GM. This is Take Off. We're like that perfectly timed joke at a party - making you laugh, breaking the ice, and keeping the conversation flowing.

Here's what we're serving up today:

• Bard is more Accessible to Penguins than EU 🐧🇪🇺

• OpenAI asking for Regulation 🤖

• Asteroids ☄️

• Wednesday Wires 💰

Bard is more Accessible to Penguins than EU 🐧🇪🇺

Last week’s Google I/O was an AI fest where the tech giant unleashed its latest chatbot, Google Bard into the world without any waitlist to 180 countries. However, there’s a catch!

Well, it turns out that Bard is as absent from the EU as sunshine in an English winter. The 450 million humans living in the bloc currently have less access to Google’s new chatbot than a colony of 50,000 penguins in the South Atlantic.

It's no secret that EU regulators aren't exactly the biggest fans of generative AI.

• Italy was the first country in the world that temporarily banned the use of ChatGPT due to data privacy concerns.

• Other European countries followed the trend which has ultimately led to the creation of a join-task force to create EU's AI Act that will detail rules on the use of Artificial Intelligence within the bloc.

Why, you may ask, is Google playing hard-to-get with the EU?

• There's speculation that G’s choice to exclude the EU could be a safety move, to work with regulatory bodies to ensure Bard's rollout is as smooth as a Shakespearean sonnet.

• There’s also speculation that this could be a power move by G to signal to the policy-makers that they aren’t a big fan of their current work on taming AI.

Regardless, as tech's biggest players continue to dip their toes in the AI chatbot pool, it's clear that governments worldwide will need to find a way to dance with these companies.

OpenAI asking for Regulation 🤖

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and AI’s new heartthrob was summoned to the grand stage of Congress yesterday to talk about something we all love and fear in equal measures - AI. And we binged the entire hearing!

Before the Congress could pounce on him demanding regulation as they’ve done with previous Big Tech execs, Altman himself told the Government he needs them to regulate AI. Talk about a plot twist!

• He highlighted AI being a double-edged sword which has the potential to solve global challenges, like climate change and healthcare but also prove dangerous if not regulated.

• Altman suggested forming a new government office to oversee AI. Kind of like FDA, but for AI.

• He also called for the formation of a government body to license AI models.

Now, here's where things get interesting. Altman's support for regulation could actually benefit OpenAI. How, you ask?

Well, if a government agency starts licensing AI models, it could shift the balance of power, favoring private, licensed models. It's like a game of chess, and maybe Altman is thinking three moves ahead.

☄️ Asteroids ☄️

So, Elon Musk's finally warming up to ads? He suddenly thinks advertising is "awesome" after buying Twitter, a company fuelled by ads. 🚗💡

Meta's going all Blue Tick fancy in the UK, charging £9.99 for that coveted verification mark. Enjoy the thrill of being verified and the joy of real-person support on FB & IG. Wait, does this mean Meta's finally found a non-ad way to monetize? 💙💰

Apple's rolling out accessibility superpowers! New features like Assistive Access, Live Speech, and Personal Voice aim to make iPhones, iPads, and Macs more inclusive for all.📱🤗

💰 Wednesday Wires 💰

Figorr, an IoT-powered cold-chain startup, just raised $1.5M to help farmers and businesses say "chill out" to perishable products! Expanding in Africa, they're revolutionizing agro-healthcare storage one cool byte at a time! 🌽🇳🇬

Sweden's Pale Blue Dot, the VC superstars, just said 'game on' to climate change with their whopping $101M fund. Rooting for climate tech startups, they're ready to make the Earth cooler! 🌍🌿

Byju's, the Indian ed-tech titan, has scooped up $250M and is eyeing another $700M. It's like they're studying for a test called 'how to become a $22 billion company.' IPO, here they come! 🎓💰

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