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?
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…
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.
Masayoshi Son says AI to surpass human intelligence and that SoftBank will ‘rule the world’. Oh dear…!
Main points in brief
Masayoshi Son reportedly said AI is capable of helping solve the world’s biggest problems and could potentially surpass the intelligence of humans.
He said he was a ‘big believer’ in AI and that Arm, a chip design company owned by Softbank, was a ‘core’ beneficiary of the AI revolution.
He said AI would supercharge human ability and that Softbank would ‘rule the world’ and win the latest generative-AI race thanks to its heavy investment in startups and its majority stake in Arm.
He also acknowledged that AI posed some threats to humanity if mishandled and that society should regulate it to protect humankind.
Masayoshi Son and SoftBank
The 66-year-old founded SoftBank, which still controls about 90% of Arm Holdings after the IPO, back in 1981 after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley. Forbes estimates his net worth at more than $24 billion, making him the world’s 69th richest person.
Son made his early reputation as an investor in Japan’s mobile phone industry, and went on to become one of the first backers of Yahoo as well as Alibaba. Son continues to serve as the chairman of Arm’s board of directors.
AI does pose some threats to humanity if mishandled, Son said, likening its potential misuse to the dangers of speeding, or drinking alcohol while driving a car. But, more positively, AI can also help solve key world problems like diseases or help mitigate or recover from natural disasters, he reportedly said.
‘AI, society should regulate to protect humankind’, Son said. ‘However, it has more merit than the demerits. So, I think I’m a believer. I’m optimistic that AI is going to solve the issues that mankind couldn’t solve in the past‘.
The Magnificent Seven is a term to describe seven tech’ stocks that have been surging in 2023.
Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), the social media giant that also owns Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus.
Apple, the maker of the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and other popular devices and services including cloud and Apple TV streaming service.
Amazon, the e-commerce leader that also operates AWS, Prime Video, Alexa, and Whole Foods.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, YouTube, Gmail, Google Cloud, and Waymo.
Microsoft, the software company that owns Windows, Office, Azure, LinkedIn, Xbox, and Teams.
Nvidia, the semiconductor company that produces graphics cards, gaming devices, data center solutions, and AI platforms.
Tesla, the electric vehicle maker that also develops solar panels, batteries, and autonomous driving technology.
Dominant
These seven stocks are considered to be dominant in their respective fields and have strong growth prospects driven by innovation and artificial intelligence (AI).
They have outperformed the broader market and attracted many investors who are looking for exposure to the tech’ sector. Some analysts believe that these stocks will continue to lead the market in the future, while others caution that they may face regulatory challenges, competition, or valuation issues.
Approximate combined market cap of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks
The approximate combined market cap value of the Magnificent Seven as of September 2023 is approximately $11.8 trillion.
Apple: $2.5 trillion
Microsoft: $2.3 trillion
Alphabet: $1.9 trillion
Amazon: $1.7 trillion
Nvidia: $0.8 trillion
Meta Platforms: $0.9 trillion
Tesla: $0.7 trillion
Note that these values will change over time as the stock prices fluctuate.
A way to trade the tech sector is through funds
There are many funds that can trade tech stocks, depending on your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and preferences.
Technology mutual funds: These are funds that invest in a diversified portfolio of technology companies across different industries, such as software, hardware, internet, cloud, biotech, and more. Technology mutual funds can offer exposure to the growth potential of the tech sector, as well as reduce the volatility and risk of investing in individual stocks.
Some examples of technology mutual funds are Fidelity Select Technology Portfolio (FSELX), Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund (CGTYX), and Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth Index Fund (SCHG).
Which tech fund to invest in?
Technology exchange-traded funds (ETFs): These are funds that track an index of technology stocks and trade on an exchange like a stock. Technology ETFs can offer low-cost and convenient access to the tech sector, as well as allow investors to choose from different themes, such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and more.
Some examples of technology ETFs are Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK), and VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH).
Technology index funds: These are funds that replicate the performance of a specific technology index, such as the Nasdaq 100, the S&P 500 Information Technology Index, or the Morningstar U.S. Technology Index. Technology index funds can offer broad and passive exposure to the tech sector, as well as low fees and high tax efficiency.
Some examples of technology index funds are Fidelity NASDAQ Composite Index Fund (FNCMX), Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund Admiral Shares (VITAX), and iShares Morningstar U.S. Technology ETF (IYW).
NOTE: These are not recommendations. Investments may go up or down. Your money is at risk!
Baidu also announced that more than 6 million users have used an AI powered tool that sits inside its Google drive-like cloud product.
At the 4th September event, Baidu also demonstrated ‘displayed generative’ AI-based products that could assist with traffic management, financial research and coal mine logistics.
ChatGPT, from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, is not officially available in China, where Google and Facebook are blocked.
10 new AI products announced by Baidu
Chinese tech giant Baidu announced more than 10 new AI-based applications on 4th September 2023, just days after its ChatGPT-like Ernie bot was released for public use.
Among the products revealed was a generative AI-integrated word processing app called WPS AI, created by Shanghai-listed Kingsoft Office. It was reported the company built the tool using the AI model on which Baidu’s Ernie bot is based, as well as Baidu’s ‘Qianfan’ cloud platform for AI models.
