Welcome to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• 🌐 GPT-4o ("o" for "omni")

• 🇨🇳 China and US talk AI in Geneva

• 🦿$16K folding humanoid robot

• 📱Google’s Project Astra

Let’s get right into it!

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STARTUPS

GPT-4o ("o" for "omni")

OpenAI has launched GPT-4o ("o" for "omni"), an upgraded version of its GPT-4 model, along with a desktop version of ChatGPT and an updated user interface. This new model is faster and enhances text, vision, and audio capabilities. It is available for free to all users, with paid users getting up to five times the capacity limits of free users. This new model uses training data up to Oct 2023.

You can access this model by selecting it from the model dropdown in ChatGPT or by going to URL https://chatgpt.com/?model=gpt-4o

GOVERNMENT

China and US talk AI in Geneva

In Geneva, U.S. and Chinese envoys held closed-door talks to address the potential existential risks of emerging AI technologies, an initiative agreed upon by Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in late 2023. The discussions aimed to foster bilateral dialogue on AI, a technology influencing various sectors including trade, security, and politics. Despite expectations of few concrete outcomes, experts emphasized the importance of these initial talks, especially concerning risks like deepfakes and disinformation.

AI experts highlighted the critical need for both nations to ensure AI safety, particularly in maintaining human control over nuclear weapons. This meeting marks the start of an intergovernmental AI dialogue initiated during a multifaceted meeting between Xi and Biden in San Francisco six months ago, with the U.S. advocating for guardrails to promote safe AI growth.

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STARTUPS

$16K folding humanoid robot

Unitree, a Chinese robotics company, has made significant advancements in humanoid robot technology. After just a year, their H1 model can perform backflips, and now they've introduced the G1 Humanoid Agent. Transitioning from robo-dogs to humanoids, Unitree's G1 is affordable at $16,000 compared to the H1's $90,000.

The G1 features advanced 3D LiDAR sensors, a depth camera, and human-like robotic hands, making it a versatile assistant for home and workplace settings. With reinforcement learning and robust processing capabilities, it offers a practical design, impressive flexibility, and resilience, making it a promising addition to the robotics market.

BIG TECH

Google’s Project Astra

Astra, introduced by Demis Hassabis at Google I/O, is a real-time, multimodal AI assistant developed by Google DeepMind. It can see, understand, and interact with the world, helping users with tasks like identifying objects, finding items, and reviewing code. Astra represents a significant step toward Hassabis's vision of a universal assistant that's always available and useful.

Alongside Astra, Google announced other advancements in its AI models, including faster and more efficient versions designed for various tasks. Astra is still in the prototype phase but aims to revolutionize how we interact with AI by being a practical, everyday helper.