European Union officials have reached a provisional deal on the world’s first comprehensive laws to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The EU agreed guidelines around AI in systems like ChatGPT and facial recognition.
The European Parliament will vote on the AI Act proposals early next year, but any legislation will not take effect until 2025 at the earliest. The U.S., UK and China are all rushing to publish their own guidelines.
Safeguards
The proposals include safeguards on the use of AI within the EU as well as limitations on its adoption into law.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the AI Act would help the development of technology that does not threaten people’s safety and rights. Consumers would have the right to launch complaints and fines could be imposed for violations.
Unique framework
In a social media post, she said it was a ‘unique legal framework for the development of AI you can trust’.
The European Parliament defines AI as software that can ‘for a given set of human-defined objectives, generate outputs such as content, predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing the environments they interact with.’
This is a significant step towards ensuring that AI development and deployment are aligned with ethical standards and respect for human rights.
Will the EU, UK, U.S., China and other countries AI rules conflict?
Meta, OpenAI, and Microsoft said they will use AMD’s newest AI chip, the Instinct MI300X.
An indication that tech companies want alternatives to the expensive Nvidia graphics processors that have been essential for artificial intelligence (AI).
If the MI300X is good enough and inexpensive enough when it starts shipping early next year, it will likely lower costs for developing AI models.
AMD CEO Lisa Su projected the market for AI chips will amount to $400 billion or more in 2027, and she said she hopes AMD has a sizable part of that market.
Wall Street rallies on AMD and Google AI news
Wall Street resumed its rally after a short break as technology giants intensified their AI race, pushing up tech stocks.
When you witness Google launching a new AI model (Gemini) and AMD chasing a slice of the hot AI chip market, you know a pre-Christmas cheer will wash over investors.
To think, just a handful of years ago, other than in Science Fiction novels, the term ‘artificial intelligence’ didn’t exist in our vocabulary and now it is becoming more and more integrated with our day-to-day lives.
Stockmarkets love it. AI is fast becoming a business necessity and not just an option.
Wall Streets love affair with AI – how long will it last?
Pressure mounts on the Google to demonstrate how it plans monetize AI.
Google has launched its largest and most capable (by its own admission) artificial intelligence (AI) model on Wednesday 6th December 2023 pressure mounts on the company to answer how it’ll monetize AI.
Gemini
The large language model Gemini will include a suite of three different sizes: Gemini Ultra, its largest, most capable category; Gemini Pro, which scales across a wide range of tasks; and Gemini Nano, which it will use for specific tasks and mobile devices.
Cloud
Google is reportedly planning to licence Gemini to clients through Google Cloud to use in their own applications. Developers and enterprise customers can access Gemini Pro via the Gemini API in Google AI Studio or Google Cloud Vertex AI.
Android
Android developers will also be able to build with Gemini Nano. Gemini will also be used to power Google products like its Bard Chatbot and Search Generative Experience, which tries to answer search queries with conversational-style text.
Ultra
Gemini Ultra is reportedly the first model to outperform human experts on MMLU(massive multitask language understanding), which uses a combination of 57 subjects such as math, physics, history, law, medicine and ethics for testing both world knowledge and problem-solving abilities, the company said in a blog post Wednesday 6th December 2023.
It can supposedly understand nuance and reasoning in complex subjects.
Advanced
The company gave examples demonstrating Gemini being able to take a screenshot of a chart and analyse hundreds of pages from research and then updating the chart.
Another example was analyzing a photo of a person’s math homework and identifying correct answers and pointing out incorrect ones.
The future is artificial.
Definition of the word Gemini: Constellation, Astrological Sign or Twins in Latin.
Water is a precious Earth resource. It is becoming increasingly scarce due to climate change, population growth, pollution and waste. Without water we are nothing.
According to some sources, Big Tech and AI are contributing to the water crisis by using large amounts of water to cool their data systems and AI computations.
Researchers estimate that Microsoft used 1.7 billion gallons of water for AI alone in 2022, a 34% increase from 2021. Google also reported a 20% increase in water usage, mostly due to its AI work. One of the most water-intensive AI models is ChatGPT, which is estimated to use half a litre of water for every series of prompts.
These numbers are alarming, considering that water is a finite and vital resource for humans and ecosystems.
ChatGPT is estimated to use the equivalent of one 16-ounce bottle of water (approx’ half a litre) for every 20-50 queries according to a study by Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California.
