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What could you do by your first birthday?

Chances are not much, beyond maybe walking and gurgling a word or two.

For generative artificial intelligence (AI), the level of development after just one year is an entirely different story.

The precocious innovation can alreadypredict the 10-day weather forecastbetter than current gold-standard meteorological systems across nearly all (90%) of the 1,380 key metrics measured.

And thats just within one domain. The innovative technology is making accelerated strides across all kinds of ecosystems.

From purpose-built products to service-as-software advances, this is the weekly pulse check on the top AI news and innovations PYMNTS has been tracking.

Generative AIs capabilities are advancing to the degree that many industry pioneers are returning to the initial sci-fi dream that spurred their interest in the AI field: developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), or software that matches human intelligence.

OpenAIs CEO Sam Altman shared on Monday (Nov. 13) that he plans tosecure additional fundingfrom Microsoft, which has alreadypledged $10 billionto his firm, tofund AGI development.

Magic intelligence in the sky. I think thats what were about, Altman said.

Following the news, PYMNTSreportedon how intelligence, even when encoded into a software tool, is a continuum, and how any future AGI systems will exist on that same continuum.

But all the buzz about AI accelerationism has some industry groups worried.

A group of more than40 venture capital (VC) firms, includingGeneral Catalyst,Felicis Ventures,Bain Capital,IVP,Insight PartnersandLux Capita, on Tuesday (Nov. 14) signed voluntary commitments around how the startups they back should develop AI technology responsibly as the technology and the companies behind it continue to grow.

Menlo Ventures, which is not among the commitments signatories,announcedon Thursday (Nov. 16) that it had raised $1.35 billion to invest in AI.

The VC-signed voluntary agreement is meant to demonstrate leadership from the private sector around controlling for AIs risks, but it hassparked a debate among AI founders around the line between responsible development and regulatory capture.

And it isnt just the VC community. TheNational Retail Federation(NRF) also released on Monday itsPrinciples for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Retail Sector, providing aframework for retailersto govern and strategically plan their use of AI.

Thats because retailers, both online and brick-and-mortar, are increasingly turning to AI to make the experience better and more streamlined for their customers.

In the midst of the holiday season, despite projections of weak consumer spending forecast amid an inventory glut, Macys announced Thursday that they havemoved to implement AIto better adjust its inventory based on holiday demand.

Elsewhere,Googleon Thursday addedpersonalized gift recommendationsto its generative AI capabilities in Search.

But it isnt just retail where AI is having an impact.

Airbnb on Tuesdayannouncedits first acquisition as a public company an AI startupcalled Gameplanner.ai. The news comes on the heels of Airbnb CEOBrian Cheskysaying that AI will help turn Airbnb into the ultimate travel agent and unlock opportunities weve never seen during his companys most recent earnings call.

And leading music services areincreasing their use of AI capabilities to offer more personalized experiences to drive consumer loyalty. For instance, SpotifyandGoogle Cloudannounced Thursday the expansion of theirpartnership, leveraging AI to drive engagement with the leading global music streaming platform.

Beyond the marketplace,OpenAIis reportedlylooking into waysto bring its popular generative AI ChatGPT chatbot into classrooms, exploring the educational applications of AI technology.

Thomson Reuterson Wednesday (Nov. 15) launched a series of initiatives aimed attransforming the legal professionthrough the use of generative AI.

This comes as PYMNTS Intelligence in The Confluence of Law and AI: An Inevitability Waiting to Happen, a collaboration withAI-ID, finds that more than half of legal professionals are uncertain about the technologys reliability, and nearly two in five do not trust it.

Consumers of legal services are notentirely won overeither, with 55% ofclients and potential clientsexpressing serious concerns about the use of AI within the legal profession.

Still, 62% of legal professionals believe thateffective use of generative AIwill differentiate successful firms from unsuccessful ones in as little as five years. An even higher share, 80%, agree thatgenerative AIwill introduce transformative efficiencies a sentiment echoed by law firms and corporate legal departments.

Those potential benefits transformative across not just law but all sectors are a part of why Chinese tech giantAlibabareportedly said Thursday it will not spin off its cloud intelligence business amid theongoing focus on AI.

Of course, the ongoing focus on AI doesnt come without some growing pains.

OpenAIis putting a hold on new signups for itsChatGPT Plusprogram, due to widespread demandputting a strain on the platform, the company said Tuesday, as tech companies increasingly rely on consumer subscriptions to boost profits.

TheFederal Trade Commission(FTC) also on Thursdaytook a proactive stancein protecting consumers from the potential dangers of artificial intelligence-enabled voice cloning technology, unveiling theVoice Cloning Challengeand inviting submissions of ideas that can help prevent the misuse of AI technology for fraudulent and malicious purposes.

In an unrelated announcement,Microsofton Wednesday launched the public preview release ofAzure AI Speech, technology that allows users tocreate talking avatar videoswith text input and build real-time interactive bots using human images.

AndAmazonintroduced on Wednesday anAI security solution designed to cater to the needs of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that combines robotics, smart security and AI to enable customers to keep an eye on their business 24/7, even from home.

But for AIs widespread applications to be fully capitalized on, end-users need to be familiar with the technology.

New PYMNTS Intelligence from AI-Enabled Payments Enhance Customer Options, a report by PYMNTS Intelligence andACI Worldwide, found that there are significant differences across gender, generations and income levels when it comes to familiarity with AI.

For example, a higher percentage of men 46% consider themselvesvery or extremely familiar with AIcompared to 33% of women. Similarly, although the margin is smaller, a higher percentage of men (35%) than women (about 31%) acknowledge AIs significant role in their daily personal activities.

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This Week in AI: Accelerationism, AGI and the Law - PYMNTS.com