AI @ Noon | August 29

China’s tech giants splash out on AI despite US restrictions: Capital spending doubles as Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu buy processors and infrastructure behind the training of large language models. FT

The world’s call center capital is gripped by AI fever — and fear: The experiences of staff in the Philippines’ outsourcing industry are a preview of the challenges and choices coming soon to white-collar workers around the globe. Bloomberg

Elon Musk backs California bill to regulate AI: By backing the legislation, the bombastic tech billionaire breaks with some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful players. Politico

Why Texas Republicans are souring on crypto: Playing the state’s energy market has become more profitable than mining bitcoin. Economist

Is that voice real or AI? This startup says it can tell: Bloomberg reports Pindrop Security works with banks to identify spam calls — it’s coming to social media next. 

AP: Police officers are starting to use AI chatbots to write crime reports. Will they hold up in court?

Amazon aims to launch delayed AI Alexa subscription in October: WP reports the revamp of the voice assistant, which documents say will include a daily AI-generated news summary, would come just weeks before the US presidential election.

What all parents can learn from the troubled AI in Los Angeles schools: An education expert says schools fail to ask essential questions about AI for children: Does it work? And is it better than other alternatives? WP

AI doomers had their big moment: Did they waste it? Ross Andersen

The AI guys are driving themselves mad John Herrman

How would we even know if AI went rogue? An early warning system could help fix the dangerous information gap between Big Tech and the US. Vox

When AI’s outpost is a threat to AI itself: As AI-generated data becomes harder to detect, it’s increasingly likely to be ingested by future AI, leading to worse results. TheUpshot

'It looks like cat food': The grey goop dreamed up by artificial intelligence BBC

Nvidia rally mints millionaires too busy to bask in new wealth: Many of the chipmaker’s employees have grown rich but still face a stress-filled work life. Bloomberg

Chip challengers try to break Nvidia’s grip on AI market: FT reports companies such as Cerebras, d-Matrix and Groq are focusing on cheaper, more specialised products.

Hungry for clean energy, Facebook looks to a new type of geothermal: As electricity demand from data centers soars, Meta and Google are looking at a novel solution: harnessing clean heat far below Earth’s surface. NYT

Will AI ruin the planet or save the planet? It’s a notorious energy hog. But artificial intelligence can also foster innovation and discovery, and it could speed the global transition to cleaner power. NYT

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | August 28

China’s tech giants splash out on AI despite US restrictions: Capital spending doubles as Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu buy processors and infrastructure behind the training of large language models. FT

The world’s call center capital is gripped by AI fever — and fear: The experiences of staff in the Philippines’ outsourcing industry are a preview of the challenges and choices coming soon to white-collar workers around the globe. Bloomberg

Elon Musk backs California bill to regulate AI: By backing the legislation, the bombastic tech billionaire breaks with some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful players. Politico

Why Texas Republicans are souring on crypto: Playing the state’s energy market has become more profitable than mining bitcoin. Economist

Is that voice real or AI? This startup says it can tell: Bloomberg reports Pindrop Security works with banks to identify spam calls — it’s coming to social media next. 

AP: Police officers are starting to use AI chatbots to write crime reports. Will they hold up in court?

Amazon aims to launch delayed AI Alexa subscription in October: WP reports the revamp of the voice assistant, which documents say will include a daily AI-generated news summary, would come just weeks before the US presidential election.

What all parents can learn from the troubled AI in Los Angeles schools: An education expert says schools fail to ask essential questions about AI for children: Does it work? And is it better than other alternatives? WP

AI doomers had their big moment: Did they waste it? Ross Andersen

The AI guys are driving themselves mad John Herrman

How would we even know if AI went rogue? An early warning system could help fix the dangerous information gap between Big Tech and the US. Vox

When AI’s outpost is a threat to AI itself: As AI-generated data becomes harder to detect, it’s increasingly likely to be ingested by future AI, leading to worse results. TheUpshot

'It looks like cat food': The grey goop dreamed up by artificial intelligence BBC

Nvidia rally mints millionaires too busy to bask in new wealth: Many of the chipmaker’s employees have grown rich but still face a stress-filled work life. Bloomberg

Chip challengers try to break Nvidia’s grip on AI market: FT reports companies such as Cerebras, d-Matrix and Groq are focusing on cheaper, more specialised products.

