Mornin’ everyone. Welcome to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of electrifying AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• 🏛 White House reviews Biden’s AI executive order

• 🕶 Deepfakes used to steal $25M from multinational firm

• 🛍 Amazon launches Rufus - an AI shopping assistant

• 📍 Google adds AI features into Google Maps

Let’s get right into it!

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DEEPFAKES

Finance worker tricked by deepfake video call in Hong Kong

A finance worker at a multinational firm in Hong Kong was tricked into paying out $25 million to fraudsters using deepfake technology.

The elaborate scam saw the worker duped into attending a video call with several members of staff who were all actually deepfake recreations. Initially, the worker suspected it was a phishing email but put aside his doubts after seeing and hearing what he thought were colleagues on the video call.

In reality, everyone on the call was fake and AI-generated. This is one of several recent episodes where fraudsters are believed to have used deepfake technology to cheat people out of money by modifying publicly available videos or other footage.

U.S. LAW

Companies will be required to disclose A.I safety results

The Biden administration is implementing a new requirement for developers of major artificial intelligence systems to disclose their safety test results to the government.

The White House AI council met on Monday, February 5th to review progress made on an executive order signed by President Biden in October which mandated that AI companies share vital information with the Commerce Department, including safety tests.

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Amazon announces a conversational shopping assistant

Amazon just released an AI-powered shopping assistant called Rufus.

This chatbot uses Amazon’s extensive product catalog and customer reviews to answer questions based on various shopping requirements.

Customers can use Rufus to get recommendations for specific products or ask questions about individual products while viewing the page for that item.

Rufus is being rolled out in beta mode starting with a small subset of US customers using Amazon's mobile app before progressively rolling it out in waves over coming weeks.

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Google Maps gets an A.I upgrade

Google Maps is rolling out a feature that uses generative AI to help users discover the perfect place to hangout with your friends. The feature allows users to ask for recommendations using natural language, such as "places with vintage vibe in SF," and the AI will analyze Google Maps' rich information about nearby businesses.

Results are organized into helpful categories, along with photo carousels and review summaries that highlight why a place might be interesting to you. Users can also follow up with questions like "how about lunch?" or "what about options for kids?"

The experimental capability is launching this week in select US cities through local guides who will provide valuable feedback to shape future features of Google Maps. The feature is currently available only in the US with no word yet on when other countries will get it.

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