The French MistralAI has released a beta version of its chatbot, Elon Musk sued OpenAI, and Google has more troubles. What else did we live through last week?
Elon Musk in a lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman argues that the merger with Microsoft was a betrayal of the company's mission in pursuit of profit.
According to the latest forecasts from ABI Research, the augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technology sector is on the verge of a revolution - by 2028, the number of AR/VR sets delivered is expected to increase more than fivefold, reaching 69 million units.
Week in review 6.02: BardAI speaks Polish; VC fund at Warsaw University of Technology
Google's BardAI started speaking Polish, Warsaw University of Technology launched its VC fund, and OpenAI still has to defend itself in Italy against privacy violation allegations. What else did we live through last week?
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Summary
The Warsaw University of Technology has established the first venture capital fund by a Polish public university, targeting deep-tech sector companies.
Google's chatbot BardAI has expanded into 40 new languages, including Polish, enhancing its contextual matching and advanced answering capabilities.
Mastercard has created an AI algorithm that predicts potential fraud using transaction history, potentially boosting fraud detection by up to 300%.
A Deloitte report predicts that generative AI will significantly alter business operations in the next three years, with 56% of respondents expecting improved efficiency and 35% anticipating cost reductions.
RagaAI has developed an AI testing platform to improve the accuracy and safety of AI systems, preventing business failures.
The Polish venture capital market experienced a significant slowdown in 2023, with a 42% decrease in total investment value compared to 2022 due to a global crisis, lack of large financing rounds, and lower company valuations.
The Pro NGO Center, a space for third sector and business representatives' integration and development, officially opened in Krakow on February 1, 2024.
The Ministry of Digitization has initiated the creation of a National Data Processing Center to enhance the security of critical state data infrastructure.
OpenAI's AI-based application, ChatGPT, is under investigation by the Italian data protection authority, Garante, for alleged user privacy violations.
A study by Pracuj.pl reveals that fewer job applicants are including a cover letter or a photo in their applications.
YouTube is increasing the number of ads displayed and combating ad-blocking users, pushing them to watch ads or subscribe to YouTube Premium.
Chinese shopping services, led by Temu, are reportedly bypassing Polish law requiring promotions to include information about their lowest recent price.
Virtual influencers, AI products, are gaining popularity on social media platforms, with predictions for 2024 indicating a shift towards calculating the profitability of AI-based solutions.
Despite not being seen as a platform for the youth, Facebook remains the most popular social media platform with over 3 billion users as of 2024.
The first units of Apple Vision Pro, a virtual reality goggles, were released in early February, with forecasts suggesting the device could revolutionize the future of virtual reality technology.
Warsaw University of Technology Investment Factory is the first venture capital fund established by a Polish public university - Warsaw University of Technology. The institution is to invest in companies from the deep-tech sector and develop a network of contacts connecting investors with scientific communities. You can read more about this in the Investments and Business in Poland section.
In the Artificial Intelligence (AI) section, we write about the chatbot BardAI from Google, which has learned to speak Polish, a new Deloitte report analyzing the participation of genAI in business in the coming years and a new Mastercard algorithm that can increase the detection of financial fraud by up to 300%.
We also encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Digitized Editorial Team Recommends section, where you can read about the future of virtual influencers and how Facebook has changed over two decades of its existence.
Review of the week's news
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Bard AI already speaks Polish. Google expands Gemini Pro model by 40 new languages
"From today, Gemini Pro in Bard is available in all languages, countries and areas where Bard is available" - announced on February 1, 2024 in a blog post by Google Jack Krawczyk, product lead in Bard. This specifically refers to over two hundred and thirty countries and over forty languages of the world, including Polish. In practice, this means primarily faster and more contextually matched statements given in languages other than English, but also advanced answers about coding, better content summaries and more advanced chatbot reasoning. Users will also have greater opportunities to verify content generated by AI.
Mastercard invests in AI. Fraud detection is expected to increase by up to 300%
Mastercard's algorithm was built on advanced AI technologies and uses purchase and transaction history to create something like a "heat radar". According to the company's assurances, it can quickly predict potential fraud, providing analysis results in just 50 milliseconds. This method not only increases the effectiveness of forgery identification, but also allows for the detection of new patterns and fraud trends that may appear in the future.
Generative AI will change business within the next 3 years. Conclusions from the new Deloitte report
According to a report The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise developed by Deloitte 78% of respondents emphasize the need to establish legal regulations specifically designed for AI. Most people are also convinced that generative artificial intelligence will change the functioning of their companies within the next 3 years. One third of them, however, expect this transformation to take place already this year. Improving efficiency (56%) and reducing costs (35%) are the main expectations associated with the use of generative AI in business, while only 29% of people see the main benefits in innovation and development.
A cure for AI hallucinations. This startup knows how to fix artificial intelligence errors
Startup RagaAI has created, as its founder Gaurav Agarwal claims, "the most comprehensive AI testing platform in the world". Its aim is to increase the accuracy and safety of artificial intelligence systems and prevent business failures in this area. RagaAI targets its offer to data scientists and machine learning engineers, enabling them to test their AI products at every stage of development and implementation. The platform covers areas such as large language models, natural language processing and image recognition.
Investments and business in Poland
Warsaw University of Technology has launched its VC fund
The official inauguration of the Warsaw University of Technology Investment Factory (WUT IF) took place on January 31 in the main building of the Warsaw University of Technology. This is the first venture capital fund established by a Polish public university. It is co-created by representatives of scientific communities associated with PW - prof. Robert Sitnik and Paweł Zych, as well as experienced investment advisors, entrepreneurs and business angels - Karol Matczak and Jakub Wojciechowski. The purpose of the fund is to invest in companies from the deep-tech sector created by teams from the Warsaw University of Technology and other Polish higher education institutions, as well as to develop a network of contacts connecting investors with scientific communities.
