Less than a week after sending tremors through Silicon Valley and across the media landscape with an affordable large language model called DeepSeek-R1, the Chinese AI startup behind that technology has debuted another new product — the multimodal Janus-Pro-7B with an aptitude for image generation. Further mining the vein of efficiency that made R1 impressive to many, Janus-Pro-7B utilizes “a single, unified transformer architecture for processing.” Emphasizing “simplicity, high flexibility and effectiveness,” DeepSeek says Janus Pro is positioned to be a frontrunner among next-generation unified multimodal models. Continue reading DeepSeek Follows Its R1 LLM Debut with Multimodal Janus-Pro

Hangzhou-based AI firm DeepSeek is roiling the U.S. tech sector and upending financial markets. The startup has managed to become competitive with Silicon Valley’s deep learning firms despite U.S. sanctions that prevent Chinese technology companies from buying premium chips. DeepSeek has made it into the global top 10 in terms of model performance, and as of this week had the top-ranked free AI assistant at the Apple App Store. DeepSeek’s new R1 model has drawn attention for using less computing power than competing systems, while performing comparably, despite having been developed using older Nvidia chips. Continue reading Chinese AI Startup DeepSeek Disrupting the U.S. Tech Sector

During the “Speed, Customization, Innovation: AI in Gaming” panel during CES this week, game publishers and developers shared their latest insights regarding how they use generative AI tools. A prevailing question involved the impact of AI’s ability to generate pixels and video frames efficiently — especially in light of Nvidia’s keynote the prior evening announcing its new Blackwell RTX 50 Series GPUs’ enormous ability to do so. Other opinions shared during the panel included thoughts on whether AI is overhyped for gaming and wish lists for fixing the limitations of AI tools. Continue reading CES: Thoughts on the Benefits and Limitations of AI in Gaming

Ayar Labs, which develops optical interconnect chips for large-scale AI workloads, has secured $155 million in financing, including from competing processor companies Nvidia, Intel and AMD. Founded in 2017, the Silicon Valley-based company is pursuing a different processing path — combining photonic elements with electronic circuits on each chip for what it says provides faster, more efficient processing for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. “This brings the company’s total funding to $370 million and raises the company’s valuation to above $1 billion,” Ayar notes, adding that the new funding allows the company to scale its optical I/O tech. Continue reading Nvidia, Intel and AMD Invest in AI Chiplet Developer Ayar Labs

Nvidia sales were up 94 percent to $35 billion in the most recent quarter when profits more than doubled, to $19.3 billion, telegraphing the strength of the artificial intelligence boom that took the company from the top supplier of graphics boards for gaming PCs to the world’s most valuable public company with a market cap of $3.59 trillion. Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang told analysts that demand for the company’s latest AI chip, Blackwell, has been “incredible,” driving projections of $3.59 trillion in revenue for the current quarter as customers begin to take shipments. Continue reading AI Boom Boosts Nvidia Sales by 94 Percent as Profits Double

OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who exited the company in May after a power struggle with CEO Sam Altman, has raised $1 billion for his new venture, Safe Superintelligence (SSI). The cash infusion from major Silicon Valley venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, SV Angel and NFDG has resulted in a $5 billion valuation for the startup. As its name implies, SSI is focused on developing artificial intelligence that does not pose a threat to humanity, a goal that will be pursued “in a straight shot” with “one product,” Sutskever has stated. Continue reading Safe Superintelligence Raises $1 Billion to Develop Ethical AI

California tech companies are bristling at a state bill that would force them to enact strict safety protocols, including installing “kill switches” to turn-off AI models that present a public risk. Silicon Valley has emerged as a global AI leader, and the proposed law would impact not only OpenAI, but Anthropic, Cohere, Google and Meta Platforms. The bill, SB 1047, focuses on what its lead sponsor, State Senator Scott Wiener, calls “common sense safety standards” for frontier models. Should the bill become law, it could affect even firms like Amazon that provide AI cloud services to California customers even though they are not based in the state. Continue reading Tech Firms Push Back Against California AI Safety Regulation

