Liquid Foundation Models: A New Transformers alternative + AINews Pod 2
Liquid.ai emerged from stealth with three subquadratic foundation models demonstrating superior efficiency compared to state space models and Apple’s on-device and server models, backed by a $37M seed round. Meta AI announced Llama 3.2 with multimodal vision-enabled models and lightweight text-only variants for mobile. Google DeepMind introduced production-ready Gemini-1.5-Pro-002 and Gemini-1.5-Flash-002 models with improved pricing and rate limits, alongside AlphaChip, an AI-driven chip design system using reinforcement learning for rapid superhuman layouts. OpenAI enhanced ChatGPT Plus and Teams with Advanced Voice Mode featuring Custom Instructions, Memory, and new nature-inspired voices. California Governor vetoed SB-1047 AI regulation bill, celebrated by AI community figures like ylecun and svpino as a win for open-source AI. Google upgraded NotebookLM with audio overviews supporting YouTube and audio files, turning documents into AI-generated podcasts. *"Open source in AI is thriving,"* noted ylecun, highlighting 1 million models on Github and HuggingFace.