Amazon is enhancing its shopping experience with the introduction of Lens Live, an AI-powered feature for its iOS Shopping app in the US. Lens Live allows users to visually search for products using their phone's camera, instantly identifying items and providing matching products, summaries, and suggested questions via Amazon's AI assistant, Rufus. The technology combines on-device vision and cloud models, leveraging Amazon OpenSearch and SageMaker to quickly match items from Amazon's catalog, enabling users to add items to their cart or wish list directly from the camera view. In other news, PayPal is offering early access to Perplexity's AI-driven Comet browser to its US and select global customers, including a 12-month trial of Perplexity Pro. Comet aims to streamline online tasks with integrated AI tools for research and question answering. Meanwhile, companies are increasingly using AI to personalize retirement planning, with Hub International integrating TIFIN @Work's AI platform to provide financial guidance to employees. Several AI tools like Mezzi, Empower's Retirement Planner, and Boldin already offer personalized retirement strategies. However, the surge in AI spending in the US, particularly on intellectual property and AI-related equipment, may be masking underlying economic weaknesses. Elsewhere, Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade has formed the NC13 unit, deploying ground-based robots in combat roles, including assaults and prisoner capture. Qualtrics has secured top security certifications, including ISO IEC 42001:2023 and FedRAMP High, for its AI systems, demonstrating its commitment to responsible AI design. Synack and Tenable have also partnered to integrate AI into their security solutions, aiming to improve threat detection and vulnerability management. Creative Commons (CC) is addressing AI's impact on the digital commons by introducing CC signals to guide AI's use of content, while ClearGov has launched AI tools to assist local governments with budgeting, focusing on security, fairness, and transparency.
Key Takeaways
- Amazon launched Lens Live, an AI-powered feature in its Shopping app for US iOS users, enabling visual search and shopping via their phone's camera.
- Amazon's Lens Live uses Rufus, Amazon's AI assistant, to provide product summaries and answer questions.
- PayPal is providing early access to Perplexity's AI Comet browser to its US and some global customers, including a 12-month trial of Perplexity Pro.
- Companies are using AI, such as TIFIN @Work, to personalize retirement planning for employees, offering guidance on savings and debt.
- Increased AI spending in the US may be masking underlying economic weaknesses.
- Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade has created the NC13 unit, which uses ground-based robots in combat roles.
- Qualtrics has achieved ISO IEC 42001:2023 and FedRAMP High certifications for its AI systems, demonstrating high standards for security and ethics.
- Synack and Tenable have partnered to use AI for improved security, integrating Tenable Vulnerability Management with Synack's AI-assisted testing.
- Creative Commons (CC) is working to protect the digital commons with CC signals, guiding how AI uses content.
- ClearGov has launched AI tools to help local governments with budgeting, focusing on security, fairness, and transparency.
Amazon's Lens Live lets you visually search and shop using AI
Amazon has launched Lens Live, a new feature in its Shopping app for US iOS users. It uses real-time visual search to identify items through your phone's camera. Lens Live shows matching products, summaries, and suggested questions powered by Rufus, Amazon's AI assistant. Users can add items to their cart or wish list directly from the camera view. The feature combines on-device vision and cloud models to quickly match items from Amazon's catalog.
Amazon Lens Live scans items for easy shopping with AI
Amazon's new Lens Live feature uses AI to help you shop. Point your phone's camera at an item, and Lens Live shows matching products in a carousel. You can add items to your cart right from the camera view. The feature uses Amazon's AI shopping assistant, Rufus, to provide descriptions and answer questions. Lens Live is powered by machine learning models from Amazon OpenSearch and SageMaker and is currently available on iOS.
Amazon's Lens Live uses AI for real-time shopping
Amazon has released Lens Live, an AI-powered tool that turns your phone camera into a shopping catalog. It lets you instantly find and buy products you see in the real world. When you open Lens, it scans products and shows matching items. It also uses Rufus, Amazon's AI assistant, to give product summaries and answer questions. Lens Live is rolling out to US customers on iOS.
