Latest news with #OliverCameron
TechCrunch
3 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Disruption playbook: How to beat AI incumbents at their own game
The harsh reality of the AI sector is that it's dominated by a select group of well-funded incumbents. That doesn't mean new companies can't break through, but it makes it all that much harder for them to do so. At TechCrunch Sessions: AI, Odyssey co-founder Oliver Cameron, Linear COO Cristina Cordova, and NEA partner Ann Bordetsky explored their proven strategies for finding success as they fended off formidable rivals, in a conversation moderated by AI editor Kyle Wiggers at TC Sessions: AI.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Odyssey's new AI model streams 3D interactive worlds
Odyssey, a startup founded by self-driving pioneers Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, has developed an AI model that lets users "interact" with streaming video. Available on the web in an "early demo," the model generates and streams video frames every 40 milliseconds. Via basic controls, viewers can explore areas within a video, similar to a 3D-rendered video game. "Given the current state of the world, an incoming action, and a history of states and actions, the model attempts to predict the next state of the world," explains Odyssey in a blog post. "Powering this is a new world model, demonstrating capabilities like generating pixels that feel realistic, maintaining spatial consistency, learning actions from video, and outputting coherent video streams for 5 minutes or more." A number of startups and big tech companies are chasing after world models, including DeepMind, influential AI researcher Fei-Fei Lee's World Labs, Microsoft, and Decart. They believe that world models could one day be used to create interactive media, such as games and movies, and run realistic simulations like training environments for robots. But creatives have mixed feelings about the tech. A recent Wired investigation found that game studios like Activision Blizzard, which has laid off scores of workers, are using AI to cut corners and combat attrition. And a 2024 study commissioned by the Animation Guild, a union representing Hollywood animators and cartoonists, estimated that over 100,000 U.S.-based film, television, and animation jobs will be disrupted by AI in the coming months. For its part, Odyssey is pledging to collaborate with creative professionals — not replace them. "Interactive video [...] opens the door to entirely new forms of entertainment, where stories can be generated and explored on demand, free from the constraints and costs of traditional production," writes the company in its blog post. "Over time, we believe everything that is video today — entertainment, ads, education, training, travel, and more — will evolve into interactive video, all powered by Odyssey." Odyssey's demo is a bit rough around the edges, which the company acknowledges in its post. The environments the model generates are blurry and distorted, and unstable in the sense that their layouts don't always remain the same. Walk forward in one direction for a while or turn around, and the surroundings might suddenly look different. But the company's promising to rapidly improve upon the model, which can currently stream video at up to 30 frames per second from clusters of Nvidia H100 GPUs at the cost of $1-$2 per "user-hour." "Looking ahead, we're researching richer world representations that capture dynamics far more faithfully, while increasing temporal stability and persistent state," writes Odyssey in its post. "In parallel, we're expanding the action space from motion to world interaction, learning open actions from large-scale video." Odyssey is taking a different approach than many AI labs in the world modeling space. It designed a 360-degree, backpack-mounted camera system to capture real-world landscapes, which Odyssey thinks can serve as a basis for higher-quality models than models trained solely on publicly available data. To date, Odyssey has raised $27 million from investors including EQT Ventures, GV, and Air Street Capital. Ed Catmull, one of the co-founders of Pixar and former president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, is on the startup's board of directors. Last December, Odyssey said it was working on software that allows creators to load scenes generated by its models into tools such as Unreal Engine, Blender, and Adobe After Effects so that they can be hand-edited. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Odyssey's new AI model streams 3D interactive worlds
