Kneron, a startup specializing in artificial intelligence chips, unveiled its latest products on Wednesday 4th June 2024.
The company aims to exploit the growing world-wide interest in AI and provide an alternative to industry heavyweights such as Nvidia and AMD.
The company, headquartered in Taiwan and supported by American semiconductor leader Qualcomm and major iPhone assembler Foxconn, introduced the KNEO 330, its second-generation ‘edge GPT’ server.
GPT, short for generative pre-trained transformer, is an AI algorithm trained on vast datasets capable of generating text and images, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT being the world leader right now.
Intel announced its new Xeon 6 processors at the Computex tech conference in Taiwan on Tuesday 4th June 2024.
This announcement coincides with the recent launches of new artificial intelligence chips by rivals Nvidia and AMD on Sunday and Monday 2nd and 3rd June 2024 – as they compete for dominance in the rapidly growing industry.
Intel is making efforts to catch up with Nvidia and AMD, having been relatively absent from the AI surge that led tech giants such as Meta, Microsoft, and Google to purchase a significant number of Nvidia chips.
This comes half a year after Intel’s release of its 5th Gen Intel Xeon processors for data centre workloads and a couple of months following the announcement of the Gaudi 3 processor for AI model training and deployment.
Intel also disclosed that the Gaudi 2 and Gaudi 3 AI accelerators are priced lower than those of its competitors.
Furthermore, Intel shared architectural details of its forthcoming Lunar Lake processors, aimed at expanding the AI PC category. These processors, slated for release in the third quarter, are set to rival Nvidia’s and AMD’s offerings tailored for AI PCs.
While Nvidia and AMD focus on chip design, Intel stands out by both designing and manufacturing its chips. Nevertheless, Intel’s foundry business has faced challenges, with its operating loss widening to $7 billion in 2023 compared to the previous year.
ThousandEyes, Cisco’s internet monitoring division, has introduced a new suite of AI-driven features known as Digital Experience Assurance, or DXA, on Tuesday 4th June 2024.
The firm asserts that this new AI technology will allow customers to not only monitor but also automatically address issues affecting network quality.
Describing itself as the ‘Google Maps’ of the internet, Cisco ThousandEyes offers a comprehensive, end-to-end perspective of every user and application across all networks.
Established 15 years prior, the company has been heavily investing in AI technology in recent years.
ThousandEyes is now implementing significant AI-centric modifications to its platform, which are designed to enhance its clients’ oversight of network quality and robustness.
AMD announced new artificial intelligence chips on Monday 3rd June 2024, aiming to position itself as a leader in the market alongside competitors such as Nvidia and Intel.
“AI is our number one priority and we’re at the beginning of an incredibly exciting time for the industry as AI transforms virtually every business, improves our quality of life, and reshapes every part of the computing market,” chair and CEO Lisa Su reportedly commented during the Computex tech conference.
The company unveiled the Ryzen AI 300 series for next-generation AI laptops. The line is anticipated to compete directly with Intel’s upcoming Lunar Lake and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X. And in partnership with Microsoft, these new AI chips will power laptops equipped with the tech giant’s AI chatbot Copilot.
AMD has unveiled the new Ryzen 9000 series for desktops, inferred as ‘the world’s fastest consumer PC processors’ for gaming and content creation.
The series is due for release in July 2024, following closely on the heels of AMD’s April announcement of new processors capable of running AI workloads – the Ryzen Pro 8040 for laptops and the Ryzen Pro 8000 for desktops.
The UK’s data protection authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), is reportedly making inquiries into a new screenshot feature available from Microsoft.
This feature, known as Recall, is a component of the Copilot+ suite and aims to take encrypted snapshots of a user’s laptop screen at intervals, storing them on the device. The ICO is examining the feature to determine the privacy protections in place.
Recall is designed to enable users to search their computer usage history using natural language, effectively creating a type of photographic memory of their activity. Concerns have been voiced about the feature’s potential to become a ‘privacy nightmare’ due to its ability to capture sensitive information. Microsoft has clarified that Recall is a voluntary feature, giving users the choice over the snapshots it collects. The data is kept on the local device and is inaccessible to Microsoft or others without access to the device.
