I/O A.S.A., Overviews
In the early morning of May 15, Beijing time, the 2024 Google I/O Developer Conference was officially held. In the face of increasing competition from OpenAI and other competitors, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai gave the keynote to show how AI is being integrated across Google's businesses, including enhanced Gemini chatbots and improvements to search capabilities.
In his keynote speech, Pichai said that after a long period of testing, the "AI Overviews" search will be rolled out to all users in the United States this week, and will be rolled out to more countries and regions in the future. AI Overviews uses large Gemini models to synthesize information and answer more complex questions that often don't have easy answers on the web. "We are in the very early stages of an AI platform. We're seeing a lot of opportunities for creators, developers, startups, and that's what Gemini is all about."
Alphabet has unveiled an upgrade to the Gemini Pro 1.5 model, increasing the context window (the amount of information that the AI model can understand) from the current 1 million tokens to 2 million. This means that Gemini Pro 1.5 will be able to understand thousands of pages of text or more than an hour of video in a single prompt, and Gemini 1.5 Pro will be available to developers around the world.
Alphabet has also introduced Gemini 1.5 Flash, a model that is faster, smaller, more flexible to deploy, and multimodal in favor of reducing the cost of deploying AI and speeding up response times. Like the more powerful version, Gemini 1.5 Flash can receive large amounts of data while being optimized for chat apps, videos, and image subtitles. (Source: Tencent Technology)
Alibaba issued its annual financial report, with revenue of 941.2 billion yuan in fiscal year 2024, and profit increased by 12% year-on-year
On May 14, Beijing time, Alibaba Group released its Q4 and annual results for fiscal year 2024. According to the announcement, Alibaba's revenue in fiscal 2024 was 941.168 billion yuan, and adjusted EBITA profit increased by 12% year-on-year to 165.028 billion yuan. Q4 revenue was 221.874 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7%, exceeding market expectations.
According to the financial report, Taotian Group's revenue in Q4 increased by 4% year-on-year to RMB 93.216 billion, and Taobao Tmall's quarterly number of buyers and purchase frequency increased, driving online GMV and order volume to achieve double-digit year-on-year growth, and the number of 88VIP members also achieved double-digit year-on-year growth, exceeding 35 million.
Cainiao's single-quarter revenue in Q4 was RMB24.557 billion, up 30% year-on-year, and full-year revenue was up 28% year-on-year to RMB99.02 billion. Local Life Group's quarterly revenue increased by 19% year-on-year, and its annual revenue was nearly 60 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 25%. In fiscal 2024, Dawen Entertainment Group's revenue increased by 15% year-on-year and achieved a year-on-year narrowing of losses.
In addition, the financial report revealed that Alibaba has repurchased $12.5 billion of shares in fiscal 2024, while the board of directors has approved a dividend of $4 billion in fiscal 2024. (Source: Sina Technology)
OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskovo is leaving
On May 15, Beijing time, Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and chief scientist of OpenAI, announced on the social platform X that he would leave the company after nearly ten years. Ilya said he would share details of his next project, which he described as "very meaningful to him personally."
In November 2023, Sutskovo participated in the ouster of OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, but Altman announced his return less than a week later, and Sutskovo did not sit on the newly formed OpenAI board of directors after that. (Source: Interface)
Sony Interactive Entertainment's new CEO has arrived, and gamers want PS to get back on track
On May 14, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announced a new leadership structure. Following Jim Ryan's retirement, Sony has found two new heads for PlayStation: Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino, who will co-lead the PlayStation business as co-CEOs from June 1.
Helmen Hearst, previously Senior Vice President and Head of PlayStation Studios and Head of Studio at Guerrilla Games, will focus on the development, distribution and commercial operations of all first-party PlayStation content. Hideaki Nishino previously served as Senior Vice President of Platform Experience, where he will focus on technology, products, services, platform experience, and third-party operations.
