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Mindblowing AI Visuals at Coachella You Need to See 👽

🎧 Union secures AI protections for artists in deal with major record labels

Author

Sarah Stoker
April 18, 2024

I’m so glad you’re here.

Let’s dive in 🤿 

🤘AI on Screen

AI @ Coachella

Shout out to this Hawai’i-based artist for creating rad AI visuals seen during Grimez set at Coachella 🤙

💰 AI Money

Andreessen Horowitz closes an oversubscribed $7.2B fund

$2.25B allocated for AI apps + infrastructure 😍 

  • About half of the targeted capital was aimed for its growth fund, though a16z ultimately raised $3.75 billion for it.

  • Instead of dedicated seed or early-stage funds, it's splitting them in sectors. It raised $1.25 billion for its AI infrastructure allocation.

  • $1 billion for AI apps and $600 million for its "American Dynamism" strategy.

  • VCs raised $555bn in 2021, according to private markets data company PitchBook.

  • Last year VCs raised a third of that.

  • In the first quarter of this year VCs raised $30.4bn, putting the sector on course for its slowest year since 2015.

Did you know: OpenAI removed Sam Altman's ownership from its Startup Fund?

OpenAI’s $100M Startup Fund made investments to early-stage AI startups, including through its accelerator program Converge, which launched in November 2022.

Altman, a former president at startup accelerator Y Combinator, has previously drawn scrutiny on his sprawling investment interests outside OpenAI.

⭐️ Question: What AI companies are on my radar?

🕵️ GovDash: Use AI to land government contracts.

🛍️ CommentSold: Industry’s First AI-Powered Shoppable Video Generator for Live Sellers.

 🎯 Bellweather: Use AI to predict natural disasters.

✨ Limitless: World’s most wearable AI (sorry Humane)

✨ Vibe Board

Here are some of my favorite things from this week:

READING

TRYING

From the co-founder of AngelList, here is one of my favorite quotes from the book, “Escape competition through authenticity.”

As if I needed another reason to visit the Beverly Wilshire: The M is a portable, tabletop holographic communications device from Los Angeles-based Proto, the world’s first and only holographic communications platform. The device allows for the Hotel’s Guest Experience team, to live beam directly into the room.

FEELING

VISITING

Feeling grateful for the timing of everything in my life right now.

Strike mission to the desert! We saw Glass Animals last week at one of my favorite bars, Pappy and Harriet’s.

💃 Industry

SAG-AFTRA union secures AI protections for artists in deal with major record labels

  1. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing around 160,000 actors and media professionals, has reached a tentative deal with major record labels like Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. The deal covers 2021 to 2026.

  2. The deal includes protections against the use of AI to recreate artists' voices without their consent and compensation. The terms "artist", "singer", and "royalty artist" can only refer to humans under the agreement.

  3. Other highlights are increases in minimum salaries, improvements in health and retirement benefits, and a higher percentage of streaming revenue to be covered by contributions. The deal still needs to be ratified by union members in the coming weeks.

👀 Job Board

Here are some awesome open positions in the AI space that I would love to see one of our readers fill:

I’m going to start posting more of these graphs & my thoughts on X during the week, let’s be friends there too!

Definition: Data Scientist

Drawing from statistics, computer science and information science, this interdisciplinary field aims to use a variety of scientific methods, processes and systems to solve problems involving data.

What is IYKYK? (If you know, you know) 💅

I'm Sarah Stoker, a curious soul passionate about weaving the magic of emerging tech into our daily lives. I'm all about demystifying AI, making it feel like a coffee chat topic rather than a textbook chapter. Imagine blending the spark of human creativity with the wonders of AI – that's the adventure I'm on. I’m researching avenues for art that amplify our creative quests, and learning alongside you.