The ICO’s investigation aims to ensure that companies thoroughly evaluate and address any risks to individual rights and freedoms prior to launching new technologies. Microsoft has reiterated its dedication to privacy and security, noting that these principles were integral to the development of Recall. The company has also indicated that users can specify the snapshots collected by Recall and that Microsoft Edge’s private browsing mode is not included.
Awareness of software features and privacy settings is crucial for users, particularly regarding personal data handling. The ICO’s inquiries represent a move towards addressing privacy concerns and safeguarding user data.
Nvidia’s shares surpassed $1,000 for the first time during extended trading on Wednesday 22nd May 2024, following the chip manufacturers report of fiscal first-quarter (Q1) earnings that exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Investors have been using Nvidia’s performance as a barometer for the AI industry’s growth, which has captivated the market over the past year. The robust results indicate that the demand for Nvidia’s AI chips continues to be strong. However, there may be an argument that it is time to take some profits from these massive gains. Can it continue its meteoric climb?
It was also announced that revenues from the upcoming next-generation AI chip, ‘Blackwell‘, are expected later in the year.
In extended trading, the stock increased by around 7%. Additionally, Nvidia announced a 10-for-1 stock split. Given the post-market activity, the shares are on track to reach a new high on Thursday 23rd May 2024.
Nvidia anticipates sales of $28 billion for the current quarter, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations of $26.61 billion sales, as reported – (Nvidia financial reports)
The company declared a net income of $14.88 billion, or $5.98 per share, a significant increase from $2.04 billion, or 82 cents per share, in the same period last year. (Nvidia financial reports)
Over the past year, Nvidia’s sales have surged, driven by purchases from tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and OpenAI, which have invested billions in Nvidia’s GPUs. These high-end, expensive chips are essential for the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
Nvidia’s primary business segment, data center sales, encompasses AI chips and other necessary components for operating large AI servers.
The revenue for Nvidia’s data centre sector soared over 400% compared to the previous year. This growth was attributed to the delivery of the company’s ‘Hopper’ graphics processors (GPU’s), including the H100 GPU.
It was also reported that Meta’s Lama 3, their newest large language model utilizing 24,000 H100 GPUs, as a notable income stream this quarter.
Microsoft is promoting new computers equipped with advanced chips, engineered to operate the new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities embedded in the Windows operating system.
On Monday 20th May 2024, Microsoft unveiled a Surface Laptop and a Surface Pro tablet, both featuring a Qualcomm chip capable of executing AI tasks both online and offline.
The new Microsoft Copilot+ PCs feature chips designed by ARM and are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips, which are also based on ARM architecture. These Snapdragon-powered PCs represent the initial series of devices under the Copilot+ PC brand, introducing over 20 models from various manufacturers, such as Acer.
The partnership between Microsoft, Qualcomm, and PC manufacturers is focused on providing superior processing and quick response times, with these ARM-based chips being integral to the new AI designs.
In addition, manufacturers like Lenovo, Dell, HP, Asus, Acer, and Samsung are launching AI-ready PCs featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus processors. These processors offer extended battery life and compatibility with Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbot.
Microsoft’s powerful AI vision – some tech information
Windows PCs designed for AI, known as Copilot+ PCs, are fitted with new, powerful chips capable of an astounding 40+ TOPS, ensuring all-day battery life and access to cutting-edge AI models.
Promoted as the fastest and most intelligent Windows PCs ever created, they boast features like Recall, Cocreator, and Live Captions, which can translate audio from over 40 languages into English.
These devices include sleek, lightweight, and elegantly designed models from Microsoft Surface and OEM partners such as Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung. Pre-orders are now open, with availability starting on June 18 and prices reportedly beginning at $999. This represents a major shift in the Windows platform, placing AI at the forefront of PC architecture.
