Welcome to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• 🥑 Chipotle’s uses an AI recruiter called “Ava Cado”

• 🤖 Anthropic AI can operate your computer

• 🕶️ Ray-Ban Meta glasses outselling traditional glasses

•  🥸 Meta to use facial recognition technology to fight “scam ads”

Let’s get right into it!

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BIG TECH

Chipotle’s AI recruiter is called “Ava Cado”

Chipotle Mexican Grill is introducing a new AI assistant named "Ava Cado," to streamline its hiring process across over 3,500 restaurants in North America and Europe. Aiming to reduce the time it takes to hire employees by up to 75%, Ava Cado automates administrative tasks such as collecting applicant information, answering questions about the company, scheduling interviews, and sending offers to candidates selected by managers.

The multilingual assistant—fluent in English, Spanish, French, and German—allows managers to focus more on daily operations and guest hospitality. This initiative supports Chipotle's goal of expanding to 7,000 restaurants and comes during its second busiest recruiting period of the year. It also follows previous automation efforts like testing robots for avocado mashing and burrito bowl assembly.

STARTUPS

Anthropic AI can operate your computer

Anthropic has launched a public beta for its latest AI model, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, featuring a new capability called “computer use,” which allows the AI to control a computer by moving the cursor, clicking buttons, and typing text based on what it sees on the screen. This functionality, now available via API, enables developers to direct Claude to perform tasks like a human, similar to features in Microsoft’s Copilot Vision and OpenAI’s ChatGPT desktop app, though these have not yet fully automated such actions.

Anthropic warns that this experimental feature can be "cumbersome and error-prone," as Claude currently lacks the ability to perform many routine computer actions, relies on a snapshot approach to screen viewing, and avoids engaging in social media or election-related activities. Additionally, Claude 3.5 Sonnet shows significant performance improvements in coding and tool use tasks, scoring higher on various industry benchmarks compared to its predecessor and other publicly available models.

BIG TECH

Ray-Ban Meta glasses outselling traditional glasses

Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have become the top-selling product in 60% of all Ray-Ban stores across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, according to EssilorLuxottica's CFO Stefano Grassi. Despite not yet launching multimodal AI features in Europe due to regulatory uncertainties, the glasses have significantly boosted sales for the company, indicating that consumers may be more attracted to the glasses' speakers and cameras rather than their AI capabilities. This unexpected success has led Meta to expand its partnership with EssilorLuxottica for the coming decade, demonstrating strong early traction in the market.

BIG TECH

Meta to use facial recognition technology to fight “scam ads”

Meta is implementing facial recognition technology to combat celebrity investment scam ads, starting with a trial involving 50,000 public figures worldwide on an opt-out basis in December. The system will compare images in suspected scam ads to the profile pictures of celebrities on Facebook and Instagram, allowing for real-time detection and removal of fraudulent content. David Agranovich, Meta's director of global threat disruption, emphasized that this automated process is faster and more accurate than manual reviews. Additionally, the technology will enable users to upload video selfies to recover hijacked accounts.

While Meta aims to improve scam detection, the company acknowledges that some scams may still slip through, prompting ongoing development of new tools to stay ahead of evolving tactics used by scammers. Celebrities will receive notifications about their participation in the system and can opt out at any time.