Google DeepMind has introduced Genie 2, a large-scale foundation world model capable of generating a wide variety of playable 3D environments.
Genie 2 facilitates the development of embodied AI agents by transforming a single image into interactive virtual worlds.
Genie 2 expands the capabilities of Genie 1 into 3D, simulating physical interactions, modelling complex animations and creating environments with realistic physics, lighting, and object interactions.
Games have been central to Google DeepMind's AI research and Genie 2 addresses the gap in training more general AI agents by offering long-horizon consistency to simulate evolving scenarios and enabling agents to explore environments dynamically.
OpenAI has announced plans to release new models and features over the next twelve days, starting with the launch of Sora, its much-awaited video generation model.
OpenAI plans to grow ChatGPT's weekly active users nearly four times over the next year, with a goal of 1 billion users. It has reached over 300 million weekly active users.
Recently, OpenAI hired Darin Fisher, a key creator of Google Chrome and former Google VP of Engineering.
Over the past 18 months, OpenAI has poached 85 Google employees, half of whom are engineers.
Google DeepMind is likely on a better path towards AGI compared to its competitors, according to AI sceptic Gary Marcus.
Google recently launched Gemini-Exp-1121, which rivals OpenAI's GPT-4o. The company is preparing to launch Google Gemini 2.