This progress is a big part of Microsoft’s wider initiative to drive AI innovation onto devices, enhancing the AI capabilities that are already present in the cloud through Copilot.
This is a massive development in the deployment of AI to the masses.
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) has experienced remarkable growth over the past decade.
Historical stock price trends
As of 10th May 2024, NVIDIA’s closing stock price stood at: $898.78
As of 10th May 2024, NVIDIA’s closing stock price stood at: $898.78
NVIDIA’s stock reached an all-time high of $950.02 on 25th March 2024. The 52-week high stands at $974.00, which is 9.7% higher than the current share price. Conversely, the 52-week low was $280.46, which is considerably below the current price.
Annual percentage changes
In 2024, the average stock price reached $763.29, marking a year-to-date rise of 79.30%.
In 2023, NVIDIA’s stock price experienced a remarkable surge of 239.02%.
Conversely, in 2022, the stock price witnessed a decline of 50.27%.
Throughout the past decade, the stock has undergone considerable volatility, exhibiting both notable gains and significant losses.
Focus
NVIDIA began as a pioneer in PC graphics and has since expanded its focus to artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Its GPUs (graphics processing units) are pivotal in AI, high-performance computing (HPC), gaming, and virtual reality (VR) platforms.
The company’s parallel processing capabilities, powered by thousands of computing cores, are vital for executing deep learning algorithms. Additionally, NVIDIA is active in emerging markets such as robotics and autonomous vehicles.
Market position
NVIDIA holds a dominant position in the Data Centre, professional visualization, and gaming markets. Its success is bolstered by strategic partnerships with leading cloud service providers and server vendors.
Financial performance
NVIDIA’s revenue and profit have seen substantial growth over time. Its emphasis on AI and new technologies suggests a strong potential for further expansion. In summary, despite NVIDIA’s stock achieving impressive gains, it is still influenced by market trends and technological changes.
Its peak status hinges on multiple elements such as industry movements, competitive landscape, and upcoming innovations. Investors are advised to meticulously assess these factors when determining the stock’s future prospects.
Considering a long-term investment yet expecting a downturn, it might be prudent to realise some profits now, given the enormous 20,000% surge in stock value.
Arm, with a 90% holding by SoftBank, is reportedly set to establish an AI chip unit with the goal of developing a prototype by spring 2025.
This initiative is aimed at catching up with the booming AI market, currently dominated by Nvidia.
Arm, alongside competitors such as AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, is accelerating efforts to gain position in the AI sector.
SoftBank is negotiating with contract manufacturers, including Taiwan’s TSMC, to produce the AI chips. Mass production is expected to commence in autumn 2025.
Arm’s shares have surged by nearly 45% this year, bringing its market capitalization to over $113 billion.
The chip designer based in the U.K., plans to create an AI chip unit to develop a prototype by spring 2025.
Discussions are reportedly ongoing with contract manufacturers like Taiwan’s TSMC for the production of the AI chips. It was reported that production is anticipated to start in fall 2025.
Arm is responsible for designing the core architecture for these chips. The company licences its designs to companies including Qualcomm and Nvidia and earning royalty fees from each sale. The company asserts that 99% of high-end smartphones utilize Arm technology.
Ambition
Established by Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, SoftBank is heavily investing in AI. The company has new plans to allocate $960 million by the following year to enhance its generative AI computing capabilities. In June 2023, Son expressed SoftBank’s ambition to occupy a leading role in the AI revolution.
Reportedly, SoftBank aims to establish AI data centres equipped with proprietary chips throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East by 2026.
For the fiscal year concluding in March 2024, SoftBank recorded a 7.24 billion Japanese Yen ($4.6 billion) profit in its Vision Fund.
This was the first profitable year for the principal tech investment division since 2021.
UK chip designer Arm’s shares fell on Thursday 9th May 2024, subdued by revenue forecasts despite a strong sales quarter fueled by demand for AI applications.
Arm announced a 47% increase in fiscal Q4 revenue to $928 million on Wednesday.
This surge was propelled by its licensing business, which saw a 60% increase to $414 million for the quarter, attributed to several high-value licencing deals for AI chips.
