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Copilot is more than just a chatbot. Microsoft is gradually building an AI assistant that it has dreamed about for years.

Microsoft’s new AI-powered Copilot summarized my meeting instantly yesterday (the meeting was with Microsoft to discuss Copilot, of course) before listing out the questions I’d asked just seconds before. I’ve watched Microsoft demo the future of work for years with concepts about virtual assistants, but Copilot is the closest thing I’ve ever seen to them coming true.


Microsoft is in an AI race with Google for the future of work.

Shares of billionaire Robin Li’s Baidu, which tumbled 6.4% on Thursday on disappointment over the launch of its ChatGPT-like service, surged almost 14% Friday as some analysts who tried Ernie Bot gave favourable reviews.

Hong Kong-listed Baidu rose HK$17.10 to close at HK$142.20.

The source of Thursday’s market reaction was that the highly-anticipated launch of the service involved a series of pre-recorded videos instead of any real-time performance.

Built on OpenAI’s generative AI technology and one of the largest datasets comprising trillions of data points, Copilot can write emails, business proposals and meeting minutes.

On Thursday, Microsoft announced a natural language-based AI tool called Copilot that will be embedded across its Office suite of applications such as Word, Teams, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. The tool is currently being tested and has been rolled out to 20 select enterprise users, the company said.

Copilot combines large language models with Microsoft Graph, a dataset of human workplace activity that includes trillions of data points collected from the suite of Microsoft applications.

The new AI strategy, which includes the construction of a supercomputer, will cost the UK £900 million ($1.2 billion).

The United Kingdom (U.K.) has announced plans to develop its own ChatGPT version, “BritGPT” as part of a new artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.

“These investments will provide scientists with access to cutting-edge computing power and bring a significant uplift in computing capacity to the AI community,” reads the Spring Budget 2023 plan.


Devrimb/iStock.

The Maerdang plant will have a total installed capacity of around 2.2 million kW.

In an effort to ramp up its renewable energy production, China is on course to begin operations of its highest-altitude hydropower.


A clean energy initiative to optimize resources

The Maerdang project will feature an integrated clean energy approach that includes hydropower, solar power, and energy storage. The project serves as an example of how China is leveraging its clean energy sources in its western regions to supply the growing national demand for energy.

The researchers hope to develop strategies to stop or at least restrict growth at the negative pole.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have focused on the life cycle of solid-state batteries, and their research could lead to longer-lasting batteries.

The so-called “solid-state batteries” are considered the “Holy Grail” of battery development. They no longer have a liquid core, like modern batteries, but rather a solid substance. This has various benefits, including the fact that these batteries may be produced on a smaller scale and are trickier to ignite.


John D/iStock.

“The goal is for community groups or individual citizens anywhere to be able to measure local air pollution.”

As per an estimation by WHO, air pollution causes around 4 million annual premature deaths all over the globe. Considering this issue, an MIT research team launched an open-source version of an economical, mobile pollution detector through which individuals can track the air-quality more broadly.

The detector, named Flatburn, can be fabricated through 3D printing or by ordering cheap parts. The researchers have now conducted tests and calibrated the detector concerning existing ultra-modern machines and are making people aware of how to assemble, use, and interpret the data.


Flatburn is an open-source, mobile pollution detector from the MIT Senseable City Lab intended to let people measure air quality cheaply.

Up until now, it was still infamously difficult to include sensors in 3D designs.

Engineers might be able to create smart hinges that can detect when a door has been opened or gears inside motors that can communicate their rotational speed to a mechanic by integrating sensors into rotational systems.

Even while improvements in 3D printing allow for the quick manufacture of rotational devices, it is still infamously difficult to include sensors in the designs.


MIT

Scientists found large swaths of jagged landforms on Pluto’s surface.

In July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft had its first close encounter with Pluto and its moons. It went on to explore the icy edge of the solar system, generating a wealth of data in the process.

The formation of Arrokoth.


NASA