Odyssey, a startup founded by self-driving pioneers Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, has developed an AI model that lets users "interact" with streaming video. Available on the web in an "early demo," the model generates and streams video frames every 40 milliseconds. Via basic controls, viewers can explore areas within a video, similar to a 3D-rendered video game. "Given the current state of the world, an incoming action, and a history of states and actions, the model attempts to predict the next state of the world," explains Odyssey in a blog post. "Powering this is a new world model, demonstrating capabilities like generating pixels that feel realistic, maintaining spatial consistency, learning actions from video, and outputting coherent video streams for 5 minutes or more." A number of startups and big tech companies are chasing after world models, including DeepMind, influential AI researcher Fei-Fei Lee's World Labs, Microsoft, and Decart. They believe that world models could one day be used to create interactive media, such as games and movies, and run realistic simulations like training environments for robots. But creatives have mixed feelings about the tech. A recent Wired investigation found that game studios like Activision Blizzard, which has laid off scores of workers, are using AI to cut corners and combat attrition. And a 2024 study commissioned by the Animation Guild, a union representing Hollywood animators and cartoonists, estimated that over 100,000 U.S.-based film, television, and animation jobs will be disrupted by AI in the coming months. For its part, Odyssey is pledging to collaborate with creative professionals — not replace them. "Interactive video [...] opens the door to entirely new forms of entertainment, where stories can be generated and explored on demand, free from the constraints and costs of traditional production," writes the company in its blog post. "Over time, we believe everything that is video today — entertainment, ads, education, training, travel, and more — will evolve into interactive video, all powered by Odyssey." Odyssey's demo is a bit rough around the edges, which the company acknowledges in its post. The environments the model generates are blurry and distorted, and unstable in the sense that their layouts don't always remain the same. Walk forward in one direction for a while or turn around, and the surroundings might suddenly look different. But the company's promising to rapidly improve upon the model, which can currently stream video at up to 30 frames per second from clusters of Nvidia H100 GPUs at the cost of $1-$2 per "user-hour." "Looking ahead, we're researching richer world representations that capture dynamics far more faithfully, while increasing temporal stability and persistent state," writes Odyssey in its post. "In parallel, we're expanding the action space from motion to world interaction, learning open actions from large-scale video." Odyssey is taking a different approach than many AI labs in the world modeling space. It designed a 360-degree, backpack-mounted camera system to capture real-world landscapes, which Odyssey thinks can serve as a basis for higher-quality models than models trained solely on publicly available data. To date, Odyssey has raised $27 million from investors including EQT Ventures, GV, and Air Street Capital. Ed Catmull, one of the co-founders of Pixar and former president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, is on the startup's board of directors. Last December, Odyssey said it was working on software that allows creators to load scenes generated by its models into tools such as Unreal Engine, Blender, and Adobe After Effects so that they can be hand-edited. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data
TechCrunch
28-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Odyssey's new AI model streams 3D interactive worlds
Odyssey, a startup founded by self-driving pioneers Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, has developed an AI model that lets users 'interact' with streaming video. Available on the web in an 'early demo,' the model generates and streams video frames every 40 milliseconds. Via basic controls, viewers can explore areas within a video, similar to a 3D-rendered video game. 'Given the current state of the world, an incoming action, and a history of states and actions, the model attempts to predict the next state of the world,' explains Odyssey in a blog post. 'Powering this is a new world model, demonstrating capabilities like generating pixels that feel realistic, maintaining spatial consistency, learning actions from video, and outputting coherent video streams for 5 minutes or more.' Introducing AI video you can watch and interact with, in real-time! Powering this is a new world model that imagines and streams video frames every 40ms(!). No game engine in sight. We call it interactive video, and it's free for anyone to try right now (GPUs permitting)! — Odyssey (@odysseyml) May 28, 2025 A number of startups and big tech companies are chasing after world models, including DeepMind, influential AI researcher Fei-Fei Lee's World Labs, Microsoft, and Decart. They believe that world models could one day be used to create interactive media, such as games and movies, and run realistic simulations like training environments for robots. But creatives have mixed feelings about the tech. A recent Wired investigation found that game studios like Activision Blizzard, which has laid off scores of workers, are using AI to cut corners and combat attrition. And a 2024 study commissioned by the Animation Guild, a union representing Hollywood animators and cartoonists, estimated that over 100,000 U.S.