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How AI could upend the world even more than electricity or the internet

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Countries as well as companies are racing ahead with generative artificial intelligence that tech entrepreneurs believe will change society dramatically
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The rise of artificial general intelligence — now seen as inevitable in Silicon Valley — will bring change that is “orders of magnitude” greater than anything the world has yet seen, observers say. But are we ready?

AGI — defined as artificial intelligence with human cognitive abilities, as opposed to more narrow artificial intelligence, such as the headline-grabbing ChatGPT — could free people from menial tasks and usher in a new era of creativity.

But such a historic paradigm shift could also threaten jobs and raise insurmountable social issues, experts warn. 

Previous technological advances from electricity to the internet ignited powerful social change, says Siqi Chen, chief executive of San Francisco startup Runway.

“But what we’re looking at now is intelligence itself… This is the first time we’re able to create intelligence itself and increase its amount in the universe,” he told AFP.

Change, as a result, will be “orders of magnitude greater than every other technological change we’ve ever had in history.”

And such an exciting, frightening shift is a “double-edged sword,” Chen said, envisioning using AGI to tackle climate change, for example, but also warning that it is a tool that we want to be as “steerable as possible.”

It was the release of ChatGPT late last year that brought the long dreamt of idea of AGI one giant leap closer to reality.

OpenAI, the company behind the generative software that churns out essays, poems and computing code on command, this week released an even more powerful version of the tech that operates it — GPT-4.

It says the technology will not only be able to process text but also images, and produce more complex content such as legal complaints or video games. 

As such it “exhibits human-level performance” on some benchmarks, the company said.

– Goodbye to ‘drudgery’ –

The success of OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, has ignited an arms race of sorts in Silicon Valley as tech giants seek to push their generative AI tools to the next level — though they remain wary of chatbots going off the rails.

Already, AI-infused digital assistants from Microsoft and Google can summarize meetings, draft emails, create websites, craft ad campaigns and more — giving us a glimpse of what AGI will be capable of in the future.

“We spend too much time consumed by the drudgery,” said Jared Spataro, Microsoft corporate vice president.

With artificial intelligence Spataro wants to “rediscover the soul of work,” he said during a Microsoft presentation on Thursday. 

Artificial intelligence can also cut costs, some suggest.

British landscape architect Joe Perkins tweeted that he used GPT-4 for a coding project, which a “very good” developer had told him would cost 5,000 pounds ($6,000) and take two weeks.

“GPT-4 delivered the same in 3 hours, for $0.11,” he tweeted. “Genuinely mind boggling.”

But that raises the question of the threat to human jobs, with entrepreneur Chen acknowledging that the technology could one day build a startup like his — or an even better version.

“How am I going to make a living and not be homeless?” he asked, adding that he was counting on solutions to emerge. 

– Existential questions –

Ubiquitous artificial intelligence also puts a question mark over creative authenticity as songs, images, art and more are cranked out by software instead of people.

Will humans shun education, relying instead on software to do the thinking for them?

And, who is to be trusted to make the AI unbiased, accurate, and adaptable to different countries and cultures?

AGI is “probably coming at us faster than we can process,” says Sharon Zhou, co-founder of a generative AI company.

The technology raises an existential question for humanity, she told AFP.

“If there is going to be something more powerful than us and more intelligent than us, what does that mean for us?” Zhou asked.

“And do we harness it? Or does it harness us?”

OpenAI says it plans to build AGI gradually with the aim of benefitting all of humanity, but it has conceded that the software has safety flaws.

Safety is a “process,” OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever said in an interview with the MIT Technology Review, adding that it would be “highly desirable” for companies to “come up with some kind of process that allows for slower releases of models with these completely unprecedented capabilities.”

But for now, says Zhou, slowing down is just not part of the ethos. 

“The power is concentrated around those who can build this stuff. And they make the decisions around this, and they are inclined to move fast,” she says.

The international order itself could be at stake, she suggests.

“The pressure between US and China has been immense,” Zhou says, adding that the artificial intelligence race invokes the Cold War era. 

