Lifeboat Foundation

Researcher Inioluwa Deborah Raji says tech CEOs focused on big claims of what AI could do, but she was there to offer a reality check.

Recently, I wrote a quick guide about what we might expect at Congress’s first AI Insight Forum. Well, now that meeting has happened, and we have some important information about what was discussed behind closed doors in the tech-celeb-studded confab.

First, some context. The AI Insight Forums were announced a few months ago by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as part of his “SAFE Innovation” initiative, which is really a set of principles for AI legislation in the United States. The invite list was heavily skewed toward Big Tech execs, including CEOs of AI… More.

Google has also said it’s invested $400 million into the AI company.

Amazon said it will invest $4 billion in Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company founded by former employees of OpenAI, a rival leading AI company. As part of the investment, Amazon will take a minority stake in Anthropic, as per a press release.

The immediate investment is $1.25 billion, with either party having the authority to trigger another $2.75 billion in funding by Amazon, reported Reuters.

A new artificial intelligence program is helping scientists speedily sift through thousands of data sets and millions of papers to home in on genes that underly disease, drastically condensing a search process that once took months.

Using computer software, scientists can scan entire genomes, or an organism’s full set of DNA, of mice that model human diseases. The goal: to identify genetic mutations that cause those diseases and open new doors for scientists to better harness genetics to develop disease treatments, said Gary Peltz, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine at Stanford Medicine.

But to do that, scientists must search through massive sets of genomic data, which yields more false positives than researchers care to admit. It’s also time intensive. Peltz wanted to make the genetic discovery process easier, faster and more accurate.

Elon Musk claims Neuralink could produce Star Wars-style robotic hands, and help save the world from AI.

Surgeons at Boston Children’s Hospital have invented a new kind of surgical robot that is extremely adept at handling brain operations.

Kool99/iStock.

“We needed to use basically hollow arms,” DuPont explained to the magazine.

Continue reading “This surgical robot can remove brain tumors from children” »

Call it the big bang for bug-sized robots.

Cornell researchers combined soft microactuators with high-energy-density chemical fuel to create an insect-scale quadrupedal robot that is powered by combustion and can outrace, outlift, outflex and outleap its electric-driven competitors.

AlexLXM/iStock.

However, there may be a solution on the way. Machine learning is being used by a group of academics from the National Research Council (NRC) and the University of Waterloo to address this age-old problem.

Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger, plotting a comeback for the once-dominant chipmaker, made the case that the company’s technology will be vital to an industrywide boom in artificial intelligence computing.

Speaking at Intel’s annual Innovation conference, Gelsinger pointed to advances that his company is making in production technology and software developer tools for AI. The opportunity will only grow as more artificial intelligence capabilities are powered by personal computers, he said.

“AI represents a generational shift, giving rise to a new era of global expansion where computing is even more foundational to a better future for all,” Gelsinger said. “For developers, this creates massive societal and business opportunities to push the boundaries of what’s possible, to create solutions to the world’s biggest challenges.”

Amazon is looking to position itself as the one-stop shop for AI. The e-commerce giant designs its own chips for training huge AI models. Through Amazon Bedrock customers can also design their own generative AI applications using existing models, which are all run on the Amazon cloud. The company sells its own AI applications too.

Anthropic already counts some high-profile backers, including Google and Salesforce Ventures. This support comes as tech giants continue to make massive bets on AI companies, a move sparked by Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI in January.