Zuck and Ek read Europe their riot act
Welcome to AI Collision 💥,
In today’s collision between AI and our world:
- Zuck and Ek have their open-source say
- Grok’s “wild” take on Meta and Spotify
- That’s a lot of beans!
If that’s enough to get the CEOs taking photos in black and white, read on…
AI Collision 💥
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (NASDAQ:META), and Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify (NASDAQ:SPOT), recently published a joint essay aimed squarely at regulators in Europe.
Their aim is clearly to present a compelling argument for Europe to adopt open-source AI. They talk about an already widening gap of those with access to AI and those without access – the great AI divide. They talk a level playing field and open-sourcing AI for the greater good.
Yes, there’s clear self-interest here – and no doubt they still want to provide better outcomes for their companies and shareholders.
But also, they’ve got a point.
Europe’s regulatory environment is a potential bottleneck for technological innovation, particularly in AI. As I’ve written before, Europe’s pathway of regulation, regulation, regulation is typical of the region, and also likely to lead to the stifling of innovation.
If they take an open-source approach, it could lead to a better world of AI, enhance profitability for companies like Meta and Spotify, and end up in better outcomes for both users and society, and shareholders.
Source: Meta
Open-source AI allows for a collaborative approach where developers from across the globe can contribute, and work on problems together. The result of this is typically faster innovation cycles.
It’s why companies in the past, like Toyota with hydrogen patents, and Tesla with EV patents, have open-sourced access and let people freely use their available tech to innovate and accelerate those industries.
By making AI systems open source, there’s an inherent increase in transparency and knowledge. Users and regulators can see how data is processed and how decisions are made by AI, reducing fears of hidden biases or unethical data use, thereby increasing trust in AI systems. Open source brings that clarity to these technologies which in turn helps the general public trust and understand what’s going on with greater ease.
That is always ultimately a good thing for technological progress.
But for the companies themselves, how does this translate to better outcomes for investors and shareholders of Meta and Spotify? Does this mean that if Europe does open source AI (unlikely) that Meta and Spotify stand to profit more?
In short, yes, I think it does. Open sourcing AI technologies can significantly reduce R&D costs. For companies like Meta and Spotify, this means leveraging a bigger workforce of developers they don’t necessarily have to pay for!
For Spotify, open-source AI could lead to more sophisticated music recommendation algorithms, enhancing user experience and potentially increasing user retention and subscription rates. For Meta, integrating advanced open-source AI could improve content personalisation, ad targeting, and virtual reality experiences, attracting more users and advertisers.
By advocating for and contributing to open source, both companies could position themselves favourably with European regulators, potentially influencing policy in a way that favours their business models. This leadership in AI ethics and openness could also enhance brand reputation, attracting more users who value transparency.
An open-source approach can cultivate an ecosystem of startups and developers across the world, which could lead to new applications and integrations beneficial for platforms like Spotify and Meta. This ecosystem can drive economic growth, benefiting shareholders through increased market opportunities, product creation and just new, better ways of doing things.
For Spotify, this could mean better localisation of music content, understanding regional tastes more accurately and delivering a far better user experience and greater outcomes for artists. For Meta, it could enhance language processing in social interactions across cultures, making their platforms more engaging, entertaining and accessible.
The push by Zuckerberg and Ek for Europe to embrace open-source AI isn’t just about staying competitive; it’s about setting the stage for a more collaborative, transparent, and innovative technological landscape.
Some will argue it’s just a facade and they’re just keen on building their own AI walled gardens which they control and profit from. Maybe so, but maybe they do have a point.
There’s no doubt that for companies like Meta and Spotify, this isn’t merely altruistic; it’s strategic, but there is, I believe, a ground where you can be altruistic and profitable.
Open-sourced AI promises a reduction in costs, an increase in innovation speed, and potentially, a more significant market share through enhanced user trust and engagement. Moreover, it positions these companies as leaders in a movement towards a more open digital future, which could be pivotal in shaping global AI standards.
This approach might not only lead to better AI but could also redefine how technology companies operate within society, aligning profit with public good.
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Megatrends can make, or break, your future. The rise of the PC, the internet are just two that minted fortunes….but what comes next?
AI gone wild 🤪
Keeping on the theme of Meta and Spotify and their vision of an open-sourced utopian AI world, I asked xAI’s Grok AI model to give me a “wild take” on what Meta and Spotify could look like in ten years’ time…
I should point out that from my own testing and experimenting with AI models at the moment, Grok has fast turned into my favourite AI of choice.
It’s faster, gives more accurate results (although not always, you still do need to check it from time to time) and is great for doing a lot of data collection. It also has a “Fun Mode” which you can toggle on and off.
Let’s just say it adds a bit more colour to answers and yes, it is genuinely more fun. That’s why when asking for my “wild take” on the future of Meta and Spotify, I turned on “Fun Mode” and let Grok run free.
