AI News on August 29th
1. OpenAI Releases GPT-realtime Voice Conversation Model
#OpenAI #VoiceAI #Multimodal
OpenAI announced GPT-realtime, a multimodal model specifically designed for voice AI agents. It generates more natural and fluent speech, perfectly mimicking diverse human tones, emotions, and speaking speeds. The model supports image understanding and integrates it with voice or text dialogues, making it suitable for building voice intelligence in customer service, education, finance, and healthcare. GPT-realtime also introduces two new distinctive voices, Marin and Cedar, while comprehensively upgrading the existing eight voices.
2. NVIDIA and Google Lead $863M Investment in Fusion Energy Company CFS
#NVIDIA #Google #FusionEnergy
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a U.S. fusion energy startup, secured $863 million in funding led by NVIDIA and Google parent Alphabet. The investment will advance the construction of CFS's fusion energy demonstration system and accelerate the development of the first commercial fusion power plant. NVIDIA's venture capital arm NVentures participated in this round, along with existing shareholder Khosla Ventures and several sovereign wealth funds and investment banks.
3. Starlink Surpasses 7 Million Global Users
#Starlink #SpaceX #SatelliteInternet
Elon Musk's Starlink, a low-earth orbit satellite internet service, announced it has exceeded 7 million global users, now operating in over 150 countries and regions. The announcement coincided with the reveal of a new laser technology enabling satellites to transmit data at 25 Gbps over 2,500 miles. This advancement could strengthen SpaceX's eligibility for participation in the Trump administration's "Gold Dome" project.
4. Apple Considers Acquiring European AI Startup Mistral
#Apple #Acquisition #EuropeanAI
Apple executives are discussing the potential acquisition of Mistral, Europe's largest AI startup. Eddy Cue is reportedly the most vocal supporter internally. If successful, this would be Apple's largest acquisition ever, surpassing the $3 billion Beats deal in 2014. Mistral AI has raised approximately €1.1 billion across seven funding rounds and is currently valued at around €5.8 billion.
5. New AI Tool Enables More Accurate Disease Risk Prediction
#AIHealthcare #MedicalAI #PredictiveAnalytics
Researchers at Finland's Aalto University developed "survivalFM," an AI tool that uses machine learning to more precisely predict an individual's risk of developing common diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or liver disease. The tool considers complex relationships between multiple risk factors, providing more accurate and personalized risk assessments than traditional predictive models.
6. Dell Beats Earnings Expectations But AI Server Orders Decline
#Dell #Earnings #AIServers
Dell reported better-than-expected revenue and profits for Q2 but provided weaker-than-expected EPS guidance for Q3. The company saw a sequential decline in AI server orders and related profit margins below analyst expectations, causing its stock to drop over 4.6% in after-hours trading. Dell plans to deliver $20 billion in AI server products throughout fiscal 2026, double the previous year's amount.
7. UN General Assembly Establishes New Global AI Governance Framework
#UN #AIGovernance #GlobalCooperation
The UN General Assembly passed a resolution to create an "Independent International Scientific Panel on AI" and a "Global Dialogue on AI Governance" mechanism. The 40-expert panel will assess AI risks and opportunities, while the global dialogue will foster policy consensus to support sustainable development goals and bridge the digital divide. The resolution received 182 votes in favor from 193 member states.
8. EU Plans €30B Investment in AI Factories Amid Power Shortages
#EU #AIInfrastructure #Energy
The European Commission unveiled an AI Whitepaper planning a €30 billion investment in regional AI factory networks and gigawatt-scale super data centers. However, the EU faces energy supply challenges, with individual data centers requiring 1 gigawatt of electricity—equivalent to a medium-sized city's consumption. The construction cycle is estimated at 5-10 years, with private capital participation remaining uncertain.
9. S&P and Dow Hit Record Highs While NVIDIA Dips 0.8%
#StockMarket #NVIDIA #TechStocks
U.S. stocks continued their rally with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both reaching record closing highs. The S&P 500 rose 0.32% to 6,501.86 points, while the Dow gained 0.16% to 45,636.90 points. Despite reporting a 56% year-over-year revenue increase, NVIDIA's stock fell 0.79%. Other AI-related tech stocks performed well, with Alphabet rising 2.01% to fresh records.
10. Google Renames Nano-Banana Model to Gemini 2.5 Flash Image
#Google #Gemini #AIImaging
Google officially claimed the mysterious strong consistency image generation model previously known as "nano-banana," renaming it Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. The API costs $0.039 per image. Users have developed seven creative use cases including architectural isometric modeling, AR scene annotation, map visualization, fashion analysis, movie storyboard generation, comic creation, and old photo restoration.