Hi, and welcome to today's Bay Area Times daily newsletter. Top stories today: 1) OpenAI launches GPT-4, 2) Anthropic launches Claude, 3) Gmail and Docs adding AI, 4) Adept raises $350M, and 5) CPI drops to 6.0%.

0. Data and calendar

1. OpenAI launches GPT-4; API cost 60x more than ChatGPT

GPT is multimodal, taking in images as input

GPT-4 scores at the highest percentiles in most exams, including the GRE and the LSAT

But GPT-4's highest-performing API (in closed beta) cost $0.12/1,000 tokens, 60x more than ChatGPT's

Still, many apps are already using GPT-4

The New Bing has been using GPT-4 for the last 5 weeks

Duolingo has integrated GPT-4 in its new Max offering

• Duolingo Max will cost $29.99/mo or $167.99/year. - Techcrunch, Duolingo

Main so-whats?

• Will others be able to copy GPT-4's quality? Google's unlaunched multimodal PaLM-E is likely of similar quality, and we expect open-source LLMs to use GPT-4 as fine-tuning and come close to it, over the next few months.

• Closed beta, no technical details. For a company/non-profit named OpenAI, they are doing a great job of keeping things closed. Not only GPT-4 is not open-source, but its beta is not even open to the public, requiring a waitlist. To put the cherry on top, the GPT-4 "paper" does not include details like model size, hardware, and training method, citing "the competitive landscape and the safety implications of large-scale models like GPT-4." - OpenAI, Paper

2. Anthropic opens up beta for Claude; unclear how it's any better than GPT

• This seems to be competitive with ChatGPT, not GPT-4. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI engineers, and recently raised $400M in funding from Google (Microsoft's main rival in AI). Yet, their Claude LLM is not multimodal and Anthropic is not even posting comparisons to GPT-4, suggesting that their product is worse.

• Pricing is $0.0086 for 1 thousand characters, much higher than ChatGPT's pricing of $0.002 for 1 thousand tokens (each token has a few characters), closer to GPT-4's price of $0.12 for 1 thousand tokens. - Bloomberg, Anthropic

3. Google adding AI to Gmail and Docs

• Draft, reply, summarize, brainstorm, proofread, write, rewrite: the main features being launched immediately in Gmail and Docs. Looking ahead, for other Workspace apps, we'll see auto-generated images, audio, and video in Slides; insights and analysis, formula generation, and contextual categorization in Sheets; note-taking in Meet; and more.

• Closed beta, and you can't even apply for it: another sign that Google is even more careful than OpenAI or Microsoft in its AI launches. As we know, Microsoft is working on similar features for its Office suite. - The Verge, Google

• All apps will integrate generative AI: we see that as an unstoppable trend. Thinking longer-term, every task that a human does today can in theory be done or at least augmented by AI. Law, accounting, writing, marketing -- there are no limits.

4. Adept raises $350M for AI LLM integrations

• Their AI is basically an LLM that can do tasks for you, with integrations to Google Chrome, Salesforce, Sheets, email, and more.

• Won't all these apps integrate AI themselves? Probably, which is likely why Adept is positioning itself more as a B2B play. And their funding round was pretty much closed with General Catalyst and Spark last fall, before the ChatGPT craze. - Forbes

• In related news, the NYT says the AI funding frenzy escalates. Many other startups are raising money at high valuations, and YC's latest batch has 23%+ of companies working on AI. Sam Lessin, in contrast, said the best way to invest in AI is to buy the Big Tech companies. - NYT

5. CPI report in line with expectations

Moving markets back to 25 bps

Read more at Bloomberg, BLS.

6. SVB news roundup: stocks bounce, new regulations to come

• Regional banks stocks bounce as they entice depositors to stay.

• SVB creditors form group in advance of likely bankruptcy.

• Senate Democrats unveil bill to repeal Trump-era bank law that reduced enhanced scrutiny cutoff from $250B to $50B (affecting SVB).

• Fed thinking of new rules for midsize banks to prevent future SVB fiascos.

• Signature Bank faced DOJ criminal probe before firm's collapse.

7. Meta to lay off another 10K, after 11K in November

• Zuckerberg also was bullish on in-person work: "Our early analysis of performance data suggests that engineers who either joined Meta in-person and then transferred to remote or remained in-person performed better on average than people who joined remotely. This analysis also shows that engineers earlier in their career perform better on average when they work in-person with teammates at least three days a week." - Techcrunch, Meta

8. In related news, Apple is delaying bonuses

• They are also changing the bonus schedule to once a year (October), limiting hiring for more jobs, and leaving open positions unhired. It still is the only Big Tech that hasn't done a round of layoffs, although it also hired much than its peers. - Bloomberg

• The year of efficiency is here. A positive trend, after a crazy 2021 that left made companies bloated. Big Tech hiring less also means more engineering talent available for new startups, a good thing.

9. TikTok to launch STEM feed in U.S. this month

• Another move aimed at appeasing U.S. lawmakers and the general public, suggesting that TikTok is not just a CCP-controlled mind-numbing app. There are bills aimed at banning TikTok roaming in both the House and the Senate, although we don't expect a full ban: a forced divestiture is more likely. - Techcrunch, TikTok

• TikTok could split its U.S. business if deal with U.S. government flops. A sale or IPO could value it at $40-50B, according to analyst estimates. - Bloomberg

• In related news, Abu Dhabi firm G42 invested in TikTok at a $220B valuation. That was a secondary sale that happened before the SVB fiasco. - Bloomberg

10. Other headlines

Tech

• Microsoft signs 3rd CoD deal as it shows that Activision deal won't harm industry.

• Microsoft's Build conference is back on May 23-25.

• 20+ U.S. stadiums and other venues are using facial recognition.

• Google Pixel 8 Pro leaked renders show flat display, mysterious new sensor.

• Youtube TV launching multiview mode in closed beta.

• Spotify's super-high-quality audio subscriber "coming at some point."

• Spotify seeks to look more like TikTok: CEO interview.

• Replai.so: AI replies in Twitter and LinkedIn, as a Chrome extension.

• Milo: AI copilot for parents.

• At SXSW, AI fills crypto void.

• Indeed tech job postings peaked in 2022.

Business

• Credit Suisse's top shareholder rules out investing more, market cap at $10B, P/B 0.15.

• Foxconn's sales down 10% to $65B and income is $1.3B, slightly below estimates.

• Novo Nordisk to cut insulin prices by up to 75%, following Eli Lilly.

• China retail sales up 3.5%, industrial production 2.4%.

• SVB pledged nearly $74M to BLM causes.

Crypto

• Euler Finance to offer $1M reward if $200M hacker doesn't return 90%.

• a16z Crypto's Head of Policy: SEC is "completely out of control."

• NFTs are an acceptable form of serving court papers, Court finds.

• Crypto bank Anchorage lays off 20% of staff, or 75 people.

Washington and more

• Russian jet hits U.S. drone over Black Sea, leading to drone destruction.

• DeSantis is criticized by establishment Republicans for anti-Ukraine position.

• DeSantis' government seeks to remove liquor license from Hyatt after drag show.

• DeSantis' government seeks to criminalize transporting undocumented immigrants.

• Tech workers on H1B have a scary prospect: 60 days to find a job or leave the U.S.

• Andrew Tate and brother have bail denied, again.

11. Interesting tweets, memes, and images

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