Top Five Tech Takeaways: Llama2 joins the GenAI Fray, XRP Mixed Judgment, Co-pilot Pricing Announced, Tech Reacts to Bill C-18, and Code Interpreter Debuts

Robo Llama Joins the GenAI Battle

Llama2 Joins the GenAI Battle: Meta Offers it Free for Research and Commercial Use

Meta has recently announced the launch of Llama 2, the highly anticipated second generation of their open source large language model. Llama 2 has been released for both research and commercial purposes, free of charge, to promote innovation and development in the field. Microsoft, a longstanding partner of Meta, is deepening its involvement in this project and has become the preferred partner for Llama 2, making it available through Azure. The widespread endorsement from a variety of stakeholders across the technological landscape, academia, and policy, signifies the embracement of Meta's open innovation approach in AI. The model is free for both academic and commercial use - as long you have less than 700 million users. (Source: Meta, The AI Advantage)

Microsoft Unveils AI Copilot: A Pricier Path to Productivity?

Microsoft has unveiled its plans to integrate an AI engine, dubbed Microsoft 365 Copilot, across its productivity suite, with a proposed cost of $30 per user per month. Copilot, comparable to ChatGPT, can execute tasks across various Office applications, from editing Word documents and summarizing Excel data trends, to creating PowerPoint presentations and drafting emails in Outlook. Copilot is set to roll out for 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium customers, though an exact launch date has not been disclosed. Microsoft also plans to include a privacy-centric version of its Bing chatbot that will not store chat history, as an added measure to protect corporate data. (Source: Yahoo)

Bill C-18 Fallout: Tech Giants Google and Meta Block News in Canada

In a strong rebuke to Canada's Bill C-18, which mandates payments from tech giants for news links to support the Canadian news sector, Google and Meta have responded by blocking news links in Canada. Initially, Google had voiced concerns about the approach's uncapped liability and the risky business framework it presented, while Meta had regarded news contribution as highly substitutable. However, the companies' decisions to cut off news links could lead to dramatic consequences: a potential decline in news outlets due to reduced traffic and revenue, decreased reliability of Google's search services, increased reliance on foreign news sources, and a surge in misinformation. (Source: Michael Geist)

Ripple vs SEC: A Mixed Verdict over XRP Sales

In the lawsuit between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the verdict delivered was a mixed bag. The court ruled that Ripple's sales of its cryptocurrency, XRP, on public exchanges did not constitute offers of securities, hence rejecting part of the SEC's claim. However, the SEC scored a partial victory as the court found Ripple's $728.9 million sales of XRP to institutional investors were unregistered securities sales. Additionally, it was determined that Ripple's executives couldn't argue a lack of "fair notice" that XRP was a security at the trial. (Source: Reuters)

OpenAI's Code Interpreter: Your New Companion for Data Analysis, Visualizations, and More

OpenAI has recently added a new plug-in to ChatGPT Plus called the Code Interpreter, turning the AI into a personal data analyst. This plug-in utilizes Python to generate responses and allows users to both upload and download files. Here is Business Insider's summary of the key capabilities:

1. Data Analysis: Users can provide large datasets to the chatbot and request detailed analyses to identify trends, making it capable of handling data in various formats including CSV, XSLT, and JSON.
2. Data Visualizations: Code Interpreter can generate graphs based on provided datasets, useful for data exploration and visualizations.
3. Data Cleanup: Instead of manually processing data, Code Interpreter can clean up datasets in seconds, making it a valuable tool for data hygiene.
4. Game Generation: Users can instruct Code Interpreter to create games from scratch, offering a unique application in recreational coding.
5. Video and GIF Creation: The plug-in can also generate animated clips and GIFs from images and vice versa, providing users with more creative content creation options.
6. File Conversion: Code Interpreter can efficiently handle file conversions, such as transforming a PNG file into a JPEG, or an MP4 file into a GIF.
7. Code Writing and Debugging: Despite its focus on non-coders, Code Interpreter can write and debug code, demonstrating its ability to produce and improve coding output.
8. Playlist Analysis: The plug-in can be used to analyze Spotify playlists, offering new ways to interpret personal music trends.
9. QR Code Generation: Code Interpreter can also generate QR codes, simplifying this process for users and providing quick access to web links. 

Here is Andrew Stapleton's take on the OpenAI's latest:

Author: Malik Datardina, CPA, CA, CISA. Malik works at Auvenir as a GRC Strategist that is working to transform the engagement experience for accounting firms and their clients. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent UWCISA, UW, Auvenir (or its affiliates), CPA Canada or anyone else. This post was written with the assistance of an AI language model. The model provided suggestions and completions to help me write, but the final content and opinions are my own.