AI might be the talk of CES this year, with dozens of panels and booths dedicated to its transformative capabilities—but then again, that was true of cryptocurrency and NFTs just a couple of years ago. Is generative tech destined for a similar crash?

That was the question posed to two luminaries of the AI space at CES on Tuesday: Fei-Fei Li, co-director of Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI and often called the “Godmother of AI,” and Andrew Ng, founder of Google Brain and adjunct professor at Stanford.

Neither said they see AI petering out anytime soon, despite some feelings in the industry that the hype might be nearing a ceiling.

“The business fundamentals of AI are stronger than ever,” Ng said. “Where we are today, I think even if AI makes no technological progress—it is going to make progress, but even if it doesn’t—there’s so many use cases all around the world to identify and build up the business fundamentals.”

Li said she “more or less” agreed, with the caveat that media coverage of the technology may come and go in waves of interest. The Stanford computer scientist, who is credited with helping to kick off the previous AI boom of the early 2010s through her work in computer vision, called large language models (LLMs) another “inflection point” for the field as a whole.

“This technology is here to stay. It’s here to be deepening into all vertical businesses and customer consumer experiences, and it is changing the very fabric of our societal, economic, and political landscape,” Li said.

Keep reading here.—PK

What’s 1-by-2 millimeters, can help treat an estimated $100b in medical markets, and has a private investment opportunity ending in three days?

Meet Autonomix. Their first-in-class nerve-sensing technology is no bigger than a pinhead, with the potential to unmask disorders like hypertension, pain, and heart problems at their source in the nervous system.

They already have 100+ patents issued and pending. And while others have delivered similar capabilities in suitcase-sized hardware, Autonomix has achieved up to 3,000x more sensitive detection in a smaller package.

But it gets even better. You can still invest in Autonomix before their planned Nasdaq listing. Similar companies in this space have been acquired for $900m.

Invest in Autonomix before the opportunity ends tonight.

“Alexa, generate a new rock song.”

Commands like that will soon be an option for Alexa users, thanks to one of a handful of announcements Amazon made at CES around weaving generative AI into its voice platform.

Those included partnerships with Splash, an AI-powered music creation platform powered by voice commands; Character.ai, a cast of fictional personas and historical figures for users to chat with; and Volley, an AI-powered voice game maker.

Two of those startups—Splash and Volley—got their start thanks to backing from Amazon’s voice-focused venture arm, Alexa Fund. The division’s portfolio offers a glimpse into how the company is thinking about the future of AI in voice applications. Tech Brew sat down with Paul Bernard, director of the Alexa Fund, at CES to understand how he bets on big ideas in the space.

The fund started at the same time as Alexa as a way to build up the ecosystem around Amazon’s digital assistant. Bernard said it’s since evolved beyond just voice applications to encompass three broad categories: smart devices, AI, and entertainment.

Alexa Fund operates “much more like a traditional venture fund,” Bernard said. If Amazon identifies a “gap in the roadmap” and is looking for a new capability immediately, that’s more likely to be the purview of the acquisitions team or the partnerships team, he said.

“We’re really about placing bets on the five-year-plus horizon that might eventually become things that are relevant for Amazon,” he said. “But it’s really more about longer-term adjacencies and trends.”

Keep reading here.—PK

The Supreme Court is set to consider what obligations social media platforms hold for the content they carry—a decision that could ultimately have wide-ranging impacts on the online ecosystem.

The justices will hear arguments Feb. 26 over a pair of state laws aimed at regulating content on social media platforms. The court agreed to hear the cases in September but had not set a date for arguments until Friday.

The dispute stems from Florida and Texas laws that seek to limit perceived conservative censorship on large platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and X, requiring social media platforms to, among other things, disclose explanations for content moderation decisions. The Florida law would remove some existing civil liability protections, and platforms could also rack up fines if they deplatform political candidates.

Tech advocacy groups NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association challenged the laws under the First Amendment with differing results: The 11th Circuit prevented most of the Florida law from taking effect, while the 5th Circuit nixed a lower court injunction against the Texas law.

The justices will soon hear arguments about whether the states’ would-be platform obligations run afoul of free-speech principles that ordinarily permit websites to use editorial discretion in how and what they display.

Keep reading here.—KG

Usually, we write about the business of tech. Here, we highlight the *tech* of tech.

CES, the annual extravaganza hosted by the Consumer Technology Association, is too big of an event for one person to cover. Tech Brew’s Patrick Kulp was on the ground in Vegas, but several of our Sister Brews also sent reporters to cover as many nooks and crannies as possible. Don’t miss our dispatches from the healthcare, IT, retail, and marketing worlds.

Retail Brew

• Retailers are talking AI at CES. What’s behind the hype?
• Walmart CEO Doug McMillon says new tech should benefit workers and customers
• Meta and Dentsu launch ‘intelligent messaging’ services for brands
• Experts at CES predict consumer tech market will recover in 2024

Healthcare Brew

• BeamO medical device lets patients take their own vitals at home
• FDA Commissioner Robert Califf on the agency’s new digital health committee
• How Elevance Health is using generative AI to try to simplify healthcare

IT Brew

• The top three things we’re looking for at this year’s CES

Marketing Brew

• ‘The year of AI’: Tips for marketers to navigate AI mania at CES and beyond
• CES is (sp)here: Here’s what we’re watching for