ElevenLabs: The New Unicorn on the Block 🦄

Welcome back, my AI-obsessed friends.

Good morning, and Happy Tuesday! This is the latest edition of /Imagine, your go-to source for the freshest news and developments in AI. Let’s dive in…

High Level: ElevenLabs: The New Unicorn on the Block 🦄

The Bytes:

✣ Voice Cloning Breakthrough: ElevenLabs, an AI startup specializing in voice cloning technology, has just landed a massive $80 million in Series B funding. This cash injection catapulted the company’s valuation to over $1 billion.

✣ Investor Confidence: The funding round was co-led by industry heavyweights including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and others.

✣ Product Expansion: With the new capital, ElevenLabs aims to accelerate product development, expand infrastructure, bolster its team, and enhance AI research.

✣ Market Impact: ElevenLabs is making waves with its browser-based speech generation app, which can create lifelike voices with adjustable intonation, emotion, and cadence. The startup is also venturing into audiobooks, film dubbing, and character voices for games and marketing activations.

Why You Should Care: ElevenLabs’ success story is a testament to the transformative potential of AI in the voice industry. It shows investment capital is still happy to back up the money trucks for AI companies building a compelling future. I’m rooting for ElevenLabs, and think they have enormous potential.

BTW - They are hiring! Check out their new open roles!

High Level: Meta’s Mosaic-SDF - The 3D Shape Shifter 👾

The Bytes:

✣ 3D Revolution: Meta’s new Mosaic-SDF (M-SDF) tech is changing the game in 3D modeling, making shapes more detailed and creation faster than ever.

✣ Speed & Precision: M-SDF combines quick computation with the detail-rich capabilities of transformers, setting a new standard for efficiency and quality.

✣ Creative Power: From text-to-3D generation to class-conditioned models, M-SDF is unlocking new levels of creativity across industries.

Why You Should Care: M-SDF isn’t just a tool; it’s a gateway to richer virtual worlds, enhancing everything from VR to product design.

High Level: AI-Powered Micro Marvels: Insect-Inspired Mini Robots 🐜🤖

The Bytes:

✣ AI-Driven Actuators: WSU’s mini robots, the MiniBug and WaterStrider, are little marvels powered by the smallest and fastest actuators ever developed for micro-robotics, enabled by AI’s precision and speed.

✣ Shape Memory Alloys: These actuators use shape memory alloys, which change shape when heated, allowing the robots to move at up to 40 times per second.

✣ Potential AI Applications: In the future with AI, these robots could perform complex tasks like artificial pollination, search, and rescue, or even robotic-assisted surgery, adapting to dynamic environments and making real-time decisions.

Why You Should Care: The fusion of AI with micro-robotics opens up a strange new world where miniature robots make science fiction a reality. For you, this means advancements in everyday technology, from smarter appliances to medical devices that could one day save lives. It’s a peek into a future where AI not only thinks, but also acts on the microscopic level. Like we always say, things are going to get weird.

High Level: David Sacks’ Vision of AI in the Workplace 🤖💼

The Bytes:

✣ AI Colleagues: I thought this Tweet was worth sharing. Venture capitalist David Sacks predicts a future where bot employees are as ubiquitous in the workplace as NPCs (non-player characters) are in video games.

✣ Custom GPTs at Work: These bots, powered by custom GPTs and AI audio/video rendering, will start in roles like telesales and customer support.

✣ Zooming into Meetings: Eventually, Sacks envisions every team having bots that dial into Zoom meetings, ready to answer questions and assist with tasks.

Why You Should Care: Sacks’ tweet hints at a transformative shift in how we work that I really believe is coming faster than we think. AI integration could redefine job roles, enhance productivity, and even change the dynamics of team collaboration. It’s a peek into a future where your next coworker might be an AI. Also, side note → For those interested in emerging tech and business if you haven’t listened to his All-In Podcast, I highly recommend you check it out. I listen each week.

/Imagination of The Day: Let’s end the day on a creative note. Last January I had a tweet do pretty well where I used Midjourmey (version 4) to create a new Star Wars character for every state. We’ve come a long way in a year, and I’m thinking about updating them with Midjourney V6. This was the old tweet and below it is an updated image, and I’m going to share with you how I made it! ↓

Prompt Share: CGI Star Wars character + they embody the personality and identity of [state] + background terrain of [state] + [state identifier, ex. landmark or what they are known for] + 8k, surreal clarity, powerful --style raw --stylize 750 --v 6

I then upscaled the image with Magnific AI. I really had to rework the prompt I used in v4 for the new v6 prompting structure. Hope you enjoy it, and let me know if I should redo these for each state! ✌🏼

Stay Curious: Don't forget to follow me on Twitter at @jake_joseph and the brand on its fresh new page @slashimagineai for the latest AI news, my two cents, and discussions. Share your thoughts and join the conversation.

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