Category: ai

Zoom
announced
new
artificial
intelligence
(AI)
features
for
its
platform
at
its
annual
Zoomtopia
event
on
Wednesday.
The
video
conferencing
platform
introduced
the
AI
Companion
2.0,
the
second
generation
of
the
AI
assistant
which
can
now
handle
more
tasks.
Available
across
Zoom
Workplace,
the
company’s
AI-powered
collaboration
platform,
it
can
now
access
Zoom
Mail,
Zoom
Tasks,
and
more.
Additionally,
the
company
also
launched
custom
AI
avatar,
which
will
let
users
record
a
video
to
generate
an
AI
clone
of
themselves
which
can
speak
in
a
similar
voice.

Zoom
AI
Companion
2.0
Introduced

In
a
newsroom

post,
the
company
introduced
the
new
AI
assistant
for
the
Zoom
Workplace
platform.
It
is
similar
to
the
Gemini
assistant
in
Android
smartphones
or
Copilot
in
AI
PCs.
The
AI
Companion
is
the
central
hub
for
most
of
the
AI
features
added
by
the
company.
Users
can
use
it
to
summarise
documents,
generate
text,
and
more.

With
the
second
iteration
of
the
AI
assistant,
Workplace
users
can
access
prompt
suggestions
in
the
side
panel
across
all
Zoom
platforms.
Users
can
also
expand
the
context
of
information
by
connecting

Gmail,
Microsoft
Outlook,
and
other
similar
apps.
The
assistant
can
also
summarise
unread
messages
within
a
Zoom
Team
Chat
channel
and
recap
email
threads
in
Zoom
Mail.

Within
Zoom
calls,
the
AI
assistant
can
now
answer
questions
outside
of
the
context
of
the
meeting
by
searching
the
web.
Hence,
participants
can
ask
general
knowledge
and
current
affairs
queries
to
the
AI
while
in
the
meeting.
AI
Companion
2.0
can
also
answer
questions
about
the
content
discussed
in
a
meeting
even
after
the
meeting
has
ended.
Further,
the
conversations
with
the
AI
are
now
available
to
refer
back
to
after
the
end
of
the
meeting.

Zoom
Introduces
Custom
AI
Avatar

Another
interesting
feature
unveiled
at
the
event
is
Custom
avatars
for
Zoom
Clips.
It
lets
users
record
a
video
clip,
which
is
then
processed
by
an
AI
model
to
generate
an
avatar.
Only
the
bust
of
the
avatar
is
visible
including
the
head,
shoulders,
and
upper
arms.
The
feature
can
also
generate
a
voice
similar
to
the
user.
If
a
user
adds
a
text
script,
the
AI
avatar
will
be
able
to
speak
and
lip
sync
to
it.

While
this
feature
was
showcased
at
the
Zoomtopia
event,
it
will
not
be
available
to
users
till
2025.

Microsoft
is
rolling
out
new
artificial
intelligence
(AI)
features
to

Copilot,
the
company’s
native
chatbot.
The
tech
giant
is
now
adding
both
voice
and
vision
capabilities
to
the
chatbot,
after
announcing
them
on
Tuesday.
Microsoft
claims
that
the
new
Copilot
features
are
aimed
at
offering
an
intuitive
design
along
with
“speedy
and
fluent
answers”.
The
Copilot
Voice
feature
is
similar
to
Gemini
Live
and
ChatGPT’s
Voice
Mode. Meanwhile,
the
much-criticised
Recall
feature
will
finally
be
expanded
to
all
Windows
Insider
users
this
month.

Microsoft
Copilot
Updated
With
AI-Powered
Features

In
a

blog
post,
Microsoft
has
shared
several
details
of
the
new
AI
features
coming
to
Copilot.
These
features
will
be
available
on
the
Copilot
app
on

iOS
and
Android,
the
web
client,
as
well
as
the
Copilot
assistant
on

Windows.
The
latter
will
only
be
available
on
the
Copilot+
PCs,
which
are
currently
powered
by
the
Snapdragon
X
series
chipsets.

