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OpenAI’s reported ‘superintelligence’ breakthrough is so big it nearly destroyed the company, and ChatGPT
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It now seems entirely possible that ChatGPT parent company OpenAI has solved the 'superintelligence' problem, and is now grappling with the implications for humanity.

In the aftermath of OpenAI's firing and rehiring of its co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, revelations about what sparked the move keep coming. A new report in The Information pins at least the internal disruption on a significant Generative AI breakthrough that could lead to the development of something called 'superintelligence' within this decade or sooner.

Superintelligence is, as you might have guessed, intelligence that outstrips humanity, and the development of AI that's capable of such intelligence without proper safeguards is, naturally, a major red flag.

According to The Information, the breakthrough was spearheaded by OpenAI Chief Scientist (and full-of-regrets board member) Ilya Sutskever. 

It allows AI to use cleaner and computer-generated data to solve problems the AI has never seen before. This means the AI is trained not on many different versions of the same problem, but on information not directly related to the problem. Solving problems in this way – usually math or science problems – requires reasoning. Right, something we do, not AIs.

OpenAI's primary consumer-facing product, ChatGPT (powered by the GPT large language model [LLM]) may seem so smart that it must to be using reason to craft its responses. Spend enough time with ChatGPT, however, and you soon realize it's just regurgitating what it's learned from the vast swaths of data it's been fed, and making mostly accurate guesses about how to craft sentences that make sense and which apply to your query. There is no reasoning involved here.

The Information claims, though, that this breakthrough – which Altman may have alluded to in a recent conference appearance, saying, “on a personal note, just in the last couple of weeks, I have gotten to be in the room, when we sort of like push the sort of the veil of ignorance back and the frontier of discovery forward,” – sent shockwaves throughout OpenAI.

Managing the threat

While there's no sign of superintelligence in ChatGPT right now, OpenAI is surely working to integrate some of this power into, at least, some of its premium products, like GPT-4 Turbo and those GPTs chatbot agents (and future 'intelligent agents').

Connecting superintelligence to the board's recent actions, which Sutskever initially supported, might be a stretch. The breakthrough reportedly came months ago, and prompted Sutskever and another OpenAI scientist, Jan Leike, to form a new OpenAI research group called Superaligment with the goal of developing superintelligence safeguards.

Yes, you heard that right. The company working on developing superintelligence is simultaneously building tools to protect us from superintelligence. Imagine Doctor Frankenstein equipping the villagers with flamethrowers, and you get the idea.

What's not clear from the report is how internal concerns about the rapid development of superintelligence possibly triggered the Altman firing. Perhaps it doesn't matter.

At this writing, Altman is on his way back to OpenAI, the board is refashioned, and the work to build superintelligence – and to protect us from it – will continue.

If all of this is confusing, I suggest you ask ChatGPT to explain it to you.

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Snapchat AI shenanigans caused by glitch not sentience, says company
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The introduction of Snapchat’s AI – called ‘My AI’ – has already been met with resistance and controversy, and new reports from multiple users about the chatbot taking videos without permission could add fuel to the fire.

Several users took to social media to share stories of the Snapchat AI taking videos of their ceilings and walls without any input from them, and then posting the clip as a live Story to all their followers. These are actions that should only be available to human users, not AI, which is what set alarm bells ringing.

Some users on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared their thoughts on the issue, with some seeming to be worried, while others made light of the turn of events. CNN reported on other users sharing their concerns as well. “Why does My AI have a video of the wall and ceiling in their house as their story?” wrote one user. “This is very weird and honestly unsettling,” said another.

A spokesperson from Snap Inc. responded, confirming that the issue, which they said was quickly addressed, was just a glitch. “My AI experienced a temporary outage that’s now resolved,” according to the statement Snap gave to TechCrunch.

Snapchat announced its ChatGPT-powered AI chatbot service back in February 2023, which proved to be an unpopular move once it launched on April 20 of the same year. For instance, how to delete Snapchat Google searches increased to a staggering 488% worldwide by April 26. And the company itself warned users not to trust this feature with private and sensitive information or to provide users with accurate information in return, according to its own Snapchat Support page.

