Yesterday, Microsoft made headlines by essentially absorbing Inflection.ai and its AI product, Pi, along with its founders and a significant part of its team, following a $1.3 billion investment last year. This move has sparked concerns over privacy and data ownership among users who trusted Pi with their personal thoughts.
What Happened
Inflection, once celebrated for its vision of a more personal AI named Pi.ai, aimed to revolutionize how AI could interact in a conversational manner, offer a more empathic experience. Instead of solely focusing on the user experience and product, Inflection (and Pi) put their energy in building their own foundational LLM, this probably led to substantial funding and the following struggle where Pi struggled to compete with advancements from other AI giants.
Microsoft's acquisition of Inflection and its assets marks a significant shift in the landscape, raising questions about the future of user data and the fate of innovation in the AI sector.
The takeover of Pi.ai underscores a growing trend: large corporations consolidating their grip on the AI market. For users who value privacy and control over their data, this development should be alarming. It highlights the importance of supporting AI technologies that prioritize user-centric values.
Hopefully Pi will offer its users to get a copy of their data and get it deleted from their (and Microsoft) servers because as it says in their privacy policies:
“We may use personal information to….. respond to subpoenas or requests from government authorities.” 👀
This is exactly one of the main reasons Kin is being built as it is: giving individuals control over their data and encrypting it on their device, so we as a company don’t store it or have access to it.
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