BIG Tech aware of environmental impact
Some tech companies are aware of the environmental impact of their AI activities and are trying to find ways to reduce their water consumption and carbon footprint. For example, Microsoft has pledged to become water positive, carbon negative, and waste-free by 2030.
Is there a water crisis looming and could BIG Tech make things worse?
Google has also set a goal to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030. OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has stated that it is working on improving the efficiency of its AI models. Some possible solutions include using renewable energy sources, developing better algorithms and hardware, and locating data centres in colder climates.
Too much
Some argue that Big Tech and AI are using too much water, and that they should be regulated. They should be held accountable for their environmental impact.
Others may contend that Big Tech and AI are providing valuable services and innovations and they are taking steps to mitigate their water usage and become more sustainable.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced Trainium2, a chip for training artificial intelligence (AI) models, and it will also offer access to Nvidia’s next-generation H200 Tensor Core graphics processing units.
Amazon’s AWS cloud department of the encompassing Amazon empire has announced new chips for customers to build and run artificial intelligence (AI) applications on, as well as plans to offer access to Nvidia’s latest chips.
Amazon Web Services is attempting to stand out as a cloud provider with a variety of cost-effective options. It won’t just sell cheap Amazon-branded products, though. Just as in its online retail marketplace, Amazon’s cloud will feature top-of-the-line products from other vendors, including highly sought after GPUs from top AI chipmaker Nvidia
Amazon’s dual-pronged approach of both building its own chips and letting customers access Nvidia’s latest chips might will help it against its top cloud computing competitor, Microsoft.
Tech execs have expressed concern that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is concentrated in the hands of too few companies, potentially giving them too much power. OpenAI’s ChatGPT marked the start of what many in the industry have called an AI arms race, as tech giants including Microsoft and Google have sought to develop and launch AI models.
A number of tech execs have said that they feel users have lost control of their data online and that it is being harnessed by technology giants to feed their profits.
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) is concentrated in the hands of too few companies, potentially giving them excessive control over the rapidly evolving technology.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT
An explosion of interest in AI was sparked by OpenAI’s ChatGPT late last year thanks to the novel way in which the chatbot can answer user prompts. Its popularity contributed to the start of what many in the tech industry have called an AI arms race, as tech giants including Microsoft and Google seek to develop and launch their own artificial intelligence models. These require huge amounts of computing power as they are trained on massive amounts of data.
Meredith Whittaker reportedly said of large tech companies and the current deployment of AI…
‘Right now, there are only a handful of companies with the resources needed to create these large-scale AI models and deploy them at scale. And we need to recognize that this is giving them inordinate power over our lives and institutions’,Meredith Whittaker, president of encrypted messaging app Signal, is reported to have said. ‘We should really be concerned about, again, a handful of corporations driven by profit and shareholder returns making such socially consequential decisions’.
Whittaker previously spent 13 years at Google but became disillusioned in 2017 when she found out the search giant was working on a controversial contract with the Department of Defence known as Project Maven. Whittaker grew concerned Google’s AI could potentially be used for drone warfare and helped organize a walkout at the company that involved thousands of employees.
‘AI, as we understand it today, is fundamentally a technology that is derivative of centralized corporate power and control’, Whittaker reportedly said. ‘It is built on the concentrated resources that accrued to a handful of large tech corporations, largely based in the U.S. and China via the surveillance advertising business model, which gave them powerful computational infrastructure and huge amounts of data; large markets from which to pull that data; and the ability to process and structure that data in ways useful for creating new technologies.’
In essence, BIG TECH has far too much power in AI technology.
Tim Berners-Lee
The inventor of the web, Tim Berners-Lee, has also raised concerns about the concentration of power among the tech giants. Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, says it is the state of social media that is of particular concern right now. On AI, however, he feels that while the technology giants now are leading the way, there is space for disruption.
Big tech and social media giants are inflicting profound damage on our society, and he believes AI could make this worse.
Nvidia’s revenue grew 206% from year 2022 during the quarter ending 29th October 2023, according to data from Nvidia.
Net income, at $9.24 billion, or $3.71 per share, was up from $680 million, in the same quarter of 2022.
The company’s data centre revenue came in at: $14.51 billion, up a massive 279% and above consensus of $12.97 billion. Half of the data centre revenue came from cloud infrastructure providers such as Amazon, and the other from consumer internet and large companies, Nvidia said. Healthy uptake also came from clouds that specialized in renting out GPUs to clients.
