Artificial intelligence promises to take center stage again in 2024

We're back with a new edition of our newsletter, Trends&News!

We bring you the latest news in Artificial Intelligence, which never ceases to amaze us (and we're barely two months into the year), all the details on the disagreement between TikTok and Universal Music, and the McDonald's campaign we were all waiting for.

Oh, and if you haven't heard us yet, we've left the latest episode of our podcast Trends&News, where we interview none other than... Son Goku!

Let's go!

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Sora, the AI capable of generating realistic video

OpenAI has introduced its new artificial intelligence, Sora, capable of generating realistic videos from text. This advanced technology uses deep learning techniques and neural networks to create videos of any resolution and aspect ratio, being able to generate complex scenes with multiple characters and specific movements. Currently, Sora is in a testing and evaluation phase by the OpenAI team and a selected group of visual artists, designers, and filmmakers to improve the model.

The development and expansion of technologies like Sora underscore the importance of open source in the advancement of artificial intelligence, allowing for rapid evolution and adaptation of AI capabilities. This open-collaboration philosophy is significantly accelerating the development of new AI applications and models, although it still faces challenges related to usage licenses and long-term sustainable business models.

The latest

Google suspends image generation with Gemini

Google has decided to restrict access to its image generation tool following criticism received for its lack of precision in representing people in terms of skin tones and historical contexts. As mentioned by The Verge, Gemini showed results as absurd as a group of Nazi-era German soldiers as Black people, or white African slaves. In a statement, the company admits that the tool is not being as accurate as it should be when representing historical situations in images, and that, while the diversity represented should be a positive thing, it is clear that some adjustments must be made.

This news coincides with one of the week's updates, the goodbye to Bard, which is being renamed Gemini and will centralize all of Google's AI services. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, also announced that the chatbot will be available in a mobile app in the US and will feature a paid version, Gemini Advanced, as part of Google One, offering enhanced capabilities for complex tasks.

⇢You can read more details here.

TikTok removes all Universal Music songs

Universal Music Group has removed its songs from TikTok after its licensing agreement with the platform ended, citing dissatisfaction with the payments offered for the music and concerns about the use of AI-generated recordings that, they claim, reduce revenue for musicians. The consequences of this decision have resulted in music from Universal artists, such as Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, or The Beatles, among others, no longer being available on TikTok. Additionally, existing videos that used music from these artists now have their audio muted, and Universal's songs have been removed from TikTok's music library, preventing users from adding them to new videos.

Universal also accused TikTok of using harassment and intimidation tactics in contractual negotiations and noted that revenue from TikTok represented barely 1% for the company and its artists, making the negotiation terms proposed by TikTok unattractive.

TikTok responded to Universal's accusations by alleging that the label was putting its own economic interests above those of its artists and songwriters, and highlighted its role as a promotional and discovery platform for musical talent, with more than a billion users.

In contrast, agreements with platforms like Sony and Warner have moved forward.

We interview Son Goku

A few weeks ago, we had a luxury guest on our podcast Trends&News. Pablo Domínguez Lagares, a renowned voice actor known for being the voice of Son Goku in the Dragon Ball series. Our CEO, Pegu Jurado, chatted with him about the role of voice acting in advertising, the importance of brands having their own voice, and, of course, the role of artificial intelligence in the profession.

🎙️We talk about it in episode 1 of our podcast, now available on YouTube and Apple Podcast.

The campaign many were waiting for

Surely you also felt some disappointment that McDonald's cupcakes had such an ordinary name as Muffins. But the moment we were all waiting for has arrived.

The 'McDalenas' are now a reality. And after a “McNificent” (sorry) marketing campaign that has been on everyone's lips, the company has gone a step further and has established February 25th as McDalena Day.

Here we leave you some details of the campaign here.