Afrigather Plus: Apple and Microsoft are strolling away from OpenAI’s board
That is at the moment’s version of The Download, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what is going on on on the earth of know-how.
What’s AI?
AI is horny, AI is cool. AI is entrenching inequality, upending the job market, and wrecking training. The AI growth will increase the economic system, the AI bubble is about to burst. AI will enhance abundance and empower humanity to maximally flourish within the universe. AI will kill us all.
What the hell is everyone speaking about?
Synthetic intelligence is the most popular know-how of our time. However what’s it? It feels like a silly query, but it surely’s one which’s by no means been extra pressing.
In case you’re keen to buckle up and are available for a trip, I can inform you why no person actually is aware of, why everyone appears to disagree, and why you’re proper to care about it. Read the full story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
The Chinese language authorities is all in on autonomous automobiles
There’s been a lot information popping out of China’s autonomous-vehicle business these days that it’s exhausting to maintain monitor.
The federal government is lastly permitting Tesla to convey its Full Self-Driving characteristic to China. New authorities permits let firms take a look at driverless vehicles on the street and permit cities to construct sensible street infrastructure that can inform these vehicles the place to go.
In brief, there are a number of modifications going down. And so they all level in the identical course: The Chinese language authorities is throwing its weight behind the autonomous-vehicle business and is raring to come back out on prime whereas different nations take a extra cautious method. Read the full story.
—Zeyi Yang
This story is from China Report, our weekly e-newsletter protecting tech and energy in China. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Tuesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Microsoft and Apple will now not sit on OpenAI’s board
The transfer comes as regulators begin to pay shut consideration to Large Tech’s investments in AI startups. (FT $)
+ Microsoft claims its exit is all the way down to OpenAI’s newfound stability. (WSJ $)
+ OpenAI will replace its stakeholders with common conferences, as an alternative. (Bloomberg $)
2 The US has taken down a Russian bot farm on X
The propaganda mill used AI to scale up its operations. (WP $)
+ Google Search outcomes are filled with Russian AI spam, too. (Wired $)
+ The Kremlin is rewriting Wikipedia to go well with its personal agenda. (Economist $)
3 Amazon claims to have met a clear vitality aim seven years early
Some specialists aren’t satisfied its calculation technique is as much as scratch, although. (NYT $)
+ Carbon seize wants to enhance if we’re ever to maneuver away from fossil fuels. (Knowable Magazine)
+ How electrical energy may clear up transportation, metal, and even fertilizer. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Rechargeable batteries come at an environmental value
They look like a rising supply of endlessly chemical compounds. (The Verge)
+ The race to destroy PFAS, the endlessly chemical compounds. (MIT Technology Review)
5 What occurs to your cash when your startup financial institution folds?
Loads of prospects are discovering out the exhausting method. (NYT $)
6 Crypto followers are up in arms over Germany promoting confiscated bitcoin
However the state of Saxony doesn’t have a selection. (CoinDesk)
+ Crypto scams are alive and properly. (Wired $)
7 Find out how to put together your own home for a hurricane
Stronger supplies, tighter seals, and an entire lot of labor. (Wired $)
+ The hunt to construct wildfire-resistant properties. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Nobody solutions the telephone anymore
And it’s an even bigger downside than you’d suppose. (Slate $)
9 Philips Hue sensible lightbulbs appear to have a thoughts of their very own 💡
Homeowners declare the bulbs are overriding settings to full brightness. (Insider $)
10 Gen Z makes use of the iPhone Notes app to generate outfits
All these little digital stickers are coming in useful. (Vogue Business $)
Quote of the day
“I confronted the problems of AI early, however it would occur for others. It is probably not a cheerful ending.”
—Lee Saedol, the legendary Go participant who misplaced to Google DeepMind’s AI program in 2016, warns an viewers in Seoul in regards to the dangers the know-how could pose, the New York Times experiences.
The large story
This super-realistic digital world is a driving faculty for AI
February 2022
Constructing driverless vehicles is a sluggish and costly enterprise. After years of effort and billions of {dollars} of funding, the know-how continues to be caught within the pilot part.
Autonomous know-how firm Waabi thinks it might do higher. In 2021 it revealed the controversial new shortcut to autonomous automobiles it’s betting on. The large thought? Ditch the vehicles.
Wasabi has constructed a super-realistic digital setting known as Waabi World. As an alternative of coaching an AI driver in actual automobiles, it plans to do it solely contained in the simulation. However simulation alone is a daring technique, and the way far it might go relies on how real looking Waabi World actually is. Read the full story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ If this video doesn’t fill you with joy, I don’t know what is going to. ❤️
+ Apo Whang-Od Oggay is the world’s oldest tattoo artist, and really cool.
+ The world’s most tough maze holds a really attention-grabbing secret.
+ Netflix’s Supacell options a number of the absolute best of Black British expertise.
