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A big story in the New York Times, How tech giants are cutting corners to gather data for AIA team of four journalists collaborated to explain how OpenAI, Google and Meta changed their own rules and discussed circumventing copyright law. In other words, because it was on the Internet, even if it was behind a firewall, like Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times itself, which is actively suing OpenAI. Since they broke through those firewalls, it’s hard to argue that OpenAI considered the content free. OpenAI makes the argument that the data in question is only one of ten billion parameters. Saying you stole from everyone equally is no defense. That’s why OpenAI is doing deals with big publishers like Axel Springer. They know where this is going.
Launch Udio AI Music Generator. They raised $10 million in seed funding from prominent investors and celebrities, including a16z, Instagram co-founder Mike Kreiger, and musicians will.i.am and Common. It’s a hot, crowded space full of competitors and copyright minefields. Suno is that it can create lyrics to vocals and instruments from a simple prompt.
Spikes
Spines, the world’s first end-to-end Sprines AI publishing platform, raises $6.5M seed round. The Spines platform cuts publishing time from six months to two weeks, while reducing costs by 30% and offering a range of services for every stage of the publishing process. The round was led by Aleph with participation from previous investor M-Fund, “Startup Nation” bestselling co-author Dan Senner and LionTree LLC.
Meta and Eli Roth’s VR series The Faceless Lady has received rave reviews. Variety critic William Earle called it “a riveting, flesh-tearing journey into utterly compelling horror storytelling.” “The Faceless Lady,” a collaboration between Meta and producer Eli Roth, is billed as “the first known scripted original VR live-action, stereoscopic (3D) series ever created at this scale,” designed specifically for Meta Quest.
Gardens of Arcadia
Vulcan Forge
Metaverse alive and well in 3D gaming. With Crypto back in the news, interest in the Metaverse, neglected since OpenAI launched Chat-GPT, is on the rise again, but this time more closely related to gaming. We checked out four companies involved in social games and virtual worlds: Spatial.io, which went from enterprise XR to NFT galleries to games; MeetKai, a training and simulation platform; social gaming company Vulcan Forged; and Supersocial, which develops Roblox games and other experiences.
Coachella is back – in Fortnite. The famous multi-day desert festival returns to Fortnite for a third year. Fans can play on virtual stages at Fortnite Festival or visit Sahara Island, a new music and mini-game experience created using the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), featuring music and visuals from Coachella 2024 artists Grimes and DJ Snake . On the Main Stage, players can step into the spotlight and perform Jam Tracks from featured artists performing at Coachella 2024, along with show previews inspired by Coachella stages. These songs will be featured in the featured rotation from April 11th at 8:00 PM ET through April 18th at 8:00 PM ET. Check out the full Coachella 2024 Jam tracklist on the Fortnite Blog.
Sora made this music video. “I feel this piece of art is my absolute heart and soul,” composer August Kamp wrote in the description of this YouTube video of his Sora-generated music video. “I remember the way I felt when those notes rolled through my hands and onto the keys of my synthesizer almost two years ago. I remember how it was raining outside and how I felt so happy that I was able to pour those feelings into a song – something , which could hold them, so I no longer had to. This is the best thing about Sora – I think pictures that I’ve been holding on to for two years and I say “August – we can share them with people”. is to say – this is how the song has always ‘looked’, it’s just now I can show you.”
Zappar launches OpenBrush for Zapbox. The AR version of the revered Tilt Brush creative tool is now available on the $100 Zapbox, a holder for your iPhone that enables 3D, spatial computing using a head-mounted AR pass-through. The effect is very similar to Vision Pro. Comes with other free apps including billiards, chess, 3D model viewer and Spatial TV.
Director Dave Clarke’s latest mock trailer honors Gundam’s legacy. “Growing up, Gundam wasn’t just a show to me – it was a universe I lived in, dreamed about and believed in, but we haven’t seen it live yet.” Clarke wrote on YouTube “So I decided to do something about it. Collaborating with fellow AI filmmakers Kavan the Kid and Artisdead_AI, we combined cutting-edge AI technology with a deep passion for storytelling to craft a ground-breaking live-action concept trailer. Our aim? To honor the legacy of Gundam while pushing the creative boundaries by offering fans a glimpse into a visually stunning and emotionally resonant cinematic adaptation.” Tools used to create this video – RunwayML Gen2, Midjourney, Magnific, Photoshop, DaVinci, Topaz Labs Video AI, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Lensgo AI and HaiperAI.
This column, once called This Week in XR, is also a podcast hosted by author Charlie Fink and Ted Shilowitz, former studio executive and co-founder of Red Camera, and Ronnie Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week our guest is Connell Gold, CTO of Zappar. We can be found on Spotify, iTunes and YouTube.
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The Washington Post Sticks Shiv in Humane’s AI Pin.
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