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I work at the intersection of applied AI, software engineering, and technology…
Articles by Tiana
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The Emotional Edge: How Your State of Mind Can Set You Apart as a Leader
The Emotional Edge: How Your State of Mind Can Set You Apart as a Leader
As a leader in today's fast-paced and demanding business world, you'll often find yourself making important decisions…
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Rock Star Software Engineers Needed
Rock Star Software Engineers Needed
Gaming company is looking for 2 rock star software engineers for their Atlanta location. 1.
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Tiana Laurence reposted thisTiana Laurence reposted thisToday, the Austin startup community is grieving the heartbreaking loss of Joshua Baer. I’m shocked and heartbroken. Joshua wasn't a legend because of a title, a building, or a company. He was a legend because of the countless founders, dreamers, builders, and leaders he helped believe that something more was possible. jon werner, Caryn Werner, Courtney Werner, and I experienced his impact firsthand when our startup KOYA became a Capital Factory portfolio company in 2019. Capital Factory opened doors, surrounded us with mentors, and gave us a front-row seat to what a truly connected startup ecosystem could look like. We didn't just learn what was possible, we felt it. When we later founded FIESTA Community, Capital Factory became our home. For five years, we have gathered there monthly with founders, investors, entrepreneurs, techies, and newcomers, as well as people looking for connection, support, encouragement, and a place to belong. That kind of community doesn't happen by accident. Joshua understood the importance of hosting and supporting community builders. He knew founders need more than capital. They need people who believe in them before the metrics do. They need mentors who show up without an agenda. They need rooms where the right introduction can change everything. They need access, visibility, and someone in their corner when the road gets hard. Joshua built so much of that connective tissue for Austin, and just this past March, he launched STATION Austin, a new nonprofit dedicated to carrying those values forward in perpetuity. He was still building. Still expanding access. Still thinking about the next generation of founders who need a door opened. That's who he was. I am deeply grateful for his vision, his generosity, and his quiet, steady commitment to founders everywhere. His impact is woven into thousands of stories, including ours, and his legacy will live on through every person, company, and community he helped shape. My heart and 🙏 are with his wife, children, parents, the Capital Factory and STATION Austin teams, and everyone across this ecosystem feeling this loss today. Thank you, Joshua. For what you built. For what you believed in. For the doors you opened and the rooms you made room in. Austin won't be the same without you, but because of you, it will keep becoming more.
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Tiana Laurence shared thisAI is only as good as the data it's built on. We can generate text, images, and code at incredible speed. But if we want AI to accelerate real invention then we need answers grounded in evidence, not hallucinations. That's the problem Consensus solves. And that's why I invested. Today they announced $30M in new funding. 2.5M researchers use Consensus every month to search 200M+ peer-reviewed papers and get AI-powered answers they can actually cite and trust. The round is led by GreatPoint Ventures and DJ Patil (the first U.S. Chief Data Scientist under President Obama). Union Square Ventures, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, and Draper Associates are all doubling down. More researchers, not fewer. Faster science, not faster fiction. Congrats to the whole Consensus team. The foundation matters, and you're building the right one. 👏Tiana Laurence shared thisToday, we're announcing $30M in new funding for Consensus. 