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Lore Issue #38: The Chip Wars

Author

Nathan Lands
July 05, 2023

Good morning.

This week, NVIDIA made some huge moves with an acquisition and an investment in an AI startup.

Meanwhile, China made a major move that could strain relations with the U.S., by implementing restrictions on raw materials essential for producing chips used in AI.

In return, the U.S. is reportedly considering further restrictions on chip exports. And, the EU and Japan are looking to collaborate on chips to hedge their bets.

We’re in the early phases of the chip wars as countries realize that whoever wins at AI likely will lead the world for the foreseeable future.

P.S. If you’re American, I hope you had a great 4th of July! 🇺🇸

  • Inflection lands $1.3B investment from Microsoft, NVIDIA, and others to build more ‘personal’ AI. (Link)

  • Runway raised another $141M. Runway is a leading creator of AI video tools such as Gen-1 and Gen-2. (Link)

  • NVIDIA acquires OmniML for AI Edge workloads. (Link)

  • Typeface raised $100M at a $1B valuation. Typeface is building generative AI for brands and was founded by the former CTO of Adobe. (Link)

  • Celestial AI raises $100M to transfer data using light-based interconnects. (Link)

China Tightens Export Controls on Critical Tech Metals

China is implementing export restrictions on gallium and germanium from August 1st, impacting the global semiconductor and EV industries. Seen as a strategic play in the ongoing US-China trade tensions, this move could potentially ripple through tech supply chains.

Notably, this seems to be a targeted move to impact the creation of chips that are used in the training of AI models.

Google Updates Privacy Policy Allowing Public Data for AI Training

Google has made amendments to its privacy policy to explicitly state that it can use publicly available data for training its AI models. This update means that any public information could be potentially used for training and creating full-fledged products such as Google Translate, Bard, and various Cloud AI capabilities.

The change has raised concerns among critics who are wary of how companies might leverage personal data posted online to train large language models without proper consent.

This update comes in the wake of a recent class-action lawsuit filed against OpenAI for similar practices, and it highlights a growing concern regarding the use of publicly accessible information in the development of AI technologies.

Japanese Schools to Trial Generative AI Tools

Japan's Ministry of Education is set to introduce generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, in selected schools as part of a carefully monitored trial.

According to the recently released guidelines, the trial aims to evaluate the utility and potential risks of these tools in educational settings.

The ministry is particularly vigilant about issues such as exposure of personal information and the spread of false information. While the guidelines discourage using AI-generated content in exams or competitions, they acknowledge the educational value of teaching students about the limitations of AI tools.

Other news:

  • OpenAI was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it stole people’s data. (Link)

  • Grammys consider AI music eligible as long as AI is only used for certain song elements and humans are still involved. (Link)

  • EU and Japan look to partner on A.I. and chips as China 'de-risking' strategy continues. (Link)

  • The A.I. Chips War Could Heat Up This Summer. Shares in the semiconductor giants Nvidia and AMD fell on a report that the Biden Administration is weighing new restrictions on A.I.-related exports. (Link)

AI Video Maker

Our friend Matt Wolfe made a great video showcasing how you can modify existing video clips to make wild AI videos like the one in the thumbnail.

Harry Potter AI Video

A Harry Potter fan on Reddit named Inner Reflections created a really awesome AI video using Stable Diffusion with img2img, controller, and temporalnet.

We highly suggest watching it! AI animation keeps getting better.

Midjourney Pan Feature

Nick St. Pierre shared an excellent overview of the new pan feature by Midjourney.

Navigate the AI Revolution with Adepto (Collaboration)

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Join over 50,000 subscribers who trust Adepto to deliver concise, easy-to-read updates on the latest AI news. Adepto does the news hunting, saving you time and keeping you informed with no fluff, just facts. It's designed for anyone curious about AI, not just for experts. To become part of Adepto's community, just click the link and let them guide you through the AI landscape. Best of all, it's free!

  • Playground: a free-to-use online AI image creator. Now with a new Mixed Image Editing feature. (Link)

  • GPT-Migrate: helps you easily migrate your codebase from one language or framework to another. (Link)

  • Hocoos AI Website Builder: Create business-ready websites in minutes. (Link)

  • AISEO: AI writing assistant for writing SEO-optimized blog posts. (Link)

Find more tools at FutureTools.io.

  • Eric Weinstein Interview about AI - Triggernometry interview (Link)

  • Demystifying GPT Self-Repair for Code Generation (Link) 

  • Personality Traits in Large Language Models. (Link)

  • Towards Language Models That Can See: Computer Vision Through the LENS of Natural Language (Link)

  • A whole-brain connectome of the fruit fly, including ~130k annotated neurons and tens of millions of typed synapses! (Link)

  • The Homework Apocalypse. Written by Ethan Mollick. (Link)

That's it!

See you next week!

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