Afrigather Plus: OpenAI is value a complete lot of money
That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what is going on on on the earth of know-how.
AI-generated photos can train robots how you can act
Generative AI fashions can produce photos in response to prompts inside seconds, and so they’ve lately been used for all the pieces from highlighting their very own inherent bias to preserving valuable reminiscences.
Now, researchers from Stephen James’s Robotic Studying Lab in London are utilizing image-generating AI fashions for a brand new objective: creating coaching information for robots. They’ve developed a brand new system, referred to as Genima, that fine-tunes the image-generating AI mannequin Steady Diffusion to attract robots’ actions, serving to information them each in simulations and in the true world.
Genima might make it simpler to coach various kinds of robots to finish duties—machines starting from mechanical arms to humanoid robots and driverless vehicles—in addition to making AI net brokers extra helpful. Learn the complete story.
—Rhiannon Williams
These 15 corporations are innovating in local weather tech
We’ve simply unveiled our 2024 record of 15 Local weather Tech Firms to Watch. This annual undertaking is one the local weather crew at MIT Expertise Assessment pours a variety of time and thought into, and we’re thrilled to lastly share it with you.
Our aim is to highlight companies we imagine might assist make a dent in local weather change. This yr’s record contains corporations from a variety of industries, headquartered on 5 continents. In the event you haven’t checked it out but, I extremely suggest giving it a glance. Every firm has a profile through which we’ve outlined why it made the record, what kind of influence the enterprise may need, and what challenges it’s prone to face.
Casey Crownhart, our senior local weather reporter, has dug into what these pioneering companies reveal in regards to the race to handle local weather change. Examine what she discovered right here.
This story is from The Spark, our weekly local weather and vitality e-newsletter. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you right this moment’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 OpenAI has been valued at an eye fixed watering $157 billion
A brand new funding spherical has made it some of the worthwhile startups of all time. (WP $)
+ The corporate has urged buyers to keep away from funding rival AI companies. (FT $)
+ The key to OpenAI’s fundraising success? Its extraordinarily succesful CFO. (The Info $)
2 Chipmakers are retaining a detailed eye on two North Carolina mines
Hurricane Helene has compelled manufacturing to grind to a halt. (Bloomberg $)
+ The mines comprise excessive purity quartz, which is crucial to make chips. (Vox)
3 Hacking Meta’s sensible glasses turns them into highly effective doxxing instruments
College students outfitted the gadget with real-time facial recognition software program. (404 Media)
+ The best factor about sensible glasses isn’t the AR. It’s the AI. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
4 American chips are powering Russian missiles
The lethal weapons are killing Ukrainian civilians, together with a six-year previous woman. (Bloomberg $)
5 Character.ai is pivoting away from making AI fashions
Finally, coaching LLMs proved to be too costly. (FT $)
+ Make no mistake—AI is owned by Massive Tech. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
6 Apple is punishing social apps
They’re now not allowed to entry a person’s contact record. (NYT $)
+ Threads is letting customers join with different social networks for the primary time. (WP $)
7 Flying vehicles are hovering in a grey authorized space
Right now’s EVOTLs are technically breaking the regulation, and it’s laborious to see that altering. (NY Magazine $)
+ These plane might change how we fly. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
8 Office AI instruments can’t all the time be trusted
Ensure you’re conscious of when it’s nonetheless writing a transcript, for one. (WP $)
+ You must suppose twice about sharing private data with chatbots, too. (The Atlantic $)
9 increase the advantages of meditation
Stimulating the mind might assist to unlock the mysteries of the thoughts. (Vox)
+ Right here’s how personalised mind stimulation might deal with melancholy. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
10 This online game birthed a technology of historians 📜
Age of Empires is a traditional that outlined a style. (The Guardian)
Quote of the day
“Now we have some inventory in Nvidia, and that is who’s going to get all of this cash anyway.”
—A enterprise capitalist who didn’t take part in OpenAI’s huge funding spherical explains why they don’t have FOMO to Axios’ enterprise editor Dan Primack.
The large story
This city’s mining battle reveals the contentious path to a cleaner future
January 2024
In June final yr, Talon, an exploratory mining firm, submitted a proposal to Minnesota state regulators to start digging up as a lot as 725,000 metric tons of uncooked ore per yr, primarily to unlock the wealthy and profitable reserves of high-grade nickel within the bedrock.
Talon is striving to distance itself from the mining business’s soiled previous, portraying its plan as a clear, pleasant mannequin of recent mineral extraction. It proclaims the positioning will assist to energy a greener future for the US by producing the nickel wanted to fabricate batteries for electrical vehicles and vehicles, however with low emissions and lightweight environmental impacts.
However as the corporate has shortly found, a variety of locals aren’t looking forward to main mining operations close to their cities. Learn the complete story.
—James Temple
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Bought any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Be careful, Nibi the cute beaver’s about! 🦫 (Thanks Alice!)
+ In the event you’ve by no means seen one man sing each side of Phantom of the Opera earlier than, now you will have.
+ TV doesn’t come rather more unhinged than Love Is Blind (should you haven’t seen it, you’re in for a deal with).
+ catch a glimpse of the Comet A3, also referred to as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS.
