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Google has decided to invest another billion into Anthropic, four sources told the Financial Times, bringing its total sunk cost to more than three billion dollars. Both companies have declined to comment. Google uses Anthropics Claude AI models on Vertex AI, an AI-powered development platform. Amazon has also invested four billion into Anthropic to integrate its Claude AI models into the next generation of Alexa speakers. Other sources say Anthropic is also in talks with Lightspeed Venture Partners to raise another two billion. This investment would make Anthropic worth 60 billion. Even so, investors dont believe that Anthropic or its rivals will be profitable soon due to the extreme costs of developing AI models. Google invented transformers, a type of neural network that became a backbone technology for AI models, back in 2017. Despite some success with models like Gemini, Imagen, Chirp, Veo and more, Google doesnt have as significant a foothold in the generative AI market. Having so many big tech companies backing AI start-ups alarmed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which investigated Google parent Alphabets first $2.3 billion investment in Anthropic. However, as the Financial Times notes, FTC commissioner Lina Khan, who had a reputation as an aggressive antitrust enforcer, has since stepped down from her post at the head of the agency as the Trump regime took power, which could mean similar deals might not receive the same scrutiny in the future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-is-investing-another-billion-dollars-in-anthropic-145548826.html?src=rss
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Google has been a much larger facilitator of tools to Israel during its war with Hamas than previously disclosed. A new report from The Washington Post found that Google employees have repeatedly worked with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israels Defense Ministry (IDM) to expand the government's access to AI tools. In 2021, Google entered into a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract with the Israeli government, titled Nimbus, alongside Amazon. Internal documents show that Google employees repeatedly requested greater access to the company's AI technology on behalf of Israel starting shortly after the October 7 attacks. An employee in Google's cloud division reportedly escalated appeals from the IDM for greater access to Vertex. In one document, an employee allegedly warned the IDM could turn to Amazon instead, losing Google business. A November document then allegedly shows the employee thanking their co-worker for assisting with the request. Additional documents from 2024 reportedly show further requests which continued to as recently as November 2024, with an employee requesting the IDF receive access to Gemini AI technology in order to develop its own AI assistant. The request was for improved processing of audio and documents, but its unclear what earlier access pushes were used for in regards to military operations. The news sheds a fresh light on employees' protests over Google's cloud computing contract with Israel's government. Google employees have spoken out against the company's dealings with Israel since the contract began. However, the war brought renewed calls from its employees for Google to drop out of Nimbus. Instead, Google has fired over 50 employees for protesting the contract due to what it called "disruptive behavior." In mid-2024, over 100 Google employees made up of managers and members of its human rights group reportedly emailed the company to review the Nimbus contract, but Google ignored it. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-reportedly-made-sure-israels-military-had-access-to-its-ai-tools-142130574.html?src=rss
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Akai and Native Instruments are sort of like the Nintendo and Sega of music production. These long-time rivals offer many similar products, but some musicians get drawn to Akais MPC workflow while others choose NIs Maschine platform. Soon, folks may not have to choose at all. These two icons of the space are teaming up. The MPC platform will soon be home to Native Instruments sound packs. This means that if you currently use an MPC Live II or a Key 61, or any other number of standalone music-making machines by Akai, youll be able to pull up legit Native Instruments sounds for your tracks. This is a truly big deal. The MPC workflow is iconic and many genres of music wouldnt be the same without it. At the same time, NI is known for its top-tier instruments and sounds. Akai This collaboration bridges two iconic brands to provide creators with a fully integrated ecosystem, said Matt Dircks, CEO of Native Instruments. By combining Akais legendary hardware with our expansive sound libraries and tools, were pushing the boundaries of music creation. We spoke to legendary instrument designer Roger Linn, who originally invented the MPC platform all the way back in 1988, about this partnership. Hes no longer with Akai in an official capacity but said that putting NI instruments on Akai products will "really benefit both companies." He also said that the move perfectly positions MPC devices "to be the next standard musical instrument like the guitar or piano." Linn, who also invented modern digital music-making concepts like swing and quantization, heaped praise on newer MPC devices, as the platform has come a long way since the MPC60 in 1988. He says that products like the Live II are "still warm and fuzzy for the people who are familiar with the MPC, while moving toward a DAW (digital audio workstation)." The Native Instruments integration promises to make these products even warmer and fuzzier. The only caveat? MPC devices can only access Play Series instruments and official Expansions, which are genre-specific sound packs. You wont be able to pull up, say, the full Massive X synthesizer or Kontakt. All told, there are five instruments that will be available in the middle of February, along with five Expansions. These have all been expertly tailored for the MPC platform. More releases are likely to follow, assuming positive user feedback. We asked Native Instruments CPO Simon Cross if there are plans for compatibility in the other direction. Will the Native Instruments Maschine+ standalone groovebox be able to pull up Akai plugins and sound packs? There are no current plans, which is something of a bummer. Its a bit understandable, given that the company only has one standalone device, but still. Akai Finally, the partnership extends to MPK controllers. Akais line of MIDI controllers will soon integrate with Native Instruments Native Kontrol Standard (NKS). This means that Akai controllers will be able to seamlessly control all NKS-compatible plugins. The integration allows for pre-mapped controls and intuitive navigation directly from MPK devices. The software update drops at end of February. This expands controller compatibility to over 1,800 new instruments and plugins. The NKS standard is also coming to third-party controllers in the near future from companies like M-Audio, Novation and Korg, among others. To celebrate the burgeoning partnership, all current MPK Series owners will receive a free copy of Komplete 15 Select. This is a curated bundle of Native Instruments instruments and effects. Again, this is free for all MPK Series owners, and not just new purchasers. As for Linn, his company currently manufactures the ultra-expressive MIDI controller LinnStrument. The device tracks finger movements in five ways, to bring acoustic-like expressiveness to digital instruments. He also (relatively) recently co-designed one of my all-time favorite drum machines, the Tempest, along with MIDI and synthesizer luminary Dave Smith, who passed away in 2022. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/many-akai-devices-will-soon-support-native-instruments-sound-packs-140059822.html?src=rss
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