While VR competition heats up with HTC welcomes Apple

 HTC boss welcomes Apple VR competition

Lenovo unveils AI laptop with Transparent display

KIT-AR has announced €3.3M in funding to accelerate growth of its industrial AR platform

Nvidia and these 3 other AI stocks

Racial bias in AI: Google, Gemini AI, ChatGBT & Microsoft

Google’s ‘Genie’ enables prompt-to-video games

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• HTC, previously a significant player in the smartphone market, has shifted its focus to the merging of virtual and physical worlds through its HTC Vive line of headsets, positioning it as a direct competitor to Apple's new product.

• HTC expressed positive sentiments about Apple's entry into the virtual and augmented reality market, stating that it is beneficial to have a major brand like Apple join the competition.

• Despite the modest sales figures for virtual and augmented reality headsets, the technology is expected to become mainstream once the prices lower and technological improvements are made, as indicated by HTC chief executive and co-founder Cher Wang.

Significance: The launch of Apple's Vision Pro virtual and augmented reality headset is significant because it represents a major shift in the market and marks Apple's biggest product launch since the original iPhone in 2007. This development has created a competitive landscape for companies like HTC, which has been focusing on the merging of virtual and physical worlds with its HTC Vive line of headsets. The entry of a prominent brand like Apple into the virtual and augmented reality space is expected to drive innovation, lower prices, and accelerate the mainstream adoption of this technology. As more industries, such as healthcare and law enforcement, begin to incorporate virtual and augmented reality into their operations, the importance of this technology will only continue to grow.

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• Lenovo introduced new AI-powered ThinkPad and ThinkBook laptops at MWC 2024, featuring Intel Core Ultra processors and Windows 11.

• The ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop Concept showcases a futuristic design with a 17.3-inch Micro-LED transparent display and AI-driven features.

• New accessories include the ThinkVision M14t Gen 2 mobile display, USB-C Slim Travel Dock, and ThinkPad Executive 16-inch Backpack to enhance mobility and productivity.

• Lenovo also announced Smart Connect, a software solution that unifies Lenovo and Motorola's digital ecosystems for seamless multi-device experiences.

Significance: They signify the company's commitment to advancing personal computing experiences and creating a more intelligent, efficient, and sustainable digital future. The cutting-edge ThinkPad and ThinkBook laptops, featuring Intel Core Ultra processors, offer businesses and individuals unparalleled productivity, versatility, and security. The ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop Concept is a testament to Lenovo's dedication to pushing the boundaries of technology and design. By unifying Lenovo and Motorola's digital ecosystems, Smart Connect ensures a seamless, multi-device experience that maximizes productivity and fosters innovation.

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• KIT-AR, a provider of an augmented worker platform for the manufacturing industry, has completed a EUR €3.3 million funding round.

• The funding round was co-led by 3XP Global and Blue Crow Capital

• Sintef Venture V, Criteria Venture Tech, and Armilar Venture Partners also participated in the round through its NOS 5G Fund and TechTransfer fund.

• The funding will be used to accelerate KIT-AR's growth and expand its market presence.

Significance: The EUR €3.3 million funding round for KIT-AR, led by 3XP Global and Blue Crow Capital, will accelerate the augmented worker platform's growth and expansion in the manufacturing industry, allowing the company to scale its team and help industrial brands reduce human errors for increased efficiency and cost savings.

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• Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to add over $15 trillion to worldwide gross domestic product by 2030, and Wall Street analysts predict that certain AI stocks can deliver significant upside potential.

• Although Nvidia has become synonymous with the AI revolution, it may struggle to maintain its current momentum due to growing competition and potential cannibalization of its own GPU pricing power.

• Three AI stocks that may outperform Nvidia in terms of upside potential are Baidu, Mobileye Global, and Tesla, with implied upsides of 89%, 203%, and 64%, respectively, according to select Wall Street analysts. These companies are leveraging AI technology to drive growth in their respective industries.

Significance: The potential upside of three AI stocks - Baidu, Mobileye Global, and Tesla - which could outperform Nvidia according to select Wall Street analysts. AI is expected to add more than $15 trillion to worldwide GDP by 2030.

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• Google CEO Sundar Pichai admits Gemini AI model's responses showed "bias."

• The company is working to fix the issue after Google paused Gemini's image generation ability due to multiple examples of bias.

• Historical figures and Nazi-era German soldiers were depicted as racially diverse or as different genders, among other issues.

Significance: The recent admission by Google CEO Sundar Pichai regarding the presence of "bias" in the company's Gemini AI model highlights the importance of addressing and mitigating issues related to artificial intelligence. As AI technology continues to advance and integrate into various aspects of our lives, it is crucial that developers prioritize the development of fair, unbiased algorithms to ensure accurate and equitable outcomes. By acknowledging and working to resolve these issues, companies like Google play a vital role in shaping the responsible use of AI for the betterment of society.

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• Google DeepMind introduces Genie, an AI model that generates interactive virtual worlds for gameplay on 2D platforms. Genie can create playable environments from synthetic images, photographs, sketches, and even real-world photographs.

• Google DeepMind researchers trained Genie on gameplay and other videos found online, making it the first generative interactive model trained in an unsupervised manner from unlabelled internet videos.

• The model, which stands at 11 billion parameters, includes a spatiotemporal video tokeniser, an autoregressive dynamics model, and a simple as well as scalable latent action model.

• Genie can be prompted with images it has never seen, including real-world photographs and sketches, allowing people to interact with their imagined virtual worlds.

Significance: The introduction of Google's AI model, Genie, marks a significant milestone in the field of AI-generated content and interactive virtual environments. This groundbreaking technology has the potential to revolutionize game development and entertainment, making it more accessible and personalized for users. As Genie can create playable environments from various types of input, such as text, images, and sketches, it opens up possibilities for users to engage with their own unique and imaginative worlds. This could lead to innovative advancements in gaming, storytelling, and even education, further pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve in entertainment and beyond.