Earnings: $4.02 per share, adjusted, vs. $3.37 per share expected
Revenue: $18.12 billion, vs. $16.18 billion expected
The gaming segment contributed $2.86 billion, up 81% and higher than the $2.68 billion general consensus. Nvidia’s future guidance suggested $20 billion in revenue for Q4, implying a nearly 231% revenue growth.
Year on year Nvidia share price movement.
Year on year Nvidia share price movement – Nov 2022 – Nov 2023
During the quarter, Nvidia announced the GH200 GPU, which has more memory than the current H100 and an additional Arm processor onboard. The H100 is expensive and in demand. Nvidia said Australia-based Iris Energy, an owner of bitcoin mining data centers, was buying 248 H100s for $10 million, which works out around $40,000 each.
Nvidia share price moved down 1% in after-hours trading on Tuesday 21st November 2023 after the reporting fiscal Q3 results that surpassed predictions. But the company called for a negative impact in the next quarter because of export restrictions affecting sales to organizations in China and other countries.
‘We expect that our sales to these destinations decline significantly in the Q4 2024, though we believe the decline will be more than offset by strong growth in other regions’, Nvidia reported.
Nvidia stock closes at all-time high, a day before earnings
Shares of Nvidia closed up 2.3% at an all-time high of $504 on Monday 20th November 2023. The record comes ahead of the company’s Q3 results due Tuesday 21st November 2023, when analysts are expecting to see revenue growth of over 170%.
And, if that’s not enough, the forecast for Q4, according to some analysts, is likely to show a number close to 200% growth.
Nvidia is still by far the market leader in GPUs for AI, but high prices and competition are fast becoming an issue.
Can Nvidia continue the AI ride and hold this remarkable market share position?
Sam Altman, the former CEO of OpenAI, who was fired last week in a controversial board decision.
According to the latest reports, Altman is joining Microsoft to lead a new AI research team that will focus on advanced and ethical AI development.
Altman is a well-known entrepreneur and investor who has been involved in several AI-related projects.
He was one of the co-founders of OpenAI, a research organization that aims to create artificial general intelligence (AGI) that can ‘benefit humanity without causing harm’ or being controlled by a few elite players.
Leadership and ideology clash
However, Altman’s vision and style clashed with some of the board members and researchers at OpenAI, who reportedly accused him of being too ambitious, secretive, and authoritarian. They also reportedly claimed that he was pursuing a dangerous goal of creating artificial superintelligence (ASI).
The disagreements escalated when Altman announced a partnership with Microsoft in 2023, which gave Microsoft exclusive access to OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo model, a powerful natural language processing system that can generate realistic text on any given topic.
Some of the OpenAI staff and community members reportedly felt let-down by this deal, which they saw as a violation of OpenAI’s original mission of creating and sharing ‘AI for the common good’.
On Friday 17th November 2023, the board of OpenAI voted to remove Altman as CEO, citing irreconcilable differences and lack of trust. He was replaced by Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, who promised to restore transparency and collaboration at OpenAI.
Altman to join Microsoft
Altman did not comment on his dismissal. However, on Monday 20th November 2023, he rocked the AI world by announcing he was joining Microsoft as the head of a new AI research team.
He reportedly said that he was excited to work with Microsoft’s talented people and that he would continue to pursue his vision of creating beneficial and ethical AI for humanity.
Altman’s move to Microsoft has sparked mixed opinions from the AI community. Some have praised him for his innovation and courage, others have criticized him for his arrogance and recklessness.
There were reports over weekend suggesting employees and investors including Microsoft were pushing for Mr Altman to be reinstated. Some employees resigned in support of Altman.
Some have expressed concern about the potential impact of his new role on the future of AI development and regulation.
Where do OpenAI, Microsoft and the AI go from here?
Nvidia has recently announced its latest high-end chip, the GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip, which is designed for training AI models at giant scale.
The GH200 is a breakthrough accelerated CPU that combines the NVIDIA Grace™ and Hopper™ architectures using NVIDIA® NVLink®-C2C to deliver a CPU+GPU coherent memory model for AI and HPC applications. The superchip delivers up to 10X higher performance for applications running terabytes of data, enabling scientists and researchers to reach unprecedented solutions for the world’s most complex problems.
