Investors and entrepreneurs look for the next 'lightning strike' in gen AI innovation

AI

With a wealth of new artificial intelligence tools and capabilities exploding onto the scene, everyone is looking for the next breakthrough in generative AI technology.

“What we now see is that the infrastructure is there and we’re waiting for a lightning strike,” said Jon Turow (pictured, right), partner at Madrona Venture Group and former head of product at Amazon Web Services Inc. “Literally every type of application and many businesses and … human processes that are not even applications, is in scope for this kind of technology.”

Turow and Luis Ceze (left), co-founder and chief executive officer of OctoML Inc., spoke with theCUBE industry analyst John Furrier at the “Supercloud 5: The Battle for AI Supremacy” event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the current landscape of gen AI and its massive potential for entrepreneurs.

Battling for AI innovation

OctoML, a startup focused on optimizing machine learning for applications, recently released its OctoAI Image Gen, which allows developers to customize image generation on models such as Stable Diffusion more easily.

“We have … the fastest implementations of Stable Diffusion and Llama 2 and Mistrial [AI] offerings on the market,” said Ceze. “It’s generative AI infrastructure for application builders.”

OctoML’s capacity to make “model cocktails,” as Ceze calls them, gives developers greater flexibility and speed when creating AI-based applications.

Gen AI’s ability to automate and perform tasks that previously only humans could do, as well as the complexity of its infrastructure, creates a wealth of opportunities for entrepreneurs. The question remains, who will come out on top?

“All of this is hinting at what we’ve said all along are the the two key things that a great company needs to have to build a great product on top of technology like this. It’s really powerful data, it’s powerful talent, who is well leveraged and it’s [a] better understanding of your customers than anyone else,” Turow said. “If you can understand your customers better than other people do … you can absolutely beat Goliath.”

For all of the smaller organizations competing for AI supremacy, it is important to focus on the resources required to fuel machine learning, believe Turow and Ceze.

“Every output that generative AI produces [is] … literally many hours of magnitude more than the kind of computer requirements for any application we’ve ever had in human history,” said Ceze. “[Energy] constrains everything.”

Another key component of machine learning programs is the kind of flexibility and accessibility offered by the cloud, which allows developers to more easily draw on the databases needed by gen AI applications.

“This new wave of AI requires science and math,” affirmed Turow. “That would not be possible without the cloud.”

For developers looking to harness the power of gen AI, the world of app development is going to open up, predicts Ceze and Turow.

“Natural language programming has been a dream of computer scientists for a long time and … it’s finally being realized in a way that’s very different than computer scientists have thought,” said Ceze. “And it’s just magical even to them.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the “Supercloud 5: The Battle for AI Supremacy” event:

Photo: SiliconANGLE