PayPal offers early access to Perplexity's AI Comet Browser
PayPal is giving its US and some global customers early access to Perplexity's Comet browser. Comet is an AI-powered browser that helps users answer questions and do research. It integrates with Perplexity Pro, giving users powerful AI tools. Perplexity launched Comet in July, aiming to simplify online tasks. Comet Plus offers access to premium content, and Perplexity has a revenue-sharing program to pay publishers when their content is used.
PayPal and Venmo users get early access to Perplexity's Comet browser
PayPal and Venmo users in the US and some other countries can now try Perplexity's new AI-powered Comet browser early. They will get a 12-month trial of Perplexity's Pro subscription. Comet integrates AI tools directly into web browsing. It allows users to ask questions about their data and schedule meetings. The offer gives Perplexity access to PayPal's large user base.
AI helps personalize retirement plans for workers
Companies are starting to use AI to personalize retirement planning for employees. Hub International integrated TIFIN @Work's AI platform to provide financial guidance. The goal is to help workers with savings and debt. AI can detect expenses like commuting costs and suggest ways to save. Several AI tools like Mezzi, Empower's Retirement Planner, and Boldin already offer personalized retirement strategies.
Is AI spending hiding economic problems?
The recent increase in the US GDP was mainly due to businesses spending more on AI. This includes spending on intellectual property and AI-related equipment. However, besides AI, there aren't many other strong areas of growth in the US economy. The boom in AI spending might be hiding economic weaknesses, which could make the markets unstable.
Ukraine uses robots in war with new ground systems unit
Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade has created a unit called NC13 that uses ground-based robots. These robots are used in combat for assaults, laying mines, and capturing Russian prisoners. In one operation, Russian forces surrendered to unmanned ground vehicles. The brigade also has a training school for robot operators. The use of robots aims to protect Ukrainian soldiers.
Qualtrics earns top security certifications for AI systems
Qualtrics has achieved ISO IEC 42001:2023 certification, the first international standard for responsible AI design. It also achieved FedRAMP High, the US government's highest security standard for cloud services. These certifications show that Qualtrics meets high standards for security, privacy, and ethics in AI. This gives organizations confidence that Qualtrics AI is built responsibly and securely.
Synack and Tenable partner to use AI for better security
Synack and Tenable have partnered to help security teams find and fix the most important security risks. Their combined solution uses AI to reduce the number of alerts and find the most dangerous threats. Tenable Vulnerability Management is integrated with Synack's AI-assisted testing. This helps companies quickly address vulnerabilities and protect against attacks.
Reading list explores AI and the digital commons
Creative Commons (CC) is working to protect the digital commons as AI technology grows. They introduced CC signals, a way for content creators to show how they want their content used by AI. CC is studying how AI is changing the web, copyright issues, and ethical AI ideas. They are sharing a reading list to help others learn about these topics and contribute to solutions.
ClearGov adds AI tools to help with local government budgeting
ClearGov has launched three new AI tools to help local governments and schools with budgeting. The tools include ClearGov Narrative Generation, Document Import, and ClearGov Budget Analysis. These features aim to make it easier to create spending plans and analyze budget data. ClearGov serves around 1,400 clients and is focused on security, fairness, and transparency in AI use.
Sources
- Amazon's Lens Live AI lets you shop products with visual search: What is it
- Spot an Item You Wish to Buy? Amazon Lens Live Can Scan and Pull Up Matches
- Amazon's Lens Live: AI Visual Search for Real-Time Shopping
- PayPal Offers Early Access to Perplexity’s Comet Browser
- PayPal, Venmo users to gain early access to Perplexity's Comet AI browser
- How Close Are Sponsors to Using AI for Plan Personalization?
- AI Spending Is Masking Significant Economic Weakness
- Ukraine Launches New Unit of Strike-Capable Robotic Ground Systems With Third Assault Brigade
- Qualtrics Achieves Top International Security Certifications for AI Systems
- Synack + Tenable: AI-Powered Partnership Translates Vulnerability Insights into Action
- AI and the Commons: A Reading List
- ClearGov Expands Its AI Budgeting and Evaluation Offerings