A rare species of bee was found on land where the company was planning to put a nuclear-powered artificial intelligence data center, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told employees during an all-hands meeting that the rare bees would further complicate a deal with an existing nuclear power plant to build the data center.
Even the exact definition of AGI is still heavily debated, making it a murky milestone.
Regardless, the stakes are high: the AI industry has poured untold billions of dollars into building out datacenters to train AI models, an investment that’s likely many years away from paying off.
Naturally, OpenAI CEO and hypeman Sam Altman has remained optimistic. During a Reddit AMA this week, he even claimed that AGI is “achievable with current hardware.”
On a recent Friday afternoon, Kashif Hoda was waiting for a train near Harvard Square when a young man asked him for directions.
A month later, he found out just how strange. He had been an unwitting guinea pig in an experiment meant to show just how easy it was to rig artificial intelligence tools to identify someone and retrieve the person’s biographical information — potentially including a phone number and home address — without the person’s realizing it.
A friend texted Mr. Hoda, telling him that he was in a video that was going viral. Mr. Nguyen and a fellow Harvard student, Caine Ardayfio, had built glasses used for identifying strangers in real time, and had demonstrated them on two “real people” at the subway station, including Mr. Hoda, whose name was incorrectly transcribed in the video captions as “Vishit.”
Disney is adding another layer to its AI and extended reality strategies. As first reported by Reuters, the company recently formed a dedicated emerging technologies unit. Dubbed the Office of Technology Enablement, the group will coordinate the company’s exploration, adoption and use of artificial intelligence, AR and VR tech.
It has tapped Jamie Voris, previously the CTO of its Studios Technology division, to oversee the effort. Before joining Disney in 2010, Voris was the chief technology officer at the National Football League. More recently, he led the development of the company’s Apple Vision Pro app. Voris will report to Alan Bergman, the co-chairman of Disney Entertainment. Reuters reports the company eventually plans to grow the group to about 100 employees.
“The pace and scope of advances in AI and XR are profound and will continue to impact consumer experiences, creative endeavors, and our business for years to come — making it critical that Disney explore the exciting opportunities and navigate the potential risks,” Bergman wrote in an email Disney shared with Engadget. “The creation of this new group underscores our dedication to doing that and to being a positive force in shaping responsible use and best practices.”