Additionally, Arm’s royalty revenues rose 37% to $514 million year-over-year, thanks to the growing adoption of its new Armv9-based chips, which offer higher margins.
However, Arm’s revenue projection for 2025, estimated between $3.8 billion and $4.1 billion, did not meet investor expectations, with analysts anticipating $3.99 billion for the year.
What is Arm?
Contrary to chipmakers like Nvidia, which manufacture and market their own products, Arm creates the ‘architectures’ that form the foundation of chips.
These designs are then licenced to various chip manufacturers, including Qualcomm and Nvidia, with Arm earning royalties on each unit sold.
Originally founded in Cambridge, England, in 1990, Arm was an independent company listed in London until 2016, when it was acquired by Japanese tech investor SoftBank for $32 billion.
In September 2023, SoftBank listed Arm on the Nasdaq. Since its initial public offering, Arm’s share value has more than doubled, driven by the explosive demand for chips that power advanced generative AI applications, such as ChatGPT.
But this recent revenue forecast had a negative effect on its share price
Arm Holdings one year chart to 9th May 2024
The recent revenue forecast had a negative effect on its share price
Microsoft’s Q3 results surpassed estimates for both revenue and earnings.
But the revenue forecast for Q4 was less than anticipated, with the company reportedly projecting $64 billion, which is below the consensus of $64.5 billion – (only just).
Revenue: $61.86 vs. $60.80 billion expected
Earnings per share: $2.94 vs. $2.82 expected
Additionally, Microsoft is reportedly boosting its capital expenditures to acquire Nvidia graphics processing units, which are essential for training and operating artificial intelligence (AI) models.
Meta’s complimentary artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, known as Meta AI, is being introduced across its social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger.
The assistant is reportedly designed to respond to queries, craft animations, and produce ‘high-quality’ images, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a recent video posting.
Zuckerberg also noted that the company has integrated ‘real-time knowledge’ from Google and Microsoft’s Bing to enhance the assistant’s responses.
The development of MetaAI is based on the company’s most advanced large language model, Meta Llama 3, which was unveiled on the same day – Thursday 18th April 2024.
Nvidia, manufacturer of one of the most advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), has significantly benefited from the artificial intelligence (AI) surge due to the high demand for its microchips.
The company’s shares have fallen 10% from their recent all-time high, which was over $950. On Tuesday, 9th April 2024, the stock closed at $853.54, but it saw a slight recovery on Wednesday 10th April 2024, to $870.39.
Nvidia Corporation share price off recent all time high
Nvidia Corporation share price off recent all time high
On Tuesday, 9th April 2024, Intel, a competitor in the chipmaking industry, introduced a new AI chip named Gaudi 3. This chip is designed to drive large language models and stands as a contender against Nvidia’s most sophisticated chips.
U.S. inflation data coming in higher than expected along with a climb in treasuries has led to doubts of a Fed rate cut anytime soon.
These concerns combined together, pushed Nvidia and some other tech stocks lower.
The Magnificent Seven, or MAMA ANT, is a term coined by Bank of America to describe the seven most dominant tech companies in the world
The Seven are: Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, and Alphabet. These companies have not only led the tech sector in terms of innovation, growth, and profitability, but have also become some of the most valuable entities in the world by market capitalization.
Valuation at $15 trillion
Market capitalization, or market cap, is the total value of all the shares of a company that are traded on the stock market. It reflects the market’s perception of the company’s future prospects and earnings potential.
As of January 2023, the Magnificent Seven had a combined market cap of about $15 trillion, which was more than the gross domestic product (GDP) of almost every country in the world, except for the United States, China and Japan (just).
Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven have achieved such a remarkable feat by leveraging their core competencies in various fields of technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, social media, e-commerce, gaming, electric vehicles, and online advertising. They have also diversified their revenue streams by acquiring or developing new products and services, such as Activision Blizzard, AWS, Oculus, iPhone, GeForce, SpaceX, and YouTube. They have also benefited from the increased demand for digital solutions amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which accelerated the adoption of online platforms, remote work, and entertainment.
