Elon Musk Now Controls Two-Thirds of All Active Satellites, Arm’s new A18 chip and V9 architecture will power the iPhone16, Anthropic takes ClaudeAI to the enterprise putting it head to head with OpenAI and Microsoft and are AI influencers one of the first victims of deepfakes?
All this and more on the “fake it til you make it” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love. Let’s get into it.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has reached a significant milestone, with its Starlink network now controlling nearly two-thirds of all active satellites orbiting Earth. This week, SpaceX launched its 7,000th Starlink satellite, cementing its dominance in the satellite industry.
According to data from the non-profit satellite tracker CelesTrak, SpaceX currently has 6,370 active Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit. This number represents just over 62% of all operational satellites and is about ten times the number of Starlink’s closest competitor, UK-based OneWeb.
The growth of Starlink has been nothing short of astronomical. Since its first launch in 2019, the network has been expanding at an average rate of three satellites per day. This rapid expansion is part of SpaceX’s ambitious plan to launch up to 42,000 satellites to complete the Starlink constellation.
Starlink’s goal is to provide high-speed internet and phone connectivity to any location on the globe. The service is already operational in 102 countries and boasts over three million customers. These subscribers pay a monthly fee to access the network through a $300 ground-based dish.
However, this satellite dominance raises questions about the concentration of power. Musk himself has acknowledged the unprecedented access to global economic data that his various ventures provide him. As Starlink continues to expand, it’s likely that discussions about the implications of this satellite monopoly will intensify.
In the ever-evolving landscape of global connectivity, Starlink’s rapid growth serves as a testament to both technological advancement and the increasing influence of private companies in space exploration and communication infrastructure.
Sources include: The Independent, SpaceX, CelesTrak
According to a report in the Financial Times, Apple’s new A18 chip is set to debut in the iPhone 16 today, with Arm’s latest V9 design architecture. While every new mobile chip design tries to bring more power and battery life, the V9’s mission is to bring generative AI to your phone.
These Arm chips are already powering the newest line of MacBook’s, Apple’s M4, and Apple is saying that this has been a giant leap in terms of performance which will be included in its next generation of PC’s expected over the coming months.
Bringing that next to their iPhone’s is reported for today’s announcement.
AI models on a smartphone requires some serious computational power. That’s why, currently, AI features are limited to the top-tier iPhone 15 Pro models.
But with the iPhone 16, it’s possible that these features may be more widely offered.
These new features are what Apple is calling, “Apple Intelligence.” A smarter Siri, custom emoji generation, and some seriously advanced photo editing capabilities.
And Apple is reported to be pursuing the partnership with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to users for free.
But although Apple is partnering with OpenAI, it continues to try to reposition itself as an AI company. How it will distinguish it’s AI offering? One way is to focus on privacy and data security.
It’s introducing something called “Private Cloud Compute.” Apple has famously kept data within its own systems to protect data privacy and, despite the new power of the A18 chip, some AI features will require access to larger models. “Private Cloud Compute” is Apple’s way of assuring users that it will keep user data secure when it needs to leave the device to tap into Apple’s larger AI models.
All in all, however, the new A18 chip will enhance Apple’s offering. But the A18 chip and V9 architecture is also a big win for Arm. It’s been reported that the V9 architecture brings in double the royalties of its predecessor. With a multi-year deal with Apple, this will have a big impact on Arm’s financial results.
And on a market perspective, Arm’s riding high on this AI wave. Their shares have jumped 70% since the start of 2024 and the demand for AI-capable chips continues to grow.
We’ll be watching Apple’s upcoming event closely for more details on the rollout of these AI features.
Sources include: Financial Times, https://www.ft.com/content/85f3efa0-c30d-4eaa-9a4d-5bd6c5243e9f
Anthropic has unveiled its new Claude Enterprise plan presenting what they are calling an enterprise-grade offering introduces a range of features aimed at boosting security, productivity, and integration capabilities for businesses.
