating the need to navigate through reviews or lengthy listings.
(via CNBC)