In today’s newsletter:

• News - 🚀 Big Tech’s AI Surge: Earnings Reveal Unstoppable Growth

• Productivity - 🤖 Create Powerful Chatbots in Minutes with Chatfuel!

• Culture - 🤖 AI "Interviews" the Dead? Polish Radio Sparks Outrage

  Check out our Meme of the Day at the bottom of the newsletter for your daily dose of AI-powered humor!

🚀 Big Tech’s AI Surge: Earnings Reveal Unstoppable Growth

Big Tech’s AI boom is unstoppable, with tech giants racing to meet soaring demand in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Major players like Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta collectively spent $60 billion on infrastructure in Q3, up 60% from last year, as they expand operations to support advanced AI features. But even with record spending, they’re struggling to keep pace with demand, held back by limited semiconductor supply and capacity challenges. Despite these hurdles, AI is fueling impressive growth across segments, lifting cloud, ad revenues, and customer engagement metrics.

The hype around AI is paying off big for these companies. Microsoft’s AI business is set to hit a record $10 billion annual revenue run rate, while Amazon’s AI services are growing at triple-digit rates. Alphabet sees quick returns from its AI search integrations, and Meta reports that AI-driven recommendations have boosted time spent on its platforms. As investors eagerly await Nvidia’s Nov. 20 earnings, which will likely reflect continued demand for its AI chips, the industry’s AI-driven transformation shows no sign of slowing down.

🗞️ In Other News…

• Visa is rapidly expanding its use of generative AI across over 500 applications to enhance productivity and fraud protection, while restructuring its international business and cutting approximately 1,400 jobs, including 1,000 technology roles.

• Denmark’s new AI supercomputer, Gefion—funded by Ozempic profits through the Novo Nordisk Foundation—aims to transform the nation’s healthcare, biotechnology, and quantum computing sectors.

• Microsoft CFO Amy Hood is tightly overseeing the company's AI investments, which have pushed capital expenditures to $64.5 billion over the past year—nearly double from the previous year—as she works to balance profitability with CEO Satya Nadella's AI-driven ambitions.

• Walmart is enhancing its AI capabilities for the holiday season by introducing features like personalized shopping suggestions, international GenAI-powered product recommendations, influencer vetting, and an AI-driven shopping assistant.

🤖 Create Powerful Chatbots in Minutes with Chatfuel!

Chatfuel is a powerful, user-friendly platform for building chatbots on Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. With its intuitive Flow Builder, users can easily design custom chat flows and automate interactions across Meta channels. Chatfuel’s integrations with tools like ChatGPT, Zapier, and Shopify open up a range of possibilities, from advanced conversational AI to seamless data-sharing, making it a versatile tool for businesses seeking to enhance engagement and streamline customer interactions.

The platform also offers robust analytics, enabling users to track user input, view open and click rates, and analyze popular chatbot interactions for optimization. While some limitations exist, such as the inability to duplicate flows across channels and challenges with multi-language support, Chatfuel’s suite of features—like keyword recognition, custom fields, and live chat—make it a compelling choice for businesses looking to scale customer communications effectively.

🤖 AI "Interviews" the Dead? Polish Radio Sparks Outrage

A Polish radio station stirred up a storm by using AI to resurrect the voice of Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska in a fabricated interview. Off Radio Krakow, hoping to revive its low listenership, tested AI-generated presenters, including “conversations” with deceased icons. The experiment sparked public outrage, with critics calling it a “dangerous precedent” that sacrifices authenticity and human talent in favor of flashy technology. The backlash was swift, leading the station to halt its AI initiatives and return to human-made programming.

While AI-generated voices brought a temporary listener boost, the experiment faced criticism from journalists and the public alike, who saw it as a violation of journalistic integrity. The station’s AI presenters, each given youthful profiles and even a “socially committed” nonbinary host, were also met with backlash from groups that felt misrepresented. Though the station argued it aimed to spark debate around AI’s role in media, many felt the technology undermined trust and authenticity. For now, Off Radio Krakow has unplugged its AI presenters, marking a pause in Poland's experiment with AI-driven media.

VC Fundraising Rounds

• Insider, a Turkish AI-driven marketing platform, announced a new $500 million funding round on Friday, aiming to expand its AI capabilities, grow its talent pool, and broaden its global presence. (11/1/24)

• Behavox, a top provider of AI-powered compliance solutions for Financial Services, announced that it has secured a $70 million credit facility. (10/31/24)

• Spot AI Inc. has secured $31 million in new funding to support companies in analyzing security camera footage at their facilities. (10/31/24)

• Sana Labs, a Swedish startup leveraging AI to personalize professional online training, has raised $55 million, reaching a $500 million valuation. (10/30/24)

• Regal, a top provider of AI-driven contact center software, has raised $40 million to boost the growth and rollout of its cutting-edge AI Phone Agent technology. (10/30/24)

Meme of the Day

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