Text to sound effects, from ElevenLabs

And: 3 very useful AI search alternatives | Why It’s Time to Think About AI Chip Competition

Author

AI Periscope
February 20, 2024

Exploring below the surface of AI headlines.

Summaries | Insights | Points of Views

In Today’s Edition

ElevenLabs’ text to sounds

Summary - OpenAI dropped the news last week about Sora, their new and fantastic text-to-video model. ElevenLabs, the makers of the popular text-to-speech software used in many viral TikToks, teases their text-to-sound update. Like Sora with video, you will be able to describe the sound effects you need in natural language and ElevenLabs’ AI model will generate it for you.

Key points:

  • ElevenLabs is expanding its AI offerings with a new text-to-sound.

  • This start-up was founded two years ago by former Google and Palantir employees.

  • Creates realistic background sounds to complement silent AI-made videos like that of Sora.

  • ElevenLabs text-to-speech model available now supports 29 languages.

  • Text-to-sound is not yet available to the public. No announcement on general availability.

  • A link to sign up for the early access waitlist is available in their X.com announcement.

POV - ElevenLabs’ new text-to-sound feature seems promising. It’s a great complement to Sora and a natural extension to ElevenLabs’ text-to-speech offerings. It won’t be long before a single individual will be able to create a full-featured movie simply by typing on a keyboard. ElevenLabs’ is growing, recently completing their series B round of funding at $80M, valuing the company at over $1B. This is another company to watch.

For their part, how long before OpenAI adds a text-to-sound feature to Sora? Or, perhaps an acquisition of ElevenLabs. Imagine describing a scene to Sora, feed it the script, and out comes full audio/video footage, all done seamlessly by AI. Perhaps this is part of Sam Altman’s $7T take-over of the world.

AI search engines

Summary - Last week, we covered that OpenAI may be after a piece of Google’s search dominance. Today, we cover three search engines that you should have on your SONAR - Perplexity, Dexa and Arc Search. These platforms leverage AI to cut through the clutter, provide summaries and pinpoints the information rather than just giving you a bunch of links to wade through. Whether you are doing deep research for a paper, looking for specific insights buried in a podcast, or just want some travel information, these search alternatives are worth a try. And, they’re all free or at least have a free version.

Key points:

  • Perplexity: AI-powered search engine that provides summary responses; saves time and offers personalized and precise results.

    Why Perplexity over Google: It works well at specific queries, acting like a smart assistant that leads you straight to the information you need.

  • Dexa: Focuses exclusively on podcast content, finding relevant episodes and directing you to the exact spot in the podcast where your topic is discussed.

    When to use Dexa: Ideal for bypassing scrolling through numerous podcast episodes or transcripts, saving time by taking you straight to the content that matters.

  • Arc Search: An iOS app that uses AI to browse multiple sites and provides a summary page of findings, blocking cookies, trackers, and ads for a cleaner browsing experience. See also our coverage in January, Arc Browser browses for you.

    Why Arc Search over Google: It compiles recommendations from various sources into a robust response, offering a more comprehensive overview of search topics.

POV - As the article mentions, some critics argue that these AI search tools could discourage website creation in the first place if the user can get the information they need from AI search platforms. In an odd way, that’s kind of like saying, if Reese didn’t travel back in time to save Sarah Connor in The Terminator, would John have been born. But I digress. Dexa is fantastic. The drawback now is that they are still adding podcasts, and it is up to podcasters to join the service. Soon (hopefully) more podcasters will feel the need to sign-up for Dexa’s service in order to extend their reach. Give these tools a try.

Chip alternatives

Summary - Regular trading resumes today on Wall Street. While many will be watching Nvidia for their earnings report, other chipmakers are fighting for a piece of the action. Some of these may be worth watching in 2024.

Key points:

  • SoftBank Group: Considering a $100 billion investment in AI chip venture to rival Nvidia’s dominance - $30 billion from SoftBank and seeking $70 billion from Middle Eastern investors.

  • Arm Holdings: Reportedly exploring the formation of a company to produce AI chips, backed by SoftBank.

  • Graphcore: Exploring a sale, and attracting interest from potential buyers such as Arm, SoftBank, and Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

  • Groq (not X.com’s Grok): Generating lots of buzz over the weekend with some blazing high-performance speeds and the CEO’s appearance on CNN (see on YouTube). Check out Groq.com.

  • SambaNova Systems: Developing high-performance hardware-software systems for high-volume generative AI workloads.

  • Intel: Actively working on producing AI-optimized chips.

POV - Nvidia is still the king-of-the-hill for high-performance chips. Just like Google is for search. However, the disruption that AI technology is causing means just about everything is up for grabs. I played with Groq a little and it feels lightning fast. Definitely lots to watch in the months to come on all of these players.

Don’t forget to check out other AI headlines in The Ocean.

The Ocean is designed to help you stay informed with the wide array of AI headlines, giving you just the snippet of news that you need if you are short on time, but also gives you one-click ease if you want to dive deeper.