Fable Shifts from Virtual Reality to 'Virtual Beings'
*By Samantha Errico*
Step aside, Siri and Alexa. VR studio Fable is relaunching as a "virtual beings" company to bring the public its first A.I.-powered character with whom users can have a two-way relationship.
According to co-founders Edward Saatchi and Pete Billington, the rebranding ー which the two announced at the 2019 Sundance Festival ー is partly an effort to educate consumers about machine learning.
"We think a character is a cool way to show you all the advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning," Saatchi told Cheddar Wednesday.
Fable's first virtual beings experience, "Whispers in the Night, stars the character Lucy from the company's past VR project, "Wolves in the Walls." The experience goes live this summer.
"You are her imaginary friend, she literally draws you into her world," Billington, who also is the creative director of 'Wolves in the Walls,' Saatchi said."Everything we do is at the service of bonding you to her."
Lucy is able to track your movements and remember your conversations. You can virtually interact with her as you would another person.
Fable is eager to distinguish its characters from other A.I. assistants already on the market; the company is all about personality.
"For us, using A.I. and natural language processing is a tool to create emotional connection," Saatchi said.
Billington and Saatchi predicted what the future of VR and A.I have in store:
* You will be able to see embodied versions of Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant and Cortana
* A computer-generated influencer will be bigger than the Kardashians
* Your OS will look like you, make you laugh, and remember what you don't like
* We will all be wearing AR/VR glasses to replace smartphones
* More VR movies will win Oscars (following 2017's awarded "Carne y Arena")
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/fable-builds-an-a-i-powered-virtual-character-named-lucy).
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