The technical bit
The GH200 features 72 cores of Grace CPU outfitted with 480 GB of ECC LPDDR5X memory, as well as the GH100 compute GPU that is paired with 141 GB of HBM3E memory that comes in six 24 GB stacks and uses a 6,144-bit memory interface.
The GH200 also has a new 900 gigabytes per second (GB/s) coherent interface, which is 7X faster than PCIe Gen5, and supercharges accelerated computing and generative AI with HBM3 and HBM3e GPU memory. The GH200 can run all NVIDIA software stacks and platforms, including NVIDIA AI Enterprise, HPC SDK, and Omniverse™.
Nvidia unveils its newest GH200 high-end AI Superchip.
The GH200 is available as part of the NVIDIA DGX GH200, a massive memory supercomputer that fully connects 256 GH200 Superchips into a singular GPU. The DGX GH200 offers 144 terabytes (TB) of shared memory with linear scalability for giant AI models.
The DGX GH200 is a turnkey data centre-class solution that includes integrated software and white-glove services from NVIDIA, from design to deployment, to speed the ROI of AI.
The DGX GH200 is the only AI supercomputer that offers a massive, shared memory space of 144TB across 256 NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips, providing developers with nearly 500X more memory to build giant models.
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s chatbot is back online after experiencing a brief but major outage Wednesday am, 8th November 2023.
The chatbot began returning errors before 9 a.m. ET, affecting OpenAI’s API users, which are used by more than two million developers. ChatGPT users were also told that ‘ChatGPT is at capacity right now’ and a status page referred to the issue as a ‘major outage’.
‘We’ve identified an issue resulting in high error rates across the API and ChatGPT, and we are working on remediation’, OpenAI shared in a status report at 9:50 a.m. ET.
Full services were restored by about 10:50 a.m. ET.
Microsoft ended Tuesday’s trading session at a record high of $360.53, following fresh optimism about growth from a key partner in artificial intelligence (AI). The increase gives the company a market value of about $2.68 trillion.
At a tech event on Monday 6th November 2023, Microsoft’s AI partner, OpenAI, announced a batch of updates, including price cuts and plans to allow people to make custom versions of the ChatGPT chatbot.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella attended and emphasized that developers building applications with OpenAI’s tools could get to market quickly by deploying their software on Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure.
Microsoft has invested a reported $13 billion in OpenAI, which has granted Microsoft an exclusive licence on OpenAI’s GPT-4 large language model that can generate human-like prose in response to a few words of text.
Fictitious AI robot learning from a digital human online
Last week, Microsoft announced the release of an AI add-on for its Office productivity app subscriptions and an assistant in Windows 11, both of which rely on OpenAI models.
The future is looking bright for Microsoft right now.
An old well established and trusted tech brand pivoting to AI that has a high dividend yield is IBM, which has been around for more than a century and is known for both its hardware and software products.
IBM is investing heavily in AI, cloud computing, and quantum computing, and has recently acquired several AI start-ups, such as Instana, Turbonomic, and Waeg.
IBM also has a partnership with OpenAI, one of the leading AI research organizations, to provide cloud infrastructure for its AI models.
Investors who love IBM expect the company to grow its earnings by around 10% annually over the next five years. Investors were also impressed with IBM’s dividend yield, which is currently around 4.5%. Dividends are a great way to generate passive income.
IBM is not the only tech company that is pivoting to AI. Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic are competing in the field of generative AI, which can create text, images, music, and more from natural language prompts.
Integrate generative AI
These companies are attempting to integrate generative AI into their products and services, such as search engines, maps, word processors, office applications, chatbots, and more. Generative AI is seen as a game-changer for many industries and applications, and could potentially disrupt the dominance of Big Tech.
Legacy companies can pivot to a platform model, which is a business strategy that connects producers and consumers of value through a digital interface. Platform companies like Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Tencent have created value at stunning rates, and have grown rapidly and own large market shares.
IBM mainframe from the 1970’s
Legacy companies can leverage their existing systems, such as customer relationships, data, and brand recognition, to create platforms that offer impressive and immersive products and services.
Other successful platform pivots are Disney+, which transformed Disney from a media producer to a media platform; Nike+, which connected Nike’s physical products with digital services; and John Deere, which created a platform for precision agriculture.
Grok is a neologism (a newly coined word or expression), referenced by Robert A. Heinlein for his 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land. It means to understand something so deeply that you become one with it.