The AI wall 

While AI chat can be a fun and sometimes useful tool when used correctly, incidents like this are a reminder that the tech behind it is still in its early stages. And even more troublesome is the fact that companies are releasing this tech into the wild, knowing that it still has plenty of kinks to work out.

This isn’t the first time that a company has rushed out AI features that weren't ready for prime time – Google Bard’s launch saw employees mocking it, with even Google CEO Sundar Pichai admitting that it was like a “souped-up Civic” taking on “more powerful cars.”

And this definitely isn’t the first time suddenly implemented AI features garnered backlash from its user base – Discord had to backtrack on its reworded privacy policy regarding AI implementation and data collection.

It seems to be a wall that companies constantly hit against in their race to integrate AI features into their websites and services. And it seems that as long as the AI craze is still going strong, we’ll keep seeing this same scenario repeating.

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Peloton launches three new app tiers as part of company rebrand
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Peloton, best known for its exercise bikes, is undergoing a major rebrand and doubling its software efforts by launching three membership tiers to its mobile app.

The fitness brand now wants to focus more on providing “fitness offerings” that anybody can do at their home or at the gym without having to purchase the company's expensive hardware. Looking at the official trailer, it appears all you need is yourself, a mobile device, and maybe some weights. The app's three new tiers are Peloton App Free, App One, and App Plus; all of which vary in terms of price and what they offer.

As the name suggests, Peloton App Free won’t cost you anything to use. It offers access to over “50 classes curated across 12 of Peloton’s” exercise types. This includes strength training, cardio workouts, and meditation plans. Some classes will be part of a rotating set that’ll change on an “ongoing basis” to keep things interesting. It's unknown, though, how often they will update. A company representative told us “an update cadence has yet to be fully decided”.

Premium tiers

Peloton App One is the first of the paid tiers. For $ 12.99 a month (about £10 and $ 20 AUD) or $ 129 annually (about £100 and $ 200 AUD), you get “unlimited access to thousands of classes across” all sixteen of the brand’s exercise types. This includes everything under the Free tier as well as exclusive content like Yoga classes. Members “can also take up to three equipment-based [classes]” covering indoor bikes, treadmills, and rowers. And to top it all off, App One offers on-demand, live classes nearly every day of the week.

App Plus, as you probably already guessed, is the highest tier. For $ 24 a month (about £20 and $ 36 AUD) or $ 240 annually (about £200 and $ 360 AUD), users gain unlimited access to everything in “Peloton’s vast library”; except for two: Lanebreak and Scenic classes, both of which require specific equipment. App Plus even has exclusive “specialty content” in the form of Challenges, Programs, and Collections.

Beyond the app update, the company is also rolling out Peloton Gym to all five of its exercise tiers. This feature consists of written workout plans aimed at helping you build your strength with an accompanying video to help guide you. According to the post, you can perform those workouts at your own pace so no need to rush through them.

Availability

In a recent report by The Verge, Peloton spokesperson Ben Boyd states current Peloton subscribers will be “automatically upgraded to App Plus Membership without a change in price until December 5th, 2023.” After that day, users can choose to pay an “increased price or move [down] to a cheaper tier.” The representative from earlier confirmed this with TechRadar.

The three tiers are currently rolling out to the Peloton app in “all of the brand’s five global markets.” The other two tiers, Peloton Guide and Peloton All-Access, will stay at their current price points.

It'll be interesting to see if Peloton’s gamble pays off. Moving away from the indoor bikes that made them famous is certainly a risky move. However, considering the fact Peloton recently recalled over two million exercise bikes over safety concerns, maybe it’s a good idea to begin diversifying a bit.

Whether you’re planning on exercising more or are already exercising frequently, we recommend buying a fitness tracker to keep tabs on your progress. Be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best fitness tracker for 2023. 