Challenges
However, the Magnificent Seven also face some challenges and risks that could threaten their dominance and valuation. These include increasing competition from other tech companies, especially from China, such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, and Huawei.
They also face regulatory scrutiny and pressure from governments and consumers over issues such as antitrust, privacy, taxation, content moderation, and environmental impact. Furthermore, they may encounter technical difficulties, security breaches, or ethical dilemmas that could damage their reputation and customer trust.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Magnificent Seven are the most powerful and influential tech companies in the world, and their market cap surpasses that of almost every country in the world.
List of 10 countries by stock market capitalization
List of 10 countries by stock market capitalisation
The meteoric rise in the profits and market capitalisations of the Magnificent 7 U.S. tech giants: Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla – outstrip those of all listed companies in almost every G20 country. Of the non-U.S. G20 countries, only China and Japan (and the latter, only just) have greater profits when their listed companies are combined.
They have achieved this by exploiting their competitive advantages in various domains of technology and expanding their offerings and markets. However, they also need to overcome some challenges and risks that could hamper their growth and value in the future.
A forced size reduction to stop the monopolising of market share could help tame these beasts too and open up fairer competition.
Should we worry?
Basically, yes, we should be concerned about the size and dominance of these companies.
This level of wealth and power concentrated in just a handful of companies has led some analysts to voice concerns over related risks in the U.S. and global stock markets.
Economists and stock market analysts have cautioned that the U.S. stock market is rivalling 2000 and 1929 in terms of being at its most concentrated in history.
U.S. microchip giant Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is investing in AI PCs to take on the likes of Nvidia and Intel and Arm as the AI race gains momentum.
As the AI market expands so too will AI powered personal computer (PC). These are personal computers embedded with processors specifically designed to perform AI functions such as real-time language translation. Intel has already announced its AI powered chip for the PC.
Tech research firm Canalys in a December report said the boom in generative AI is expected to boost PC sales as consumers are seeking devices with AI features, predicting that 60% of the PCs shipped in 2027 will be AI-capable.
AI tech interest explodes
An explosion of interest in AI was sparked by the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 as the chatbot went viral for its ability to generate human-like responses to users’ prompts.
Microsoft was quick to adopt the Technolgy and incorporate AI into its Bing search engine. Other companies such as Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Arm, Meta, Tesla and Apple are all heavily involved in AI development too.
Nasdaq 100 futures declined around 0.75%. S&P 500 futures were also down around 0.4%
In after-hours trading, shares of Alphabet dropped more than 5%, while Microsoft slipped 2% after the tech giants, part of the Magnificent Seven posted quarterly earnings. However, both companies achieved on both top and bottom lines. However, advertising revenue for Alphabet came short of analysts’ expectations.
Tech powerhouse
The tech sector powered the market rally from 2023 into 2024 and is now trading at a relatively high valuation of nearly 29 times its 2024 earnings, according to recent figures. Investors will need to see earnings expansion in order for the tech companies to be able to maintain their elevated levels.
Results were good but not good enough according to Wall Street as stocks were priced for perfection and that wasn’t delivered.
Even though the results were better-than-expected, investors are likely selling because they just want to take some money off the table.
Absolute perfection comes at a price on Wall Street.
Leaders at some of the world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies are expecting a form of AI on a par with, or even exceeding human intelligence to arrive sometime in the near future. But what it will eventually look like and how it will be applied are unknown.
Artificial General Intelligence or AGI is coming soon
Leaders from OpenAI, Microsoft and Google’s DeepMind, and many other major tech companies debated the risks and opportunities presented by AI at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2024.
AI has become the talk of ‘town’ around the world through 2023, mainly due to the success of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s popular generative AI chatbot, brought to us by Microsoft. Generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, are powered large language models, algorithms trained on vast quantities of data, but are not AGI.
Executives at some of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies see ‘artificial general intelligence,’ or AGI, a hypothesized form of AI with intelligence on a par or better than humans. This prospect is both exciting and worrying.
