AI just bought a voice in congress

Good morning, AI enthusiasts. This week, AI isn’t just solving problems, it’s defending itself (literally). As the tech world corners Capitol Hill and divides its workforce, a few startups are forging new paths: Perplexity’s offering publishers cash, Nvidia powers up real‑world robots, and Meta doubles down on creative tools with a MidJourney touch.

In today’s TLDR AI:

• Silicon Valley launches pro‑AI PACs ahead of election season

• Perplexity pledges 80% of new Comet Plus subscription revenue to publishers

• Nvidia unleashes Jetson Thor — 7.5× the edge AI power for “physical AI”

• Meta teams up with MidJourney to supercharge image and video gen tools

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

🗳️ Silicon Valley launches pro-AI PACs to defend the industry

• TLDR: Perplexity’s new “Comet Plus” subscription platform will share 80% of revenue with publisher, marking one of the boldest peace offerings in the AI–media standoff.

• The $42.5M pool is being used to fund early licensing deals and test how revenue-sharing can scale.

• Users get premium summaries and verified news attribution, while publishers get paid per interaction.

• Comes on the heels of high-profile lawsuits from FT, Nikkei, and Axel Springer over copyright scraping.

• Why it matters: The content wars between AI and media just got their first truce. If this works, it could become the model for every other AI product that leans on publisher content.

💸 Perplexity pledges $42.5M to publishers via Comet Plus

• TLDR: Meta AI now lets users transform 10-second clips with 50+ preset prompts—swap outfits, lighting, even turn yourself into a graphic-novel hero.

• Where to try: Live inside the Meta AI app, Meta.ai website and the standalone Edits app across 15+ countries.

• Road-map tease: Text-prompt-based, full-length video generation is promised “later this year,” powered by Meta’s Movie Gen research.

• Why it matters: With short-form video ruling social feeds, Meta just inserted generative magic directly into its creator pipeline—no editing chops required.

🤖 Nvidia launches Jetson Thor for “physical AI”

• TLDR: Jetson Thor is a compact, ultra-powerful AI processor built to run LLMs and sensor fusion in real-world machines, think delivery bots, humanoids, and drones.

• It delivers 7.5× more compute power than Nvidia’s last-gen Orin chip, enabling real-time inference at the edge.

• Integrates transformer engines and vision accelerators for on-device learning and planning.

• Designed for low-latency performance in robotics, manufacturing, autonomous mobility, and smart cities.

• Why it matters: Thor is how AI escapes the cloud and enters the real world. Nvidia is putting AGI-lite brains into physical systems, exactly where legacy chips can’t go.

🎨 Meta partners with MidJourney for next-gen AI visuals

• TLDR: Meta’s new partnership with MidJourney is set to supercharge its generative image and video capabilities—blending artistic flair with mass-scale platforms.

• MidJourney’s signature aesthetic will be built into Meta’s creative tools across Instagram, Threads, and Reels.

• Testing includes AI video loops and “style transfer” prompts for creators to remix real content in surreal ways.

• Meta is also enhancing Llama 3 to support richer image context, caption generation, and auto-visual replies.

• Why it matters: This isn’t just about filters, it’s Meta baking generative art into the core of how users express online. TikTok may dominate shortform, but Meta wants to own AI-native visuals.

COMMUNITY

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