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Google Drive will now let you spot anyone snooping around your company files
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Securing your cloud storage systems is set to get a significant boost thanks to a new update from Google.

The company is updating its Google Drive platform to allow users to track external activity in their audit logs.

This should help admins spot any suspicious or unauthorized actions by external users, including attempts to copy, move or change data – keeping your important business information safe.

Google Drive audits

In a blog post announcing the news, Google noted that the change can help admins see new audit log events related to potential exfiltration that they could not see before, say for example if an external guest user makes a copy of your document in their organization.

The Google Drive audit log includes content created across a range of Google Workspace apps, including the likes of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and also monitors content uploaded to Drive, such as PDFs and Microsoft Word files. 

Google says the feature will be switched on by default, and has begun rolling out to all Google Workplace customers with the Drive audit log feature now.

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The news is the latest boost to Google Drive in recent weeks as the company launches a range of new tools and services.

This includes the launch of “search chips” in Drive, which lets users filter search results using various different parameters, including file type, labels and last modified date.

Google Drive will also make it possible to filter based on “To do” status, which narrows down the pool of results to include only files that have outstanding actions associated with them.

The platform will also soon begin to restrict access to files deemed to be in violation of the company’s policies. These files will be flagged to their owner and restricted automatically, which means they can no longer be shared with other people, and access will be withdrawn from everyone but the owner.

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Cloud giant Blackbaud acquires social SaaS company Everfi for $750 million
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Cloud software giant Blackbaud has announced its intent to acquire “impact-as-a-service” company Everfi for $ 750 million. 

Based in Washington, DC, Everfi offers cloud-based online learning tools to private, public, and social sector organisations. Alongside this, Everfi works with a range of groups on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental goals. 

The synergies between the two businesses are clear: Blackbaud, working with everyone from non-profits to K-12 schools to faith communities and arts organisations, gains another feather in its cap, one that will generate around $ 120 million in revenue during 2022, rising 20% over 2021, and reaches 45 million learners globally. 

Fiscally smart, socially good

The deal makes a lot of sense. Both companies offer each other extra reach and generate revenue that will help them grow symbiotically. 

“As companies continue to invest further in ESG and CSR programs to both give back and meet regulatory demands, they need a partner who can help connect their philanthropic goals to meaningful social impact opportunities,” said Blackbaud CEO Mike Gianoni. “Blackbaud and Everfi will work together to realize a shared vision of measurable social impact through world-class technology.” 

Under the terms, Blackbaud will pay $ 450 million in cash and a further $ 300 million in common stock. According to Crunchbase, Everfi has raised over $ 250 million. 

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Sage snaps up retail management company Brightpearl for £225 million
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Software giant Sage has announced it will acquire Brightpearl, which makes an operating system for retail management, for £225 million. 

The deal for Brightpearl offers Sage an extra set of services to bundle with its existing accounting, financial, HR, and payroll tools for small- and medium-sized businesses.

The SaaS model used by Brightpearl also fits in easily, helping Sage expand its relationships with existing customers in the retail space. 

Sage Brightpearl deal

Sage already owned 17% of Brightpearl and the acquisition will be funded by cash. 

According to Sage, Brightpearl is expected to generate £20 million in revenue for 2021, up around 50% compared to the previous year, and will break even. 

The ultimate goal for the combined companies is to offer a suite of tools encompassing financial management, inventory planning, sales, supplier relations, CRM, fulfilment and warehousing, and logistics in one place. 

“Sage’s purpose is to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive,” says CEO Steve Hare.” Together, Sage and Brightpearl will remove the barriers that hold back retailers and wholesalers, streamlining their systems and enabling them to focus on growth.”

“We are thrilled to be joining Sage,” says Brightpearl CEO Derek O’Carroll. “Bringing our two teams together will combine the retail strength of Brightpearl and the scale, brand and financial expertise of Sage, enabling us to offer customers the most innovative financial and retail operating solutions so they can grow fearlessly, save time and deliver outstanding experiences.”

The deal is expected to close in January 2022.

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