Author: zppiot
But the news item that really stood out to me was one that didn’t get as much attention as it should have. It has the potential to usher in more powerful AI and scientific discovery than previously possible. Last Thursday, Google DeepMind announced it had built AI systems that can solve complex math problems. The systems—called AlphaProof and AlphaGeometry 2—worked together to successfully solve four out of six problems from this year’s International Mathematical Olympiad, a prestigious competition for high school students. Their performance was the equivalent of winning a silver medal. It’s the first time any AI system has…
The missing middle of technology investment—insufficient funding for commercial production—is evident in each and every one of these failures, but the loss of expertise is an added dimension. For example, lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries are at the heart of every FPV drone. LiPo uses a solid or gel polymer electrolyte and achieves higher specific energy (energy per unit of weight)—a feature that is crucial for lightweight drones. Today, you would be hard-pressed to find a LiPo battery that was not manufactured in China. The experienced workforce behind these companies has contributed to learning curves that have led to a 97%…
He Jiankui, the Chinese biophysicist whose controversial 2018 experiment led to the birth of three gene-edited children, says he’s returned to work on the concept of altering the DNA of people at conception, but with a difference. This time around, he says, he will restrict his research to animals and nonviable human embryos. He will not try to create a pregnancy, at least until society comes to accept his vision for “genetic vaccines” against common diseases. During an exclusive subscribers-only live interview with MIT Technology Review last week, He defended his past research and revealed he only has one regret.…
We’re here to prove that if you pick the right climate tech companies with the right founders, that can be an amazing business. They’re disrupting trillion-dollar industries, and so you ought to be able to get good returns on that. And that’s what’s going to be required to get a bunch of people to open up their checkbooks and really spend the trillions of dollars we need a year to solve these problems. So we look for companies with—we’ve jokingly called it at times the “green discount.” Those trends are freight trains that are going down the hill and are…
Apple reaches its first-ever union deal with workers at Maryland store – CBS News Watch CBS News Apple has reached its first-ever contract with a retail union, coming to a tentative deal with workers at a store in Maryland. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On #Apple #reaches #firstever #union #deal #workers #Maryland #store
The subject is genome editing. Of course, it’s a technology for changing the DNA inside of individual cells, including embryos. It’s hard to overstate its importance. I put it up there with the invention of the transistor and artificial intelligence. And why do I think so? Well, genome editing gives humans control, or at least the ability to try and direct the very processes that brought us about as a species. So it’s that profound. Getting to JK’s story. In 2018 we had a scoop—he might call it a leak—in which we described his experiment, which, as Mat said, was…
AI models can easily generate essays and other types of text. However, they’re nowhere near as good at solving math problems, which tend to involve logical reasoning—something that’s beyond the capabilities of most current AI systems. But that may finally be changing. Google DeepMind says it has trained two specialized AI systems to solve complex math problems involving advanced reasoning. The systems worked together to successfully solve four out of six problems from this year’s International Mathematical Olympiad, a prestigious competition for high school students. They won the equivalent of a silver medal, marking the first time any AI system…
How a glitch crippled tech operations worldwide How the CrowdStrike glitch crippled operations across the globe 01:41 CrowdStrike said that nearly all Microsoft Windows sensors are operational again after a faulty update by the cybersecurity company crippled computer systems across the world. More than 97% of Windows sensors were online as of Wednesday evening, CrowdStrike said in an update posted on its website. The systems are nearly fully restored after the company’s July 19 software update crashed millions of Windows-based devices and froze corporate networks.Microsoft estimates the error took down 8.5 million Windows devices. The snafu will cost Fortune 500 companies more than $5…
Rep. Jennifer Wexton first ever to make House floor speech using AI voice – CBS News Watch CBS News Rep. Jennifer Wexton of Virginia delivered what is believed to be the first speech ever from the House floor using artificial intelligence voice technology. Wexton was diagnosed last year with a rare neurological disorder that robbed her of her ability to speak clearly. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On #Rep #Jennifer #Wexton #House #floor #speech #voice
These AI copyright traps tap into one of the biggest fights in AI. A number of publishers and writers are in the middle of litigation against tech companies, claiming their intellectual property has been scraped into AI training data sets without their permission. The New York Times’ ongoing case against OpenAI is probably the most high-profile of these. The code to generate and detect traps is currently available on GitHub, but the team also intends to build a tool that allows people to generate and insert copyright traps themselves. “There is a complete lack of transparency in terms of which…
CRISPR Babies: Six years later Speakers: He Jiankui, CRISPR Pioneer, Antonio Regalado, senior editor for biomedicine, and Mat Honan, editor in chief Gene editing can correct or improve the DNA of human embryos, essentially opening the door to “technological evolution” of our species. But in 2018, a premature attempt to use gene editing led to a prison term for He Jiankui, the researcher involved. Editor in chief Mat Honan and senior editor for biomedicine Antonio Regalado have a conversation with He Jiankui, biophysicist and creator of the first gene-edited humans, to revisit this controversial technology and the future of editing…
A selloff in technology stocks Wednesday drove the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices to their worst performances since 2022. The slump in high-tech follows a year-long rally by the “Magnificent Seven,” a group of seven industry giants that have led markets into record terrain.The slump continued on Thursday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index slipping 0.5% in morning trade. Chipmaker Nvidia shed 1.4% and Google-owner Alphabet fell 1.2%, while four other members of the group — Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft — also lost ground. The only member of the group to gain on Thursday morning was Tesla, which rose…
“It is often easier to train a model for mathematics if you have a way to check its answers (e.g., in a formal language), but there is comparatively less formal mathematics data online compared to free-form natural language (informal language),” says Katie Collins, an researcher at the University of Cambridge who specializes in math and AI but was not involved in the project. Bridging this gap was Google DeepMind’s goal in creating AlphaProof, a reinforcement-learning-based system that trains itself to prove mathematical statements in the formal programming language Lean. The key is a version of DeepMind’s Gemini AI that’s fine-tuned…
Meta issues a warning about increasing sextortion scams. Here’s how to stay safe. – CBS News Watch CBS News Social media giant Meta is issuing a warning over the increasing number of sextortion scams where fake profiles are used to get people to send nude photographs and then threaten to release them unless victims pay up. On Wednesday, Meta said it has removed 6,300 Instagram accounts of scammers in Nigeria who frequently target adult men in the U.S. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On #Meta #issues…
Cleaning up trucking, especially the biggest trucks, presents a massive challenge. That’s why some companies are trying to ease the industry into change. For my most recent story, I took a look at Range Energy, a startup that’s adding batteries to the trailers of semi-trucks. If the electrified trailers are attached to diesel trucks, they can improve the fuel economy. If they’re added to zero-emissions vehicles powered by batteries or hydrogen, they could boost range and efficiency. During my reporting, I learned more about what’s holding back progress in trucking and how experts are thinking about a few different technologies…
The company has opted not to build small-scale quantum computers (such as IBM’s Condor, which uses a little over 1,100 qubits). Instead it is aiming to manufacture and test what it calls “intermediate systems.” These include chips, cabinets, and superconducting photon detectors. PsiQuantum says it is targeting these larger-scale systems in part because smaller devices are unable to adequately correct errors and operate at a realistic price point. Getting smaller-scale systems to do useful work has been an area of active research. But “just in the last few years, we’ve seen people waking up to the fact that small systems…