-based film, television, and animation jobs will be disrupted by AI in the coming months. For its part, Odyssey is pledging to collaborate with creative professionals — not replace them. 'Interactive video […] opens the door to entirely new forms of entertainment, where stories can be generated and explored on demand, free from the constraints and costs of traditional production,' writes the company in its blog post. 'Over time, we believe everything that is video today — entertainment, ads, education, training, travel, and more — will evolve into interactive video, all powered by Odyssey.' Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW Odyssey's demo is a bit rough around the edges, which the company acknowledges in its post. The environments the model generates are blurry and distorted, and unstable in the sense that their layouts don't always remain the same. Walk forward in one direction for a while or turn around, and the surroundings might suddenly look different. But the company's promising to rapidly improve upon the model, which can currently stream video at up to 30 frames per second from clusters of Nvidia H100 GPUs at the cost of $1-$2 per 'user-hour.' The world played forward, by a model. On the one hand, it's calm and serene. On the other, it's chaotic and terrifying. I think the model nailed it in both cases. — Oliver Cameron (@olivercameron) May 28, 2025 'Looking ahead, we're researching richer world representations that capture dynamics far more faithfully, while increasing temporal stability and persistent state,' writes Odyssey in its post. 'In parallel, we're expanding the action space from motion to world interaction, learning open actions from large-scale video.' Odyssey is taking a different approach than many AI labs in the world modeling space. It designed a 360-degree, backpack-mounted camera system to capture real-world landscapes, which Odyssey thinks can serve as a basis for higher-quality models than models trained solely on publicly available data. To date, Odyssey has raised $27 million from investors including EQT Ventures, GV, and Air Street Capital. Ed Catmull, one of the co-founders of Pixar and former president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, is on the startup's board of directors. Last December, Odyssey said it was working on software that allows creators to load scenes generated by its models into tools such as Unreal Engine, Blender, and Adobe After Effects so that they can be hand-edited.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
4 days left to save up to $325 at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Don't let the world of AI pass you by. You have just four days left to secure your spot at TechCrunch Sessions: AI and get savings of up to $325. But make sure to act fast — this offer ends on March 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT. There's never been a better time to network with the minds shaping AI's future. From startup founders to AI investors to aspiring innovators, TC Sessions: AI is where you can explore the industry from every angle. Whether you're building, funding, or learning, join us for a full day immersed in the latest AI breakthroughs on June 5 at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall. Register before March 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT to save at least $300. Experience AI innovation firsthand! Join 1,200 AI leaders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts for a day packed with expert-led main stage talks, interactive breakout sessions, and hands-on demos of the latest AI advancements. Here's a taste of what you can expect to see on the main stage. This session will look at ways small companies are managing to stay relevant in a fast-paced and rapidly changing space. Featuring Oliver Cameron, previously the VP of product at self-driving startup Cruise and the co-founder of Odyssey, the program will provide an in-depth look at strategies entrepreneurs are applying in order to thrive as the AI competition intensifies. Other speakers at TC Sessions: AI include Twelve Labs CEO Jae Lee, CapitalG partner Jill Chase, and Khosla Ventures partner Kanu Gulati. And that's not all! Check out the TC Sessions: AI event page for the latest panel announcements and see who else will take the stage to share their cutting-edge insights. TC Sessions: AI is where you can make the right connection to take your AI journey to the next level. If you're ready to immerse yourself in the world of AI, register now and save up to $325 on select tickets. This deal ends on March 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT, so act fast. Want more deals and special promotions for TechCrunch events? Join our TechCrunch Events newsletter and be the first to know when they happen. The clock's ticking — we need AI leaders like you! TC Sessions: AI is calling on visionary experts to lead game-changing discussions with top tech innovators and entrepreneurs. Apply by March 7 for your chance to share your expertise and shape the future of AI. Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TechCrunch Sessions: AI? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at
