Walmart 100x productivity with GenAI

Happy Wednesday, Cyborgs.

I’m so excited and proud of the speaker lineup we’ve put together for you all for the upcoming Sept 11 Virtual Beings salon in NYC… just wow. Finally able to share - take a look below!

And as always, please enjoy this week’s jam-packed edition and do let us know what you want to see more of, love & don’t love 🙃

Today’s rundown:

• TLDR: This week in Future + Culture

  • Walmart 100x productivity with GenAI

  • OpenAI x Conde Nast

  • Shanghai-based AGIBOT challenges Tesla’s humanoid robots

  • Grok 2 releases in X

• Community Shares

  • We’re looking for AI x Mental Health speakers for an upcoming Bay Area event on Oct 10!

• NYC Virtual Beings Event invite - Sept 11 @ Neuehouse Madison Square & Save the date Sept 25th in Venice Beach

• Community Spotlight: Announcing our brilliant speakers for the upcoming NYC event!

𝕀𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕟𝕛𝕠𝕪 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕨𝕤𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 & 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤, 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝔸𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝟙-𝟚 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 🙏 😻

Walmart’s GenAI initiatives 100x’s productivity

With the help of LLMs, Walmart has been able to automate tasks that formerly required 100x the staff to complete manually. Shared in their recent earnings call, its LLMs are built by third parties and have supported immense efficiency increases in its supply chain and cataloguing.

OpenAI x Conde Nast

OpenAI is partnering with Conde Nast, amongst other global news partners, to display content from their top news brands in ChatGPT and SearchGPT. According to OpenAI’s announcement, this is an effort to ensure AI plays a larger role in news discovery and delivery, for quality reporting. With partners, they’re testing new search features that make finding information and reliable content sources ‘faster and more intuitive.’ The testing will be integrated into future updates to ChatGPT.

Shanghai-based AGIBOT looks to challenge Tesla’s OPTIMUS humanoid robot, ships by EOY

AGIBOT just introduced 5 models of humanoid robots designed for diverse needs, from household tasks to industrial operations, that can complete tasks as delicate as threading a needle and will start to ship by EOY. It plans to compete directly with Tesla’s Optimus. The market for humanoid robots is predicted to be worth more than $2.8BN by 2026.

Procreate takes a stand against GenAI

Popular design app Procreate takes a strong stand against incorporating GenAI into its products now or in the future. The CEO made a public statement on twitter that he believes AI is a threat to human creativity, and Procreate will not take part - for better or for worse.

Grok-2 Beta is live for X premium subscribers

Premium subscribers can now generate images within X, with improved reasoning. Grok is also set to release their Enterprise API later this month.

👫ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ꜱʜᴀʀᴇꜱ👫

Artist and the Machine is seeking speakers at the forefront of Future Technology and Mental Health, for an upcoming Bay Area event on October 10th! If you know anyone who might be interesting and is based in the Bay Area, please hit reply & send us the suggestion :)

😺ᵤₚcₒₘᵢₙg ₑᵥₑₙₜₛ😺

Getting ready for Virtual Beings NYC edition at Neuehouse Madison Square, on Sept 11! We’ll explore the role of virtual beings in relation to humans, different types of AI-powered avatars, sample use cases, and more. I’m so excited to announce our speaker lineup below..

💡 Speaker Spotlights for our upcoming NYC Virtual Beings Salon on Sept 11th💡

【Ｎａｔａｌｉｅ　Ｍｏｎｂｉｏｔ，　Ｈｏｕｒ Ｏｎｅ】

NATALIE MONBIOT is an emerging technology strategist and pioneer in AI, virtual humans, and generative, and a founding team member and head of strategy at Hour One. She has been instrumental in creating the AI avatar and video category, from vision to ethics to commercialization, and has championed the concept of a "virtual human economy" where individuals profit from their digital selves. A TEDx speaker and regular keynote presenter at major conferences, Natalie contributes to prominent publications and is recognized as a leading voice in the industry.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

【Ｐｉｎｄａｒ　Ｖａｎ　Ａｒｍａｎ，　ＡＩ　ＡＲＴＩＳＴ】

As an innovative, award-winning artist pioneering the emerging field of synthetic creativity, PINDAR VAN ARMAN has blazed a unique trail in both the physical and digital art worlds. His reflective AI system uses robots and a variety of collaborating algorithms to paint emergent art on stretched canvases. Van Arman’s works are the focus of frequent solo, group shows, and major art installations including acceptance into LACMAs permanent collection. His work has also been covered in publications around the world including Time, Fine Art America, Artnet News, MIT Technology Review, Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Scientific American, and more. Throughout this journey Van Arman has focused on portraiture, examining what it means to be human in the age of mechanical creativity. His creative systems interact with its subject as it develops new ways of seeing from a machine's perspective.

【Ｊａｋｅ　Ｂｅｃｋｅｒ，　Ｇｅｎｉｅｓ】

JAKE BECKER is a founding team member at Genies and currently serves as the Director of Creators. He leads the Creator & Partner Network, an initiative designed to empower iconic tastemakers and brands in developing and commercializing their digital avatars and IP. He also drove early Genies avatar adopters including cultural tastemakers such as Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Cardi B, Migos, And DJ Khaled. Outside of Hollywood IP, his work has led to deals with the player's associations of the NBA, NFL, and MLB making Genies the official avatar provider for their roster of athletes. He replicated this concept with industry-first deals with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. He’s an expert in IP and brand engagement strategies geared towards Gen Alpha and Gen Z with UGC at the core of campaigns.

【Ｊａｍｉｅ　Ｍｅｔｚｌ，　Ｂｅｓｔｓｅｌｌｉｎｇ　Ａｕｔｈｏｒ　＆　Ｆｕｔｕｒｉｓｔ】

JAMIE METZL is a technology and healthcare futurist, and a leading authority on how the AI, genetics, and biotechnology revolutions can shape the best possible futures for governments, corporations, and individuals. He is the author of several books including international bestseller, Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity and his highly acclaimed new book, Super-convergence, just published in June 2024.

【Ｃｈｌｏｅ　Ｐａｌｍｅｒ，　ＥｌｅｖｅｎＬａｂｓ】

CHLOE PALMER leads GTM efforts at ElevenLabs, a unicorn AI ompany backed by the likes of a16z and Sequoia. ElevenLabs has created the most realistic, versatile and contextually aware AI voices. They are the leaders in voice technology with their cutting-edge research and products that enable customers to generate content at scale. ElevenLans is working with customers including Nvidia to build digital human customer service avatars and some of the world's largest gaming and animation studios.

【Ｄａｎｉ　Ｖａｎ　ｄｅ　Ｓａｎｄｅ，　Ａｒｔｉｓｔ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅ　Ｍａｃｈｉｎｅ】

And myself, I’ll be moderating 😍 I’m Dani Van de Sande, and I was inspired to create Artist and the Machine from the belief that technology is about more than just utility - it has the power to unlock humanity’s fullest potential. I consider myself an artist without a medium, on a quest to uncover the power of AI and new toolsets (ie “the “machine”) to unlock my own, and everyone else’s, creative expression.

On the career front - I’ve been tinkering around with AI, spatial computing, experiential, blockchain, and growth marketing since 2013, and have had the privilege of helping global brands such as Snap Inc, Mars Inc, NARS/Shiseido, Chrome Hearts, Drake, Outside Media, Art Miami and many more navigate the future and reach next gen consumers.

𝕀𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕟𝕛𝕠𝕪 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕨𝕤𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 & 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤, 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝔸𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝟙-𝟚 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 🙏 😻