Microsoft is reportedly eyeing a $10 billion investment in OpenAI, the startup that created the viral chatbot ChatGPT, and is planning to integrate it into Office products and Bing search.
This is a big deal. If successful, it will bring powerful AI tools to the masses. So what would ChatGPT-powered Microsoft products look like? While neither Microsoft or OpenAI were willing to answer our questions, we know enough to make some informed, intelligent guesses. Hint: it’s probably good news if you find creating PowerPoint presentations and answering emails boring. Read the full story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
Melissa’s story is from The Algorithm, her weekly AI newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 China’s population has fallen for the first time in 60 years
The news has major implications for the country’s social, defense and economic policies. (CNN)
+ China’s economy is slumping. (Quartz)
+ India is set to take over as the world’s most populous country. (Economist $)
+ Anti-covid zero demonstrators are still being detained. (Bloomberg $)
2 The first bill for Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase is looming
How he deals with it is yet another major test of his leadership. (FT $)
+ We’re witnessing the brain death of Twitter. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Getty Images is suing Stable Diffusion’s creators
Getty claims the software was trained using millions of unlawfully scraped images. (The Verge)
+ Microsoft is adding ChatGPT to its cloud service “soon.” (Bloomberg $)
4 EV sales have passed a significant milestone
They made up 10% of new cars sold last year. (WSJ $)
+ Tesla is slashing its prices—but not everyone’s happy. (The Verge)
5 Tenant-screening algorithms reportedly discriminated against Black renters
Now the US Department of Justice is getting involved. (Wired $)
+ AI has exacerbated racial bias in housing. Could it help eliminate it instead? (MIT Technology Review)
6 3D printed buildings could help to solve the US housing crisis
But there’s a major barrier: the way the construction industry works now. (New Yorker $)
+ Meet the designers printing houses out of salt and clay. (MIT Technology Review)
7 US tech firms are poaching talent from Latin American startups
Local startups struggle to match the salaries, which are still low by US standards. (Rest of World)
8 The agony and ecstasy of owning a coveted Instagram handle
You’d better prepare for people trying to steal it. (Slate $)