Grok is a term used in computer programming to mean to ‘profoundly understand something‘, such as a system, a language, or an algorithm.
Elon Musk’s Grok
Elon Musk debuts ‘Grok’ AI bot to rival ChatGPT and others. But, ‘Grok’ isn’t quite ready yet for the general public – it still has some learning to do. xAI, Elon Musk’s new AI venture, launched its first AI chatbot technology named ‘Grok’.
The prototype is in its infancy and early stages of training and is only available to a select group of users before a wider release.
Elon Musk debuts ‘Grok’ AI bot to rival ChatGPT and others. But, ‘Grok’ isn’t quite ready yet for the general public – it still has some learning to do…
Musk is positioning xAI to compete with OpenAI, Inflection, Anthropic and others.
Less woke
Grok, the company said, is modelled on‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. It is supposed to have ‘a bit of wit, a rebellious streak’ and it should answer the ‘spicy questions’ that other AI might dodge, according to a statement from xAI.
Grok, the company said, is modelled on ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’.
The company’s published mandate is to build artificial intelligence ‘to advance our collective understanding of the universe’. Musk has previously said that he believes today’s AI makers are bending too far toward ‘politically correct’ systems.
xAI’s mission, it reportedly said, ‘is to create AI for people of all backgrounds and political views’.
Future AI
Self-driving car technology, an AI Chatbot built around humour with access to current public data through X, a robot called Optimus and Musk’s drive for the ‘different’. If you add all this together, X.ai, through Musk, is likely positioning itself for the next big push in AI…
There is some evidence that AI could create the next financial crisis, according to some experts and regulators.
AI scenarios
AI could increase the complexity and opacity of financial markets, making it harder to monitor and prevent systemic risks. For example, AI could enable new forms of market manipulation, fraud, or cyberattacks that could destabilize the financial system.
AI could create feedback loops or cascading effects that could amplify shocks and cause contagion across different sectors and regions. For example, AI could trigger flash crashes or sudden liquidity shortages that could spread rapidly and disrupt market functioning.
AI could create new sources of concentration and interdependence that could increase the vulnerability of the financial system. For example, AI could create a reliance on a few dominant data providers, platforms, or models that could fail or malfunction.
AI bots could take control of a stock trading platform or worse a stock exchange.
These are some of the possible scenarios that AI could create the next financial crisis. However, there are many potential benefits and opportunities that AI could bring to the financial sector, such as enhancing efficiency and innovation and even enhancing easier access and personal financial control for millions of investors and savers.
AI could lead to the next financial crash! It could also enhance personal financial control.
The White House has announced what it is calling ‘the most significant actions ever taken by any government to advance the field of AI safety’.
Oh really! Coincidence or deliberate attempt to undermine the UK AI safety drive?
This news comes as the UK draws attention hosting a UK led AI summit. The U.S. wants to police and control the AI arena too as it does most other aspects of our life.
Biden order
An executive order from President Biden requires Artificial Intelligence AI developers to share safety results with the U.S. government. It is an attempt to place the U.S, at the centre of the global debate on AI governance.
However, this is a position the UK government has already engineered as the UK AI safety summit gets underway this week. The UK desires to place itself at the centre of AI governance.
U.S. executive order
The U.S. executive order from Biden suggests the U.S. fancies itself as the leader of global AI governance in terms of how to address such threats or does it simply want to stamp its authority in the AI world. It tried to do the same with cryptocurrencies but fundamentally failed.
U.S. measures include
Creating new safety and security standards for AI, including measures that require AI companies to share safety test results with the federal government.
Protecting consumer privacy, by creating guidelines that agencies can use to evaluate privacy techniques used in AI.
Helping to stop AI algorithms discriminate and creating best practices on the appropriate role of AI in the justice system.
Creating a program to evaluate potentially harmful AI related healthcare practices and creating resources on how educators can responsibly use AI tools
Working with international partners to implement AI standards around the world.
UK AI summit
The UK summit is referenced in the executive order. But it’s mentioned under the heading of ‘advancing American leadership abroad’ – indicating that the U.S. very clearly knows that it is the big player here alongside China.
The UK is determined to position itself as a global leader in the space of trying to minimise the risks posed by this powerful technology.
However, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and top executives from the U.S. tech giants are arriving in the UK this week to discuss AI safety at the UK government’s AI Summit, which it has billed as a ‘world first’.
