AI Company That Helps You “Cheat on Everything” Raises $15 Million
How Silicon Valley is confronting the ethics of AI-generated content
Welcome to another edition of AI 101, where every Wednesday we bring you the biggest AI update of the week.
This Week’s Update: AI Startup Cluely Raises $15 Million in Series A Financing Round
On June 20th, Cluely CEO Roy Lee announced that the company had closed a $15 million funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Cluely is an AI startup that helps users “cheat on everything” through a discreet desktop AI assistant that interprets on-screen information and gives users real-time answers. Cluely’s “undetectable” technology is invisible to screen share. Unlike traditional large language models that depend on user prompts, Cluely’s assistant proactively anticipates the user’s needs.
Why This Is Important
When OpenAI released ChatGPT in late 2022, early users quickly realized that the new technology was an ideal tool for cheating. Large language models can code, write essays, complete problem sets, and craft presentations, albeit with mixed results. Most AI companies have steered clear of the issue, instead focussing on how AI can enhance your job or school work rather than do it for you. Cluely leans into cheating, openly admitting that its “undetectable” product will allow users to pass off AI-generated content as their own.
In the last two years, hundreds of AI startups have relied on wrappers of other companies’ models. With the tech giants behind the core technology releasing more products, these startups are under threat. Cluely’s niche is less likely to be replaced by an OpenAI or Google, as these companies are reluctant to make tools that explicitly help you cheat. As demand for services Big Tech is unwilling to provide remains steady, more unethical AI products are likely to come.
Quick Hits:
OpenAI removed promotional content related to the $6.4 billion acquisition of Jony Ive’s AI startup io after facing a trademark lawsuit from the AI earbud company iyO.
A federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Anthropic was within its legal rights under U.S. copyright law when using books to train its artificial intelligence system without the authors’ permission.
Can we get some more research here?
Did you see the company that just came out who can detect cluely?