Concern
AI and AGI have created concern among governments, corporations and public consultation groups worldwide, owing to the risks around the lack of transparency of AI systems; social manipulation through computer algorithms; job losses due to increased automation; surveillance; and data privacy and worse… the lack of human control!
Extinction event possible
Many industry leaders in technology have warned that AI could lead to an ‘extinction-level’ event where machines become so powerful they get out of control and wipe out humanity.
A new powerful AI is coming but the techies have no clue as to what it will look like
Several prominent technology leaders, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak for example, have called for a pause in AI development, stating that a moratorium would be beneficial in allowing society to catch up.
Turing test
AI chatbots like ChatGPT have passed the Turing test, a test called the ‘imitation game,’ which was developed by British computer scientist Alan Turing to determine whether someone is communicating with a machine and a human. The one big area where AI is lacking is common sense.
It has been reported on many occasions, that the tech world is taking steps to ensure that the AI race doesn’t lead to a ‘Hiroshima moment.‘
The Magnificent Seven is a term coined to describe the seven most valuable and popularly owned tech companies in the U.S. stock market.
It was also a 1960’s movie…
The Seven
Apple (AAPL)
The world’s largest software company, known for its iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and other devices, as well as its services such as iCloud, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and App Store.
Microsoft (MSFT)
The world’s largest software company, known for its Windows operating system, Azure cloud services, LinkedIn social media platform, Office professional software suite, and Xbox gaming brand.
Alphabet (GOOGL)
The parent company of Google, the world’s leading search engine, as well as other businesses such as YouTube, Google Cloud, Google Maps, Google Ads, and Waymo.
Amazon (AMZN)
The world’s largest online retailer, as well as a leading provider of cloud computing services through Amazon Web Services (AWS), and a major player in digital entertainment through Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music, and Kindle.
Meta Platforms (META)
The former Facebook, the world’s largest social media network, as well as the owner of other popular platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Oculus.
Nvidia (NVDA)
The world’s leading manufacturer of graphics processing units (GPUs), which are used for gaming, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cryptocurrency mining, as well as other products such as Nvidia Shield, GeForce Now, and Omniverse.
Tesla (TSLA)
The world’s most valuable automaker, known for its electric vehicles, battery products, solar panels, and self-driving technology, as well as its visionary founder and CEO, Elon Musk.
Market dominance
These seven companies are not only dominant in their respective fields, but also at the forefront of innovation and growth in the tech sector. They collectively make up some 30% of the S&P 500 index and more than half of the Nasdaq 100 index.
They have also delivered impressive returns for investors over the past five years, with Nvidia and Tesla leading the pack with more than 800% gains. The Magnificent Seven are often compared to the FAANG stocks, which include four of the seven companies, but exclude Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla, and include Netflix instead.
Some analysts suggest that the Magnificent Seven capture the current state and future potential of the tech industry. But is it now time to rotate out of tech into other areas that have been neglected. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the bull market charge on but with other ‘less’ loved companies leading the way.
It has been calculated that the combined market cap value of these seven companies is some $9 trillion.
U.S. news organisation the New York Times is suing ChatGPT-owner OpenAI over claims its copyright was infringed to train the system.
The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for using its news stories to train chatbots without permission or compensation. The lawsuit claims that the defendants have infringed on the paper’s intellectual property rights and seek to ‘free-ride’ on its investment in journalism.
The lawsuit also alleges that the chatbots pose a threat to the jobs of journalists and the quality of news reporting. The New York Times is seeking damages and an injunction to stop the defendants from using its content. The lawsuit, which also names Microsoft as a defendant, says the firms should be held responsible for ‘billions of dollars’ in damages.
Permission
ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) ‘learn’ by analysing a massive amount of data often sourced online. The lawsuit claims ‘millions’ of articles published by the New York Times were used without its permission to make ChatGPT smarter, and claims the tool is now competing with the newspaper as a trustworthy information source.
