The Week in Generative AI: August 2, 2024 edition

Welcome to The Week in Generative AI, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights that sums up the latest news surrounding this rapidly evolving technology.

In the wake of Microsoft reporting its fiscal Q4 2024 earnings on Tuesday, MediaPost’s Laurie Sullivan parses the impact of AI on the tech giant’s results. Overall, revenue for the quarter ended June 30 was up 15% year-over-year, totaling $64.7 billion. But the results also quantified just how aggressively Microsoft is spending on AI as capital expenditures reached $19 billion — a nearly 80% increase year-over-year, Sullivan adds. Find the full story here.

Elsewhere, New York Magazine’s Kevin T. Dugan offers a broader take on how investors have been thinking about tech giants’ love affair with AI in a post titled “Wall Street’s $2 Trillion AI Reckoning.” Recent steep declines in the market value of AI-obsessed tech giants, he writes, “might seem like a clear signal that Wall Street has already become disenchanted with AI, that the thesis it would revolutionize industries and create a massive productivity boom anytime soon may not be such a sure thing. And that is true — at least to a point.” Find the full post here.

Previously: “Goldman Sachs sees challenges ahead for AI ROI,” as we noted in the July 19 edition of this column.

Previously: “Microsoft to invest $1.5 billion in Emirati AI company G42,” as we noted in the April 19 edition of this column.

Monthly generative AI users in the U.S. are projected to reach 100.1 million this year, an increase of nearly 900% since 2022, per eMarketer’s latest forecast. With the arrival of Google search’s AI Overviews and other companies racing to roll out AI-powered systems, “many internet users are using the tech without even realizing it,” eMarketer’s Sara Lebow writes.

See also: “OpenAI unveils SearchGPT prototype, taking on Google,” as we noted in last week’s edition of this column.

Apple on Monday released in developer beta its first preview of Apple Intelligence — the forthcoming suite of AI tools for iPhone, iPad and Mac it announced at its WWDC24 event in June, CNBC’s Kif Leswing reports. Features include improvements to Siri, AI summaries, writing tools and more, Leswing notes, adding that Apple Intelligence does not yet include ChatGPT integration, emoji generation and other headline-grabbing enhancements announced at WWDC24.

Previously: See “Apple WWDC24 Recap,” from the June 14 edition of this column.

By the end of the year, Taco Bell plans to expand its use of AI voice technology to hundreds of U.S. drive-thru locations, CNN Business’ Clare Duffy reports. The technology “means that when users pull up to place their order at a Taco Bell, there’s a good chance they will be talking to a computer,” Duffy notes, adding that the move comes after McDonald’s announced it will end its own AI drive-thru experiment due to challenges with order accuracy.

Previously: “McDonald’s to end AI drive-thru experiment by late July, company says” (USA Today)

AI tools and advancements:

• “Instagram Will Let You Make Custom AI Chatbots — Even Ones Based on Yourself” (Wired)
• “Microsoft says OpenAI is now a competitor in AI and search” (CNBC)

AI regulation:

• “The EU’s AI Act is now in force” (TechCrunch)
• “US Weighs Restrictions on China’s Access to AI Memory Chips” (Bloomberg)

AI controversy:

• “Google AI chatbot refuses to answer questions about Trump assassination attempt, relating to previous policy” (Fox Business)
• “Video game performers will go on strike over artificial intelligence concerns” (The Associated Press)