Hungry for clean energy, Facebook looks to a new type of geothermal: As electricity demand from data centers soars, Meta and Google are looking at a novel solution: harnessing clean heat far below Earth’s surface. NYT

Will AI ruin the planet or save the planet? It’s a notorious energy hog. But artificial intelligence can also foster innovation and discovery, and it could speed the global transition to cleaner power. NYT

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | August 26

Is Xi Jinping an AI doomer? China’s elite is split over artificial intelligence. Economist

Warnings AI tools used by government on UK public are ‘racist and biased’: Transparency campaigners welcome government move to publish details of system algorithms. Guardian

How AI is remaking Milan’s ice cream scene and driving a gelato boom: New technology is helping ice cream innovators turn the traditional industry on its head. The Times

High five: British technology companies set the pace in AI: The Times is profiling some of the UK’s most promising AI firms, exploring how they might revolutionise industries. Today, the creative sector. The Times

The future of the AI-enhanced classroom: New technology is poised to change the way students are taught and learn. FT - Editorial

Nvidia, a titan of microchips facing the first doubts about AI: The Californian company, which dominates the market, is facing questions from investors wondering whether it is profitable enough, and competition from its own clients including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Tesla. Le Monde

Apple explores robotics in search of life beyond the iPhone Bloomberg

Wednesday: Alibaba listing in Hong Kong.

Start-up incubator Y Combinator backs its first weapons firm: Investment in maker of ‘low-cost cruise missiles’ a sign of Silicon Valley’s shifting stance towards the arms industry. FT

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | August 23

Bloomberg:  Chinese imports of chip gear hit record $26 billion this year

+ China has been stockpiling ASML systems and foreign machinery

+ US and allies have been limiting China’s access to their tech

Why AI is next flashpoint in US-China tech rivalry Bloomberg

Nepal lifts TikTok ban after nine months.

AP: Company that sent AI calls mimicking Joe Biden to New Hampshire voters agrees to pay $1 million fine

The year of the AI election that wasn’t: More than 30 tech companies have pitched AI tools to political campaigns for November’s election. The campaigns have been wary. NYT

AI godfather fears regulators running out of time to take action: “Unfortunately, we may not have a decade to get this right.” Bloomberg

Google joins $250 million deal to support newsrooms in California: NYT reports the agreement includes $70 million from the state, which needs legislative approval. Some lawmakers objected, calling for a more comprehensive solution with tech companies.

This small-town Wyoming election could give us a preview of the future of AI in politics: A mayoral candidate in Gillette proposes letting an AI bot help run the city. With public confidence in government low and sinking, it may be something to look into. FC

We finally have a definition for open-source AI: Researchers have long disagreed over what constitutes open-source AI. An influential group has offered up an answer. Rhiannon Williams + James O'Donnell

Second patient in trial for Elon Musk’s Neuralink uses design software, videogames: The entrepreneur is in a race against rivals to wire the human brain. WSJ

An ‘AI scientist’ is inventing and running its own experiments: Letting programs learn through “open-ended” experimentation may unlock remarkable new capabilities, as well as new risks. Wired

Bloomberg: Baidu’s sales stall as it struggles to cash in on AI

Baidu's AI push fails to boost core revenue amid China's economic slump: Nikkei reports Chinese search engine leader's Q2 sales dip 0.4% on online marketing slide. 

How tech companies are obscuring AI’s real carbon footprint: Tech giants leading the AI race have found a way to conceal the climate impact of their growing electricity use: unbundled renewable energy certificates. Bloomberg

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | August 22

Mark Zuckerberg and Daniel Ek on why Europe should embrace open-source AI: It risks falling behind because of incoherent and complex regulation, say the two tech CEOs. Economist

Schumer optimistic about passing federal AI regulation this year: Mitigating AI risk remains top of mind for Democrats at the DNC, but the party remains mixed on exactly what that regulation should look like and how to hold tech companies responsible. WSJ

Big Tech may be focusing its lobbying push on the California AI safety bill’s last stop: Gavin Newsom: The bill, which requires makers of very large frontier models to establish and report AI safety guidelines, passed out of the appropriations committee last week. FC

Big Tech wants AI to be regulated. Why do they oppose a California AI bill? Reuters

OpenAI joins opposition to California AI safety bill: FT reports ChatGPT maker says legislation would harm innovation and stifle start-ups in the state.

