Links for 2024-08-29
AI:
Action-conditioned world models are one step closer: Google presents 'Diffusion Models Are Real-Time Game Engines'. Presents GameNGen, the first game engine powered entirely by a neural model that enables real-time interaction with a complex environment over long trajectories at high quality. GameNGen can interactively simulate the classic game DOOM at over 20 frames per second on a single TPU. https://gamengen.github.io/
The Information reports that OpenAI's powerful reasoning model, codenamed Strawberry, is available internally but has not yet been released. Instead of releasing Strawberry, they are using it to generate synthetic data to train Orion (GPT-6). https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/8oX4FTRa8MJodArhj/the-information-openai-shows-strawberry-to-feds-races-to
OpenAI is getting closer to raising funding at a valuation of more than $100 billion in a round led by Thrive Capital https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-28/openai-nears-funding-round-at-more-than-100-billion-valuation [no paywall: https://archive.is/wpaaL]
“AI companies are pivoting from creating gods to building products. Good.” https://www.aisnakeoil.com/p/ai-companies-are-pivoting-from-creating
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt predicts rapid advancements in AI, with the potential to create significant apps like TikTok competitors in minutes within the next few years. https://www.exponentialview.co/p/eric-schmidts-ai-prophecy
AWS CEO Adam Selipsky predicts that within the next 24 months, most developers might not be coding anymore due to AI advancements. https://www.businessinsider.com/aws-ceo-developers-stop-coding-ai-takes-over-2024-8 [no paywall: https://archive.is/LzkGU]
“Bland: Your newest AI employee. Bland is a customizable phone calling agent that sounds just like a human. It can: 🗣️Talk in any language or voice 🤖Be designed for any use case ☎️Handle millions of calls simultaneously. 24/7. Bland does all of this without hallucination - and that’s just the start. But we'll let it speak for itself...” https://x.com/usebland/status/1828882563588612233
Chinese companies have ramped up their imports of chip production equipment, spending nearly $26 billion in the first seven months of the year. https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/chinese-companies-spend-dollar26-billion-on-advanced-chipmaking-machinery-investment
Serving Llama 3.1 70B at 450 tokens/sec and Llama 3.1 8B at 1,850 tokens/sec! Try it now: https://inference.cerebras.ai/
AI Cracks the Chemistry Code to Better, Longer-lasting Solar Panels https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/693958657
Transformers for brain Decoding: POYO-1, a Unified, Scalable Framework for Neural Population Decoding https://poyo-brain.github.io/
Neural Data Transformer 2: Multi-context Pretraining for Neural Spiking Activity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.09.18.558113v1
Berkeley Humanoid, a bipedal robot that functions as a reliable and low-cost mid-scale humanoid research platform for learning-based control. https://berkeley-humanoid.com/
Fire-Flyer AI-HPC: A Cost-Effective Software-Hardware Co-Design for Deep Learning https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.14158
T-FREE: Tokenizer-Free Generative LLMs via Sparse Representations for Memory-Efficient Embeddings https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.19223
Jürgen Schmidhuber: Neural and Non-Neural AI, Reasoning, Transformers, and LSTMs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP454c1K_vQ
Nvidia set out another expectation-beating sales forecast in its earnings report Wednesday, saying it hoped to generate $32.5 billion in revenue next quarter, an 80% increase on last year. The estimate beat Wall Street’s expectations by 2.3%. https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-financial-results-for-second-quarter-fiscal-2025
Nvidia Rolls Out Blueprints For The Next Wave Of Generative AI https://www.nextplatform.com/2024/08/27/nvidia-rolls-out-blueprints-for-the-next-wave-of-generative-ai/
Miscellaneous:
Stanford researchers have found that blocking the kynurenine pathway in the brain can reverse the metabolic disruptions caused by Alzheimer’s disease, improving cognitive functions in mice. https://brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/drugs-improve-brain-metabolism-could-help-alzheimers-patients
Using air purifiers in two Helsinki daycare centers reduced kids' sick days by about 30%, according to preliminary findings from the E3 Pandemic Response study. The research, led by Enni Sanmark from HUS Helsinki University Hospital, aims to see if air purification can also cut down on stomach ailments. https://yle.fi/a/74-20062381
This is great: Saving Private Earth https://x.com/MakeSunsets/status/1828653512814891516
Ukraine:
Ukraine's air defense drones have become so widespread that they are becoming a very potent tool against Russian reconnaissance drones. The video shows more than a hundred successful interceptions. Cheap Ukrainian drones destroy expensive enemy drones in air combat much more effectively than anti-aircraft missiles. https://x.com/ian_matveev/status/1828775586065535072
The "Atlas" oil depot in the Kamensky district of the Rostov region is burning intensely. https://x.com/NOELreports/status/1828692823236833544
Also Russian oil depot in Kotel'nich, Kirov Oblast of Russia was attacked by drones, 1120km from the frontline. https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1828713499658215601
“Oleksandr shared that he saw Russian artillery firing at Ukrainian positions from right under the Donetsk hospital, hoping Ukrainians would fire back so they could broadcast it on their TV.” https://x.com/victoriaslog/status/1828659964371456292
Kursk Offensive confirmed equipment losses as of 27 August 2024 https://x.com/naalsio26/status/1828599856237068399
“There are various numbers circulating about the remaining contingent of Russian forces. Estimates go between 1000 and 3000 Russian forces that are now blocked south of the Seym River.” https://x.com/NOELreports/status/1829134820703678780
What the fall of Pokrovsk could mean for Ukraine — “As of today, the situation around Pokrovsk is dire and dangerous, with the potential to create a serious operational catastrophe if the town is lost.” https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/08/28/what-the-fall-of-pokrovsk-could-mean-for-ukraine/
“Russians are noticing the rather "suspiciously" fast retreat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Donbas and think that something is up with that, given the availability of at least some reserves for the Ukrainians that are not being deployed.” https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1829073131744456873
“10 years ago today RUs treacherously violated agreement on green corridor for 🇺🇦 troops which tried to leave Ilovaisk (Donetsk region). Columns of UA troops have been targeted by RU paratroopers. 366 warriors died, 128 became POWs, 158 were MIA.” https://x.com/MBielieskov/status/1829043636404617509
“25.08.2014 Russian tank soldiers film themselves in Ukraine near Lyse (48.469797 39.596891). At the time, the Ukrainian positions were in Novosvitlivka, around 6 kilometers away from the filming location. These T-90A tanks belong to the 136th separate motorized rifle brigade, unit 63354 (Buinaksk, Russia (Dagestan)).” https://x.com/Montrey82631182/status/1829079850935636337
There is a nation striving to join the Western sphere of influence. They love America. They love Europe. Now, it fights for its very survival, with hundreds of thousands of predominantly white Christian patriots fighting and sacrificing their lives for freedom and independence.
Yet, paradoxically, many Americans and Europeans who claim to be patriots are working against this noble cause. Instead, they are aligning themselves with a country that is in bed with their adversaries, a country led by someone who openly kisses the Quran.
If you truly consider yourself a patriot, ask yourself where your loyalties lie. Yes, our civilization has its flaws, but does that justify betraying it in favor of an openly anti-Western bloc, whose members grapple with far greater issues? Are you choosing Chinese authoritarianism over the challenges of woke culture? Russian oligarchy over Western elitism? Ultimately, you stand a much better chance of reforming the West from within than expecting foreign adversaries to act in your interests.
Supporting those who fight and die to join your alliance should transcend partisan divides—it's a matter of common sense. Allowing your enemies to dictate by force who can align with you signals weakness and emboldens them to take further actions against your interests.