2.5M researchers start their work with Consensus every single month. This funding is going to enable us to reach the next 10M users and expand our product beyond search, toward the AI OS for researchers. Our goal isn't to automate scientists. It's to give them superpowers. We're building for a world with more researchers, not fewer. One where the brightest minds focus on the uniquely human parts of science, while the tedious work disappears. The round is led by GreatPoint Ventures and DJ Patil. GPV is joined by previous investors who are doubling and tripling down: Union Square Ventures, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Draper Associates, and more. DJ is joining our board. As the first U.S. Chief Data Scientist under President Obama, DJ helped open up the country's publicly funded data to the world and knows firsthand the power of making science more accessible. We couldn't ask for a better partner for this next chapter. As with every new announcement, our priority is delivering for our users. Over the coming days, we’re making four new product announcements, including our biggest update to date. Scientific research is how society moves forward, and our users change the world through their work everyday. We could tell you our story, but we'd rather they did 👇
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Tiana Laurence reposted thisTiana Laurence reposted thisThis moment matters. Not just for us, but for the people behind the work. Every injured worker pushing through recovery Every provider showing up for their patients Every outcome we’re trying to improve Plethy on stage at the 2026 TIE50 Awards. We’re just getting started. #Plethy #TIE50 #TiEcon2026 #HealthTech #DigitalHealth #RecoveryMatters #PatientOutcomes #InjuredWorkerRecovery #WorkersComp #CareInnovation #DataDrivenCare #HealthcareInnovation #StartupLife #BuiltForImpact #Onward #Recupe
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Tiana Laurence posted thisAfter 20+ years building software, I'm now teaching computers to watch people do physical therapy. 👀 I've joined Plethy as an AI Engineer, working on computer vision and applied AI for the Recupe platform. We are helping people recover from injuries and surgery with more personalized, data-driven care. What pulled me in: Recupe is already doing the hard stuff well, wearable sensors, real-time insights, empathetic coaching, personalized recovery pathways. My job is to push what's next: AI that makes recovery smarter, earlier intervention that actually intervenes earlier, and that supports (not replaces) the humans doing the work. Musculoskeletal care touches almost everyone at some point — a bad knee, a rough surgery recovery, a parent getting back on their feet. Getting to build tools that meet people in those moments feels like a good use of the next chapter. Grateful to the Plethy team for the warm welcome. If you're working at the intersection of AI, computer vision, and digital health — let's talk. #DigitalHealth #AI #ComputerVision #HealthcareInnovation #Plethy
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Tiana Laurence shared thissee you all there!Tiana Laurence shared thisYou’ve had a week to recover from SXSW… now it’s time to gather. Join us t onight at FIESTA 🎉 | 5:30–8:30 PM | Capital Factory (Voltron) https://lnkd.in/gFMA8zWG We have a powerhouse group of founders pitching across: AI, CPG, FinTech, GameTech, HealthTech, MarTech, and Manufacturing Modesta Matos-Acosta – Foundry CHARLES HERNANDEZ – Rei Labs Lana Ashby Rowder – lookingGLASS Lucas Prado – BEEST Snacks Victoria (Martin) Bishop – Intinero https://lnkd.in/gqdpxxG3 Shiva V. – RistoCat Meagan Butler, LPC – Zenyu Games | Creators of Lucero François LELIEVRE & Troy Ballesteros, MBA @Tangle Alex Koshykov – YODD Taffy Watts – SEPA Babies Joe Phair – @https://drinkgodspeed.com/ Aiden Davenport – Pauv Michael Dreger – Maidin Bruce Boville – Cold Cycle Coffee If you care about what’s being built in Austin, enjoy meaningful conversations, and want to meet truly incredible people, this is the room to be in. #FIESTACommunity #PitchEvent #AI #HealthTech #FinTech #CPG #GameTech #MarTech #founders #community
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Tiana Laurence shared thisSeeking feedback is one of the most powerful tools for growth, but as I've learned the hard way, not all feedback is created equal. Recently, I came across a podcast from a friend diving into the art of giving and receiving real, valuable feedback—and it hit home. In their discussion, they nailed it: True feedback comes from people who see and value you, and whom you trust and respect. But delivering it requires pushing through your own fears—like "What if this isn't taken well?" And on the receiving end, it can sting your ego, especially when it's clear-eyed and actionable. It's daunting, but if you make those adjustments, it can transform you. This reminded me of my own rollercoaster with feedback during a 360 evaluation at