OpenAI silences Voice Mode release

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OPENAI SILENCES VOICE MODE RELEASE 🗣️

OpenAI: Great new AI voice features are coming … Sike!

What’s going on? OpenAI is postponing the launch of the highly-anticipated Voice Mode for ChatGPT.

Want some background? Originally, OpenAI said Voice Mode would be available within “a few weeks” after their release of GPT-4o in May. The feature allows users to talk to ChatGPT in natural voice, and the enhanced AI voice expresses emotions and allows for natural interruptions, making for more human-like conversation.

Why the delay? In a demo, one of the voices stirred controversy as many thought the “Sky” option sounded like the stolen voice of Scarlett Johansson. Even though this issue has been cleared up, safety concerns have emerged. OpenAI says they are still working on helping the model “detect and refuse certain content” to preserve user safety.

What’s the significance? Voice Mode was the highlight of OpenAI’s spring update, and it had the tech world very excited. Now, OpenAI is pulling the rug out from under everyone. This highlights problems with Altman’s strategy to ship AI “early and often” rather than making sure models are ready to launch before hyping them to the public.

YOUTUBE WANTS TO MAKE AI MUSIC, LEGALLY 🎶

Q: How do you fix a broken tuba?

A: That’s easy. You use a tuba glue. 🤣

What’s the scoop? YouTube is negotiating with major record labels like Sony, Warner, and Universal to license their songs for AI tools that can clone popular artists’ music.

How will this work? Last year, YouTube tested a generative AI tool called “Dream Track,” which created short music clips mimicking well-known artists. Only a few artists participated, and the project was limited to a small group of creators. This new initiative involves offering substantial upfront payments to secure the necessary content for training AI song generators, which YouTube hopes to launch later this year. These payments might not be enough, however, as more than 200 prominent musicians recently signed an open letter against using their work to train AI models. The letter stated, “Unchecked, AI will set in motion a race to the bottom that will degrade the value of our work and prevent us from being fairly compensated for it.”

Why is this important? Earlier this week, lawsuits were filed from these major music agencies against Suno and Udio, which allow users to create music from text prompts. The lawsuits claim that these companies illegally used copyrighted material to train their models. YouTube sees this as an opportunity to capture a significant share of the AI music creation market by signing copyright deals, as long as they can get people on board.

A NEW GOOGLE TOOL MONITORS CORAL REEF HEALTH 🪸

Coral reefs cover only 0.1% of the ocean’s surface, yet they host 25% of all known marine species. 🐠

What’s new? Scientists in collaboration with Google Research and DeepMind have developed an AI tool called SurfPerch to monitor coral reef health by analyzing underwater sounds.

How does it work? Over the past year, Google Research asked people from around the world to participate in “Calling in our Corals,” a data collecting initiative that invited the public to listen to reef audio recordings to build a bioacoustic data library on the health of reefs. This data was stored in a library and then used to train the SurfPerch tool. This tool processes thousands of hours of audio to identify fish sounds and assess biodiversity, helping scientists track reef activity and health.

Why is this important? Because coral reefs are a biodiversity hotspot, they face significant threats such as overfishing, disease, coastal construction, and heatwaves, making it critical to enhance efforts in monitoring, managing, protecting, and restoring these ecosystems. This new AI-driven approach will provide insights into the health of coral reefs that humans have never had before.

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