The summit, hosted by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, will focus on the growing fears about the implications of so-called frontier AI. President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also be in attendance.
The UK is determined to position itself as a global leader in the space of trying to minimise the risks posed by this powerful technology.
But the U.S. as usual, will want to be in control…
Apple and generative AI technology is a topic that has been generating a lot of interest and speculation lately.
According to various reports, Apple is working on developing its own large language model and chatbot, which could potentially enhance its products and services with new features and capabilities. However, some analysts and experts have also raised questions about whether Apple has missed an opportunity to be a leader in the generative AI field, as it seems to be lagging behind its competitors such as Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
Apple uses AI in its products but hasn’t launched a generative AI product along the lines of OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google Bard. Instead, Apple’s AI is used for improving photos and autocorrecting text.
$1 billion per year plan
Apple is on track to spend $1 billion per year on developing its generative artificial intelligence products, Bloomberg reported.
Apple is looking to use AI to improve Siri, Messages and Apple Music.
The spending comes as the company plays catch-up to some competitors who have already debuted new AI products and features, such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
Apple was caught flat-footed when ChatGPT and other AI tools took the technology industry by storm.
Generative AI
Generative AI is a subfield of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating content such as text, images, videos, music, and more, based on data and algorithms. One of the most popular examples of generative AI is ChatGPT, a chatbot that can respond to questions and other prompts in a natural and human-like way.
Watercolour artwork impression – ChatGPT was released by OpenAI in 2022, and since then, it has been widely used and improved by various companies and researchers.
ChatGPT was released by OpenAI in 2022, and since then, it has been widely used and improved by various companies and researchers.
Apple slow response
Apple, on the other hand, has been relatively quiet about its generative AI efforts, until recently. In October 2023, Bloomberg reported that Apple was internally testing a ‘ChatGPT-like’ chatbot nicknamed ‘Apple GPT’, but it had not devised a clear strategy for releasing generative AI tools to the public. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook also confirmed that the company was working on generative AI for years, but it was approaching it ‘really thoughtfully and think about it deeply’ because of the potential risks and challenges.
Potential challenges Apple faces in developing and deploying generative AI
Privacy
Apple has always been more cautious than its competitors in handling user data, and it has built its reputation on being a privacy-focused company. However, generative AI requires a lot of data to train and improve its models, which could pose a dilemma for Apple. How can it balance the need for data with the respect for user privacy? How can it ensure that its generative AI does not leak or misuse personal information?
Design
Apple is known for its elegant and intuitive design philosophy, which applies to both its hardware and software products. However, generative AI is a complex and unpredictable technology, which could challenge Apple’s design principles. How can it make its generative AI features easy to use and understand for its customers? How can it avoid confusing or misleading users with its generative AI outputs?
Ethics
Apple has always been mindful of the social and ethical implications of its products, and it has often taken a stance on issues such as human rights, environmental sustainability, and diversity. However, generative AI could raise new ethical concerns, such as bias, misinformation and manipulation. But then that is a common problem for all generative AI systems.
Generative AI could raise new ethical concerns, such as bias, misinformation and manipulation.
These are some of the questions that Apple needs to answer before it can launch its generative AI products to the public. It is possible that Apple is taking its time to address these issues carefully and thoroughly, as it has done in the past with other technologies such as Face ID or Apple Pay. However, it is also possible that Apple has missed an opportunity to be a pioneer in the generative AI field, as it has done in the past with other technologies such as smart speakers or cloud computing.
While Apple is working on its generative AI projects internally, its competitors are already offering generative AI.
Google
Google has integrated its large language model LaMDA into various products and services, such as Google Assistant, Google Photos, Google Docs, Google Translate etc. LaMDA can generate natural and conversational responses to any query or prompt, as well as create images and videos based on text descriptions.
Microsoft
Microsoft has acquired OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology and made it available through its Azure cloud platform. ChatGPT can be used by developers and businesses to create chatbots, voice assistants, content generators, and more. Microsoft has also integrated ChatGPT into some of its products such as Outlook, Teams, PowerPoint, and more.
Amazon
Amazon has launched Alexa Conversations, a feature that allows Alexa users to have more natural and engaging conversations with the voice assistant. Alexa Conversations can also leverage Amazon’s vast e-commerce data to provide personalized recommendations and suggestions to users.
