The AI Race Is Accelerating

Don't worry, I have a summary for you.

Author

Jeremiah Owyang
September 27, 2023

Where to find me:

  • I’ll be a speaker at TED AI, on Oct 17-18th in San Francisco. On Day 2, I’ll be on a panel discussing the AI startup and VC ecosystem.

    • TED AI (register here)

    • 20% off TED AI tickets that can also be applied to the evening event

    • Code: TEDAI2023OWYANG

  • I’m hosting the Llama Lounge, The AI Startup Series, Nov 2, in Palo Alto. This will be the last event of the year, 600 are registered, however we have a wait list available as people change their schedules, hosted at Hanahaus. The last event had 1000 on waitlist (videos and photos)

  • Hackathon Judge at Accelerate SF, Nov 5. This event is focused on rejuvenating San Francisco, by using AI technologies to help the city and it’s citizens —all it’s citizens.

  • Keynote at C200, Oct 12, San Diego. The Conference for Women Business Leaders. I’m honored to speak on the topic of AI for business. Thanks Barry for the invite!

  • Keynote at Digital Ascendent Oct 26th in Palo Alto. I love this group, I’ve attended their events before and the top digital marketers come out, learn from each other, and bond in Palo Alto.

  • LUMA digital marketing summit in Palo Alto, Nov 2. Can’t wait to speak, I’ve known the Luma team since I was an industry analyst at Altimeter Group, see top marketers there.

Recent Industry News that Caught My Eye
AI is transforming every facet of society, and even as someone who monitors this space full-time, it's a challenge to keep up with the rapid developments. Below is a roundup of the most impactful changes over the past week that caught my attention.

  • This week, Anthropic secured $1-4B of funding from Amazon, marking a significant moment as tech giants delineate their territories. In a timely response, OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, is eyeing a potential valuation of up to $90 billion. This is noteworthy, given their projected revenue of $1 billion, which is expected to come from enterprise SaaS contracts, Microsoft 365 Copilot integrations, and consumer subscriptions.

  • Today, OpenAI showcased its ability to interpret images, including solving math problems (which it historically has been poor at). Additionally, you can now use pen and paper, upload a photo of a website sketch or workflows on paper, and OpenAI will generate the code for you. Yes: drawing to code.

  • Pi, developed by Inflection AI, has introduced a verbal voice feature (best on mobile app) that allows for interactive voice conversations. I've personally used it for interactive storytelling with my kids and live demos. Disclosure: I have financial ties to Inflection.

  • But it's not just about the tech giants; the AI ecosystem is burgeoning with startups. According to the directory "There's An AI for That," there are now 8,000 AI startups, with 1,000 new ones joining the fray every month. These startups span various industries, geographies, and languages.

  • A recent revelation for me was that companies incur egress fees from cloud providers when they transfer out their data—a cost many tech startups are unaware of, as they rely on cloud providers as the startups cannot get access to the rare GPU chips. I was a speaker at Techcrunch disrupt and asked the audience if they knew of these egress fees, and most did not, shocking.

  • In geopolitical news, today, the CIA announced plans to deploy AI for national defense purposes. It's safe to assume that other countries are also exploring similar initiatives.

  • Lastly, the ongoing Writers' Strike has made some progress. A new proposed agreement suggests that if movie producers employ AI, the original creators could receive a commission from content generated using their original work, setting a precedent for the industry.

Wow. Acceleration is right. Don’t worry, stay subscribed and I’ll keep you up to date.

I wrote all of this with my own fingers then used GPT4 to copy edit, it’s really my ideas, voice and intent.

On a personal note: while I live and breathe the latest tech trends, I’m still committed to 3-5 days of fitness, usually at CrossFit, and 10min of static stretching after each session. Priority one: take care of self for the long road ahead. I’m so grateful that you’re reading this, thank you.