The Claude Enterprise plan boasts an impressive 500,000 token context window, allowing it to process and analyze vast amounts of information – equivalent to hundreds of sales transcripts.
While it’s not the 1 million tokens that Google’s Gemini has claimed, it’s a big step up from Open AI’s 128,000 tokens and even “regular” Claude’s 200,000 tokens.
Just as a reminder, a token is roughly equivalent to a short word, or a part of a larger word.
Why is it important?
In order to do things at the enterprise level, it’s critical that large amounts of data can be taken into a single “window.” Examples, like analyzing multiple years of data or of considering the entirety of a computer program required a lot of data to be ingested.
And when generative AI systems reach or exceed limits of their window capacity, the tendency to hallucinate or to simply forget instructions is much greater.
But Anthropic as added other features to bring it up to enterprise level.
On the security front, the plan includes robust features such as Single Sign-On (SSO), domain capture, and role-based access with fine-grained permissions. These tools allow companies to manage user access securely and centralize provisioning control. Audit logs for security and compliance monitoring, as well as System for Cross Idendity management, or SCIM for automated user provisioning, are slated for release in the coming weeks.
A standout feature is the native GitHub integration, currently in beta for early Enterprise users. This allows engineering teams to sync their GitHub repositories directly with Claude, facilitating collaboration on new features, debugging, and onboarding processes. Anthropic hints that this is just the first of many planned integrations to connect Claude with essential data sources.
The Enterprise plan also leverages existing features like Projects and Artifacts, which are already getting great reviews from their early uses and are rivalling Google’s Notebook and OpenAI’s GPT functionality.
This is a serious push into the enterprise AI market, and while Claude continues to have a strong following of consumer and individual users, as AI continues to reshape business operations, solutions like the Claude Enterprise plan are following how companies leverage artificial intelligence to enhance their workflows and decision-making processes.
Sources include: Anthropic
The world of influencer marketing is only a few years old, but it’s already a multi-million and some suggest a multi-billion-dollar influencer industry. But as fast as it has appeared, it might be one of the first big victims of AI technology with the advent AI-generated influencers.
These virtual personalities are not just a novelty; they’re becoming a significant force in this influencer industry.
AI influencers like Miquela Sousa, with 2.5 million Instagram followers, and Lu do Magalu, boasting 7.1 million followers, are landing deals with major brands like Chanel, Prada, and Coach. But they are not real people. They are AI constructions, hyper realistic, but nonetheless, not real people.
Some think this trend will reshape how companies approach marketing and consumer engagement.
For brands, AI influencers offer several advantages. They’re cost-effective, available 24/7, and can be tailored to represent diverse backgrounds, potentially broadening consumer reach.
And, this blew me away, but a poll conducted by Sprout Social suggests that Gen Z, the primary target for influencer marketing, doesn’t particularly care whether influencers are real or artificial. Only 35 percent of Gen Z’s polled ranked authenticity as the top trait they care about in influencers.
However, this rise of synthetic personalities raises significant concerns. While brand influencers might not be objective, they do have their own personal brand to protect, which offers some safeguards, particularly for those who have an established following and history.
AI influencers lack the human judgment that acts as a check on brand messaging, potentially escalating the spread of misinformation. So there may be a greater chance of manipulating consumer behavior more effectively through hyper-specific, AI-generated personas.
But AI influencers are ultimately disposable and cost nothing to create.
So this trend poses a serious threat to human influencers’ livelihoods and may impact opportunities for real individuals from underrepresented backgrounds.
As AI technology advances, distinguishing between real and artificial online personas will become almost, or totally impossible for the average person.
So this new industry may be a first flash point in the debate over the value we place on human authenticity in digital content.
Sources include: Axios, Marketing Dive
And that’s our show for today. You can find show notes at our news site technewsday.com or .ca take you pick.
Thanks for listening. I’m your host, still the real Jim Love, have a Marvelous Monday.