These are just some examples of how generative AI is being used by Apple’s competitors.
Robot chatting to human chatbot online
Apple has missed an opportunity to be a leader in the generative AI field by being too slow or too cautious in developing and deploying its own generative AI products.
However, it is highly likely that Apple is waiting for the right moment to surprise everyone with its innovative and unique generative AI features that will set it apart from its competitors.
The curbs are aimed at closing loopholes that became apparent after the U.S. announced export curbs on microchips in October 2022. The restrictions are designed to prevent China’s military from importing advanced semiconductors or equipment.
Nvidia has said in a filing that the new export restrictions will block sales of two high-end artificial intelligence chips it created for the Chinese market – A800 and H800. It said that one of its gaming chips will also be blocked.
Nvidia Corp one month chart – closed at 439.38 17th October 2023
Although the curbs also affect other chip makers, analysts believe Nvidia will be hit the hardest because China accounts for up to 25% of its revenues from data centre chip sales. Nvidia’s shares, which are considered a star stock, fell by as much as 4.7% in the wake of the announcement.
Semiconductor Industry Association
The Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents 99% of the U.S. semiconductor industry by revenue, said in a statement that the new measures are ‘overly broad‘ and ‘risk harmingthe U.S. semiconductor structure without advancing national security as they encourage overseas customers to source elsewhere’.
China reacts
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy also said that it ‘firmly opposes‘ the new restrictions, which also target Iran and Russia and go into effect in 30 days.
Nvidia stock falls after restrictions on AI chip exports from U.S. to China
Two months ago, China retaliated by restricting exports of two materials, gallium and germanium, which are key to the semiconductor industry.
The materials are ‘minor metals‘, meaning that they are not usually found on their own in nature, and are often the by-product of other processes. It’s not only the U.S., Japan and the Netherlands – which is home to key chip equipment maker ASML – have also imposed chip technology export restrictions on China.
Fallout
The constant ‘fall-out’ between the world’s two biggest economies has raised concerns over the rise of so-called ‘resource nationalism‘ – a practice where governments hoard critical materials to exert influence over other countries.
These are the seven largest U.S. listed companies in the technology sector.
Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia, Tesla and Meta Platforms.
According to a report released Monday 2nd October 2023, these tech’ stocks have seen their valuation drop relative to the median stock in the S&P 500, making them more attractive for investors. The report says that the Magnificent 7 trade at 1.3 times their PEG ratio (price-to-earnings-to-long-term growth), versus 1.9 for the median S&P 500 stock.
This is the cheapest valuation in over six years – time to buy yet?
The report also highlights some positive drivers for these stocks, such as their strong sales growth, their ability to beat expectations, and their resilience to rising interest rates.
However, some analysts also warn that the dominance of these stocks could pose a risk for the broader market if something bad happens to tech’.
Meta has announced a series of new chatbots to be used in its Messenger service.
Charming
The chatbots will have ‘personality’ and specialise in certain subjects, like holidays, and cooking. Let’s hope they haven’t been modelled on the company boss then.
It is the latest attempt in a chatbot ‘chat’ race between tech’ companies desperate to produce more accurate and personalised artificial intelligence. The chatbots are still a work in progress with ‘limitations’, said boss Mark Zuckerberg.
During Meta’s first in-person event since before the pandemic, Mr Zuckerberg said that it had been an ‘amazing year for AI’. The company is calling its main chatbot ‘Meta AI’ and can be used in messaging. For example, users can ask Meta AI questions in chat ‘to settle arguments’ or ask other questions.
It’s been touted as fun entertainment and not just question answering.
I wonder if these AI chatbots will be as good as the Metaverse rollout has been so far?
Zuckerberg’s ‘personality’ chatbots
Zuckerberg’s ‘personality’ chatbots are a new feature of Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook. They are artificial intelligence agents that can chat with users on Messenger, using the faces and voices of celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Kendall Jenner, and Tom Brady.
Chatbots with personality. God help us!
They are supposed to have different personalities and interests, such as sports, cooking, or music. Meta claims that they are for entertainment purposes only, and that they have limitations on what they can answer.
Critical
However, some critics have raised ethical and social concerns about these chatbots. They argue that they are creating “counterfeit people” that could deceive or manipulate users, especially young ones. They also question the consent and privacy of the celebrities whose identities are used by the chatbots. They warn that these chatbots could pose dangers to the authenticity and trustworthiness of online communication.
