The University of Texas at Austin this week announced that it has opened its undergraduate robotics program to high school applicants. The honors program is one of the first in the U.S. that allows incoming freshmen to apply for the program as part of their initial admission application. It’s a clear indication that robotics is […]
University of Texas opens robotics program up to incoming freshmen Read More »
Europe doesn’t have many large language model (LLM) makers but one of these rare AI beasts — Germany’s Aleph Alpha — appears to be preparing to rule itself out of the running, per Bloomberg, which has an interview with CEO Jonas Andrulis on its pivot to a broader generative AI-support play. The idea with a
German LLM maker Aleph Alpha pivots to AI support Read More »
If you spend time on X or Threads, where snarky memes rise and fall, you’ve probably seen posts referencing “founder mode” over the last few days, like this: https://www.threads.net/@carnage4life/post/C_eaQAxyIcV Or maybe this: You may even have seen this parody about “goblin mode.” The chatter ties to a recent blog post that Y Combinator founder and
Those ‘Founder mode’ memes keep coming Read More »
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has closed a satellite office in Miami Beach just two years into a five-year lease it signed for an 8,300-square-foot space. The reason? Disuse, reports Bloomberg. Miami — once a hotspot for crypto, an area of interest for a16z — has struggled to retain venture cash and entrepreneurial talent in recent years,
Andreessen Horowitz shutters its Miami office after two years Read More »
Ryan Breslow’s plan to get himself re-installed as CEO of fintech company Bolt — and push through a $450 million fundraising deal that would value the startup at a staggering $14 billion — has apparently stalled. According to Forbes, Breslow sent an email to shareholders thanking them for signing off on the deal. The problem is that many
Ryan Breslow’s lofty $450M Bolt deal is in trouble Read More »
Korea’s Institute of Machinery and Materials this week showcased a robotic wheelchair with large, deformable wheels that can manage rocks, stairs and other obstacles. During normal operation, the wheel maintains a standard rigid circular form. When it encounters an obstacle, however, it becomes compliant, conforming to the object’s height and shape. The system, which also
Watch this robotic wheelchair’s compliant wheels take on bumps, rocks and stairs Read More »
Safe Superintelligence (SSI), the AI startup co-founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, has raised over $1 billion in capital from investors including NFDG (an investment partnership run by Nat Friedman and SSI CEO Daniel Gross), a16z, Sequoia, DST Global and SV Angel. SSI told Reuters that it plans to use the tranche to
Ilya Sutskever’s startup, Safe Superintelligence, raises $1B Read More »
Volkswagen is taking its ChatGPT voice assistant experiment on the road. Or more, specifically to vehicles it sells in the United States. The German automaker announced in January at CES 2024 plans to add an AI-powered chatbot into all Volkswagen models equipped with its IDA voice assistant. But the U.S. was excluded in that initial
Volkswagen is rolling out its ChatGPT assistant to the US Read More »
Is Elon’s rumble in the Amazonian jungle on course for a technical knockout? Over the weekend, the Brazilian high court voted to uphold a ban on X that another judge issued the week before for failing to comply with take-down requests. The court will issue fines of up to $9,000 to those who use VPNs to
Elon Musk’s Brazil battle wages on Read More »
No matter who powerful generative AI becomes, writer Ted Chiang says it will never create true art. Chiang is one of the most admired science fiction authors writing today, best known for the novella “Story Of Your Life” (which was adapted into the movie “Arrival”). But he’s also published terrific pieces for The New Yorker
The case against AI art Read More »