OpenAI says California’s controversial AI bill will hurt innovation: The startup wrote a letter to California State Senator Scott Wiener opposing the legislation. Bloomberg

AI researchers call for ‘personhood credentials’ as bots get smarter: In the paper, published online last week but not yet peer-reviewed, a group of 32 researchers from OpenAI, Microsoft, Harvard and other institutions call on technologists and policymakers to develop new ways to verify humans without sacrificing people’s privacy or anonymity. They propose a system of “personhood credentials” by which people prove offline that they physically exist as humans and receive an encrypted credential that they can use to log in to a wide range of online services. WP

McAfee is announcing a new tool that helps users figure out whether the audio they are listening to in a video on YouTube, X or any other service is real or a deepfake.

CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm that caused a global computer outage with a glitch in its software update, has claimed its competitors have since launched ‘shady’ attacks to scare its customers away.

How we can harness AI to fulfill our potential: Visiting scholar Cornelia Walther explains the four assets you need to protect your personal agency and critical thinking skills as AI becomes a bigger part of our lives. K@W

How’s your mental fitness as a boss? Be ready for AI to weigh in: Artificial intelligence could soon be used to suggest executives are in cognitive decline—and help them ward off scrutiny. WSJ

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | August 21

The AI election nightmare is just beginning. Here’s how it could get worse Fortune

The Washington Post on Sunday published its first-ever story built on the work of a new AI tool called Haystacker that allows journalists to sift through large data sets — video, photo or text — to find newsworthy trends or patterns.

Bloomberg: Condé Nast, OpenAI strike multiyear partnership in new AI deal

AI initiatives would get $40M annually in draft California journalism bill agreement: Politico reports a draft agreement shared with Politico would see the state of California and Google form a public-private partnership supporting “democracy, journalism, and AI innovation.”

AI cheating is getting worse: Colleges still don’t have a plan. Ian Bogost

Authors sue Anthropic for copyright infringement over AI training: Reuters reports that three authors have filed a class-action lawsuit in California federal court against Anthropic. They say the company misused their books and hundreds of thousands of others to train its AI-powered chatbot Claude. 

OpenAI to let companies customize its most powerful AI model: The new feature for businesses debuts as competition for corporate clients escalates. Bloomberg

The case for appointing AI as your next COO: Technology has reached levels of sophistication and power unimaginable just a decade ago. Rupert Younger

A personalized brain pacemaker for Parkinson’s: In a new frontier for deep brain stimulation, researchers used AI to develop individualized algorithms, which helped a skateboarder and other patients with Parkinson’s disease. NYT

Sequoia Capital invested early in Google, Nvidia, and Apple. Can Roelof Botha keep the legendary venture capital firm ahead in the AI future? Fortune

Bloomberg: US adds most power generation in 21 years as AI demand surges

+ Capacity increased by most since 2003 in first half of 2024

+ Solar power leads planned additions seen to double by year-end

The world-changing ‘killer app’ for AI could be nuclear fusion Steven Cowley

Reuters: North America sees 70% jump in data center supply in construction, CBRE report says

I hate breakups – so I get ChatGPT to dump people for me  Alice Giddings

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | August 20

We can’t let EU’s anti-AI rules drag us down too: Hastily drafted in response to ChatGPT, these curbs will stunt tech in its infancy — and have a harmful effect here. Rohan Silva

Donald Trump has posted a series of AI-generated images on his Truth Social account, falsely claiming that Taylor Swift has endorsed him for president, Variety reports.

Trump’s AI fakes of Harris and Swift aren’t meant to fool you: These aren’t credible deepfakes. They’re provocative memes. Will Oremus

CNBC: Trump says he would offer Tesla CEO Elon Musk a Cabinet slot, but might end EV tax credit

Mayoral candidate vows to let VIC, an AI bot, run Wyoming’s capital city WP

Pressure to ban mobile phones in America’s schools intensifies: Restrictions on the use of devices have been shown to improve students’ performance. Patti Waldmeir

How to deal with mobile phones at school: New York City and Los Angeles plan to ban phones in their districts, but finding ways to implement and enforce the policies may prove tricky. Bloomberg

AMD signs $4.9bn deal to challenge Nvidia’s AI infrastructure lead: FT reports the California group hopes acquisition of ZT Systems will accelerate adoption of its data centre chips.

AMD deal shows AI chip business isn’t just about chips: WSJ reports the acquisition of ZT Systems brings needed hardware expertise, while divestiture plans should spare AMD a margin hit.

