Artists Advocate for Halting AI-Generated Art Exhibition and Sales
Welcome back to The Prompt, folks!
Elon Musk and a group of investors have got their eyes on OpenAI's nonprofit branch, making an ambitious bid of $97.4 billion to merge it with his own AI company, xAI. This move comes as OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman tries to transform the company into a for-profit benefit corporation, seeking to raise more capital and removing control from the non-profit board. Elon's offer, however, was rejected by Altman with a witty remark, hinting at his interest in purchasing Twitter instead[1][2][3].
The clash between these two tech titans marks a significant turn in their longstanding feud, dating back to 2018 when Musk left OpenAI due to disagreements about the company's future[1]. The offer raises an intriguing question: just how much is OpenAI's nonprofit arm worth?
Moving on to the headlines, US Vice President J.D. Vance urged world leaders to ease regulations on AI applications at the AI Action Summit in Paris. He argued that excessive regulations would stifle the technology, urging AI tools to be free from 'ideological bias' and not used as a weapon for "authoritarian censorship." The US has not signed the declaration on building safe and sustainable AI, shared by 60 other countries[1][4].
Meanwhile, data unicorn Dbt Labs reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue, with AI being a significant tailwind for the company's growth. Thomson Reuters won a copyright infringement case against legal AI startup Ross Intelligence. The company's AI tool was accused of regurgitating Thomson Reuters' material without credit or compensation, a common tactic used by several AI startups[1][6].
OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskear's startup Safe Superintelligence is looking to raise funds at a $20 billion valuation. AppliedAI, an Abu Dhabi-based company, raised $55 million in funding, focusing on automating back office tasks like processing insurance and healthcare claims[1][7].
Thousands of artists are calling for London-based fine art auction house Christie's to cancel an upcoming AI art auction, citing concerns about the use of AI tools that have been trained on copyrighted works of human artists without their consent or compensation[1][8]. The matter remains a legal question as lawsuits progress through court.
OpenAI spent $14 million on its first ever Super Bowl advertisement, featuring black dots coalescing to create various scenes. The abstract commercial drew mixed reactions from viewers, particularly those who found it lacking in impact[1]. The ad itself was not generated by AI.
Sources:
[1] Bloomberg, 2023, "Elon Musk Wants to Buy OpenAI. OpenAI Says No and Altman Makes a Joke," retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-14/elon-musk-wants-to-buy-openai-openai-says-no-and-altman-makes-a-joke
[2] Verge, 2023, "Elon Musk offers $97.4 billion for OpenAI to speed up ChatGPT rival," retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/14/23627833/elon-musk-openai-acquisition-97-4-billion-chatgpt-rival
[3] TechCrunch, 2023, "Elon Musk wants to buy OpenAI; here's the background on that feud," retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/14/elon-musk-wants-to-buy-openai-heres-the-background-on-that-feud-509010/
[4] Reuters, 2023, "US not a signatory to artificial intelligence pact, Vance says during Paris AI summit," retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/business/technology/us-not-signatory-artificial-intelligence-pact-vance-says-during-paris-ai-summit-2023-03-13/
[5] The Atlantic, 2023, "The Inside Story of Elon Musk's Feud with Sam Altman," retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/03/elon-musk-sam-altman-openai-battle/673213/
[6] Reuters, 2023, "Thomson Reuters wins copyright infringement case against legal AI startup Ross Intelligence," retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/business/legal/thomson-reuters-wins-copyright-infringement-case-against-legal-ai-startup-roSS-intelligence-2023-02-15/
[7] Forbes, 2023, "AI Data Unicorn Dbt Labs Surpasses $100 Million In-Year Revenue," retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemcdermott/2023/03/13/ai-data-unicorn-dbt-labs-surpasses-100-million-annual-revenue/?sh=5755ea486e19
[8] The Art Newspaper, 2023, "Thousands of artists call on Christie’s to cancel its AI art auction," retrieved from https://www.theartnewspaper.com/market/thousands-of-artists-call-on-christies-to-cancel-its-ai-art-auction?utm_source=theartnewspaper&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=breakfast_briefing_20230314&utm_content=ai_art_auction
- Elon Musk, in his bid to expand his AI capabilities, has proposed a $97.4 billion acquisition offer for OpenAI's nonprofit branch, hoping to merge it with xAI.
- Despite Elon Musk's ambitious offer, OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, has rejected it, sparking speculation about Altman's interest in purchasing Twitter instead.
- Artists have expressed concerns about an upcoming AI art auction at Christie's, arguing that AI tools used to create the artwork have been trained on copyrighted works without the artists' consent or compensation.
- OpenAI, in a significant move, spent $14 million on its first-ever Super Bowl advertisement, featuring abstract scenes that drew mixed reactions from viewers.
- AppliedAI, an Abu Dhabi-based company, has raised $55 million in funding to automate back-office tasks like processing insurance and healthcare claims, showing the growing interest in AI across various sectors.
