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Google’s open weights Gemma 2 nears Microsoft’s Phi-3 on benchmarks

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Bay Area Times
June 28, 2024

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Top stories today:

  1. Google’s open weights Gemma 2 nears Microsoft’s Phi-3 on benchmarks
  2. Q1 GDP revised up from 1.3% to 1.4%
  3. OpenAI announces CriticGPT, model to help human trainers in RLHF
  4. ChatGPT web visits +16% MoM, +96% YoY to 2.9B in June

0. Data and calendar

All values as of 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT, other than S&P500 and NASDAQ close (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT).

All times are ET.

Correction: We reported yesterday that Amazon's +4% to $2T market cap was based on no news. In fact, the rise was connected to the report that Amazon plans to launch a Temu-like store. h/t to our reader FD.

1. Google’s open weights Gemma 2 nears Microsoft’s Phi-3 on benchmarks

Google curiously didn’t explicitly compare Gemma 2 with Phi-3 in their launch post:

Phi-3 continues to be the leading open weights small language model according to MMLU, having a 78.2 score

  • TBD: Human comparisons between the 2 models.

2. Q1 GDP revised up from 1.3% to 1.4%

  • From 3.4% in Q4.

  • Durable goods orders: 0.1% MoM in May, vs -0.5% expected, from 0.2% in the prior month.

    • Core: -0.1%, vs. 0.2%, from 0.4%.

  • UK GDP for Q1 updated from 0.6% to 0.7%.

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4. OpenAI announces CriticGPT, model to help human trainers spot mistakes during RLHF

Humans + CriticGPT provided more comprehensive critiques and hallucinated less often than just humans:

  • OpenAI suggests this is a step towards “AI alignment,” and we assume also into AI being able to recursively improve itself.

5. ChatGPT web visits +16% MoM, +96% YoY to 2.9B in June, expanding its lead over Gemini

Looking at mobile apps, Character AI has almost the same number of U.S. DAUs as ChatGPT

6. Robotics startup funding set to grow in 2024

$4.2B invested YTD, vs. $6.8B in all of 2023:

7. 29% of Americans would consider buying EVs

8. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

9. Other headlines

AI

  • Meta LLM Compiler launches.

  • Google partners with Moody’s for financial data for AI.

  • SoftBank raises $1.9B in overseas bond sale for AI bets.

  • Andrew Ng plans $120M for next AI fund.

  • Hebbia raises $100M Series B for AI search.

  • Axelera raises $68M to build AI chips, rival NVIDIA.

  • Character AI now allows users to talk to AI bots over call.

  • Athyna: hire incredible global talent with the same company that Bay Area Times uses!*

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Tech

  • Vision Pro launches in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore.

  • Clay raises $46M at $500M, with participation from Sequoia.

*Sponsored. Clicking on ad links may share your email with Mercury for remarketing purposes.

Tech & law

  • Chinese AI cloud firms limiting access due to U.S. curbs.

  • Uber’s MA settlement demands $32.5/hour minimum wage.

  • TikTok ban requires extremely heavy burden, EFF tells Appeals Court.

Biotech

Crypto

  • Coinbase sues SEC, FDIC over attempts to cut crypto from banking.

  • Solana nears ATH in transactions after Blinks launch.

  • MegaLabs raises $20M for “real-time” blockchain.

U.S. politics

World

  • Milei wins approval for economic reforms by 147-107.

  • Iran presidential elections today could elect reformist Pezeshkian.

  • Israel, Hezbollah inch closer to war.

  • Ukraine likely to receive Patriot systems from U.S., Israel.

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