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As we head into the end of the year, I just want to say how grateful I am to all of you for reading. There is so much going on in the technology and entertainment space and it is moving so fast.

2024 will be no different and we are looking forward to keeping you up to date with everything going on in the technology space as it impacts creatives and you are always ahead of the curve.

The Rundown

• Adobe cancels it’s $20 Billion acquisition of Figma

• Grimes steps into the AI forefront with a new Baby Grok Doll

• Google’s Project Ellmann will show you your entire life in photos

• Now you can actually make a clone of yourself with this new AI software

• Amazon rolled out a $12 million scholarship program for Generative AI

• You can now virtually try on clothes with this new at tool

Your Weekly Tech Update

• Adobe cancels it’s $20 Billion acquisition of Figma: Adobe and Figma have decided to end their $20 billion merger agreement due to regulatory pressures from the UK and EU. As a result, Adobe must pay Figma a $1 billion fee for terminating the agreement. Both companies wanted to change creativity and productivity, but faced challenges from regulators. Despite trying to show that their businesses and products were different, they couldn't get approval from regulators. This decision is a big change in the design software market and will affect both companies' future plans and the industry as a whole.

• Instagram releases their new AI background feature: Instagram has launched a new generative AI-powered background editing tool for its U.S.-based users. This innovative feature allows users to alter the backgrounds of their images in Stories using various prompts. Users can select from ready-made prompts or create their own custom prompts for more personalized backgrounds. When a Story with these AI-generated backgrounds is posted, other users can interact with a “Try it” sticker, enabling them to experiment with the image generation tool themselves. This release follows Snapchat's introduction of a similar AI-generated image tool for its premium users, highlighting the growing trend of integrating AI technology into social media platforms to enhance user creativity and engagement.

• Google’s Project Ellmann will show you your entire life in photos: Google's latest AI venture, Project Ellmann, aims to provide users with a comprehensive narrative of their lives by analyzing their Google Photos and search history. Powered by Google's new AI technology, Gemini, Project Ellmann is designed to offer a "bird’s eye view" of a user's life, segmenting it into chapters like school years or specific vacations. Unlike Apple Photos' Memories feature, Google's approach promises to be more intelligent and detailed, going beyond mere pixels and metadata. The project also includes Ellmann Chat, a chatbot that answers questions about a user's life, becoming more informed with each interaction.

• Amazon rolled out a $12 million scholarship program for Generative AI: Amazon has announced its "AI Ready" initiative, aiming to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people globally by 2025. This ambitious project is a response to the growing demand for AI talent and the potential for higher salaries in AI-related jobs. To achieve this goal, Amazon is launching several new initiatives and expanding existing free AI training programs. These include eight new free AI and generative AI courses, the AWS Generative AI Scholarship offering over 50,000 scholarships to high school and university students, and a collaboration with Code.org for an Hour of Code Dance Party: AI Edition, which introduces students to coding and AI. This initiative is part of Amazon's broader commitment to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people by 2025.

Next in AI and Tech

• Grimes steps into the AI forefront with a new Baby Grok Doll: Grimes, in collaboration with Curio, has launched an AI-powered plush toy named "Grok," designed to interact with children using generative artificial intelligence and voiced by Grimes herself. Priced at $99 for a limited beta edition, Grok is part of a line that includes other characters and is one of the first in an emerging AI-enabled toy market projected to reach $35 billion by 2030. The toy, which requires a wifi connection but lacks a camera or screen, aims to provide screen-free, educational entertainment for children. Interestingly, the use of the name "Grok" coincides with Elon Musk's AI chatbot, leading to potential brand confusion and trademark issues, as another company, Groq, also uses a similar name for its enterprise AI solutions.

• Now you can actually make a clone of yourself with this new AI software (Delphi AI)

Try it yourself

• Studio Feixen: A new way to work with fonts

• Vercel: Generate a full UI with simple text prompts

• OutfitAnyone: You can now virtually try on clothes with this new ai tool