OpenAI continues gaining momentum as company COO told CNBC that OpenAI's weekly active users have soared to 400 million, a 33% increase since December, and its enterprise business doubling to 2 million paying customers. COO Brad Lightcap attributes this growth to the natural progression of ChatGPT as it becomes more useful and widely adopted, even as competition from Chinese rival DeepSeek and legal challenges from Elon Musk intensify, including the latter's recent attempt to buy up the company.
Microsoft has unveiled a breakthrough quantum chip powered by the world’s first topoconductor, which can create a new state of matter that is not a solid, liquid, or gas. Majorana 1, a chip designed to fit on a palm-sized device, paves the way for quantum systems with the potential scalability to house up to a million topological qubits, or quantum bits. Selected by DARPA as one of two promising approaches for an industrially viable quantum computer by 2033, the technology leverages topological qubits protected by a new type of emergent particle - Majorana fermions.
Humane's short but bright life in the industry comes to an end as HP announced on February 18 that it is acquiring Humane's AI assets for $116 million and absorbing some of its employees, marking the end of the Humane AI Pin. Originally launched in November 2023, the wearable AI device received near-universal negative reviews and suffered from a myriad of design flaws. HP says it plans to integrate Humane's AI-powered platform, Cosmos, and extensive intellectual property into its ecosystem to enhance its range of products.
Mira Murati, the former chief technology officer of OpenAI, has co-founded Thinking Machines Lab, a new AI startup aimed at making AI systems more accessible, customizable, and capable than ever before. The company plans to adopt an open-source approach by freely sharing its technology with researchers and companies. Murati's departure from OpenAI - amid internal conflicts following CEO Sam Altman's ouster and reinstatement - is just one of many as part of a seemingly ever-growing trend of former OpenAI leaders launching independent ventures in the global AI race, such as Ilya Sutskever's SSI.
Clearview AI's CEO Hoan Ton-That has resigned, stating "it is time for the next chapter in my life," though he will remain on the board as a member. Following this, the company appointed two co-CEOs, early investor Hal Lambert and co-founder Richard Schwartz, to steer its controversial facial recognition business, which created a searchable database of 30 billion photos by scraping the internet. Despite facing over $100 million in GDPR fines and legal challenges, Clearview claims its financial position is at its "strongest ever" in 2024, even as it struggles with profitability and federal contracts.
In an effort to get AI into the hands of its user base at a more appealing price, Apple unveiled its iPhone 16e, a slightly cheaper model boasting enhanced AI capabilities through Apple Intelligence. Equipped with the same A18 chip as the flagship iPhone 16 but with fewer cameras and lower specs, the 16e targets AI-interested consumers amid declining flagship sales. Pre-orders for the iPhone 16e begin on February 21 in 59 countries, with a UK price of £599 - £200 less than the iPhone 16. Additionally, the new C1 modem that comes with the 16e marks Apple's first use of its own design for cellular connectivity.
Safe Superintelligence, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, is reportedly close to raising over $1 billion at a $30 billion valuation, $10 billion more than what was reported just weeks ago. The round was led by Greenoaks Capital Partners with a proposed $500 million investment, which could bring the company's total funding to roughly $2 billion. Although the startup isn't generating revenue or planning near-term product sales, it has already attracted investments from major firms such as Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and DST Global.