Copilot
Voice

With
four
voice
options,
users
can
now
experience
a
hands-free
voice
conversation
with
Microsoft’s
chatbot.
The
company
said
it
could
be
used
for
brainstorming,
asking
a
quick
query,
or
just
to
have
a
friendly
conversation.

Notably,
while
the
feature
will
offer
a
speech-to-speech
experience,
the
company
has
not
highlighted
whether
the
output
generation
would
be
in
real-time,
or
if
it
would
support
an
emotive
voice.

Copilot
Vision

Copilot
Vision
is
also
being
added.
This
is
a
new
way
to
interact
with
the
AI.
Once
enabled,
the
feature
will
be
able
to
see
what
the
user
sees
on
the
screen.
The
feature
also
supports
voice
mode,
letting
users
ask
verbal
queries
about
the
content.
For
instance,
users
can
show
the
AI
a
picture
of
furniture
and
ask
about
its
colour
palette,
material,
and
more.

Since
this
feature
can
be
perceived
as
invasive
to
user
privacy,
Microsoft
has
also
added
several
layers
of
security
measures.
The
feature
is
opt-in
and
will
not
work
till
the
user
explicitly
activates
it.

Even
after
activating
it,
the
feature
currently
only
works
with
a
limited
number
of
websites.
Further,
the
tech
giant
added
that
the
data
processed
by
the
chatbot
will
not
be
collected
or
used
to
train
the
AI.

Windows
Recall

Microsoft’s
Recall
feature,
which
takes
passive
screenshots
of
a
user’s
laptop
or
desktop
and
can
keep
track
of
the
user’s
activity
locally,
is
now
rolling
out
to
a
wider
user
base.
Microsoft
highlighted
in
a

blog
post
that
the
feature
will
be
rolled
out
to
Windows
Insiders
using
Copilot+
PCs
this
month.

For
now,
it
will
only
be
available
on
the
Snapdragon-powered
PCs.
In
November,
the
tech
giant
will
roll
it
out
to
the
AMD-powered
PCs
as
well.

ChatGPT,
the
artificial
intelligence
(AI)
chatbot
by
OpenAI
is
reportedly
about
to
get
more
expensive
for
paid
subscribers.
According
to
a
new
report,
the
AI
firm
is
planning
to
increase
the
subscription
price
for
ChatGPT
Plus
users
by
$2
(roughly
Rs.
167)
a
month.
The
price
hike
is
not
expected
to
stop
there
either,
as
the
company
is
said
to
push
the
monthly
subscription
cost
to
$44
(roughly
Rs.
3,685)
in
the
next
five
years.
The
reason
behind
pushing
for
a
higher
ticket
price
is
said
to
be
OpenAI’s
revenue
ambitions
and
expensive
cost
of
running
operations.

ChatGPT
Subscriptions
to
Reportedly
Get
More
Expensive

According
to
The
New
York
Times,
the
AI
firm
is
planning
to
increase
the
subscription
price
by
$2
by
the
end
of
2024.
Citing
financial
documents
viewed
by
the
publication,
the
report
further
added
that
the
final
price
of
the
ChatGPT
Plus
subscription
might
stand
at
$44
a
month
by
the
end
of
2029,
a
steep
climb
from
the
current
$20
a
month
in
the
US
or
Rs.
1,950
a
month
in
India.

With
the
price
hike,
the
company
reportedly
wants
to
secure
a
revenue
of
$100
billion
(roughly
Rs.
8.3
lakh
crore)
in
2029,
a
majority
of
which
is
expected
to
come
from
its
subscription-based
services.
If
the
AI
firm
is
able
to
achieve
this
target,
it
would
be
raking
in
annual
revenue
similar
to
Reliance
Industries,
Nestlé,
or
Comcast.

OpenAI
currently
has
approximately
10
million
ChatGPT
Plus
users,
according
to
the
report.

