Apple may delay AI in EU ... ChatGPT for Mac now available to all ... OpenAI Selling More AI Models Than Microsoft ...TLDR 1Jul24

Last update: Moday 7/1/24 

Welcome to our 1Jul24 + TL;DR summary of the past week's top AI stories on our "Useful AI News" page  ➡ 1) Apple may delay AI features in the EU, (2) ChatGPT for Mac now available to all, and (3) OpenAI Selling More AI Models Than Microsoft.

Where possible, our summaries will note connections between this week's events and past events.

TL;DR link ➡ HERE

A. TL;DR summary of Top 3 stories 

1. Apple AI EU Delay  | 2. ChatGPTf4Mac | 3. OpenAISales 

1) Apple may delay AI features in the EU because of its big tech law

Readers will recall that the Apple WWDC 2024 conference last month announced a wide array of innovative features, including Apple Intelligence. The Verge subsequently received a note from Apple Spokesman Fred Sainz that expressed the following concern:

• "However, due to the regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act (DMA), we do not believe that we will be able to roll out three of these features — iPhone Mirroring, SharePlay Screen Sharing enhancements, and Apple Intelligence — to our EU users this year."

The European Union's recent Digital Markets Act puts strict requirements on the “gatekeepers” that control massive online platforms, requirements intended to impede anticompetitive behavior. Sainz's statement goes on to assert:

• "Specifically, we are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security. 

Note that this facet of the DMA does not address the possibility of a small, but non-zero probability, p(doom), that GenAI might undergo an unintended, but dangerous evolution that might pose an existential threat to humanity. Nor is it intended to impede the near 100 percent certainty, Opp(doom), that this powerful new technology will be misused to inflict great harm on large numbers of targeted individuals, or even on entire communities. It is merely vintage antitrust wine in a trendy new GenAI bottle.

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2) ChatGPT for Mac is now available to all

During OpenAI's "update" on 5/13/24, it made this app available to a small number of users. This week, OpenAI made its app available to everyone. Note: The app requires MacOS Sonoma; it won't install on earlier versions.

The editor of this blog was an early receiver of access to this app. It made his testing of GPT-4o a lot more fun than it would have been otherwise. One feature provided most of the fun. If you press the <Option> and <Space> keys simultaneously, a prompt box opens up in its own small window. ChatGPT's response to your prompt can then be copied, edited, and pasted into other applications. In other words, ChatGPT becomes an ever present desktop assistant (co-pilot???) that can be summoned with just a few clicks to help you with whatever you are working on.

This always accessible feature is reinforced by a setting: "Always on top". If you turn on this feature in the "settings" menu, the small ChatGPT window will always float over all other windows. Thereafter, when you paste data from ChatGPT onto the page of another window, the ChatGPT window remains visible; so you don't have to "hunt" for it if you want to copy and paste more info from it.

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3) OpenAI Is Selling More of Its AI Models Than Microsoft

According to an exclusive report from The Information, OpenAI is now selling more of its models than its partner Microsoft. Here are a few key findings from the report:

• "OpenAI’s sales of AI models to developers surpassed $1 billion in annualized revenue months ago"
  Note: annualized monthly revenue = 12 times monthly revenue
  
  
• "In contrast, Microsoft’s comparable offering, Azure OpenAI Service, only recently hit $1 billion in ARR, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told his staff this month."
  
  
• "Microsoft and OpenAI previously agreed to compete for customers in part to help assuage antitrust concerns"
  
  
• "OpenAI pulled off the feat with simple tactics: promising customers early access to new versions of conversational AI, and helping its largest customers tailor the software to their needs. That’s helped it counter Microsoft’s powerful discounts for customers that bundle services."
  
  
• "OpenAI also beefed up its sales operation, growing its team to more than 200 people from around 10 people a year ago, James Dyett, head of strategic accounts, said in a recent podcast interview. Dyett said his current priority is winning over a few large customers and keeping them happy."

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B. Top 3 stories in past week  ...

1. Public Policy"Apple may delay AI features in the EU because of its big tech law", Richard Lawler, The Verge, 6/21/24 *** 
   -- This story also covered by Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, 
   
   
2. OpenAI
   "ChatGPT for Mac is now available to all", Sarah Perez, TechCrunch, 6/25/24 *** 
   -- This story also covered by The Verge, Ars Technica, ... and OpenAI
   
   
3. Misc
   "In a Surprise, OpenAI Is Selling More of Its AI Models Than Microsoft Is", Aaron Holmes, The Information, 6/27/24 *** 

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