If you are curious about these chatbots, you can try them out on Messenger by searching for their names. But be aware that they are not real people, and that they may not give you accurate or reliable information. They are just products of Meta’s artificial intelligence technology, which is still a work in progress – a bit like the Metaverse.
Chatbot with creepy personality
All this wonderful AI tech and what do we do? Play games with it!
Luddites were a group of workers who protested against the use of machinery that threatened their livelihoods in the early 19th century in Britain. They were not opposed to technology in general, but to the specific machines that were ‘taking away their livelihoods’.
They attacked factories and smashed machines that were replacing their jobs with cheaper and less skilled labour.
BIG tech Luddite comparison – is AI the latest threat?
Some people have compared the Luddites to the modern movements that resist the effects of Big Tech and artificial intelligence (AI) on workers’ lives. They argue that these technologies are creating a new wave of automation that is displacing workers, eroding their rights, and increasing inequality.
They also point out that the Luddites had the support of a majority of English people and eventually led to changes in the law that improved workers’ conditions.
Progress?
However, others have criticized this comparison as inaccurate or misleading. They claim that the Luddites were not successful in stopping technological progress, and that their actions were violent and destructive.
Technology will create new jobs
They also suggest that the Luddite fallacy, which refers to the belief that technological progress causes mass unemployment, has been proven wrong by history. They contend that technology can create new opportunities and benefits for workers, as long as society adapts and regulates it properly.
The question of whether a new modern Luddite rebellion can rise against Big Tech is not a simple one. It depends on how we define Luddites, how we evaluate the impacts of technology, and how we respond to the challenges and opportunities it presents.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT can now ‘see, hear and speak,’ or, at least, understand spoken words, respond with a synthetic voice and process images, the company announced Monday 25th September 2023.
The update to the chatbot OpenAI’s biggest since the introduction of GPT-4, allows users to opt into voice conversations on ChatGPT’s mobile app and choose from five different synthetic voices for the bot to respond with. Users will also be able to share images with ChatGPT and highlight areas of focus or analysis.
Roll out
The changes will be rolling out to paying users in the next two weeks, OpenAI said. ‘While voice functionality will be limited to the iOS and Android apps, the image processing capabilities will be available on all platforms’.
The big feature push comes alongside ever-rising stakes of the artificial intelligence (AI) race among chatbot leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and Anthropic. In an effort to encourage consumers to adopt generative AI into their daily lives, tech giants are racing to launch not only new chatbot apps, but also new features. Google has announced updates to its Bard chatbot, and Microsoft added visual search to Bing.
Investment expansion
Earlier this year, Microsoft’s expanded its investment in OpenAI, an additional $10 billion, it made it the biggest AI investment of the year. In April 2023, the startup reportedly structured a $300 million share sale at a valuation of between $27 billion and $29 billion, with investments from firms such as Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
Concerns
Experts have raised concerns about AI-generated synthetic voices, which in this case could allow users a more natural experience but also enable more convincing deepfakes. Cyber threat investigators and researchers have already begun to explore how deepfakes can be used to penetrate cybersecurity systems.
OpenAI says ChatGPT can now ‘speak,’ listen and process images
OpenAI acknowledged those concerns in its announcement, saying that synthetic voices were ‘created with voice actors we have directly worked with,’ rather than collected from strangers.
The release also provided little information about how OpenAI would use consumer voice inputs, or how the company would secure that data if it were used. OpenAI did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment, and the company’s terms of service say that consumers own their inputs ‘to the extent permitted by applicable law.’
What does ‘ChatGPT’ actually mean?
ChatGPT is an acronym for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer. It is a name of an artificial intelligence model that can generate natural language text based on user input.
It was developed by OpenAI, a research organization dedicated to creating and ensuring the safe and beneficial use of artificial intelligence (AI). ChatGPT can be used for various purposes, such as answering questions, having conversations, and producing creative writing.
E-commerce conglomerate Amazon announced on Monday 25th September 2023 that it will invest up to $4 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) firm Anthropic, a rival to ChatGPT developer OpenAI, and take a minority ownership position in the company.
The move further enforces Amazon’s aggressive AI push as it aims to keep pace with rivals such as Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google.
The two firms reportedly said that they are forming a strategic collaboration to advance generative AI, with the startup selecting Amazon Web Services as its primary cloud provider.