The
documents
reviewed
by
the
publication
that
was
meant
for
the
investors
and
OpenAI
reportedly
highlighted
that
it
is
currently
making
“billions”
from
ChatGPT,
and
expects
to
boost
the
numbers
significantly
in
the
coming
years.
Notably,
the
company
is
in
the
process
of
closing
a
funding
round.

Despite
the
big
numbers
projected
in
its
revenue
estimation,
the
company
is
reportedly
struggling
with
optimising
its
operational
costs.
OpenAI
is
said
to
lose
approximately
$5
billion
(roughly
Rs.
41.8
thousand
crore)
this
year,
most
of
which
goes
towards
its
AI-powered
services.
Other
significant
cost-centres
include
employee
salaries
and
office
rent.

Another
major
source
of
expense
is
reportedly
cloud
computing
for
which
the
company
uses
Microsoft’s
services.
Despite
getting
$13
billion
(roughly
Rs.
1.08
lakh
crore)
yearly
due
to
the
partnership,
the
AI
firm
spends
much
of
that
money
on
running
cloud
processing.

Thrive
Capital
is
investing
more
than
$1
billion
of

OpenAI’s
current
$6.5
billion
fundraising
round,
and
it
has
a
sweetener
no
other
investors
are
getting:
the
potential
to
invest
another
$1
billion
next
year
at
the
same
valuation
if
the
AI
firm
hits
a
revenue
goal,
people
familiar
with
the
matter
said
on
Friday.

OpenAI
is
predicting
its
revenue
will
skyrocket
to
$11.6
billion
next
year
from
an
estimated
$3.7
billion
in
2024,
the
sources
said,
speaking
on
condition
of
anonymity.
Losses
are
expected
to
be
as
much
as
$5
billion
this
year,
depending
largely
on
their
spending
for
computing
power
that
could
change,
one
of
the
sources
added.

The
current
funding
round,
which
comes
in
the
form
of
convertible
debt,
is
expected
to
close
by
the
end
of
next
week
and
could
value
OpenAI
at
$150
billion,
cementing
its
status
as
one
of
the
most
valuable
private
companies
in
the
world.

That
valuation
depends
on
pulling
off
a
complicated
restructuring
to
remove
the
control
of
its
non-profit
board
and
also
remove
cap
on
investment
return
to
investors,
a
plan
first
reported
by
Reuters.
There
is
no
specific
timeline
when
the
conversion
could
be
completed.

Thrive
Capital,
which
also
led
OpenAI’s
previous
funding
round,
is
offering
$1.2
billion
from
a
combination
of
its
own
fund
and
a
special
purpose
vehicle
for
smaller
investors.
Other
investors
on
the
new
round
include

Microsoft,

Apple,

Nvidia
and
Khosla
Ventures.

The
others
were
not
given
the
option
for
future
investment
at
current
price,
sources
said.
OpenAI’s
valuation
has
soared
quickly,
and
if
it
continues
to
do
so,
Thrive
could
find
itself
increasing
its
stake
next
year
at
a
discounted
price.

Reuters
was
not
able
to
determine
the
revenue
target
associated
with
the
option
for
Thrive,
which
was
founded
by
Joshua
Kushner.

Thrive
and
OpenAI
declined
to
comment.

OpenAI’s
revenue
expectations
far
exceed
CEO
Sam
Altman’s
earlier
projection
of
$1
billion
in
revenue
this
year.
The
main
revenue
sources
are
sales
of
its
services
to
corporations
and
subscriptions
to
its
chatbot.

Its
flagship
product,

ChatGPT,
is
expected
to
bring
in
$2.7
billion
in
revenue
this
year,
jumping
from
$700
million
in
2023.
The
chatbot
service,
which
charges
a
$20
fee
every
month,
has
about
10
million
paying
users.

The
financials
and
details
about
Thrive’s
additional
option
were
first
reported
by
the
New
York
Times
on
Friday.

©
Thomson
Reuters
2024

(This
story
has
not
been
edited
by
NDTV
staff
and
is
auto-generated
from
a
syndicated
feed.)