France-based startup Mistral AI has raised $113m in seed funding, just FOUR WEEKS after its founding 😱. Mistral AI is to compete against OpenAI to provide open-source solutions for enterprises. It plans to release its first models for text-based generative AI in 2024.

Hot take: The money is flowwing in the AI startup space. Targeting enterprise customers is a savvy move. The enterprise market has deep pockets and values solutions that deliver substantial value. Startups can quickly gain credibility, validation, and access to funding, networks, and distribution channels. But it's not all smooth sailing—there are challenges like longer sales cycles and complex procurement processes, as well as higher expectations for product reliability and scalability.

Amazon is now testing generative AI to summarize customer reviews. The summary offers a brief overview of the product's positives and negatives, with a disclaimer that it's AI-generated from customer reviews.

Hot Take: This has the potential to greatly impact e-commerce entrepreneurs. With millions of products and thousands of reviews per item, using AI to summarize reviews could be valuable for shoppers seeking quick insights, potentially driving increased sales. However, small businesses must now monitor customer reviews more closely, as the AI-generated summaries can greatly influence product perception. A few bad reviews can cause a massive sales slump.

McKinsey's recent report suggests that generative AI tools like ChatGPT will have a profound impact on white-collar knowledge workers. While it presents opportunities for economic growth and increased productivity, it also poses a challenge for higher-wage knowledge workers whose jobs were previously considered less susceptible to automation. According to McKinsey, workers with advanced degrees could see 57% of their tasks automated, while those with bachelor's degrees may face 60% automation. Even workers with a high school diploma could experience an increase in the share of automated work from 51% to 64%.

Hot Take: This is a powerful reminder that the business landscape is evolving rapidly. Entrepreneurs would benefit from proactively embrace this technology, integrating it into their operations and upskilling their teams to more efficiently use generative AI in order to remain competitive. There is the potential for massive cost savings for small businesses whose primary expense is labor.