E-commerce behemoth Amazon has created new generative artificial intelligence (AI) that can analyse images and videos in addition to text, reducing its dependency on AI company Anthropic, according to The Information on Wednesday.
TakeAway Points:
- The development of the new AI model will help Amazon reduce its reliance on Anthropic’s Claude chatbot, a popular offering on Amazon Web Services (AWS), the report said, citing two people with knowledge of the matter.
- The new large language model (LLM), code-named Olympus, will be able to understand scenes in images and videos and help customers search for specific scenes.
- Alphabet’s Google asked a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday to throw out a jury verdict and a judge’s order forcing it to revamp its app store Play.
Amazon’s AI video model
E-commerce giant Amazon has developed new generative artificial intelligence (AI) that can process images and videos in addition to text, making it less reliant on AI startup Anthropic
The new large language model (LLM), code-named Olympus, will be able to understand scenes in images and videos and help customers search for specific scenes, such as a winning basketball shot, using simple text prompts, according to the report.
Last week, Amazon invested an additional $4 billion into OpenAI competitor Anthropic, mirroring a $4 billion investment made last year in September to capitalize on generative AI technology.
Amazon may announce Olympus as soon as next week at the annual AWS re:Invent customer conference, the Information added, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Amazon did not respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours.
The online retailer has been seeking to counter a perception that its competitors Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have taken a lead in developing generative AI.
Google asks US appeals court to reject app store monopoly verdict
Google, a division of Alphabet, requested on Wednesday that a U.S. appeals court overturn a jury decision and a judge’s order requiring it to redesign its Play app store.
In its first detailed argument to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Google said the trial judge made legal errors that unfairly benefited the plaintiff, “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.
Requiring a “dramatic redesign” of Google Play and its mobile-device operating system Android will hurt app developers and consumers, Google said in its court filing.
Epic, in a statement on Wednesday, said Google was relying on “flawed arguments” that the jury rejected. “This meritless appeal is Google’s desperate attempt to avoid complying with the unanimous jury decision,” Epic said.
Epic’s lawsuit against Google
Epic’s 2020 lawsuit accused Google of monopolizing how consumers access apps on Android devices and how they pay for transactions within apps. The Cary, North Carolina-based company persuaded a San Francisco jury last year that Google illegally stifled competition.
Based on the jury’s findings, U.S. District Judge James Donato ordered Google to let users download rival app stores within Play and make Play’s app catalogue available to those competitors, among other reforms.
The order, which would bind Google for three years, is on hold pending review in the 9th Circuit.
Google told the appeals court on Wednesday that a jury should never have heard Epic’s lawsuit because it sought to enjoin Google’s conduct, not collect damages. It said Donato unfairly allowed Epic to tell jurors that Google and Apple are not competitors for app distribution and in-app payments.
The filing said Donato was wrong to issue an injunction affecting users and developers nationwide, not just Epic. Google said the order made Donato “a central planner responsible for product design.”
The 9th Circuit said it will hear oral arguments on Feb. 3, with a ruling expected later next year.
