NVIDIA is revolutionizing graphics with generative AI for 3D meshes

? Today’s Highlights – Aug 14, '23

• ?? News: NVIDIA is revolutionizing graphics with AI for 3D meshes
• ?? Funding: Persefoni, BioFlyte, and 11xAI
• ?? Events: The Data Scientist Learning Journey webinar is this week!

?? Today's Top Stories

Better 3D Meshes, from Reconstruction to Generative AI

(4 min read) (Source: NVIDIA)

TLDR: 英伟达 introduced FlexiCubes, an AI-driven method for generating high-quality 3D meshes, enhancing realism and fidelity in applications ranging from physics simulations to generative AI pipelines.

• FlexiCubes employs "flexible" parameters that refine generated meshes during optimization, significantly improving mesh quality compared to traditional methods like marching cubes.
• This advancement brings crucial improvements to AI pipelines, particularly in physics simulations, by producing meshes that accurately represent intricate details and enable efficient simulations.
• FlexiCubes aligns with NVIDIA’s focus on advancing AI capabilities for 3D modeling and simulations, contributing to the growing synergy between AI and various industries' technological advancements.

ChatGPT and GPT-4 skew the most liberal — and Meta's LLaMA is the most conservative AI model

(8 min read) (Source: Business Insider)

TLDR: Researchers from the 美国华盛顿大学 , 美国卡内基梅隆大学 , and Xi'an Jiaotong University quantifiably measured political biases among major AI language models using a political compass test with 62 political statements.

• OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT-4 appeared most left-leaning and libertarian, Google's BERT models leaned socially conservative, and Meta's LLaMA skewed right-leaning and authoritarian.
• The study revealed that training language models on different sources further reinforced their biases, impacting responses to hate speech and misinformation.
• OpenAI and Meta responded, acknowledging the issue and emphasizing their commitment to addressing biases and improving AI's behavior.

The Big Picture: The study underscores the pervasive challenge of bias in AI language models. As these models become integral to various applications, their inherent biases can shape perceptions, impacting the spread of information and influencing societal narratives. The debate on the role of AI in shaping opinions and whether it should express its beliefs raises questions about the ethical and social implications of AI's influence on human thinking and decision-making. Addressing and rectifying these biases is crucial for AI to truly benefit a diverse and equitable society.

How Amazon is racing to catch Microsoft and Google in generative A.I. with custom AWS chips

(9 min read) (Source: CNBC)

TLDR: 亚马逊 is developing custom microchips, Inferentia and Trainium, for training and accelerating generative AI, aiming to provide an alternative to NVIDIA GPUs.

• Although slower to act than competitors like Microsoft and Google, Amazon's AWS cloud dominance gives it an advantage in enabling existing customers to expand into generative AI value creation.
• While NVIDIA GPUs still dominate in training models, Amazon's chips, particularly Trainium, offer better price performance for machine learning training on AWS, potentially reshaping AI model deployment.

?? More Reading:

• AI will be at the center of the next financial crisis, SEC chair warns (Axios)
• Before a Bot Steals Your Job, It Will Steal Your Name (The Atlantic)
• The ‘Godfather of AI’ Has a Hopeful Plan for Keeping Future AI Friendly (WIRED)
• California turns to AI to help spot wildfires (Reuters)
• AI Mania Triggers Dot-Com Bubble Flashbacks (The Wall Street Journal)
• AI programs often exclude African languages. These researchers have a plan to fix that. (Popular Science)

?? Funding News

1. Persefoni , a Climate Management & Accounting Platform powered by AI, raised a $50M Series C-1 round.?

• Persefoni is designed for organizations to manage climate-related data, calculate carbon footprints, develop decarbonization strategies, and benchmark impacts.
• Round led by TPG Rise, along with Clearvision Ventures , ENEOS Innovation Partners, Pennington Partners , Prelude Ventures , Parkway Ventures , Rice Investment Group , and others.
• Funding is to support Persefoni's global customer support and to further develop their AI co-pilot product, PersefoniGPT, to enhance carbon accounting and management.?

2.? BioFlyte, Inc. , a bioaerosol surveillance company commercializing a novel class of biological contamination sampling, detection, and identification solutions, raised $5.4M in a financing round.

• The BioFlyte system employs AI and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry for real-time airborne toxin detection.
• Round led by Scout Ventures ( Bradley C. Harrison , Managing Partner) and Cottonwood Technology Fund , with additional funding from NM Vintage Fund .
• Funding is for scaling manufacturing and sales operations to meet demand and developing new product configurations for diverse markets.?

3. 11x develops automated digital workers to replace human employees. They raised $2M in a pre-seed funding.

• Their AI-powered workers specialize in sales development, talent acquisition, and human resources tasks.?
• Round led by Project A , with participation from No Label Ventures , Offgrid Ventures , and angel investors Felipe Navio and Mandeep Singh.
• Funding is for expanding its team, enhancing development efforts, launching new digital workers, and broadening its business reach, particularly targeting growth in the U.S. market.?

?? Upcoming Events

The Data Scientist Learning Journey: Deep Learning Made Easy (Aug 17, 2023 / Virtual)

• This webinar will introduce you to helpful tools for data scientists who are building models with image or video data but don’t have experience working with deep learning model architectures.
• For more experienced deep learning modelers, this webinar will provide convenient examples of using predefined architectures to build SAS deep learning models.

Efficient Generative AI Summit 2023 (Sept 11, 2023 / Santa Clara Marriott, CA, USA)

• This event puts efficiency-boosting technologies in front of the vanguard of enterprises and software developers who are seriously looking at scaling generative AI projects or products.
• The summit will unite the leading experts in generative AI including high-level enterprise technologists, application developers, model and infra builders.

SAS Explore (Sept 11-14, 2023 / Las Vegas, NV, USA)

• Prepare to revolutionize your skills – and your organization – with groundbreaking AI and analytics strategies that redefine what’s possible. Gain the expertise to achieve faster results, stay ahead of change and outpace tomorrow.

AI Hardware & Edge AI Summit (Sept 12-14, 2023 / Santa Clara Marriott, CA, USA)

• This summit comprehensively covers the design and deployment of ML hardware and software infrastructure across the cloud-edge continuum.
• Attend a unique AI systems event that will give you both hardware and software tools and techniques for training, deploying, and serving machine learning.

Data Science Connect Europe Conference 2023 (Sept 13-14, 2023 / Virtual)

• This conference will showcase the wide variety of advanced data science applications throughout Europe as experts and practitioners across industries and disciplines discuss how they are leveraging data science in their respective verticals and domains.