my startup a few years back. The results were all over the map: glowing praise from some, outright disdain from others. Shocking, right? (Okay, maybe not entirely. LOL) Everyone has an opinion, but not all opinions carry the same weight. Always ask: What's their bias? Are they invested in your success, or protecting their own turf? And crucially, if you're doing something truly innovative or disruptive, you're bound to attract haters. If you don't have any? Well, maybe you're not pushing boundaries hard enough. These days, I filter feedback through that lens: Is it from a trusted source? Does it align with my goals? And is it actionable without ego? It's helped me learn faster and adapt, because sometimes people can see things about us that we are blind to. Be brave and give real unbiased feedback that comes from a place of love and a desire to support and help and if you are lucky enough to receive real feedback handle it with grace and reflection! What about you? Have you ever had feedback blow up in your face—or turn into gold? Share your stories below. Let's normalize the messiness of growth. Watch the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gjBz--yF #Feedback #LeadershipLessons #StartupLife #PersonalGrowth Young HanTiana Laurence shared thisFeedback isn’t criticism, it’s a gift. 💭 When you have people who care enough to tell you the hard truths and help you grow, that’s real leadership. How VSCO®’s CEO Found Balance Beyond the CEO Title | Ep. 187 ⚙️ How do you handle constructive criticism when it comes your way? #Leadership #FeedbackCulture #GrowthMindset #SelfImprovement #VSCO #Entrepreneurship
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Tiana Laurence reposted thisTiana Laurence reposted thisThis is outrageous! Infuriating. Are all great entrepreneurs suddenly responsible for every bad thing anyone has done with their product? This is a dangerous precedent. Is Starbucks responsible for everyone who has done something unlawful after they drink coffee? Is Apple responsible for every indiscretion anyone has had with an iPhone? France! Release this man! https://lnkd.in/gDTHPjGpTelegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov arrested in France by National Anti-Fraud Office: TF1Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov arrested in France by National Anti-Fraud Office: TF1
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Tiana Laurence reposted thisTiana Laurence reposted thisI am absolutely thrilled to shared that Consensus has raised $11.5M in Series A funding led by Union Square Ventures! Alongside USV is an amazing group of investors joining the round like Nat Friedman & Daniel Gross (NFDG), Kevin Carter (Night Capital), lead seed investor Draper Associates and more. Scientific research is the most valuable source of knowledge humans have ever created. Yet - there is no easy way to search and consume it. We have built Consensus to change this and have been humbled by the over 2 million users who have used Consensus since launching our product. We want to create a world where expert knowledge is within reach of everyone. A world where scientists can get back to doing real science, not searching, and one where a generation of citizen scientists can be created via easier access to real research. This is one of the many reasons we are so excited to partner with USV. In the current USV fund thesis is a call to invest in opportunities that broaden access to knowledge. On top of that, they have been writing about and investing in the "splintering of search" long before anybody knew what an LLM was. It would truly be hard to find a better partner for us at Consensus than USV. We are also happy to share that Jared Hecht will be joining our Board of Directors. I want to give the BIGGEST possible shoutout to the entire Consensus team. Without you, we would be nowhere and it is a pleasure to work with such an incredibly talented, passionate and kind group of people. I cannot wait to keep building together: Megan Van Welie, Brett Nebeker, Chris Varano, Jimmy Longley, Ali Farid, Namrata Kundu, Sarah R. Wakeman and Pablo Garcés. I'll save my full sappy co-founder post for another day or another medium - but, working every day with my best friend Christian Salem has been the greatest professional experience of my life. Lastly, a shoutout to the previous seed investors who have doubled down on us not mentioned above like Alumni Ventures, Billy Draper (Path Ventures), Marc McCabe (Nomad Capital), and Nathaniel Manning. Consensus is just getting started 🏗 Onward.