Many gamers expressed optimism about SIE's personnel changes, saying that "Sony is finally off to a good start, hiring people who have actually made games and have leadership experience", and "I hope PS is back on track". (Source: Fast Technology)
Due to poor sales of the EQE and EQS, Mercedes-Benz has suspended the development of a large luxury electric vehicle platform
On May 14, according to German media Handelsblatt, Mercedes-Benz significantly reduced its R&D investment in the electric vehicle platform and decided to abandon its previously planned new MB. EA Large Architecture Platform. Originally planned to launch in 2028, the platform is designed to be the next-generation infrastructure for existing EQEs, EQS, and other models. The report quoted four insiders as saying that Mercedes-Benz had made the decision to abandon due to poor sales of existing EQE and EQS models.
Mercedes initially planned to develop two versions of the MB. EA platform, where MB. The EA mid-size platform is used in the EQC sedan, while the large platform is used in the larger size of the luxury model. With the latter being cancelled, Mercedes-Benz will continue to upgrade the EVA2 platform used in the existing EQE and EQS models, replacing the current 400V system with an 800V charging architecture. Other upgrades include new battery cell technology and more efficient electric motors to increase range.
Mercedes-Benz had previously set a target of 50% of its sales of electric vehicles (including plug-in hybrids) by 2025, but has now postponed this target to 2030 and abandoned its previous plan to sell only electric vehicles in markets where conditions permit. (Source: Sina Technology)
Meta is developing AI headsets with built-in cameras that can recognize objects and translate foreign languages
On May 14, according to The Information, Meta is exploring the development of AI headsets with cameras, hoping that this kind of device can be used to recognize objects and translate foreign languages.
Three "insiders" revealed that the internal codename of the project is Camerabuds, and it is unclear whether the final design of the product will be an in-ear headphone or a headset, although Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has tried several possible device designs, but he is not satisfied with any of these product prototypes. Insiders said that Meta leadership had expected to formally approve a prototype design in the first quarter of this year, but many testers found a number of problems, including long hair that could block the camera on the headphones, the headphones were too heavy, the battery life was too short, and the heat affected the experience.
In addition to Meta, several other tech companies are also working on AI wearables, and several startups, including Humane and Rabbit, have recently launched their own "AI-specific devices", and Meta insiders say that Meta leadership, including Zuckerberg, is now looking to accelerate the development of AI headsets, as they believe Meta's competitors will also develop similar devices. (Source: Sohu Technology)
Ledao L60 released a new teaser image, and the new car officially debuted today
On May 14, it was reported that Ledao Automobile released the official teaser map of Ledao L60, and the new car will be officially launched on the evening of May 15.
According to reports, the L60 is designed by Raul Pires, a former Bentley designer and current vice president of global design of the Ledao brand, and the vehicle design adopts the WAY UP design concept. Officially, "thriving" is the iconic styling language of Ledao Automobile, which originates from the inspiration of the dynamic and upward movement of the brand LOGO, and the Ledao L60 outlines the iconic "thriving" headlights and taillights through the minimalist lines that continue to climb up to the periphery of the vehicle, which contains the meaning that every family's life can be "thriving and getting better and better".
The picture shows that the new car's headlight cluster adopts a split structure, with an L-shaped daytime running light style on the top, and a single-width high and low beam light cluster below, and a raised rib line design on the front bonnet, showing a certain sense of power. (Source: IT House)
Melinda Gates resigned as co-chair of the Gates Foundation to continue philanthropy with $12.5 billion
On May 14, Melinda Gates issued a statement on the social platform X saying that she would resign as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to promote her philanthropy "into a new chapter".
Melinda said that after careful consideration, she has decided to step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with June 7 being her last day at the foundation. Melinda says now is the time for her to move forward and move into the next chapter of her philanthropy. For women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, "this is a critical time, and those fighting to protect and promote equality urgently need support."
Melinda Gates and Bill Gates announced their divorce in 2021, ending their 27-year marriage. The two have said they will continue to work together for the charitable foundation under their name. But Melinda eventually decided to leave the foundation, and under the terms of her agreement with Bill Gates, she would receive $12.5 billion in funding after leaving the foundation. (Source: IT House)