Welcome back to our Week in Review. This week, we’ll cover General Motors’ decision to exit the robotaxi industry, Google hinting at multiple universes, and how you can potentially make substantial money by getting an AI bot to fall in love with you. Let’s dive right in.
General Motors has decided to cease funding its commercial robotaxi operations. Instead, the company plans to integrate Cruise, its self-driving car subsidiary, with its own efforts focused on developing driver-assistance technologies and, ultimately, fully autonomous personal vehicles. Several Cruise employees reported feeling “blindsided” by this move. GM acquired Cruise in 2016 for $1 billion and has since invested over $10 billion into the company’s development.
OpenAI has finally rolled out the real-time video capabilities for ChatGPT, which it first showcased nearly seven months ago. ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro subscribers can now use the app to point their phones at objects and receive real-time responses. The feature also supports screen sharing, enabling ChatGPT to interpret what’s on your device’s screen. There are additional announcements expected as part of OpenAI’s “12 Days of OpenAI” — stay tuned to our live blog for more updates.
Google introduced its first AI agent, Project Mariner, this week. Powered by Gemini, the agent takes control of Chrome browsers, interacting with websites by moving cursors, clicking buttons, and filling out forms, mimicking human-like navigation. Although still a prototype from DeepMind, Project Mariner represents Google’s shift towards reducing direct user interaction with websites.