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Tiana Laurence shared thisHey don’t miss FIESTA! These events are the best.Tiana Laurence shared this🌹 Celebrate Galentine's Day with FIESTA: A Gathering Together of Women Founders & Business Owners! Join us for a night of empowerment and connection as we celebrate the incredible women shaping our tech startup ecosystem. 🚀✨ 🍫 Indulge in contemporary art, sip on bubbly champagne, savor delectable chocolates, and experience the wonderful camaraderie that comes from being surrounded by phenomenal women. 👭 Behind every great woman…is another great woman! 📣 Calling all female-identifying founders and business owners! Engage, support & empower each other at our unforgettable event. 👩💻🎉 🎉 FIESTA’s Gathering Together of Women Founders & Business Owners 🗓️ Monday, Feb 12, 2024 🕕 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM 📍 West Chelsea Contemporary 🎟️ Limited spots available Light snacks and drinks will be served. At FIESTA, we exist to unite professional women, fuel passions, and cultivate business relationships organically. We've created a beautiful, safe space to gather, ask questions, share ideas, open our networks, and support each other. Join us as we champion one another while navigating our personal and professional lives, and continuing to grow together. 🙏 Special thanks to our sponsors, Eisner Amper and The Artemis Fund, for their generous support! 💬 Check out what people are saying: 💌 "Thank you for a Lovely event! The hard work and generosity set a great tone and is building a strong community." 💌 "This was one of the most valuable and meaningful female networking events I've ever attended." 💌 "Such an inspiring and impressive group. SO valuable, and can't wait for the next one!" 💌 "Truly one of my favorite events, and I made such meaningful connections." ⭐ Spots are limited! RSVP now to secure your place in this empowering evening! 🌹
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Tiana Laurence reacted on thisTiana Laurence reacted on thisCongratulations Sobhan Khani for making the Silicon Valley Business Journal 2026 40 under 40 list! We have been there for each other, celebrating milestones in both our personal and professional lives, and I am thrilled to celebrate this one. It has been so special to see your life grow and the impact you have made Plug and Play. Over the past decade, you have helped bring PNP from what was once a small Bay Area team to a global innovation platform, supporting expansions across the U.S.A, EMEA, and Asia. I’ve always admired Sobhan's impact on the community and how he stresses the importance of people. He creates environments where founders, operators, and local ecosystems can grow together to build friendships long term. Beyond that, he is known as a mentor and connector within the global innovation community, guided by his belief of kindness and that innovation is driven by people and relationships, not just technology. No matter who you are he takes the time to have a coffee, go to a fitness class, or have a quick walking meeting. Funny story: when we were working with him to submit him for this honor he made the deadline by 24 hours to be "under 40". He even went to the gala on his actual birthday. I bet he was one of the first to have that happen but it made us giggle. Congratulations, again, on this incredible honor! To many more milestones together both professionally and personally. Get to know Sobhan: https://lnkd.in/eyssEHAA
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Tiana Laurence reacted on thisTiana Laurence reacted on thisTwo students built this robot. 🤖🔥 No billion-dollar robotics lab. No massive engineering team. Just two students turning an idea into a working machine. This is what the next generation of engineers looks like. The future of robotics might already be sitting in a classroom. Would you have tried building something like this as a student? 🎥 Media: Meng Houy / jeskoo_0 ( Instagram ) ⚠️ This content is shared for informational purposes only. CTO Robotics Media is a media platform and does not own or develop the technology shown. Credit belongs to the original creators. #Robotics #Engineering #Students #Innovation #Mechatronics #FutureTech
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Tiana Laurence reacted on thisTiana Laurence reacted on thisCongratulations to Saeed Amidi on receiving the Knighthood of the Italian Republic, conferred yesterday in San Francisco by Consul General massimo carnelos! What an emotional and inspiring speech, and such a well-deserved recognition. Wonderful to see the global impact that Plug and Play continues to have
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Tiana Laurence reacted on thisTiana Laurence reacted on thisHonored to be named to Silicon Valley Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Class of 2026 on my 40th birthday. Last week, I joined this year's honorees at the celebration, and being featured among brilliant people from NASA Ames Research Center, Intuit, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and so many other incredible organizations was humbling. My 30s were largely about building and growing alongside the remarkable people at Plug and Play. I’m proud of what we have created together, but I’ve also come to believe that what you build is only part of the story. Who you lift along the way matters even more. In this next decade, I want to be more conscious and intentional about the impact I have on the people around me, especially the younger generation coming up behind us. Success means more when it creates opportunities for others and leaves people better than you found them. Grateful to be part of this year's honorees and to everyone who's supported me along the way.