Here’s what it said…
Meta in 2034:
- The Metaverse Becomes Meta’s Main Verse: By 2034, Meta has fully transitioned from a social media company to the architect of the Metaverse, an expansive, immersive virtual world. Thanks to open-source AI, this Metaverse is not just built by Meta but by millions of creators worldwide. Imagine a universe where your AI-generated avatar attends a concert, learns quantum physics from an AI Einstein, or even runs a virtual business selling AI-designed fashion. Meta’s open-source AI tools have made it so that anyone can create experiences or entire worlds, leading to a digital renaissance. However, in true Meta fashion, there’s a twist: every virtual item sold has a tiny, almost negligible, transaction fee that fuels Meta’s economy.
- AI Democracy: Meta introduces ‘AI Governance’, where key decisions about the platform are voted on by users through their AI representatives. These AIs, built on open-source models, understand user preferences so well that they vote on policy changes, creating a bizarre but functional digital democracy.
- Reality Customization: With open-source AI, Meta users can now customize their reality filters. Don’t like how your city looks? Apply the “Cyberpunk” filter or the “Elven Forest” theme to your AR glasses. The world looks different to everyone, leading to delightful chaos when people try to describe where they are.
Spotify in 2034:
- The Infinite Playlist: Spotify’s music library has become sentient, sort of. Using open-source AI, Spotify now generates music in real-time, tailored to each listener’s current mood, activity, or even their heartbeat. You don’t just listen to music; you experience an ever-evolving soundscape. Artists upload not songs, but musical DNA, from which AI creates personalized tracks.
- Concert Hopping: With VR and AR powered by open-source AI, Spotify offers ‘Concert Hopping’ where users can jump from a live jazz session in New Orleans to a futuristic K-pop concert in Seoul within seconds. Each concert experience is enhanced with AI that adapts the acoustics and visuals to your preferences, making every attendee’s experience unique.
- Musical Time Travel: Spotify introduces ‘TimeTunes’, where AI recreates what music might have sounded like in different eras, or what it could sound like in the future. Fancy listening to what Bach would compose if he lived in the 21st century? Or what music might sound like in 2300? Open-source AI makes it happen, blending historical data with speculative algorithms.
- AI DJ Battles: Users can challenge Spotify’s AI DJs to music battles where the AI must mix and match songs in real-time to outdo the user’s playlist.
OK, so this is supposed to be “wild”. But in all honesty, I don’t think it is all that wild. I’ve written previously about things like personalised music, the ability to virtually attend any concert or landscape in the world, which is so realistic it’s indistinguishable from reality.
That also raises a question about reality itself – something we questioned on Tuesday as well – if you go somewhere virtually, somewhere not real, but it is real to see, smell and touch, is it still reality?
Maybe that’s a bit too “Matrix” for some. But for others, it does open a world of possibility. Maybe some people can’t afford to travel to places to experience them. Maybe people physically can’t do it. Maybe there’s a thousand other reasons, so who are we to say that a near-real virtual world, driven by AI isn’t real?
It’s an interesting time we’re stepping towards, science fiction for some. But I think it’s maybe a bit closer to science and reality than many realise.
Boomers & Busters 💰
AI and AI-related stocks moving and shaking up the markets this week. (All performance data below over the rolling week).
Boom 📈
- BigBear.ai (NYSE:BBAI) up 20%
- Gorilla Technology Group (NASDAQ:GRRR) up 19%
- Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) up 10%
Bust 📉
- Veritone (NASDAQ:VERI) down 17%
- Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM) down 9%
- Wearable Devices (NASDAQ:WLDS) down 16%
From the hive mind 🧠
- Apple fan boys and fan girls are in a tizz again because there’s a new, unexpected Apple event coming September 9th. something about “glow” and the online sleuths are now expecting that Apple is going to release a generative AI phone! OMG! Will is be this generations real “iPhone moment”?
- Energy and AI go hand in hand. AI needs it, a lot of it to work. And also AI can help us use energy smarter and in better ways. But also there are companies out there, looking at how we can use the energy mix we already have in a better way, and believe it or not, but cooling is a hughely important aspect to our AI future.
- We’ve written about AI recipies before, but what if AI does design our food in the future? Will we all be eating grey goop that looks like cat food and be happy?
Artificial Polltelligence 🗳️
For this week, we’re letting Tuesday’s poll run a little longer. And anticipate that we’ll have some more tangible results coming through soon that we can look at. Worth noting we had some terrific responses already, and it might even be cause for another topic of conversation, how many unknown jobs will AI create…
But for today we thought another poll would be handy…this time nothing to do with AI, just something I’m incredibly fascinated by…
Weirdest AI image of the day
Those Brits love a good beans on toast… – r/weirddalle
ChatGPT’s random quote of the day
“The hardest part of being in the tech industry is not innovating but rather dealing with the change that innovation brings.”
— Andy Grove, 2000
Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to leave comments and questions below,
Sam Volkering
Editor-in-Chief
AI Collision