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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates reacts during a visit with Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the Imperial College University, in London, Britain, February 15, 2023.

Justin Tallis | Pool | Reuters

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believes the future top company in artificial intelligence will likely have created a personal digital agent that can perform certain tasks for people.

The technology will be so profound, it could radically alter user behaviors. “Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s the big thing, because you will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you’ll never go to Amazon again,” he said.

This yet-to-be developed AI assistant will be able to understand a person’s needs and habits and will help them “read the stuff you don’t have time to read,” Gates said Monday during a Goldman Sachs and SV Angel event in San Francisco on the topic of artificial intelligence.

Gates said there is a 50-50 chance that this future AI winner will be either a startup or a tech giant.

“I’d be disappointed if Microsoft didn’t come in there,” Gates said. “But I’m impressed with a couple of startups, including Inflection,” he added referring to Inflection.AI, co-founded by former DeepMind executive Mustafa Suleyman.

It will take some time until this powerful future digital agent is ready for mainstream use, Gates said. Until then, companies will continue embedding so-called generative AI technologies akin to OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT into their own products.

Gates also discussed health efforts related to his work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, saying AI will accelerate innovations in the space and lead to more advanced drug development.

Although the inner workings of the human brain is still a mystery to scientists, the Microsoft co-founder believes that humanity is getting close to creating helpful drugs to cure diseases like Alzheimer’s, with human trials for the new drugs possibly taking place in 10 years.

He also likened the rise of generative AI technologies that can produce compelling text as a game-changer that will affect white-collar workers. Gates added that he believes that future humanoid robots that are cheaper for companies to use than human employees will greatly impact blue-collar workers, too.

“As we invent these robots, we just need to make sure they don’t get Alzheimer’s,” Gates said in jest.

Watch: Bill Gates says OpenAI’s GPT is the most important tech advance since the 1980’s

Bill Gates calls OpenAI's GPT the most important tech advance since 1980

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Instacart shares drop on report that FTC is probing company over AI pricing tool

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Instacart shares drop on report that FTC is probing company over AI pricing tool

Cheng Xin | Getty Images

Shares of grocery delivery service Instacart dropped about 7% in extended trading on Wednesday, following a report that said the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has begun an investigation into the company’s pricing practices.

The FTC sent a civil investigative demand to Instacart, Reuters reported, citing unnamed people.

A study released last week showed that prices for the same products in the same supermarkets that work with Instacart can vary by around 7%, which can result in over $1,000 in extra annual costs for customers. Instacart responded by saying that retailers determine prices listed in the app.

In 2022, Instacart spent $59 million to acquire Eversight, a company specializing in artificial intelligence-driven pricing and promotions for retailers and consumer packaged goods. Instacart sought to “create compelling savings opportunities for customers in real-time” with Eversight, according to a regulatory filing.

The FTC and Instacart did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Read Reuters’ full report here.

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Cramer slams Amazon for considering a circular AI deal reminiscent of the dotcom bubble

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Cramer slams Amazon for considering a circular AI deal reminiscent of the dotcom bubble

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Amazon says AI chief Rohit Prasad is leaving, Peter DeSantis to lead ‘AGI’ group

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Amazon says AI chief Rohit Prasad is leaving, Peter DeSantis to lead 'AGI' group

Rohit Prasad, Senior VP & Head Scientist for Alexa, Amazon, on Centre Stage during day one of Web Summit 2022 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal.

Ben McShane | Sportsfile | Getty Images

Rohit Prasad, a top Amazon executive overseeing its artificial general intelligence unit, is leaving the company at the end of this year, the company confirmed Wednesday.

As part of the move, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company is reorganizing the AGI unit under a more expansive division that will also include its silicon development and quantum computing teams. The new division will be led by Peter DeSantis, a 27-year veteran of Amazon who currently serves as a senior vice president in its cloud unit.

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