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Tiana Laurence reacted on thisTiana Laurence reacted on this10 years ago, I moved to the Bay Area with $400 in my pocket, no job, and a bunk bed in a room shared with 10 strangers. What kept me going was a story Pejman once shared with me, about resilience, about believing in something bigger than your current circumstances, and about the long game. That belief brought me to Plug and Play when we were a scrappy team of 10-15 people. A decade later, we just hit 200,000 followers on LinkedIn. What feels even more surreal is thinking about all the people who made that journey possible. Over the years, so many founders, partners, teammates, and friends have been part of what we've built. They took chances on us, opened doors, supported the mission, and helped turn a small team into the community we have today. I'm grateful to Saeed Amidi and the team for believing in me when I had nothing to offer but hunger and hope. And I'm excited about what comes next.
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Tiana Laurence reacted on thisTiana Laurence reacted on thisLast Friday, I became a Stanford University Graduate School of Business alum. I remember when I graduated from The University of British Columbia back in 2014, my mom, a huge University advocate that taught elementary school for more than 35 years, cried saying she never thought I would graduate from college. Academics were extremely important to her, but they were never my priority growing up as basketball, sports, and fun always took precedence. Last Friday, I had the privilege of making my mom cry again at another University Graduation this time for the Stanford Executive Program at the Stanford GSB. I didn’t take the traditional route to becoming a Stanford GSB alum, but I credit the career I built after moving to Silicon Valley more for making this special moment possible. Thank you to Saeed Amidi for bringing me to Silicon Valley and hiring me at Plug and Play more then a decade ago. This opened the door to the best location for innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology in the world. Also, thank you to my good friend Yuichi Ando for introducing me to Stanford GSB’s Executive Program. Without your support and guidance, I never would have joined this leading program. What I love about Stanford GSB is that it encourages people to be themselves, even if their career path is unconventional, deviant, or contrarian. I deeply resonate with much of what I learned at Stanford University, and I can now see why Stanford alumni repeatedly change lives, change organizations, and change the world. I’ve listed my top business leadership takeaways from this program below: 1. Be best in breed: to win a business market it is important to be best in breed and lead by design. The best in breed company will become a category king and win against more integrated or complex solutions. 2. Trust your gut: frameworks and systems are essential when filtering down options in order to make a business decision, but when it is time to make the final call between two options you must trust your gut. Once you make that decision then it’s time to commit and execute without looking back. 3. Incentives drive behavior: to figure out what motivates someone in business it’s important to understand their incentives. 4. AI is not everything: it's important to use AI appropriately at the right time and in the right way. In business you always have to constantly decide between whether to automate with AI, augment with AI, or avoid AI.
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Publications
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Debunking Blockchain Myths (And How They Will Impact The Future Of Business)
Forbes
See publicationBlockchain technology has gained so much momentum over the last few years, earning enough buzz that mainstream pundits are claiming that 2017 will be a major year for the platform. But just as many misconceptions came with the rise of smartphones and the internet, the myths surrounding blockchain technology are worth debunking.
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Blockchain for Dummies
Wiley Publishing: For Dummies
See publicationBlockchain—the revolutionary technology behind the Bitcoin phenomenon—can also revolutionize financial transactions, data security, and information integrity for your business. This book shows you how it works and how your company can tap into its power. Discover different types of blockchains, what they can do, and the basics of blockchain platforms. You'll also find out how blockchain powers Bitcoin and benefits a variety of other industries.
