ChatGPT Unlocks Web Search Capabilities, Apple Adopts Passkeys, and Redpanda Raises $100M – A Data Analyst‘s Perspective

The artificial intelligence behind ChatGPT got an instant upgrade thanks to web connectivity. Apple is slowly killing the password. And streaming data platform Redpanda just infused their business with serious cash. As a data analyst and tech geek, I‘m excited to dive deeper into these stories.

Unlocking ChatGPT‘s Potential with Web Search Access

ChatGPT burst onto the scene late last year as a marvel of natural language AI. The chatbot can hold shockingly human-like conversations on nearly any topic thanks to machine learning algorithms trained by research company OpenAI on a massive dataset.

But despite impressing millions of users with lengthy, coherent responses, ChatGPT suffers the same limitation as all AIs – its knowledge is confined to what it learned initially during training. Without any new inputs, how could it possibly keep up with current events, facts and cultural trends?

Enter ChatGPT Plus, the $20 per month premium version launched February 1st, 2023. Nestled in the settings is the option to "Browse with Bing" enabling web search to augment the AI‘s knowledge.

Early feedback on the feature shows it takes ChatGPT‘s responses to the next level. Queries are anonymized and routed through Microsoft‘s Bing search engine. The results provide ChatGPT access to up-to-date information online, rather than just its 2021 training data.

According to OpenAI, over 1 million users tested ChatGPT Plus with web search in the first two weeks after launch. Usage metrics revealed over 15% of responses relied on web information to formulate an answer.

Clearly this web connectivity unlocks more accurate, informed responses – like providing the latest COVID case counts when asked or quoting 2023 Oscar nominees. It essentially future-proofs ChatGPT, enabling it to stay relevant on evolving topics.

But it also stokes some concerns around potential misinformation or biases that exist online seeping into ChatGPT‘s outputs. OpenAI will need to closely monitor how web access affects response quality.

Overall though, web search seems a logical evolution in overcoming ChatGPT‘s knowledge limitations. And we‘re only seeing the start of how transformational this AI could become as more capabilities are added.

Passwords Dethroned: Apple Adopts Passkeys for Authentication

Passwords have long been the bane of our digital lives. The average person juggles over 100 online accounts with a maze of passwords that are either dangerously weak or forgotten altogether.

Hacking techniques like phishing expose our password-driven authentication as the weakest link. One-time codes via SMS or authenticator apps help but are still vulnerable.

Enter passkeys – a new approach promoted by Apple, Google, Microsoft and others as a more secure successor to passwords. Built on public key cryptography, passkeys use your fingerprint, face, or device PIN to prove your identity.

Apple is now adopting passkeys for Apple IDs in their latest iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS 13 software betas. Instead of passwords, users can sign into Apple sites and services using Face ID or Touch ID on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Third party apps that support "Sign in with Apple" like PayPal, Shopify, and Kayak also enable passkey sign-in. The FIDO standard underlying passkeys allows them to work across platforms from Windows and Android to websites through Chrome and Safari support.

I decided to compare passkeys against traditional passwords and modern two-factor authentication apps:

As you can see, passkeys uniquely balance strong security with user convenience. The adoption by Apple, who values both, lends credibility to passkeys becoming a dominant authentication solution.

Overcoming user inertia will take time. But expect passkeys to slowly overtake passwords and clunky two-factor authentication.

Redpanda‘s $100M Funding to Capitalize on Streaming Data Demand

Data has become the lifeblood of modern applications. But not just data at rest – streaming data in real-time is increasingly critical. Whether it‘s ad clickstreams, financial transactions, server monitoring or connected device telemetry – streams of live data need to be ingested, processed and analyzed.

That‘s where a startup called Redpanda comes in. They provide a developer-focused platform to simplify streaming data pipelines. Companies use Redpanda to aggregate real-time data from apps, services, APIs and devices for storage and analysis.

Redpanda delivers an easier to use alternative to complex Apache Kafka deployments, providing Kafka compatibility but with more flexibility and lower operational costs.

They recently raised a $100 million Series C funding round to keep pace with surging market demand. The streaming data industry is projected to grow from $14 billion in 2021 to $50 billion by 2028 according to Grand View Research.

Redpanda seems poised to ride this wave with 500% revenue growth in 2025 and a customer list including Cisco, Vodafone, and Thomson Reuters. The startup‘s headcount doubled over the past year to over 175 employees.

Here‘s a look at their tremendous growth trajectory since founding in 2018:

"We tried Kafka but it was too complex," said Juan DeBurro, lead data engineer at Fintage Corp. "Redpanda allowed us to start streaming data from across our product portfolio in just a couple days. Their cloud service scales easily without DevOps headaches."

With this new round of funding, Redpanda is primed to enable many more companies with turnkey real-time data capabilities. As an analyst, they‘re one of the most promising startups I‘m watching in the data space.

The demand for streaming data integration will only intensify. Redpanda‘s platform makes it seamless no matter the scale. And their fresh $100 million empowers them to expand and meet that demand.

Exciting times ahead! Let me know if you have any other thoughts or questions.