Tag Archives: automated

Amazon Files Lawsuit Against AI Startup Over Automated Shopping Features in Browser

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On Tuesday, Amazon filed a lawsuit against a well-known artificial intelligence startup over a feature in its browser that enables users to automate purchases. Amazon alleged that Perplexity AI had illicitly accessed customer accounts and disguised the AI’s actions as human browsing.

“The misconduct by Perplexity must cease,” Amazon’s legal representatives stated. “Perplexity has no permission to act where it is forbidden. The intrusion involves a code rather than a lockpick, rendering it equally illegal.”

Perplexity, which has experienced significant growth in light of the AI assistant boom, previously accused Amazon of leveraging its dominant market position to suppress competition and dismissed Amazon’s allegations.


“Bullying occurs when larger companies employ legal threats and intimidation to stifle innovation and negatively impact people’s lives,” the company expressed in a blog post.

This dispute underscores new conversations regarding the regulation of the increasing use of AI agents, AI-powered autonomous digital assistants, and their interactions with websites.

In its legal action, Amazon accused Perplexity of secretly accessing Amazon’s private customer accounts via the Comet browser and associated AI agents, misrepresenting automated actions as human browsing. Amazon asserted that Perplexity’s systems endangered customer data and ignored repeated calls to shut them down.

“Instead of being transparent, Perplexity deliberately configures its CometAI software to mask Comet AI agent activity on Amazon’s platforms,” the company stated.

Amazon’s complaint also claimed that Perplexity’s Comet AI agent undermined the shopping experience for customers and hindered Amazon’s ability to guarantee that users benefiting from the agent receive the personalized shopping experience it has developed over decades.

In a previous statement, Amazon indicated that third-party applications making purchases on behalf of users should operate transparently and respect companies’ preferences for participation.

Perplexity had earlier revealed that it received legal threats from Amazon aimed at preventing Comet AI agents from shopping on its platform, asserting that this action poses a wider threat to user choice and the future of AI assistants.

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Perplexity is among several AI startups that are restructuring web browsers to incorporate artificial intelligence, aiming to enhance user autonomy and simplify everyday online tasks, from composing emails to completing purchases.

Amazon is also developing similar functionalities, including Buy For Me, which enables users to shop across various brands within the app, and Rufus, an AI assistant that recommends products and manages shopping carts.

The Comet browser’s AI agent from Perplexity acts as a purchasing and comparison assistant for users. The company contends that user credentials are stored locally and not on its servers, asserting that users have the right to select their own AI assistant and framing Amazon’s actions as an attempt to safeguard its business model.

“Simplified shopping leads to more transactions and greater customer satisfaction,” Perplexity remarked. “However, Amazon is less focused on that and more on serving ads.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Utilizing Quantum Forces for Automated Assembly of Small Devices

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Triangular gold flakes can be manipulated using mysterious quantum forces

George Zograf

A tiny gold device for controlling light is built using strange quantum effects hidden in seemingly empty space.

In 1948, physicist Hendrik Casimir theorized that when objects are brought close together in space, some objects experience a very weak gravitational pull due to imperceptible flickering of quantum fields in the gaps between them. Ta. Researchers then confirmed this Casimir effect in the laboratory. Betul Kyucukoz and his colleagues at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology have found a way to make this useful.

They wanted to build a cavity that would trap the light using two pieces of gold placed parallel to each other, so that the light would bounce back and forth between them and would not be able to escape. First, we created the bottom edge of the cavity by transferring triangular gold flakes ranging in size from 4 to 10 microns onto a small piece of glass. The top end of the cavity also contained a triangular gold flake, but instead of holding it in place with an instrument, the researchers attached it to the glass in a salt water solution containing an additional triangular gold flake. The gold flakes were then dipped in and then allowed to develop. Instead, work naturally.

One of those forces was the electrostatic force caused by the charge associated with the dissolved salt. Another is the Casimir effect. Kyuchkoz said he observed the experiment under the microscope many times and could always see the Casimir effect in action. This causes the floating gold flakes to move towards the gold flake where one is imprinted on the glass, and then he moves over the imprinted gold flake until the triangular footprints of the two flakes match. It was rotated.

This completes the assembly of a cavity that can trap light. The researchers were able to significantly control the cavity formation process, Kyucukoz said. For example, by using different concentrations of salt, we can adjust the strength of the electrostatic force so that the distance between the flakes is different for each cavity, creating cavities with slightly different dimensions of 100-200 nanometers. It can trap colored light.

Raul Esquivel Sirbento The professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico said the idea of self-assembly, likened to throwing a Lego set into a pot and a structure emerges without having to manually press the pieces together, is not new. But he said his team’s experiment was more detailed and controlled than previous attempts to exploit the Casimir effect for similar purposes. But the Casimir effect can be very subtle, so there may be other effects here as well that haven’t been detected yet, Esquivel Servent said.

In the future, Küçüköz and his colleagues hope to use the cavity as part of more complex experiments with light, such as placing objects inside the cavity between two gold flakes.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Spiff, an automated commission management platform, acquired by Salesforce

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sales force is announced plan to obtain Spiff, a platform that automates commission management for sales teams. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2017, Spiff provides a low-code interface designed to help companies easily create sales compensation plans that automatically update based on talent meeting pre-agreed goals. . Native integration with popular enterprise CRM and ERP systems allows you to handle the most complex commission structures, including any conditions to trigger a payout, while giving sales reps the ability to see in real-time the commissions owed. He Spiff says.

The Salt Lake City-based startup invested in Spiff’s Series B round in 2021, including a cash infusion from Salesforce’s own venture capital firm Salesforce Ventures, which previously led a $50 million Series C round. , which has raised more than $110 million in its six-year history. this year.

Spiff

Spiff image credits: Spiff

Once the acquisition is complete (expected within the first few months of 2024), Salesforce says it plans to bring Spiff to life internally. Sales performance management The software is a CRM connectivity product that connects customer and sales team data.

It’s worth noting that both companies have a history that goes beyond stock investments. Spiff becomes available It has been available on the Salesforce AppExchange for several years.

The deal is also the latest in a series of ecosystem companies that Salesforce has ultimately brought in-house. Back in September, Salesforce acquired Airkit, a low-code platform for building AI customer service agents. Airkit’s founders have previously exited Salesforce by selling a big data startup called RelateIQ for his $390 million in 2014, as well as Salesforce Ventures, which he founded in 2017. Since then, I have invested in Airkit several times. And like Spiff, Airkit was also available. On AppExchange.

So it’s clear that Salesforce continues to view proven ecosystem companies as a safe option for its M&A efforts, and that “low code” is also a key element.

Source: techcrunch.com