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English
Native or bilingual proficiency
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Spanish
Limited working proficiency
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French
Elementary proficiency
Organizations
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Rotary International
Rotarian
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A.Durga Prasad
Title: 🚀 Startup Spotlight: Resolve AI Subtitle: How AI Agents are redefining reliability & founder storytelling Header: 👤@Spiros Xanthos Founder & CEO, Resolve AI Body: Co-creator of OpenTelemetry (industry standard for observability) Building AI agents to keep the world’s software running Mission: Turn on-call firefighting into autonomous intelligence Header: ⚠️ The challenge in software today Body: Systems are too complex Downtime = loss of trust Engineers spend more time fixing than building Resolve AI fixes this by: ✅ AI agents that detect, reason, and resolve incidents autonomously Header: ✨ Why Resolve AI stands out Body: AI as a teammate, not an alert tool Solves issues, doesn’t just report them Built by founders who understand the pain firsthand Lesson for agencies: 💡 Automation should unlock creativity & growth, not replace it Spiros Xanthos, Resolve AI ✨ Inspired by how innovation in one field can teach lessons across industries. #Startups #Founders #AI #TechInnovation #AgencyLife #StartupLessons
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Gabriel Szüts Håndstad
🚨 Why is nobody talking about this? OpenAi launched Atlas 6 days ago, here is why it will kill Ai automation! I just analyzed and scraped 450 ads from Meta Ad Library in 1 minute, using nothing but ChatGPT... And the cool part! You dont need to build the automation, ChatGPT does it for you. Using Atlas, you can search the internett like normal, with the power of ChatGPT Agent mode included in the browser. I have already build a automated Meta Ad scraper: - Scrapes and analyzes all creative data - Extracts and analyzes ad copy - Creates a easy to understand dashboard - Sends it all to you Google drive, automatically two times a week! All I need to do is give Agent mode the companies I want to research, and the rest is handled for me. BONUS: I am including a beginner's step-by-step guide to the Atlas browser Want access? 1. Connect with me 2. Comment "Atlas" And I'll send you everything. PS - Repost this for priority access to future Atlas Agents!
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Alexandra Vidyuk
The "Fake It Till You Make It" Era is Over: Why Deep Tech Requires Real Science. Watching the film about Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos collapse is a stark reminder of Silicon Valley's most dangerous myth: the idolization of the "dropout founder." In consumer software, "move fast and break things" built unicorns. But we are entering the deep tech decade, and the rules of engagement have fundamentally changed. In frontier space infrastructure and breakthrough deep tech, breaking things doesn't mean a software patch. It means losing a $500M payload or setting critical scientific progress back by a decade. The laws of physics do not care about a charismatic pitch deck. You cannot "fake it till you make it" with orbital mechanics, quantum computing, or biotech. That is why the era of the dropout is making way for the era of the Doctorate. At Beyond Earth Ventures, we don't rely on hype—we rely on peer-reviewed reality to finance technologies shaping the next trillion-dollar economy. That is exactly why our core team includes three PhDs, and why our scientific diligence is guided by a Nobel Prize laureate as an advisor. If your diligence team doesn't have the scientific literacy to read the underlying academic papers, you aren't investing in deep tech. You're just gambling.
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Alex Heath
Do you worry about getting sherlocked by OpenAI or Anthropic? Harvey CEO Winston Weinberg: "100 percent... Just assume that they are going to directly go into your vertical" The trials and tribulations of being a successful AI wrapper co... This week on ACCESS: YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gAFveRwn Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gEiaXjHu Apple: https://lnkd.in/gnhemJjC
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Utsav Pandya
The Next Frontier of Generative Video: OpenAI’s Leap into Physical Realism 🎥 OpenAI has just raised the bar for generative AI once again. Their latest video generation model, recently showcased on their official YouTube channel, marks a significant shift from "stylized clips" to "physical accuracy." What makes this update a game-changer? 1️⃣ Physical Realism: The model understands the laws of physics better than ever, resulting in coherent scenes where objects move and interact naturally. 2️⃣ Synchronized Dialogue & Sound: We’re moving beyond silent clips. The integration of lip-synced speech and environmental audio directly into the generation process is a massive step toward end-to-end AI filmmaking. 3️⃣ Granular Controllability: For creators, the ability to direct specific movements and scene evolutions means AI is becoming a precise tool rather than a random generator. This isn't just about making "cool videos"—it's about building a world simulator. As these models become more grounded in reality, the implications for education, training, and entertainment are boundless. Are we ready for a world where the line between captured and generated reality is virtually invisible? Source: OpenAI Official YouTube Channel #AI #OpenAI #GenerativeVideo #Innovation #TechTrends #MachineLearning #FutureOfTech
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