Happy Thursday!

In Today’s Email:

• Would OpenAI exist without Elon? 🧐

• Zapier’s newest features 🚨

• Zoom 🤝 Anthropic

Would OpenAI exist without Elon? 🧐

The business magnate talked about OpenAI and more in a recent CNBC interview.

Elon Musk has openly shared his disappointment with OpenAI, a company he co-founded in 2015 alongside Sam Altman. According to Elon, the company was founded as an open-source non-profit company that would compete against Google. Eventually, the company pivoted to prioritizing commercial applications which was not what Musk had in mind, he left in 2018.

“It does seem weird that something can be a nonprofit, open source, and somehow transform itself into a for-profit, closed source,” Musk said in a recent CNBC interview. “This would be like, let’s say you founded an organization to save the Amazon rainforest, and instead they became a lumber company, and chopped down the forest and sold it for money.”

Musk had made claims of funding the first $100M at OpenAI, however, many think the math isn’t adding up. TechCrunch deep-dove into the funding behind the original OpenAI non-profit. They found that the original fillings contained only $15M in funding by Elon. There is the possibility that Elon cloaked his donations through a donor-advised fund (DAF). Regardless, Musk donated a significant portion of OpenAI’s initial fund. We think OpenAI would still exist without him, but not to the same level as success.

Check out the full CNBC interview here.

Zapier’s newest features 🚨

Zapier has been no stranger to AI automation.

The integration of web applications to automate workflows has been the company’s mission since they were founded in 2011. The rapid advent of AI has further solidified its mission, which is evident through its suite of AI-powered automation tools.

The company recently released two new AI features to maximize users’ workflow. The first feature, coined “Create a Zap,” enables the automation of workflows through natural language output. Simply type in a prompt, and AI will create a Zap to get more done with less work. The second feature allows users to customize their workflow without the use of any code at all. Type in your requirements, and the AI will produce the necessary code to customize every aspect of your workflow.

Zapier’s adoption of AI is a no-brainer. Wade Foster, CEO of Zapier, said in a recent blog post, “By putting AI tools in the hands of everyone, businesses will no longer be constrained by generic, one-size-fits-all software solutions. Instead, they will be able to leverage the power of AI to design tailored applications, streamline operations, and better serve their customers. Engineers will focus on building mission-critical software and features, while other employees will have the tools to solve problems, express their creativity, and enhance their everyday lives through bespoke software.“

Zoom 🤝 Anthropic

Zoom and Anthropic are joining forces.

On Tuesday, Zoom announced a partnership and investment in Anthropic, an AI research and safety company. The goal of the partnership is to build on Zoom’s federated approach to AI. Anthropic’s Claude will be integrated into Zoom’s platform (Team Chat, Meetings, Phone, Whiteboard, Zoom IQ), starting with Zoom Contact Center.

Zoom has a long history of AI integration. Zoom Meetings, Zoom Virtual Agent, and Zoom IQ have all had huge AI incorporation over the past years. One of the company’s most popular AI integrations is the smart recording feature for Zoom Meetings, which allows users to quickly navigate the portions of a meeting that are most important to them.

Zoom’s “federated” approach to AI allows the company to leverage its proprietary AI models, models from companies like Anthropic and OpenAI, and select customers’ own models. In a recent blog post the company said, “With this flexibility to incorporate multiple types of models, our goal is to provide the most value for our customers’ diverse needs. These models are also customizable, so they can be tuned to a given company’s vocabulary and scenarios for better performance.“

What do you think of the Zoom + Anthropic move?

That’s it for today, we’ll see you back here tomorrow!