Welcome back! Our previous Data & AI report highlighted significant AI advancements, and our January round-up is no different.
AI continues to evolve at a rapid pace, with new developments emerging constantly. We’ve compiled the top stories from January below – take a look 👇
🤖 DeepSeek vs OpenAI 🤖
The AI landscape saw a major shake-up this January!
Chinese startup DeepSeek launched its AI chatbot, quickly soaring to the top as the highest-rated free app in the U.S., surpassing ChatGPT for the number one spot.
What followed, however, has turned into a full-fledged battle of the bots. OpenAI, along with U.S. government officials, has accused DeepSeek of replicating responses from its models, alleging that this allowed the company to develop its chatbot at a fraction of the cost.
Yet, no concrete evidence has been presented. We’ll be watching closely to see how this unfolds!
💻💄L’Oréal & AI – a merging of two worlds 💄💻
January marked an unexpected fusion of beauty and AI. L’Oréal announced a partnership with IBM’s GenAI technology to revolutionize its innovation and development process.
With a focus on sustainability and product quality, the custom AI model will be built on a vast database of cosmetic formulas. This will streamline new product creation, enhance existing ones, and accelerate crucial tasks.
If successful, L’Oréal and IBM could lead a broader industry shift, demonstrating AI’s transformative power even in unexpected sectors.
Check out more on IBM’s website here.
🚫 Alterya & Chainalysis on the fight against scammers 🚫
The AI-powered fraud detection solution, Alterya, identifies scammers before they can act. They already work with top cryptocurrency exchanges & fintech’s, currently monitoring more than $8 billion in transactions per month.
The acquisition means Chainalysis can double down on their strategy to invest in the prevention of fraudulent transactions. Integrating Alterya technology with the Chainalysis blockchain data platform will strengthen their effectiveness, creating network effects across blockchains and digital payment systems while enhancing Alterya’s capability to identify fraudulent activity.
This could be a powerful acquisition to continue fighting scammers!
Read more via Chainalysis here.
🧠 Human AI data “exhausted” says Musk 🧠
Elon Musk has claimed that AI companies have run out of data for training their models. Human knowledge has been exhausted.
What does this mean for the building of new systems?
Well, AI firms are going to have to look toward synthetic data (that created by AI models) if they want to further develop their models. This isn’t all that new, though. Some of the giants including Meta, Microsoft & Google have already used synthetic data in their developments.
As the developments progress, as does the skepticism around the ethics of AI. OpenAI openly admits that it would be impossible to create tools without access to copyrighted material, which is presenting challenges from the creative & publishing worlds.
How this unfolds is something we’ll be keeping an eye on!
Conclusion
That’s it for this month’s Data & AI Report. From industry shake-ups to groundbreaking partnerships and ambitious national strategies, AI continues to redefine what’s possible. Whether it’s a battle for dominance in the chatbot space, beauty brands embracing AI-driven innovation, or how AI is going to gather data, one thing is clear—this technology is moving fast, and the stakes are higher than ever.
As sustainability, ethics, and innovation collide, the coming months will be crucial in shaping the future of AI. Who will lead, who will adapt, and who will be left behind? We’ll be watching closely. Stay tuned! 🚀