For all the pixels spilled about the promises of generative AI, it’s starting to feel like we’re telling the same story over and over again. AI is serviceable at document summarization and shows promise in customer service applications. But it generates fictions (the industry prefers the euphemistic and anthropomorphizing term “hallucinates”) and is limited by the data on which it’s trained.

Now that we’re at what seems like a plateau in the AI hype wave, where do startups and their investors see opportunities to use AI to help businesses operate in meaningful ways?

Venture capitalists we spoke with said efficiencies in internal workflows—whether coding, office-wide data search, or meeting and document summarization—were the biggest driving forces behind enterprise adoption right now.

“If you take a look at the macro, we’re kind of coming from a period of very rapid sort of Covid-driven growth for most businesses…that then turned into a bit of a headwind once the pandemic was over,” Ilya Fushman, a partner at Kleiner Perkins, said. “Those [headwinds] have driven a really strong need for efficiency.”

Keep reading here.—PK

The rotary engine was the holy grail of engine tech for decades, offering more power in a smaller package. It just never quite worked.

But LiquidPiston cracked the code.

They turned the rotary engine inside out with their patented thermodynamic cycle, delivering up to 10x more power to weight than traditional piston engines. Their engines are even capable of running on a range of fuels, including hydrogen, and have attracted $30m in contracts from the US government.

The best part? For a short time, you can invest in LiquidPiston as they build the engine of the future.

A new AI chatbot just dropped.

This week, Anthropic introduced the latest version of its chatbot, Claude. Founded by former members of OpenAI, Anthropic has raised more than $1 billion—with plans to rake in more—to develop a large language model (LLM) to rival ChatGPT.

The startup announced in a blog post that the beta version of Claude 2 has lengthier responses and “improved performance” compared to the first iteration of the chatbot. It claims Claude 2 scored better in a bar exam—76.5% on the multiple choice section, compared to Claude 1.3’s 73%—and above the 90th percentile on the reading and writing portion of the GRE.

Its debut comes as tech giants and startups alike have raced to release language-generating AI models in the wake of OpenAI’s viral unveiling of ChatGPT last November. Since then, companies of all kinds have been attempting to build their own applications, and budding companies like Anthropic are getting in on the action with their own massive models trained on huge troves of text.

Like other products of its ilk, Claude’s advertised capabilities include conversation, document summary, and tasks like coding and math. Anthropic has previously partnered with Slack, Zoom, and Google Cloud to integrate versions of Claude into their products.

With that in mind, we put Claude 2 to the test to see how well it stacks up against OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Keep reading here.—PK

Coworking is a weekly segment where we spotlight Tech Brew readers who work with emerging technologies. Click here if you’d like a chance to be featured.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in tech?

I launch mobility startups that help people and goods get from point A to point B in faster, cleaner, and safer ways. My team and I work with leading corporations that are looking to solve core strategic challenges they can’t solve internally or externally. In most cases, our corporate partners become the startup’s first customer, allowing us to create immediate strategic and market value.

Once the startup has matured and proven product-market fit, our corporate partner is able to acquire it, bringing new capabilities and talent into the organization. As an entrepreneur, I am inspired by mobility challenges that I face in my own life, and I believe that working with relevant corporates is the fastest route to solving them at scale.

What’s the most compelling tech project you’ve worked on, and why?

As a member of Porsche’s “driven females” customer segment, I am thrilled to partner with Porsche to transform a heritage brand that has excelled in the internal combustion engine space into a software and data-driven company. My team and I are working on a number of ventures with Porsche, but a top priority is to improve their supply chain by creating transparency through the entire automotive ecosystem—from lower tiers all the way up to Tier 1.

Keep reading here.

Embrace the new frontiers of tech and learn how to turn an idea into reality. In an era bursting with possibilities, transforming concepts into tangible innovations poses a true test. Join Tech Brew for a virtual event on July 25 to discuss the critical steps between idea and product launch. Did we mention it’s free?

*This editorial content is supported by NI.

Stat: 35%. That’s how much prices for used Teslas have fallen year on year, according to CoPilot data cited by Ars Technica, just one stat indicating prices for new and used EVs are on the decline, which is good news for those considering swapping their ICE ride for an EV.

Quote: “We hope there’s going to be a safety race…I want different companies to be like, ‘Our model’s the most safe.’ And then another company to be like, ‘No, our model’s the most safe.’”—Anthropic co-founder Ben Mann

Read: How an AI-written Star Wars story created chaos at Gizmodo (the Washington Post)

Invest: For a limited time, join 10k+ investors as a LiquidPiston shareholder and disrupt the $400b engine market.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}