It alleges that when asked about current events, ChatGPT will sometimes generate excerpts ‘verbatim’ from New York Times articles, which cannot be accessed without paying for a subscription.
Subscription
According to the lawsuit, this means readers can get New York Times content without paying for it – meaning it is losing out on subscription revenue as well as advertising clicks from people visiting the website.
It also gave the example of the Bing search engine – which has some features powered by ChatGPT – producing results taken from a New York Times-owned website, without linking to the article or including referral links it uses to generate income.
In 1993, amidst the hustle and bustle of family life and work commitments, I distinctly recall contemplating that should I have any disposable income, I would invest it in these particular stocks.
I worked in tech running my own business and Microsoft was one of the businesses I wondered about, Apple was another and later Amazon too.
I never bought them, but had I have done, this is what would have happened.
Microsoft
Microsoft in 1993 was trading at around $2.35 per share. Today the company’s share price is trading at around $374.00 per share. So, had I bought $1,000 (adjusting for splits and dividends), my $1000 would be worth about $160,000 now. Had I bought $10,000 – I would have made just over $1 million.
Amazon
Had I bought Amazon a little later in 1997 and held it, a $1000 investment would now be worth a staggering $1.7 million (adjusting for splits and dividends). After the IPO and subsequent stock splits Amazon shares were trading at just 7 cents each according to Amazon’s website.
Apple
And as for Apple – a stock purchase in 1993 of $1000 would now be worth approximately $900,000 (not allowing for stock splits and dividends). Apple was trading at 22 cents per share in 1993.
The question is, if I had made the stock purchases – would I still be holding them long-term?
Intel’s new chip will go head-to-head with Nvidia and AMD
Intel unveiled new computer microchips on Thursday 14th December 2023, including Gaudi3, a chip for generative AI software.
Intel also announced Core Ultra chips, designed for Windows laptops and PCs, and new fifth-generation Xeon server chips. Intel’s server and PC processors include specialized AI parts called NPUs that can be used to run AI programs faster.
AI race
AI models, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, run on Nvidia GPUs in the cloud. It’s one reason Nvidia stock has been up nearly 230% year to date while Intel shares have risen 68%. And it’s why companies like AMD and, now Intel, have announced chips that they hope will attract AI companies away from Nvidia’s dominant position in the market.
Gaudi3 will compete with Nvidia’s H100, the main choice among companies that build huge factories of the chips to power AI applications, and AMD’s forthcoming MI300X, when it starts shipping to customers in 2024.
CEO Gelsinger
‘We’ve been seeing the excitement with generative AI, the star of the show for 2023,’ Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger reportedly said at a launch event in New York where he announced Gaudi3 along other chips focused on AI applications.
Intel upping the anti with its Gaudi AI chip. The AI PC to become the new AI start of 2024 and beyond!
‘We think the AI PC will be the star of the show for the upcoming year,’ Gelsinger added. And that’s where Intel’s new Core Ultra processors, also announced on Thursday, will come into play.
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?
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.
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 has confirmed problems with accessing its Xbox gaming platform and Teams messaging app in the UK and Europe have now been resolved.
More than 1500 people in the UK reported issues with Xbox Live, according to the outage tracker Downdetector.A similar number also said there were problems with the Teams app.
It left some who had purchased the latest game in the Call of Duty series unable to play. But Microsoft said this had since been fixed.
An artificial increase in synthetic network traffic – whatever that is
On X, Microsoft said the services were impacted by ‘an artificial increase in synthetic network traffic’. Could someone please explain to me what this actually means…? Microsoft went on to say: ‘We’ve made configuration changes to remediate impact and after monitoring the service, we’ve confirmed the issue is now resolved.’ Microsoft previously said it had ‘identified some anomalies within our network infrastructure’. Really, what do these explanations actually explain?
Problem unique to UK & Europe
The problem was unique to customers in the UK and Germany, Microsoft had said earlier on Friday, but it was also reported, on social media, that people in Sweden, Finland and Poland had been unable to access services.
There were reports from both of these countries on Downdetector, as well as other European countries.
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.
