254 | 🧞‍♂️🏛️ Who is the White House AI Czar?

In today’s Brainyacts:

1. Meet the AI Czar

2. Days 1 and 2 of the "12 Days of OpenAI” release campaign

3. Microsoft Copilot Vision can see your screen now and other AI model news

4. plus more news you can use

   👋 to all subscribers!

To read previous editions, click here.

Lead Memo 🧞‍♂️🔋 David Sacks Named Trump’s “AI & Crypto Czar”

President-elect Trump has tapped David Sacks, a Silicon Valley insider and PayPal co-founder, to lead U.S. policy on AI and cryptocurrency. Here’s what it means:

Why It Matters: Tech’s conservative-libertarian voices have long criticized Washington’s slow pace on innovation. Now, they’re in the driver’s seat with plans to deregulate crypto, reverse Biden’s AI policies, and compete with China in AI.

Who Is Sacks?:

• A key Musk ally and host of the “All In” podcast.

• VC leader and creator of Glue, an AI-driven Slack rival.

• Vocal critic of progressive policies, with ties to Trump and the GOP.

The Role:

• As a “special government employee,” Sacks avoids Senate hearings and can work up to 130 days a year.

• Trump says Sacks will fight Big Tech bias, protect free speech, and craft clearer crypto regulations.

Concerns: Sacks remains involved in his private ventures, raising questions about conflicts of interest as he advises on policies that could directly affect his companies.

Industry Reaction: Rivals like OpenAI’s Sam Altman aren’t worried yet, but skeptics will be watching to see “who benefits” from new policies.

Sacks’ influence may be limited, but his appointment signals a big shift in how Washington approaches tech.

Spotlight 

🎄🎅 OpenAI started its “12 days of OpenAI” campaign yesterday.

🎁 Day 1 “Gifts”

OpenAI has launched the O1 reasoning model and a $200/month ChatGPT Pro subscription. Here’s the gist:

• O1 Model Highlights: Faster image analysis, 34% fewer errors, and top-notch reasoning skills, outperforming rivals like GPT-4o, Gemini, and Llama. Plus users get access to the full O1 starting now.

• Caution: O1 occasionally still manipulates data, misleading users 19% of the time.

• Pro Subscription: Unlimited O1 access, enhanced problem-solving, a 128k context window, and advanced features for power users.

Cutting-edge AI, but use it wisely!

🎁 Day 2 “Gifts”

OpenAI is expanding its Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT) program, allowing developers to create models fine-tuned for specific, complex tasks—particularly in fields like law.

What Is RFT?

RFT is a method for customizing AI models by training them on high-quality examples and grading their responses against reference answers. This feedback reinforces accurate reasoning and improves task-specific performance.

Why It Matters:

• Enables precise AI tools tailored to specialized industries.

• In law, this could mean models excelling at legal analysis, drafting, and research.

Developers can now train expert models to tackle complex challenges with greater accuracy and reliability.

You cna apply for access HERE.

AI Model Notables

► Microsoft has previewed Copilot Vision, an AI assistant in its Edge browser that can interact with web pages in real time. Here’s the key takeaway:

• What It Does: Vision helps users while browsing by analyzing text, images, and site content. It’s useful for tasks like shopping comparisons, recipe help, translations, and more.

• Privacy Focused: Opt-in only, it doesn’t store audio, images, or text and avoids sensitive or paywalled content.

• Why It’s Big: It introduces a groundbreaking way to browse the web with AI, enhancing convenience while respecting privacy and publisher rights.

🚨 NOTE: In its promo videos, like the one above, it might look like Copilot is scrolling through the page on its own, but it isn’t. You control the scrolling. Copilot can, however, process the entire webpage, including sections you haven’t scrolled to yet. The videos may unintentionally create the illusion of autonomous scrolling, but that’s not how it works.

► Zuckerberg unveils Meta's last big AI update of 2024: LLAMA 3.3 release.

► AI search engine, Perplexity, has signed partnership deals with over 12 new global media outlets—including the LA Times, Adweek, The Independent, and Mexico News Daily—from diverse regions like the UK, Japan, Spain, and Latin America, to enhance global reach and content diversity.

► Waymo is set to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service to Miami in early 2025 through a partnership with Moove.

► Italian startup iGenius and Nvidia plan to launch one of the world's largest AI systems, named "Colosseum," in a southern Italy data center by mid-2025.

► Anduril and ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced "a strategic partnership to develop and responsibly deploy advanced artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for national security missions" with an initial focus on anti-drone systems.

► Google DeepMind unveiled an AI weather model that largely beats other systems, especially at predicting unprecedented events that climate change has made more common and more severe.

News You Can Use:

➭ Georgia lawmakers want to hold deepfake AI developers accountable.

➭ LA Times newspaper owner Soon-Shiong announced plans to implement an AI-powered 'bias meter' on news articles amid editorial board restructuring and staff protests.

➭ Music sector workers to lose nearly a quarter of income to AI in next four years, global study finds.

➭ Meta posted a new blog detailing the company’s 2024 election integrity efforts, revealing that less than 1% of fact-checked misinformation involved AI content.

Who is the author, Josh Kubicki?

Some of you know me. Others do not. Here is a short intro. I am a lawyer, entrepreneur, and teacher. I have transformed legal practices and built multi-million dollar businesses. Not a theorist, I am an applied researcher and former Chief Strategy Officer, recognized by Fast Company and Bloomberg Law for my unique work. Through this newsletter, I offer you pragmatic insights into leveraging AI to inform and improve your daily life in legal services.