Google announced that, following the removal of the AI picture production feature in February, users will soon be able to produce photographs of individuals using its Gemini artificial intelligence tool.
TakeAway Points:
- Gemini users will soon be able to produce AI portraits of people using Google’s Imagen 3.
- In February, after a series of scandals, the business discontinued its previous AI image-generation product.
- Photoshopping, displaying children, or highly graphic, violent, or suggestive scenes are not supported by Imagen 3.
- Meanwhile, Uber is investing an undisclosed amount into Wayve for a minority stake, the companies said in a statement.
Google to allow users to use Gemini for image creation
In a blog post Wednesday, Dave Citron, a senior director of product on Gemini, wrote that early access to Google’s new Imagen 3 generator will be available to Gemini Advanced, Business, and Enterprise users starting in English in the coming days.
“We’ve worked to make technical improvements to the product, as well as improved evaluation sets, red-teaming exercises, and clear product principles,” Citron wrote. Red-teaming refers to a practice companies use to test products for vulnerabilities.
Google paused its image generation feature earlier this year after saying it was offering “inaccuracies” in historical pictures. Embarrassing examples spread across social media.
One user asked the tool to generate an image of a German soldier in 1943, and it created a racially diverse set of soldiers wearing German military uniforms. Another query for a historical depiction of a mediaeval British king also generated a racially diverse set of images, including a woman ruler.
Citron said Imagen 3 doesn’t support photorealistic identifiable individuals, depictions of minors, or excessively gory, violent, or sexual scenes.
“Of course, as with any generative AI tool, not every image Gemini creates will be perfect, but we’ll continue to listen to feedback from early users as we keep improving,” Citron wrote. “We’ll gradually roll this out, aiming to bring it to more users and languages soon.”
Uber invests in a SoftBank-backed self-driving technology company. Wayve
Uber and British artificial intelligence startup Wayve announced a partnership Thursday that will see the two firms collaborate on autonomous driving technology.
As part of the deal, Uber is also investing an undisclosed amount into Wayve for a minority stake, the companies said in a statement. The investment is an extension of Wayve’s $1 billion Series C funding round announced earlier this year, which was led by Japanese tech investor SoftBank.
U.S. chipmaker Nvidia and software giant Microsoft also invested in Wayve’s Series C.
“Wayve is building a ‘general purpose’ driving Al that can power all levels of driving automation in any type of vehicle, anywhere in the world,” Alex Kendall, Wayve’s co-founder and CEO, said in the statement.
He said that, together with Uber, Wayve is “excited to work with Automotive OEMs [original equipment makers] to bring autonomous driving technologies to consumers sooner.”
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi added that the two companies “share a vision of reimagining mobility for the better.”
“Wayve’s advanced embodied AI approach holds a ton of promise as we work towards a world where modern vehicles are shared, electric, and autonomous,” Khosrowshahi said.
The partnership process
Uber will integrate Wayve’s AV2.0 technology — an algorithm-based product that enables vehicles to drive themselves using data from the physical environment — into consumer vehicles “to enable a range of automated driving capabilities,” according to the statement.
Wayve’s AV2.0 product is an end-to-end AI solution that allows automakers to equip existing vehicles with Level 2+ advanced driver assistance and Level 3 and 4 automated driving capabilities.
Different levels of vehicle autonomy are determined by SAE International, a global standards body for the mobility engineering industry.
In the future, Uber intends to launch self-driving vehicles on its app equipped with Wayve’s tech, the companies said.
Previously, Uber had its own self-driving car unit, but it sold the division in 2020 to Aurora Technologies, an Amazon-backed self-driving car firm. As part of that deal, Uber said it would invest $400 million into Aurora.
The ride-sharing giant announced last week a similar tie-up with Cruise, a General Motors-backed autonomous driving startup, to offer driverless rides on its ride-hailing network.
Uber has also offered rides in vehicles operated by Waymo, the Google self-driving spinoff, as part of a commercial tie-up. In 2019, Waymo announced a similar partnership with Lyft, a competitor to Uber.