“There is definitely the risk with AGI that if one country figures that out faster, will they dominate?” she asks.

“And so I think the fear is, don’t stop because we can’t lose.”

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ByteDance says ‘no plans’ to sell TikTok after US ban law

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A new US law requires TikTok to sever all ties with its Chinese parent ByteDance or face a ban in the United States
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Chinese tech giant ByteDance has said it has no plans to sell TikTok after a new US law put it on a deadline to divest from the hugely popular video platform or have it banned in the United States.

US lawmakers set the nine-month deadline on national security grounds, alleging that TikTok can be used by the Chinese government for espionage and propaganda as long as it is owned by ByteDance.

The Information, a tech-focused US news site, reported that ByteDance was looking at scenarios for selling TikTok without the powerful secret algorithm that recommends videos to its more than one billion users around the world.

ByteDance denied it was considering a sale.

“Foreign media reports about ByteDance exploring the sale of TikTok are untrue,” the company posted Thursday on Toutiao, a Chinese-language platform it owns.

“ByteDance does not have any plans to sell TikTok.”

TikTok has been a political and diplomatic hot potato for years, first finding itself in the crosshairs of former president Donald Trump’s administration, which tried unsuccessfully to ban it.

It has forcefully denied any link to the Chinese government, and said it has not and will not share US user data with Beijing.

TikTok says it has also spent around $1.5 billion on “Project Texas”, under which US user data would be stored in the United States.

Its critics say the data is only part of the problem, and that the TikTok recommendation algorithm — the “secret sauce” for its success — must also be disconnected from ByteDance.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has said the company will take the fight against the new law to the courts, but some experts believe that for the US Supreme Court, national security considerations could outweigh free speech protection.

– Bullish investors –

The estimated valuations of TikTok are in the tens of billions of dollars, and any forced sale would present major complications.

Among those with deep enough pockets, US tech giants such as Instagram-parent Meta or Google would likely be blocked from buying the app over competition concerns.

Further, many investors consider TikTok’s recommendation algorithm to be its most valuable feature.

But any sale of such technology by a Chinese company would require approval from Beijing, which designated such algorithms as protected technology following Trump’s attempt to ban TikTok in 2020.

Beijing has so far vocally opposed any forced sale of TikTok, saying it will take all necessary measures to protect Chinese companies.

While TikTok is a global phenomenon, it represents a small fraction of ByteDance’s revenue, according to analysts and investors. 

ByteDance has enjoyed explosive growth in recent years, becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world. Its international investors, including US firms General Atlantic and SIG as well as Japan’s SoftBank, have stakes worth billions.

“TikTok US is a very small part of the overall business. It is an exciting part of the story, for sure, but… relative to the overall size, it’s a very small part,” ByteDance investor Mitchell Green, of US-based Lead Edge Capital, told CNBC television last month.

“If it was kicked out of the US, we would not sell.”

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Five things we learned at the China Auto Show

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The consumer tech giant is the latest entrant to China's cut-throat EV market, with its new SU7 model the star of the show
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One of China’s largest auto shows kicked off in Beijing on Thursday, with electric vehicle makers keen to show off their latest designs and high-tech accessories to consumers in the fiercely competitive market.

Here are the key developments from Auto China’s first day of action:

– Xiaomi –

The consumer tech giant is the latest entrant to China’s cut-throat EV market, with its new SU7 model the star of the show.

Less than one month after its launch, almost 76,000 pre-orders have been placed, Xiaomi said, an accumulation of orders that will take months to deliver given its current production capacity.

Xiaomi boss Lei Jun was swarmed at Auto China on Thursday by legions of loyal fans, eager to follow the entrepreneur’s every move around the convention complex.

– XPeng –

Among car giant Tesla’s main rivals in the Chinese market is XPeng, which announced plans to begin large-scale deployment of AI-assisted driving in its vehicles in May.

“The AI learns the driver’s habits and can then imitate their driving” and enhance security, company boss He Xiaopeng told an audience while presenting the X9, a seven-seater “so spacious it can accommodate five bicycles in its trunk”.

