Google's overwhelming, decades-long majority share in the search industry has brought up concerns of a monopoly multiple times in the past, and the Department of Justice's attempts might soon begin to bear fruit. Other key highlights include:

• Nvidia's Blackwell AI chips fall victim to severe overheating issues
• UK cybersecurity chief warns deal hunters to be wary of Black Friday scammers and fraudsters using AI
• Perplexity gives avid Pro shoppers a new avenue to browse and shop for products in its latest update

Join us at AI Tangle as we untangle this week's happenings in AI!

THE BIG AI STORY

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) plans to ask a federal judge to order Alphabet's Google to sell off its Chrome internet browser to curb the company's dominance in the search market, following an August ruling that Google illegally monopolized the search industry. Google, which controls about two-thirds of the global browser market and is solidifying its position further with AI Overviews and other recent features, argues that these steps would harm consumers and plans to appeal if necessary - and the re-elected president Donald Trump may or may not give the company a hand.

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How does the Trump administration play into this?

President Donald Trump has gone back and forth between advocating for prosecuting Google for alleged bias against him and questioning whether breaking up the company is beneficial. His re-election could introduce uncertainty, with his administration potentially shaping the DOJ's approach to Big Tech regulations. While the Biden administration has pursued aggressive antitrust actions, a Trump presidency might shift priorities, either softening or redirecting efforts entirely to cut back on Google's influence and other companies with similar monopolies in the tech industry.

5 QUICK HITS

After selling out like hotcakes following some initial delays due to a design flaw, Nvidia's Blackwell AI chips are now facing overheating issues when set up in server racks designed to hold up to 72 units of Blackwell chips, per The Information last Sunday. The overheating problem has prompted Nvidia to request multiple changes from suppliers, such as changing the design of the racks several times to dampen the issues.

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Black Friday has become a hotspot for scammers, with AI-driven fraud targeting bargain hunters, warns the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Between November 2023 and January 2024, over 16,000 cases of fraud were logged, with victims losing £695 on average with social media platforms linked to 43% of these reports, per the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. Along with the NCSC launching a campaign to raise awareness, experts advise using credit cards for purchases, enabling two-step verification, and researching sellers thoroughly to avoid falling victim.

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Perplexity is introducing its "Buy with Pro" feature that allows Pro subscribers in the US to purchase products directly through its AI search engine. Orders use saved shipping and billing details, including free shipping for all purchases made through Pro. Additionally, Pro users can access the "Snap to Shop" tool to look up product information just by taking a photo of it. For the time being, when asked whether Perplexity gets any cut of the sales made through its platform like this, Perplexity spokesperson Sara Platnick said they do not, stating there is no commercial element to the feature.

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Created by the UK's largest mobile network operator O2 with the help of massive scambait YouTuber Jim Browning, "Daisy" is an AI-powered chatbot designed to frustrate and waste the time of phone scammers. Partially trained by Jim Browning, Daisy leverages a combined arrangement of AI models to mimic an older woman who loves to go on about its cat Fluffy and her knitting hobby, keeping phone scammers engaged for as long as possible. The goal is to reduce the amount of time that phone call scam centers are actually productive, potentially lessening the amount of victims.

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Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis recently announced a $20 million funding initiative in a blog post, plus $2 million in cloud credits, by Google.org to support scientists and researchers using AI across different scientific fields. Google VP and global head of Google.org, Maggie Johnson stated that that includes "fields such as rare and neglected disease research, experimental biology, materials science, and sustainability." This comes shortly after Amazon Web Service's own $110 million in grants for AI researchers.

4 AI TOOLS

​Dynium - Minimize or prevent data leaks with Dynium, a platform that boosts security posture across workflows and helps comply with regulatory requirements.

​Luma - Luma is a powerful, AI-driven sales assistant and outreach system that generates comprehensive lead profiles, identifies decision-makers and uncover business needs, and organizes leads into groups for targeted insights.

​Waxwing - Waxwing uses real-time insights and AI-powered business profiling to turn data into personalized, detailed, and proven marketing strategies.

​Coffice - Coffice is designed to help build happier teams through effortless peer-to-peer recognition where users can easily send recognition and celebrate milestones such as birthdays and work anniversaries.

AI EXTRA READ

To Rethink AI Optimization (4-min read)

Quantization, a technique to make AI models more efficient, is quickly reaching its limit, as researchers find that heavily quantizing large models can degrade their performance. As the most common and simple techniques begin to fail, the AI industry needs to start looking for more nuanced approaches to model optimization.