The justice department, having won a judgment that Google has monopoly power in search, has proposed a draconian remedy: the company must disgorge the Chrome browser. It'll take the better part of a year for Google to formulate a response longer than four letters they shouted Wednesday morning. The JD's consulting panel of experts want more than just a browser, though. They want Google's data spread it all around to level the playing field. If Google knows all about you, then everyone should. Too complicated by half. The way to dampen Google's monopoly is not to separate chrome from Google search, but to separarte it from Android, and stop Google from buying a search monopoly on Apple phones.
Wordware Secures $30M seed round to build AI agents using plain English. The San Francisco-based startup, announced a $30 million seed round led by Spark Capital, with contributions from Y Combinator, Felicis, Day One Ventures and angels. Co-founded by Filip Kozera and Robert Chandler, Wordware enables users to build AI agents using plain English. Their tech has been adopted by companies as diverse as Instacart and Runway. The Wordware's platform offers a unified interface for AI development, integrating top models from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. Wordware allows rapid experimentation and deployment, eliminating months of development time. The company plans to expand its offerings, including prosumer tools for automating personal workflows in 2025.
China's Rokid Is launching AI smart glasses - without a display. Rokid celebrated its 10th anniversary by launching a collaboration with eyewear brand BOLON, emulating Meta's successful partnership with Luxottica on their RayBan smart glasses. The new Rokid glasses, priced at RMB 2,499 (approximately $345), are set for release in the second quarter of 2025. They are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 platform and integrate Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen AI, enabling features like object recognition, multilingual translation, and health reminders. Weighing 49 grams, they offer up to four hours continuous use. As predicted last week, expect a parade of such announcements. Glasses are a perfect platform for sensors, which AI needs to perceive where you are and what you are doing. With AI onboard, and a smart phone in your pocket powering the whole shebang, what is the display for? Without a display, these are cheap and easy to make. Expect them to flood CES in January.
Microsoft has announced a voice cloning feature for Teams, set to launch in early 2025. Named "Interpreter in Teams," the tool will enable real-time translation across nine languages, preserving users' original voices for a personal touch in multilingual meetings. Limited to Microsoft 365 subscribers, the feature highlights the growing market for AI translation. Lex Fridman's podcast showcased the power of AI dubbing when Eleven Labs translated Spanish-speaking guest Javier Milei's voice into fluent English, maintaining his tone and nuances. This breakthrough highlights the transformative potential of AI-powered tools, now being rolled out by YouTube, to eliminate language barriers and globalize content creation.
AI Brings the Sam Altman Saga to life. Fable Simulation, led by Emmy-winning entrepreneur Edward Saatchi, created an AI simulation to reveal what might have happened behind closed doors at OpenAI after Sam Altman was fired on this date last year. The simulation results are surprising: Altman retains his leadership position just 20% of the time.
Invideo Launches Longform Video GenerativeAI. The Indian video editing platform backed by Tiger Global and Peak XV launched InVideo v3.0, a generative AI-powered feature that enables users to create videos from text prompts. This tool allows the generation of videos in various styles, including live-action, animated, and anime, suitable for platforms like YouTube, Shorts/Reels, and LinkedIn. Users can also edit specific parts of the generated videos through prompts. The company offers a Generative Plan at $120 per month, allowing the creation of 15 minutes of video. You feel what I feel? It's a tidal wave of GenAI coming to the socials.
Goldman Sachs spotlights BCI as the next major tech frontier. Analysts predict the market for brain-enhancing chips could expand to $400 billion annually by 2040. While the market is currently valued at $2.2 billion, driven by advancements in neuroscience and technology, significant challenges remain, including cost, ethical concerns, and technical hurdles. Despite these, investors and researchers are pouring resources into the field, positioning BCIs as a transformative innovation akin to the rise of smartphones.
Meta has introduced 'Meta Credits,' a premium digital currency for its social VR platform, Horizon Worlds. Available in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, the currency enables users to purchase in-world digital goods, such as avatar outfits and access keys to premium worlds. Unlike Quest Cash, Meta Credits are exclusive to Horizon Worlds and cannot be used for hardware or accessories. The currency is available in various packages, with a base conversion rate of 10:1 (e.g., $3 for 300 Meta Credits). This initiative marks a significant step in Meta's efforts to establish a creator economy that incentivizes creators to make and sell goods to users. The platform becomes the bank and takes a small transaction fee. Last year, venerable social platform Second Life, with less than a million unique monthly users, generated approximately $60 million in revenue from such transactions on its platform last year.
Jake Zim, a veteran VR and digital marketing executive, has been named Chief Marketing Officer of Another Axiom, the creators of the VR hit "Gorilla Tag." Zim will lead marketing, licensing, and franchise expansions into film, TV, and merchandise for the company, which has earned over $100 million in revenue and boasts over 12 million lifetime players. Known for his work at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where he spearheaded VR game campaigns for franchises like Ghostbusters and Spider-Man, Zim aims to scale Gorilla Tag's success with new merchandising efforts and expanded platform reach. Another Axiom's next title, *Orion Drift,* is also under Zim's marketing oversight.
Coke's AI Holiday Commercial Infuriates and Delights. Coca-Cola's latest AI-generated holiday video, meant to channel nostalgia for its iconic 1995 "Holidays Are Coming" ad, has sparked widespread backlash. Critics lambasted its low-quality animation -- compared unfavorably to "Polar Express on bad acid" -- and its failure to capture the warmth and creativity of Coca-Cola's traditional campaigns. The video, created with three AI studios and four generative models, was seen as a cost-cutting experiment rather than an innovative leap. Coca-Cola defended the project as a blend of human creativity and generative AI, aimed at exploring new approaches.
This column, formerly called "This Week in XR," is also a podcast hosted by the author of this column, Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, former studio executive and co-founder of Red Camera, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week our guest is Nanea Reeves, founder and CEO of Tripp. We can be found on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.
Pivoting in politics, tech, antitrust and economic growth, An Interview With CEO of CES Gary Shapiro (Dean Takahashi/VentureBeat)