‘This AI malarchy is progressing at quite a rate’.
Nearly 10,000 businesses are actively using Baidu’s Qianfan cloud platform each month, the company claimed.
AI assistant
Baidu also announced that more than 6 million users have used an AI-powered tool that sits inside its Google drive-like cloud product. The AI assistant can search documents, summarize and translate text and create content, the company claimed.
It wasn’t immediately clear to what extent those products were available for public use.
On 31st August 2023, Baidu released its Ernie bot to the public, signaling government approval of the AI-powered chatbot. Other Chinese companies also released similar AI products around the same time.
Chip design firm Arm on 5th September 2023 submitted an updated filing for its upcoming initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, setting a price range between $47 and $51. Only 9.4% of Arm’s shares will be freely traded on the NYSE.
Arm was previously listed in London and New York, before SoftBank acquired it for $32 billion in 2016.
Chip design firm Arm on Tuesday is looking to acquire as much as $4.87 billion in its upcoming initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, according to the new filing.
The deal could value the company at as much as $52 billion
As a British company, Arm qualifies as a foreign private issuer in the U.S. and its shares will count as American depositary shares, or ADS’s. It is reported that the company will list some 95.5 million ADS’s at a price range of between $47 and $51. At the upper end of that range it is estimated that Arm will likely raise up to $4.87 billion. At the lower end, the IPO would fetch $4.49 billion of fresh capital for Arm. It could do even better.
Institutional funds
When the company floats in New York, it will look to enjoy a very deep pool of professional institutional funds. Arm seeks to ramp up its investments in research and development, particularly as it pursues growth in the artificial intelligence (AI) space with some of its newer chips. The company recently released new chips specifically targeted at AI and machine learning use cases.
Arm seeks up to $52 billion valuation in U.S. IPO
Upper end
At the upper end of the pricing range, Arm would also touch a total valuation of $52 billion or more. Only 9.4% of Arm’s shares will be freely traded on the New York Stock Exchange, with SoftBank expected to own roughly 90.6% of the company’s outstanding shares after the completion of the IPO.
Arm’s listing is set to be the biggest technology IPO of the year. Investors are hoping that the listing could breathe new life into an IPO market that has been ‘slack’ since 2022.
250 billion chips globally
Arm says its energy-efficient processor designs and software platforms are integrated into more than 250 billion chips globally, into products ranging from sensors and smartphones to supercomputers.
The company estimates it enjoys approximately 48.9% share of the market for semiconductor design. Other players, such as Intel and AMD, have raced to catch up on designing their own chip architectures, but have struggled so far.
U.K. misses out… again
The U.K. government had originally hoped Arm would list on the London Stock Exchange, but the company instead dealt a major blow to Britain’s ambitions to become the leading global tech hub by opting for New York. The U.S. financial center has a deep institutional investor base and analysts who have a close understanding of the technology sector.
BIG interest
Chip design firm Arm said in a Tuesday filing that Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Nvidia and other technology companies are interested in buying up to $735 million in its shares as it seeks to go public on Nasdaq.
The investments might not happen, but the fact that these companies are considering them underlines the importance of Arm, whose designs are used for processors in data center servers, consumer devices and industrial products.
Arm chip – some 250 billion chips globally
Chip makers Intel, Samsung and TSMC are interested in investing alongside the three trillion-dollar technology companies, along with AMD and MediaTek, which make chip designs based on Arm architectures. Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys, which make electronic design automation software for processor development, have also expressed interest, according to a revised prospectus for Arm’s shares sale. This IPO could easily be the biggest of the 2023!
As part of the deal, Arm could wind up with a $52 billion market capitalization and almost $5 billion in new cash.
This is likely to be the biggest IPO of 2023
It is estimated that there will be about 19 billion devices using the Arm processor in the world by the end of 2023.
Arm target
The market share of Arm across different technology markets worldwide, which was 90% for mobile application processors, 34% for embedded computing, and 5% for data center and cloud in 2019.
Arm has a target of increasing its market share to more than 90%, 50%, and 25% respectively by 2028.
Ha Jiang, is a virtual online idol, and only exists online.
Ha Jiang signed a record deal with Whet Records, Warner Music Group’s pan-Asian dance label in China, in 2021. Ha Jiang is the first virtual idol to conduct a record deal with a major label. The virtual idol uses AI technology to create music and has become an online sensation in Asia.
Ha Jiang online music avatar. She is a virtual artist who uses artificial intelligence to create music
Virtual AI artist
Ha Jiang is a virtual artist who uses artificial intelligence to create music. She is the first virtual idol to sign a record deal with a major label, Whet Records, which is Warner Music Group’s pan-Asian dance label in China. My understanding is that the music was composed by humans, so not entirely AI generated then.
Would this also work in west – is it time to be concerned?
She already has more than 100,000 followers in China and is known for her sense of style and fashion. She is also a social influencer who has been hired by the city of Shanghai to promote safe driving. Ha Jiang is not a real person, but a computer-generated avatar who only exists online. She is part of a growing phenomenon of virtual idols in Asia, especially among Gen-Z fans.
Endel,is a sound startup company that uses artificial intelligence to create personalized audio tracks. Endel was the first to sign a record deal with Warner Music Group in 2019 to release 20 albums of ambient music.
