While the CEOs of Anthropic, OpenAI, and Elon Musk have called for a slowdown on AI development, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told Donald Trump in a phone call taken live on stage that as far as putting the brakes on AI development that (Nvidia) was “not going to let that happen, sir.” TechCrunch.com reports that the CEO was on stage for the All-In Summit when the call came through from the White House. Trump has gone all in on pushing for the fastest development of AI, claiming that if we don’t, the Chinese will leap ahead of the US in the tech. It’s a bit scary having a president who doesn’t even use a computer…let alone understand how computers, AI, or the internet works…is acting like he does know more than the CEOs of the actual companies developing AI models.
Agility Robotics has rolled out its newest robot, the Digit 5. According to geekwire.com, the Oregon-based company claims the robot can lift over 50 pounds and can work 20+ hours a day…while working alongside humans. There is a certain degree of hype in this, since the robot can only run on its battery for 90 minutes…before having to head to a charger for a 9 minute recharge. That means it will be needing more break time than a human! The device can reach objects as high as 7.2 feet off the ground, which will be handy. An early investor in Agility has been Amazon, which would love to replace workers in its warehouses with robots…who require a heavy initial cost..but then need no benefits. It may take a while to see their way to positive cash flow on these things, though, because the mechanical marvels cost over $200,000 each!
European researchers have discovered a new wrinkle when it comes to wind power. Bgr.com says a German study has found that giant offshore wind farms have an unintended consequence….the study determined that they caused a 10% to 15% decrease in coastal precipitation. Ah, but there is a potential solution…the newer bladeless wind turbines. More research is planned, but it will be a non-starter to have Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands to get as much as 15% reduced coastal rainfall.
The CEO of General Motors a couple of years ago famously announced that the General was going to ditch Apple CarPlay completely, but would continue to offer Android Auto in its infotainment systems. Now, arstechnica.com notes that the best-selling GM trucks…the Chevrolet Silverado and GMS Sierra pickups will have CarPlay in addition to Android available through the in-dash infotainment system. A GM spokesperson wouldn’t say if the General was going to backtrack on EVs…which right now don’t allow either Apple CarPlay or Android Auto to cast your phones through the in-dash infotainment system. A press release did say that the new system was built “as a single scalable foundation across electric, gas and diesel-powered vehicles, it transforms time spent behind the wheel into an effortless, personalized journey.” That kind of sounds like they may indeed have listened to customer complaints and that they are restoring using your Android or Apple phone to cast phone calls and music through the in-dash infotainment system.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
