Welcome back to the Weekly Buzz!
On the docket today:
Instagram’s text-based app, Threads, surpasses 100 million sign-ups in just five days; Google’s AI chatbot, Bard, expands language support; Meta unveils CM3leon, an AI model that creates mind-blowing images from text; the Canadian government strengthens its security measures; and — of course! — some Friday Fun.
Let’s see what all the buzz is about, shall we?
Threads, Instagram’s new text-based app, surpasses 100 million sign-ups in just five days
Instagram’s text-based app, Threads, hit a whopping milestone with 100 million sign-ups in just five days.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, confirmed this achievement and expressed his awe at the rapid growth.
Post by @mosseriView on Threads
Even Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, shared some jaw-dropping numbers. On the first day alone, Threads attracted 2 million sign-ups in just two hours. By the next morning, more than 30 million people had already signed up.
Threads’ growth is particularly remarkable, especially considering it hasn’t even launched in the EU due to privacy concerns. Until now, OpenAI’s ChatGPT bot held the record for being one of the fastest-growing consumer products, but Threads has already surpassed that by hitting 100 million monthly active users in its first month.
However, the real challenge lies in keeping users engaged on the platform. While many are giving Meta’s new text-focused social platform a try, there are some missing features that folks are eagerly waiting for. Currently, Threads lacks support for ActivityPub, the protocol used for posts on decentralized networks, and its missing features like a web interface for posting, direct messages, hashtags, and a “Following” feed.
As of now, it seems like Threads is here to stay, and we’re excited to see how it evolves and addresses user feedback in the future.
Google’s AI chatbot Bard expands language support and customization features
Google has unveiled exciting updates to its AI chatbot, Bard, including expanded language support and new customization features. Bard now caters to 40 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, German, Hindi, and Spanish.
On top of that, users can now customize Bard’s responses, making them simpler, longer, shorter, more professional, or more casual. Although response customization is currently limited to English, Google plans to extend it to more languages in the future. Bard also offers an option to listen to responses for correct pronunciation.
Regarding availability, Bard has been launched in Brazil and Europe, widening its reach to new regions. But for now, Canadians will have to wait to try Bard.
The expansion comes amid a competitive landscape, with tech giants like Microsoft and OpenAI also racing to develop generative AI tools for consumers and businesses.
What has your experience been with generative AI tools so far?
Meta unveils CM3leon: A game-changing AI model for creating images from text
The future of text-to-image generation just got a whole lot more exciting!
CM3leon is Meta’s new, cutting-edge AI model that takes text and turns it into mind-blowing images.
But CM3leon goes beyond just generating images – it can also create captions for those images, opening up a new realm of possibilities for image understanding. This is a big deal because it means the model can generate more coherent and contextually appropriate visuals based on the text you feed it.
Meta trained CM3leon using a massive dataset of licensed images, and the results they’ve shared so far are pretty impressive. According to Meta, the model outperforms others in tasks like image generation, captioning, and even editing images based on text instructions – it’s almost like having a digital artist at your fingertips.
There’s no word on when – or if – CM3leon will be released to the public, but with the ethical controversy surrounding AI-powered image generators, we may be out of luck.
Canadian government expands review of social media apps on work devices
After banning TikTok from government mobile devices due to privacy and security concerns, the Canadian government is now widening its scope and conducting a thorough review of other popular social media apps.
The move is part of the federal government’s commitment to safeguarding systems and networks while protecting sensitive information.
What’s the main concern here?
Once installed, these apps can collect loads of personal information from users, like their location, contacts, and more. While the primary purpose of this data collection is usually targeted advertising, there’s also the risk of that data falling into the wrong hands or being used for malicious purposes.
Of course, the most effective way to minimize this risk is to completely prevent the installation of any social media apps on work devices, but the government is also exploring solutions like pre-loaded privacy software to block embedded trackers.
Following this deeper dive, the government intends to make the results publicly available, and we’ll keep our eyes peeled for updates.
Friday Fun
Yes, people are loving Threads, but we can’t resist poking a little fun!
Post by @brittlestarView on Threads