Airchat is the latest app to take tech leaders in Silicon Valley by storm. Described as a “combination of voice notes and Twitter,” Airchat lets you follow other users and scroll through posts — adding replies, likes and shares — but the twist is the content is generated through audio recordings the app then transcribes. Airchat ranked 27th on the App Store’s social networking chart, even though users must be invited to join. Launched last year by Naval Ravikant, founder of AngelList, and erstwhile Tinder product exec Brian Norgard, Airchat was just relaunched on iOS and Android. Continue reading Audio-First Social Platform Airchat Has Successful Relaunch

AMD is coming to market with a new slate of chips optimized for artificial intelligence, including the AMD Instinct MI300 Series data center AI accelerators, ROCm 6 open software stack with new features for large language models, and Ryzen 8040 Series processors with Ryzen AI. The new offerings have received a welcome reception from customers including Microsoft, Oracle, Meta Platforms and Dell, among others that can benefit from building a strong network of suppliers of AI chips. The market is currently dominated by Nvidia, which is challenged to meet existing demand. Continue reading AMD’s New AI Chips Get Welcome Reception from Enterprise

The Supreme Court will hear a case that will assess the constitutionality of controversial state laws governing social media in Texas and Florida. The states enacted their laws in 2021, ostensibly to assure “free speech” was guaranteed on platforms like Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter). Users who considered their views “conservative” filed suit alleging censorship. Protections offered by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act impact how government can regulate expression shared by online services and private media companies. Much like broadcast’s Fairness Doctrine, plaintiffs argue there are obligations that come with government warrantees. Continue reading Supreme Court to Assess States’ Social Media Speech Laws

San Francisco-based startup Fable has raised the curtain on its research involving “AI Showrunner” technology, an app it’s calling SHOW-1. As part of an ongoing project dubbed “The Simulation,” Fable is proffering demonstration footage of how SHOW-1 can generate episodes of the animated television show “South Park,” inserting anyone as the star. Fable claims its Showrunner system generates more than just scripts and dialogue, but can animate, add vocal performances and edit full episodes based on something as basic as a two-sentence prompt. Continue reading Fable’s AI Showrunner App Generates Complete TV Episodes

The Parliament of Canada passed a law requiring technology companies to pay news outlets when linking to their articles, a move that has Meta Platforms threatening to pull news content from Facebook and Instagram in that country. Canada’s Online News Act, which applies to domestic outlets, is the latest move in a global battle between publishers and Big Tech, and follows a similar law in Australia. “A strong, independent and free press is fundamental to our democracy,” a member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration tweeted when the law cleared the vote last week. Continue reading Canadian Law Requires That Tech Firms Pay for News Links

Santa Clara, California-based Applied Materials, which makes equipment used to produce semiconductors, has announced plans to invest up to $4 billion in a research facility in Silicon Valley. The Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization (EPIC) Center, which will be built over seven years, aims to bring chipmakers and universities together to collaborate on innovations that will result in more powerful chips. “For the first time, chipmakers can have dedicated space within an equipment company’s R&D fab, providing early access to next-generation processes and equipment to accelerate product roadmaps,” according to Applied Materials. Continue reading Applied Materials Plans Chip Research Center in Silicon Valley

Agencies across the federal government are actively exploring steps to regulate artificial intelligence, seeking to ensure it is safe now while minimizing future harms. The Commerce Department this week issued a public request for comment to be accepted within the next 60 days, then used by U.S. policymakers as they consider new rules for a consumer technology sector that has exploded globally in 2023. The move by Commerce comes on the heels of a scathing advisory by the Federal Trade Commission, which has been examining ways generative AI could be misused for scams or fraud. Continue reading Federal Government Continues to Grapple with AI Guidelines

Meta Platforms is said to be considering the launch of a decentralized federated app powered by ActivityPub, the framework used by Twitter, Mastodon and others, according to a report originating in Mumbai-based Moneycontrol, which says the app, codenamed P92, will be “Instagram-branded,” allowing users to login using their Instagram credentials. A Meta spokesperson confirmed to Moneycontrol “we’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests.” Continue reading Meta Is Developing a Social Network That Could Rival Twitter