VC market in Poland. The value of investments in 2023 fell. What are the forecasts for 2024?
According to the latest report prepared by PFR Ventures and Inovo VC, in 2023 the venture capital market in Poland experienced a significant slowdown. The total value of investments in the past twelve months was 2.1 billion PLN - 42% less compared to 2022, when startups raised a total of 3.6 billion PLN. As the authors of the report indicate, the main reason for the decline was a decrease in VC funds activity, especially those focusing on the growth phase. This was due to the global crisis, lack of large financing rounds and lower company valuations.
Opening of the NGO Pro center in Krakow
On February 1, 2024, in Krakow, the official opening of the Pro NGO Center took place - a place created by the Pro NGO Foundation, which is to provide a space for integration and development of representatives of the third sector and business. The mission of the Pro NGO Center is to provide an educational, developmental and networking space, as well as a place for stationary meetings, among others for non-governmental organizations and representatives of the business environment. The project aims to support the development of non-governmental organizations and social leaders.
Data security and privacy
The project to build the National Data Processing Center is starting. Cost? 830 million PLN
The initiative to create a National Data Processing Center was an idea of the previous government. Plans to build modern centers ensuring continuity and security of public administration resources were first announced in August 2022, when the project was included in the list of planned legislative and program actions of the Council of Ministers. Now the Ministry of Digitization has announced the start of the first project works. The main goal of the project is to increase the security of critical state data infrastructure, including registers and the government cloud, by ensuring the continuity of administration systems.
Does ChatGPT violate the privacy of users in Europe? OpenAI under scrutiny by the Italian data protection authority
Garante, the Italian data protection authority, has informed OpenAI that its artificial intelligence-based application - ChatGPT - violates user privacy. These are the conclusions from an investigation that began last year. By Garante's decision, OpenAI now has 30 days to present its defense arguments.
Job market
Fewer and fewer candidates are adding their photo to the CV
People applying for jobs are increasingly resigning from attaching a cover letter to their applications, according to the latest Pracuj.pl study "Changing times in recruitment". 62% of candidates also believe that a photo should not be added to the CV. Candidates want the work environment to be characterized by "honest and transparent employment practices". They argue that adding their photo to the CV can "introduce an element of subjectivity". They mention that appearance can distract the recruiter from the candidate's qualifications.
It's worth knowing
YouTube floods users with ads for a reason. It's about billions of dollars
YouTube has recently not only increased the number of ads displayed, but also started fighting users who block them. This is not without reason. The latest financial results show that there will probably only be more ads. For several months, YouTube has been doing everything it can to force users to watch ads or switch to a paid YouTube Premium subscription. There are not only more spots, but they often cannot be skipped. Google also started fighting people using ad-blocking plugins in the second half of 2023. Now it turns out that these efforts have paid off very well for the company.
Chinese shopping services bypass Polish law
For a year, promotions on most goods must include information about their lowest price in recent days. All sellers do this except for the Chinese, with Temu at the forefront. The Chinese platform unexpectedly became one of the strongest players in online trading - according to data from the Gemius Mediapanel study, in January 2024, the Whaleco Group (i.e. the Temu application and temu.com) had 14.9 million real users in Poland. For comparison, the Allegro Group (Allegro application and Allegro.pl) achieved a result of 20.1 million.
Digitized editorial team recommends
Virtual influencers. Will AI take the job of Instagram stars?
Hundreds of thousands of people follow them on social media, celebrities want to date them, and traditional media recognize them as the most influential people on the internet. The problem is that in reality they are only - or maybe just? - products of AI. What future awaits virtual influencers?
Numerous forecasts suggest that the year 2024 will not so much be a year of widespread use of all kinds of AI-based assistants, but rather a calculation of how profitable it is to implement such solutions. And in this context, the popularity of virtual influencers should be considered primarily. Because although they themselves do not demand remuneration, it should be remembered that behind each such person - whether real or artificial - there is a whole team of people managing her image and expecting profits. And in this industry, only the latter must be true, the rest not necessarily. There are also several other factors in favor of virtual influencers.
Facebook was created 20 years ago. Here's how the app has changed over time - and how it has changed the world
Even though Facebook has recently stopped being associated with a platform for young people, it still clearly remains the most popular social media in the world. According to data from Statista at the beginning of 2024, over 3 billion people are still using it!
Since its inception in 2004, a lot has changed - primarily in the entire internet ecosystem, which Facebook has had a significant impact on. After all, the platform itself has also undergone a huge transformation. From an entertainment application connecting friends, it has become a powerful advertising machinery, capable of influencing election results and shaping reality. You can read about how Facebook has changed the world over the last two decades in the article below, which appeared on BBC News.
In early February, the first units of Apple Vision Pro – virtual reality goggles, which according to numerous forecasts (including ours) have a chance to save the future of this technology. See if there is really something to be amazed about and what it looks like to use this device in practice.
Editor-in-chief of Digitized. He has been associated with journalism for almost a third of his life; he worked for the Polish editions of Playboy, CKM and Esquire magazines, as well as Well.pl and naTemat.pl services. In his texts, he tries to understand reality and describe it objectively. He remains skeptical about many phenomena, but is not afraid to admit a mistake and change his mind. A native of Warsaw. Privately, he is a seeker of sense in nonsense and order amidst entropy. He likes wise words.
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Jacek Mańko
Joe TidyCyber correspondent
English