– CATL –

Also present at the show was Chinese battery giant CATL, founded in 2011 in the eastern city of Ningde and now the undisputed global leader in EV batteries.

Its factories produce more than a third of car batteries sold worldwide and are equipped in models from a long line of foreign manufacturers including Mercedes, BMW, VW, Tesla, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai.

Responding Thursday to one of the main criticisms of EVs — long charging times that restrict mobility — CATL announced a remedy: “Shenxing Plus”, an ultra-fast battery pack that the firm says earns one kilometre (0.62 miles) in range for every second of charging.

– Nio –

In contrast to much of the EV industry, Chinese automaker Nio focuses on battery-swap technology rather than recharging individual vehicles.

The Shanghai-based firm founded 10 years ago said Thursday it had accumulated nearly 2,500 battery swapping points across China.

Nio also presented its ET7, a sedan model the firm claims has a range of 1,000 kilometres.

– Tencent-Toyota alliance –

Japanese auto-making juggernaut Toyota also announced Thursday that it would join hands with Chinese tech and gaming giant Tencent in AI, a bid to capitalise on local consumers’ increasing appetite for advanced smart car features.

The cooperation will apply to Toyota vehicles sold in China, said Toyota, which like other foreign manufacturers, has struggled to keep up in the ultra-competitive market as the industry shifts to electric.

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US to give Micron $6.1 bn for American chip factories

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US lawmakers have approved billions of dollars to support the onshoring of semiconductor production
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Micron is set to receive up to $6.1 billion in grants from the US government to help build its semiconductor plants in New York and Idaho, the White House said Thursday.

The award, to be announced by President Joe Biden as he travels to Syracuse, New York, is the latest in a series of efforts by Washington to bring semiconductor production back to the country.

The United States has been working to ensure its lead in the chip industry, especially with regards to the development of artificial intelligence — both on national security grounds and in the face of competition with China.

The investment will help Micron “bring back leading-edge memory chip manufacturing to the United States for the first time in 20 years,” Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate majority leader, told reporters.

The $6.1 billion in direct funding comes under the CHIPS and Science Act, a major package of funding and tax incentives passed by Congress in 2022 to boost research and US semiconductor production.

The White House said the funds will go to supporting construction of two facilities in Clay, New York, and one in Boise, Idaho, where Micron is headquartered.

The US Commerce Department will also make up to $7.5 billion in proposed loans available under a preliminary deal.

Micron is set to invest up to $125 billion across both states over the next two decades “to build a leading-edge memory manufacturing ecosystem,” according to the White House.

The US chipmaker’s total investment is due to create more than 70,000 jobs, including 20,000 direct construction and manufacturing roles.

– Supply chain shocks –

While semiconductors were invented in the United States, the White House noted that the country makes just around 10 percent of the world’s chips now — and “none of the most advanced ones.”

Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra called the step a “historic moment” for US semiconductor manufacturing, saying its US investments will “create many high-tech jobs.”

“Leading-edge memory chips are foundational to all advanced technologies,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

She added that returning the development and production of advanced memory semiconductor technology to the country is “crucial for safeguarding our leadership on artificial intelligence and protecting our economic and national security.”

Chips are needed in powering everything from smartphones to fighter jets, and are increasingly in demand by automakers, especially for electric vehicles.

But the global chip industry is dominated by just a few firms, including TSMC in Taiwan and California-based Nvidia.

The United States is dependent on Asia for chip production, making it vulnerable to supply chain shocks, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic or in the event of a major geopolitical crisis.

“We’re already seeing AI revolutionize our world and grow at an unprecedented pace,” said Schumer. 

“We cannot, cannot have these chips made overseas, especially by competitors like China. We cannot have them be the only supplier,” he added.

Apart from the grants to Micron, Biden is also expected to announce four new “workforce hubs” in the Upstate New York region, the state of Michigan, as well as the cities of Philadelphia and Milwaukee.

According to senior government officials, such hubs are a way to spur more commitments from employers and educational institutions.

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