Lifeboat Foundation

OpenAI’s new preparedness team will address the potential dangers associated with AI, including nuclear threats.

OpenAI is forming a new team to mitigate the “catastrophic risks” associated with AI. In an update on Thursday.

The team will also work to mitigate “chemical, biological, and radiological threats,” as well as “autonomous replication,” or the act of an AI replicating itself. Some other risks that the preparedness team will address include AI’s ability to trick humans, as well as cybersecurity threats.

Continue reading “OpenAI forms new team to assess ‘catastrophic risks’ of AI” »

Sam Altman sat comfortably.

Ever since the gathering, Zuckerberg and Meta have rapidly shipped products that compete directly with Altman’s OpenAI, opening up one of the most intense — and overlooked — battles in tech today. Meta’s countered OpenAI’s GPT-4 with… More.

A fierce, underrated, and full-contact battle is brewing between the social networking company and the formidable AI upstart.

New York Mayor Eric Adams doesn’t speak Spanish. But it sure sounds like he does. He’s been using artificial intelligence software to send prerecorded calls about city events to residents in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Urdu and Yiddish. The voice in the messages mimics the mayor but was generated with AI software from a company called ElevenLabs.

“People stop me on the street all the time and say, ‘I didn’t know you speak Mandarin,’” Adams said at a news conference this month.

Experts have warned for years that AI will change our democracy by distorting reality. That future is already here. AI is being used to fabricate voices, fundraising emails and “deepfake” images of events that never… More.

Continue reading “Candidates, take this AI election pledge. Or 2024 might break us” »

With a massive $2 billion reported investment from Google, Anthropic joins OpenAI in reaping the benefits of leadership in the artificial intelligence space, receiving immense sums from the tech giants that couldn’t move fast enough themselves. A byword for the age: Those who can, build; those who can’t, invest.

The funding deal, according to sources familiar cited by The Wall Street Journal, reportedly involves $500 million now and up to $1.5 billion later, though subject to what, if any, timing or conditions is unclear. I’ve asked Anthropic for comment on the matter.

It recalls — though it does not quite match — Microsoft’s enormous investment in OpenAI early this year. But with Amazon committing to as much as $4 billion to Anthropic, the funding gap is probably more theoretical than practical.

The $26.3 billion amount did not specify the payments to any single partner, but Apple was likely the biggest beneficiary.

Most likely whenever you search for something on your iPhone or Android phone, it’s definitely a Google search to many of us has become the staple of search engines. But Google also invests heavily in remaining to be so.

Dem10/iStock.

Continue reading “Google pays $26.3 billion to be top search engine” »

“As the world urbanizes, urban planners and policymakers need to make sure urban design and policies adequately address critical issues such as infrastructure and transportation improvements, poverty and the health and safety of urbanites, as well as the increasing inequality within and across cities.”

Increasing population shifts from rural to urban areas are resulting in the growth of cities and towns, a process referred to as urbanization. However, this development can put a strain on urban infrastructure, such as transportation, housing, sanitation, and utilities, leading to urban decay.

Everett Atlas/iStock.

Continue reading “AI can identify urban decay and social inequalities in cities” »

The engine combines the right blend of power, performance, technology and efficiency.

A renowned automaker, typically known to introduce high-revving models that often found its competition in offerings from rival brands with double the cylinders, has now taken a bold step by unveiling a single-cylinder engine.

With a rich heritage dating back to 1926 when the company was founded in Bologna, Italy, Ducati has consistently… More.

Continue reading “Ducati unveils world’s most powerful single cylinder engine” »

“We hope that this soft robotic arm exemplifies a future where machines assist, complement, and understand human needs more deeply than ever before.”

Drawing inspiration from the movements of elephant trunks and octopus tentacles, researchers at the CREATE lab of t. It ishe Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) has developed a revolutionary robotic structure, the “trimmed helicoid.”

Set to usher in greater compliance and control in robotic design, this structure ensures safer interactions between humans and robots and is a result of blending computational modeling with astute biological observations.

MIT researchers have created FibeRobo, a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) fiber that responds to cold or hot thermal stimuli.

Imagine a fiber that changes its shape when it gets warm and being able to use this fiber to make clothes that can quickly and silently change its shape.

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Northeastern University have created FibeRobo, a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) fiber that responds to cold or hot thermal stimuli.

Continue reading “Shape-shifting fiber can produce morphing fabrics” »