BIG NAMES MAKE BIG WAVES

MICROSOFT
Microsoft announced that its AI powered Copilot will be priced at an additional $30 per month per user (on top of existing subscriptions). The full launch date has not been set yet, but this is the biggest news since they started beta testing with 600 customers.
What this means for you and your firm? If you don’t already have AI in your strategic plan and budget, do it now. Kristin says, “When I think about my previous engineering firm with 1500 people, this will add an extra $600,000 to their IT and tech expenditures annually. On top of what they were already preparing for and spending pre-AI, and that new cost doesn’t include other AI, ramp up, or training and everything else.” AI is more than a singular piece of software, which is difficult to understand when a single company can upcharge like this for AI integration into their singular piece of software. You must start thinking and planning (with real intent and real numbers) for the future that is already here.
 
APPLE
Apple has developed an AI framework called Ajax and has deployed AppleGPT internally, with an aim for a consumer product early next year.
What this means for you and your firm? With 1.5 Billion iPhones in the world, Apple can change the Large Language Model (LLM) landscape overnight. What kind of questions are you asking and what steps are you taking to prepare for this type of release and how your employees’ iPhones access your own systems?
 
META
Meta released an open-source version (mainly free to use, but does not completely comply with the Open Source Initiative’s definition of the term) of its artificial intelligence called LLaMA2, which stands for Large Language Model Meta AI. It is designed to be more efficient and less resource-intensive than other models like ChatGPT, making it more accessible to a wider range of users. Microsoft is in cahoots with LLaMA. It is available on Microsoft Azure and coming soon to AWS, Hugging Face, and other providers.
Easy way to try it out: You might have heard us mention Perplexity AI before (https://www.perplexity.ai/). We like their search because it keeps asking questions to get to the heart of what you really wanted/needed in your original prompt. Plus, you can customize your own profile for even more personalized results (https://www.perplexity.ai/profile). Creepy, but cool! They have built a test platform using LLaMA here if you want to play with it… https://llama.perplexity.ai/
What this means for you and your firm? This is just more proof that AI and the choices of what to use and how are growing exponentially. As our friend Chester Ney said, “The cat is not going back in box!” These tools are already solving real business problems, and there is an undeniable opportunity in front of you if you are paying attention. So, get in the race. Please reach out to the Zweig T(AI)SK FORCE, we’re here to help.
 
AI SYMPOSIUM BY ZWEIG GROUP
We are bringing our very first day-and-a-half AI symposium to Nashville, TN in early November. Stay tuned for details, but we wanted you to be the first to know!