Apple AI Here At Last π NVIDIA Dominates Everything π€ Robots Are The Next Frontier
Mind reading AI, US and Saudi invests billions, AI finds new kidney process
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Apple finally steps into the AI Ring
Apple was caught flat-footed in the AI race earlier this month, with its share price falling 11% this year amid fears it couldnβt catch up to Microsoft and Google.
While other tech firms have surged ahead, Apple has been noticeably absent.
In a move to catch up, Apple axed its decade-long driverless car project, Titan. The technology giant had already reportedly sunk billions of dollars into the project.
Around 2000 employees have now been moved into AI projects.
Apple also quietly released a research paper on March 19 for a GenAI model called MM1, the model is akin to Googleβs Gemini.
βThis is just the beginning. The team is already hard at work on the next generation of models.β
- Brandon McKinzie, Apple researcher
Finally, Apple is in talks with Google to licence their GenAI platform, it appears Apple devices will have a hybrid of on-device GenAI and cloud run models from Google for more intensive features.
π I didnβt know Siri was a Gemini.
With Blackwell, AI Takes a Giant Stride
NVIDIAβs CEO Jensen Huang is the Taylor Swift of the business world.
Blackwell
Jensen, at NVIDIAβs GTC event on March 18, announced the companyβs Blackwell GPU, which can reduce the cost and energy of deploying real-time generative AI on trillion-parameter language models by up to 25 times.
In other words, the Graphics Processing Unit promises to make using advanced AI language models up to 25 times cheaper and more energy-efficient.
βGenerative AI is the defining technology of our time. Blackwell is the engine to power this new industrial revolution.β
- Jensen Huang, NVIDIAβs CEO
NVIDIA dominates the GPU market, which powers AI. Since October, the technology giant has roughly doubled the share price performance of any other S&P500 stock.
The price of computation over time - Vala Afshar
As Blackwell chips power server farms, compute costs will drop, but demand for AI capabilities will rise, which is expected to fuel a continuous cycle of innovation.
π₯ Watch the NVIDIA GTC keynote (must-watch)
Robots Are the Next Frontier & NVIDIA Holds the Keys
Jensen also announced Project GR00T, a βgeneral-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots.β
If all goes as planned, GR00T will allow robots to understand our language, learn by watching us, and navigate the world with newfound dexterity.
NVIDIA also created Jetson Thor, a specialised embedded computer to handle the complex AI these robots need, essentially edge computing.
Edge computing processes data near where it's generated, reducing reliance on distant data centres and speeding up response times.
πΏ Watch Jensen showcase Disney robots
π€ NVIDIA is on a Different Planet
Mind-Reading Breakthrough: Researchers Turn Brain Scans into Images
Researchers at the Medical AI Research Center, or MedARC, have developed a new method called MindEye2 that significantly improves the ability to reconstruct images based on brain activity.
The key innovation is pre-training the model on brain scans from multiple people, which allows it to be fine-tuned for a new person using very little data.
This breakthrough means that accurate image reconstructions can now be achieved with just one hour of brain scan data, compared to the previously required 40 hours.
π° Website with research paper (more images)
π Post by researcher
Mercedes-Benz Embraces Future of Work with Apptronik Robots
Mercedes-Benz has partnered with Apptronik to integrate the company's Apollo humanoid robots into their manufacturing facilities.
This collaboration aims to address labour shortages in low-skill areas and could become a model for automation within the automotive industry.
The company is also working with NVIDIA on Project GR00T, utilising generative AI to enable the Apollo robot to learn new tasks rapidly through human demonstration.
π° Article about it here (more images)
πΏ Video of the robots in action
Quick Bytes
Autonomous developer AI agent canβt figure out an issue, so it raises a ticket with helpdesk - Click here
Saudi Arabia launches $40 billion AI fund, seeks to become a tech hub supporting startups, chipmakers and data centers. - Click here
DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman joins Microsoft to lead its consumer AI division, signalling the company's major push into the field. - Click here
Neurolinkβs first implant patient controls his technology with his mind - Click here
AI is revolutionising kidney care by uncovering new mechanisms for cell renewal and improving the organ transplantation process. - Click here
Biden-Harris Administration Proposes up to $8.5 Billion in Potential Direct Funding for Intel to build out US chip manufacturing capability. - Click here
Japanese government tries to increase birthrate by subsidising AI matchmaking services - Click here