ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
A Yann LeCun–Linked Startup Charts a Recent Path to AGIJoel Khalili | Wired ($)
“Because the world’s largest corporations pour tons of of billions of dollars into large language models, San Francisco-based Logical Intelligence is trying something different in pursuit of AI that may mimic the human brain. …The road to AGI, Bodnia contends, begins with the layering of those several types of AI: LLMs will interface with humans in natural language, EBMs will take up reasoning tasks, while world models will help robots take motion in 3D space.”
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Google Project Genie Lets You Create Interactive Worlds From a Photo or PromptRyan Whitwam | Ars Technica
“World models are exactly what they sound like—an AI that generates a dynamic environment on the fly. …The system first generates a still image, and from that you may generate the world. That is what Google calls ‘world sketching.'”
Biotechnology
The First Human Test of a Rejuvenation Method Will Begin ‘Shortly’Antonio Regalado | MIT Technology Review ($)
“[Life Biosciences] plans to attempt to treat eye disease with a radical rejuvenation concept called ‘reprogramming’ that has recently attracted tons of of hundreds of thousands in investment for Silicon Valley firms like Altos Labs, Recent Limit, and Retro Biosciences, backed by a lot of the largest names in tech. The technique attempts to revive cells to a healthier state by broadly resetting their epigenetic controls—switches on our genes that determine that are turned on and off.”
Future
The Wall Street Star Betting His Fame on Robots and Flying CarsBecky Peterson | The Wall Street Journal ($)
“Jonas will guide the bank’s clients on what he’s calling the ‘Cambrian explosion of bots’—a time within the not-so-distant-future during which fully autonomous vehicles, drones, humanoids and industrial robots grow large enough in population to rival the human race. His theory is deceptive in its simplicity: Anything that might be automated will probably be automated, he says, even humans.”
Space
Mapping 6,000 Worlds: The Recent Era of Exoplanetary DataEliza Strickland | IEEE Spectrum
“[Astronomers can now] compare planet sizes, masses, and compositions; track how tightly planets orbit their stars; and measure the prevalence of various sorts of planetary systems. Those statistics allow astronomers to estimate how often planets form, and to start out making informed guesses about how often conditions arise that would support life. The Drake Equation uses such estimates to tackle one among humanity’s most profound questions: Are we alone within the universe?”
Future
Stratospheric Web Could Finally Start Taking Off This 12 monthsTereza Pultarova | MIT Technology Review ($)
“Today, an estimated 2.2 billion people still have either limited or no access to the web, largely because they live in distant places. But that number could drop this 12 months, due to tests of stratospheric airships, uncrewed aircraft, and other high-altitude platforms for web delivery.”
Robotics
Waymo Robotaxi Hits a Child Near a School, Causing Minor InjuriesAndrew J. Hawkins | The Verge
“In a blog post, Waymo said its vehicle was traveling at 17mph when its autonomous system detected the kid after which ‘braked hard,’ reducing its speed to 6mph before ‘contact was made.’ The kid ‘stood up immediately, walked to the sidewalk,’ and Waymo said it called 911. ‘The vehicle moved to the side of the road, and stayed there until law enforcement cleared the vehicle to depart the scene,’ it said.”
Artificial Intelligence
Ex-OpenAI Researcher’s Startup Targets As much as $1 Billion in Funding to Develop a Recent Kind of AIStephanie Palazzolo and Wayne Ma | The Information ($)
“[Jerry] Tworek represents a small but growing group of AI researchers who consider the sector needs an overhaul because today’s hottest model development techniques seem unlikely to find a way to develop advanced AI that may achieve major breakthroughs in biology, medicine and other fields while also managing to avoid silly mistakes.”
Robotics
Waymo’s Price Premium To Lyft and Uber Is Closing, Report FindsAnita Ramaswamy | The Information ($)
“The typical price to ride in Waymo’s robotaxis has dropped by 3.6% since March to $19.69 per ride, in line with a brand new report by ride-hailing analytics firm Obi. Riding in a Waymo is now, on average, 12.7% costlier than riding in an Uber and 27.4% costlier than riding in a Lyft, down from a 30% to 40% premium for Waymo rides last April, the month covered by Obi’s previous report.”