Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft each entered 2024 with their own AI strategies, strengths, and weaknesses. In this special episode, Brian and Sarah break down why each company is in a unique position and discuss which of the former GAFAM — now GAMMA (or GAMAM) — is in the strongest place.
In news, attention turns to Samsung’s Galaxy S24 announcements, controversy about AI-generated content in Google News results, and a debate between the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission over where the authority lies to investigate OpenAI. Dive in for all of this an intense crime-themed round of "Two truths and l’AI."
Timestamps for this episode:
[0:00] Intro
[00:16] Welcome and news
[1:18] GAMMA adopted to our podcast style guide
[2:00] AI-generated face challenge
[4:18] Samsung adds AI features to new Galaxy S24 phone
[17:43] AI content in Google News results
[21:21] Justice Department and FTC discuss jurisdiction over OpenAI
[27:28] "Two truths and l’AI"
[38:29] 10,000 hours of language recordings to train an AI model
[40:14] GAMMA special: What’s going on in AI across the five big tech companies
[42:26] Alphabet/Google
[50:05] Amazon
[54:11] Meta/Facebook
[1:02:50] Apple
[1:11:48] Microsoft
[1:17:56] Who is best positioned, and who is most vulnerable in 2024?
Links for topics referenced in this episode:
AI-generated face quiz (The New York Times): https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/19/technology/artificial-intelligence-image-generators-faces-quiz.html
Samsung’s new Galaxy S24 AI features (Wall Street Journal): https://www.wsj.com/tech/samsung-galaxy-s24-artificial-intelligence-features-dc37e134
Samsung’s Galaxy S24 demo video (Samsung): https://www.sammobile.com/news/galaxy-ai-features-video-galaxy-s24-ultra/
Apple passes Samsung as top seller of phones globally (The Guardian): https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jan/17/apple-samsung-worlds-top-smartphone-seller-iphone-honor-google-divide-android
Former top seller of 2010, Nokia (Statista): https://www.statista.com/statistics/268877/worldwide-market-share-of-leading-cell-phone-manufacturers/
Assertion that AI-generated content is appearing in Google News results (404 Media): https://www.404media.co/google-news-is-boosting-garbage-ai-generated-articles/
Google’s response to 404 Media story (Search Engine Roundtable): https://www.seroundtable.com/google-responds-garbage-ai-content-in-google-news-36757.html
DOJ and FTC meet over jurisdiction to investigate OpenAI (Politico): https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/19/doj-ftc-microsoft-openai-antitrust-00136624
The AI Taylor Swift-impersonation Le Creuset scam (Creative Bloq): https://www.creativebloq.com/news/taylor-swift-le-creuset-ai
Criminals hacking children’s social media accounts (Daily Mail): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12859675/Warning-criminals-hacking-childrens-social-media-using-just-three-seconds-voice-turning-terrifying-AI-scam-trick-parents.html
How many hours of language recording it takes to train an AI model (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7153882887723884546/
Google anticipates more layoffs in 2024 (CBS News): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-layoffs-2024-sundar-pichai/
Microsoft gain cloud share in Q3 2023 (Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsofts-ai-bets-boost-cloud-business-alphabet-yet-find-silver-lining-2023-10-24/
Amazon losing $10 billion on Alex in 2022 (Fox Business): https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/amazon-alexa-track-lose-10-billion-year-described-colossal-failure-new-report#
Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook video about AI (Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/pfbid02Uf3JSi5xzYqbpEcgfCSmFhwJS3VfrSH5RRxN5C6psFVUWCJADDic8VEADJwPFkVNl
Apple’s AI initiatives (Mac Rumors): https://www.macrumors.com/guide/apple-gpt/
Microsoft overtakes Apple as most valuable company (Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-overtakes-apple-worlds-most-valuable-company-2024-01-11/
Microsoft alleges spying by state-sponsored Russian group (Reuters): https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/microsoft-says-it-was-hacked-by-russian-state-sponsored-group-2024-01-19/
The AI Artifacts Podcast’s visual branding is by Skaaren Design.
Music used in this podcast comes from "Vanishing Horizon" by Jason Shaw and is licensed under an Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Episode 12: Which big tech company is best positioned in AI?