That is immediately’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s happening on this planet of expertise.
We noticed a demo of the brand new AI system powering Anduril’s imaginative and prescient for warfare
—James O’Donnell
One afternoon in late November, I visited a weapons take a look at web site within the foothills east of San Clemente, California operated by Anduril, a maker of AI-powered drones and missiles that not too long ago introduced a partnership with OpenAI.
I went there to witness a brand new system it’s increasing immediately, which permits exterior events to faucet into its software program and share knowledge as a way to velocity up decision-making on the battlefield.
If it really works as deliberate over the course of a brand new three-year contract with the Pentagon, it may embed AI extra deeply than ever earlier than into the theater of warfare. Learn the complete story.
Easy methods to use Sora, OpenAI’s new video producing software
OpenAI has simply launched its video technology mannequin Sora to the general public. The announcement yesterday got here on the fifth day of the corporate’s “shipmas” occasion, a 12-day marathon of tech releases and demos. Right here’s what it is best to know—and the way you should use the video mannequin proper now.
—James O’Donnell
This story is the most recent in MIT Expertise Evaluation’s How To sequence, which helps you get issues achieved.
AI’s hype and antitrust drawback is coming underneath scrutiny
The AI sector is affected by an absence of competitors and numerous deceit—or at the very least that’s one method to interpret the most recent flurry of actions taken in Washington.
The actions—from antitrust investigations to accusations of straight-up mendacity—signify an effort to carry the AI business’s hype to account within the ultimate months earlier than the Federal Commerce Fee’s chair, Lina Khan, is changed when Donald Trump takes workplace.
However whereas the FTC appears to have a far smoother transition of management forward than most different federal businesses, at the very least a few of Trump’s frustrations with Massive Tech may ship antitrust efforts in a distinctly new route. Learn the complete story.
—James O’Donnell
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly e-newsletter providing you with the within observe on all issues occurring within the fascinating area of AI. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you immediately’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Google has constructed a strong new quantum computing chip
But it surely doesn’t have any real-world purposes—but. (Bloomberg $)
+ It takes 5 minutes to unravel an issue {that a} conventional supercomputer couldn’t grasp in 10 septillion years. (NYT $)
+ It’s a problem the quantum area has been attempting to crack for many years. (The Guardian)
+ We lined the work when it was a preprint in September. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
2 Nvidia is being investigated by China
It claims the chipmaking large has violated anti-monopoly legal guidelines. (BBC)
+ Nvidia’s largest buyer within the nation? That may be ByteDance. (Insider $)
+ What’s subsequent in chips. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
3 TikTok has requested a US appeals court docket to halt the buy-or-sell legislation
Because it stands, the app faces a ban until it finds a brand new proprietor by January 19. (TechCrunch)
4 AI continues to be failing to ship on its financial guarantees
Is 2025 the 12 months we lastly begin to see some outcomes? (Quartz)
+ The US AI business is in determined want of extra websites with energy grid entry. (FT $)
+ Easy methods to fine-tune AI for prosperity. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
5 The EU’s competitors guidelines are on the verge of an enormous shakeup
A brand new boss means a brand new strategy. (WSJ $)
+ European regulators wish to resolve a Meta and Google investigation. (FT $)
6 Weight-loss medication are making fundamental well being truths out of date
A nutritious diet and common train is throwing in the towel. (The Atlantic $)
+ Weight-loss injections have taken over the web. However what does this imply for folks IRL? (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
7 This bionic leg is managed by its wearer’s mind
Prosthetic limbs have gotten rather more succesful. (New Yorker $)
+ These prosthetics break the mildew with third thumbs, spikes, and superhero skins. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
8 An AI could make a fairly respectable Tokyo journey companion
Simply be sure to take its recommendation with a pinch of salt. (Wired $)
+ Easy methods to use AI to plan your subsequent trip. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
9 Reddit is testing a brand new AI search characteristic
Which the positioning’s customers are unlikely to take kindly to. (Ars Technica)
10 Jeff Bezos has a dinner with Donald Trump in his diary
Sounds cozy. (Insider $)
Quote of the day
“It’s like manna from heaven.”
—Ari Morcos, chief govt of startup DatologyAI, explains to the Wall Road Journal why Reddit’s troves of textual content are so interesting to AI firms.
The massive story
Contained in the enigmatic minds of animals
October 2022
Greater than ever, we really feel an obligation and need to increase empathy to our nonhuman neighbors. Within the final three years, greater than 30 nations have formally acknowledged different animals—together with gorillas, lobsters, crows, and octopuses—as sentient beings.
A trio of books from Ed Yong, Jackie Higgins, and Philip Ball element creatures’ wealthy internal worlds and seize what has led to those developments: a booming area of experimental analysis difficult the long-standing view that animals are neither aware nor cognitively advanced. Learn the complete story.
—Matthew Ponsford
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ It appears we’ve got two sorts of snort: one attributable to tickling, and the opposite by every part else.
+ 2024 was a robust 12 months for fiction: take a look at among the greatest new books.
+ There’s one thing completely mesmerizing about this assortment of previous residence movies.
+ Ukrainian artist Oleg Dron focuses on expansive, haunting landscapes.