Artificial intelligence is losing hype: For some, that is proof the tech will in time succeed. Are they right? Economist

Start-up failures rise 60% as founders face hangover from boom years: Private company shutdowns jump compared with last year despite AI funding frenzy, threatening millions of jobs at VC-backed firms. FT

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | August 19

TikTok told a federal appeals court on Thursday that the US Department of Justice has misstated the social media app's ties to China, urging the court to overturn a law requiring China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok's US assets or face a ban.

South Korea’s plan for AI textbooks hit by backlash from parents: Government says new digital education tools are ‘pivotal’ to overhaul of school system. FT

Prince Harry urges caution on AI at start of trip to Colombia: Reuters reports Britain's Prince Harry urged caution over artificial intelligence and talked of social media as divisive during a panel in Colombia's capital Bogota alongside his wife Meghan and the Andean country's Vice President Francia Marquez.

As DNC hits Chicago, Microsoft warns of deepfake artificial-intelligence attacks: CST reports President Joe Biden became a target of satirical, manipulated videos before he dropped his reelection bid. And a deepfake photo after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was altered to make it appear Secret Service agents smiled as they encircled him — apparently an effort to make the shooting appear to be a hoax.

OpenAI said on Friday it had taken down accounts of an Iranian group for using its ChatGPT chatbot to generate content meant for influencing the US presidential election and other issues.

California trims AI safety bill amid fears of tech exodus: And as Anthropic boss reckons there's 'a good chance ... we'll be able to get models that are better than most humans at most things.' The Register

California bill to regulate AI advances over tech opposition with some tweaks: SB 1047 would regulate large-scale AI models, protect whistleblowers. SJMN

This controversial California AI bill was amended to quell Silicon Valley fears. Here’s what changed LAT

California AI bill is amended; Vote is expected by end of August: Silicon Valley companies still worry that state lawmakers are jumping the gun on regulating a still-unproven technology. NYT

Nancy Pelosi criticizes California AI bill as ‘ill-informed’ TC

Pelosi Statement in opposition to California Senate Bill 1047 Press Release

Senator Wiener responds to Speaker Emerita Pelosi's opposition to SB 1047 Press Release 

Re “Many people fear AI. They shouldn’t,” by David Brooks: Alligators are heartless and have little interest in arts or music; that doesn’t stop them from biting your arm off if you stick it in a swamp. Instead of assuring the public that AI will be good for humanity, Mr. Brooks should help us think through what kinds of policies will allow us to use AI safely. Jason Green-Lowe NYT-LTE

AI discovers new drugs that could save millions of lives — and Big Pharma’s time: The Times reports while many industries are having second thoughts about artificial intelligence transforming the way they operate, it is proving revolutionary in drug discovery.

AI could actually change the gaming industry: The technology is expected to slash the fat budgets that have been required to develop every new game. FT

AI is helping to launch new businesses (and not just AI businesses): Entrepreneurs say use of artificial intelligence for a variety of tasks is accelerating the path to hiring and, ideally, profitability. NYT

Biggest US companies warn of growing AI risk: Study finds more than half of Fortune 500 groups cited new technology as a potential hazard in their latest annual reports. FT

Noxious images spread after Elon Musk launches AI tool with few guardrails: WP reports by using his platform to favor Donald Trump and launch a loosely-controlled AI chatbot, Grok, Musk has dragged the company into uncharted territory ahead of a contentious election.

Why does AI art look like that? Every tech company wants its image generator to be the best. But they all produce oddly similar work. Caroline Mimbs Nyce

Reuters:  South Korean AI chip makers Rebellions and Sapeon agree to merge 

Samsung bets on CXL memory to become next AI darling: Nikkei reports the technology can boost server memory capacity 10-fold over current products.

US tech groups’ water consumption soars in ‘data centre alley’: FT reports usage has increased by almost two-thirds since 2019 in the world’s largest concentration of computing infrastructure.

Reuters:  X says it is closing operations in Brazil due to judge's content orders 

Inside Worldcoin’s orb factory, audacious and absurd defender of humanity: The startup, co-founded by Sam Altman, is determined to verify every human on Earth, one iris at a time. Bloomberg

Sam Altman’s Worldcoin is battling with governments over your eyes: WSJ reports the OpenAI chief’s Worldcoin project involves an attempt to scan the irises of every person on Earth and pay them with his own cryptocurrency. Authorities aren’t buying it.

Bitcoin rises 5.17% to $59,609.

The unraveling of a crypto dream: Brock Pierce arrived in Puerto Rico seven years ago, promising to use crypto magic to revitalize the local economy. Now he’s mired in legal disputes and fighting with his business partners. NYT

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc