Microsoft partners with Meta to bring its range of products to metaverse

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October 13, 2022

Microsoft partners with Meta to bring its products to metaverse

Microsoft announced a partnership with Meta Platforms on Tuesday to bring its Microsoft Office 365 products to Meta’s virtual reality (VR) platform to lure companies into working in virtual environments.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, revealed the new collaboration during Meta’s Connect 2022 keynote on October 11. Nadella said the Teams video calling app would integrate with Meta’s “Quest” and newly launched “Quest Pro” VR headset, enabling people to come together in a virtual space like a boardroom.

Microsoft Teams will be cross-compatible with Meta’s VR space for business meetings named Horizon Workrooms. The company’s enterprise-level identity management applications and mobile device will be compatible with Quest Pro and Meta’s Quest headsets, according to Nadella, which will allow companies to manage and secure VR headsets in their corporate networks similarly as they do with computers or phones.

Other popular Microsoft productivity applications, including PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, Excel, and SharePoint, will also be available within Meta’s VR. The feature to stream a Windows Cloud computer to Meta’s headsets is being planned for the future.

Nadella highlighted the increase of remote working following the COVID-19 pandemic, which he said has created a “once-in-a-lifetime” chance to shift the landscape of formerly office-based work environments.

Last week, Microsoft internally revealed its new Industrial Metaverse Core team, which will focus on creating immersive software interfaces for use in industrial control systems that power electrical plants, industrial robotics, and transportation networks, among other applications.

Microsoft Announces Azure Updates at Ignite 2022

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Disha Chopra

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October 13, 2022

microsoft announced azure updates at ignite 2022

The tech giant Microsoft has announced several updates to Azure, the company’s public cloud platform, at Microsoft Ignite 2022. The event attendees will get a first-hand experience with training skills to get value from Microsoft technologies.

The company has announced the following updates to Azure Cognitive Services:

Azure OpenAI Service

Despite being available with limited access in the preview, it will provide access to Dall-E 2, a model that enables users to create distinctive pictures using text or images. Users can produce material, graphics, and code from selected clients to increase productivity while carrying out mission-critical operations.

Azure Cognitive Service for Language

It improves summarization and broadens language support across all language skills with more capabilities for natural language understanding (NLU) and natural language generation (NLG), allowing users to quickly implement business apps for scenarios involving the digitalization of documents and conversations.

The company also announced several machine learning features that are yet in preview.

Azure Machine Learning Registries

It will aid machine learning experts in promoting, sharing, and discovering artifacts like models, pipelines, and environments across various workspaces in a company.

Azure Container for PyTorch and Data Science Virtual Machines for PyTorch

These updates, in preview, are curated settings and customized pictures that incorporate cutting-edge Microsoft technology to set up, create, accelerate, and assist PyTorch model training at its best.

Responsible AI dashboard

It will soon be freely accessible, enabling users to quickly adopt Responsible AI through machine learning model debugging and data-driven decision-making.

Apache Spark pools integration

This feature will allow data preparation on Spark clusters within the Azure Machine Learning platform to be quickly iterated upon by machine learning experts.

Huggin Face

Hugging Face will provide the community with access to BLOOM, the biggest open multilingual language model, on AzureML Managed Endpoints for performance testing.

For more announcements made at Ignite 2022, you can refer to the Book of News posted on the Microsoft website.

OECD creates new global tax transparency framework for crypto assets

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Sahil Pawar

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October 13, 2022

OECD creates new global tax transparency framework for crypto assets

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has created a new global tax transparency framework for automatically exchanging information related to crypto assets between countries.

Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) would allow countries to track the cross-border transfer of crypto assets. According to the OECD statement, CARF will be presented to G20 Finance Ministers this week in Washington, DC. The G20 had in April 2021 mandated the OECD to develop a framework for the automatic exchange of tax-relevant information on crypto assets.

Sudhir Kapadia, Partner, tax & regulatory services, EY India, said, “Regulators and tax authorities around the world have been grappling with the question of tracking, regulating and taxing crypto transactions given the proliferation and increasing dispersion of this form of exchange.”

The new transparency initiative, developed with G20 countries, comes against the backdrop of the rapid adoption of crypto-assets for a wide range of financial uses and investments.

While some forward-looking countries have spotted an opportunity to attract crypto entrepreneurs to set up a base by providing an enabling environment for crypto operations, other countries have been more concerned about the potential misuse of crypto assets to fuel money laundering, and prohibited end uses.

Meta debuts its virtual reality headset Meta Quest Pro

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Sahil Pawar

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October 12, 2022

Meta debuts its virtual reality headset Meta Quest Pro

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday that his company’s newest virtual reality headset, dubbed the Meta Quest Pro, will cost $1,500 and start shipping on Oct. 25. Zuckerberg debuted the device at Meta’s Connect conference, geared toward VR and augmented reality developers.

The new headset costs $1,100 more than Meta’s Quest 2 headset. It contains new technologies, like an advanced mobile Snapdragon computer chip developed with Qualcomm, that helps the device produce more advanced graphics. The Quest Pro also has improved touch controllers that contain embedded sensors, allowing for better hand tracking and new lenses for improved reading experiences.

The new headset contains some mixed-reality features that can blend elements of the virtual world with the physical world. Zuckerberg has touted that as an essential feature in creating the metaverse, which refers to digital worlds that people can access via VR and AR headsets.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also appeared during the online event and discussed a partnership with Meta to bring some of his company’s work-collaboration apps to Quest VR devices. Some Microsoft apps that people can access with a Quest device include the Team’s chat app, the Microsoft 365 suite of work software, and the company’s Xbox cloud gaming service.

“You will be able to play 2D games with your Xbox controller projected on a massive screen on Quest,” Nadella said. Meta shares were down about 4.5% in midday trading to $127.85, underscoring a muted response from investors about the new VR headset.

Listen to AI-Generated Joe Rogan and Steve Jobs Podcast interview

By

Disha Chopra

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October 12, 2022

steve jobs and joe rogan AI-generated interview

Synthetic voice generated by Play.ht allows you to hear your favorite topics in voices from the past. In an episode posted by Podcast.ai, an AI-generated podcast platform, people can listen to (fake) Steve Jobs’s interview with (fake) Joe Rogan!

Based in Dubai, Play.ht created a podcast series called “Podcast.ai” whose first episode features digitally cloned voices of Joe Rogan and Steve Jobs. The interview begins with Rogan introducing Jobs as a guest who is “difficult to describe,” “weird,” and yet has made some “great technological products of our age,” all in a very realistic voice.

The replicated voice is generated by voice cloning technology using deep learning models, where existing samples are used. Rogan is a top candidate for deep learning AI voice training because his podcasts contain a lot of isolated recordings of his voice.

Further in the episode, listeners can hear Steve Jobs share his experience at Reed College, his courses, and learning about Hinduism and Buddhism. Jobs’ synthetic voice continues to describe how several odysseys and spiritual foundations come from the Indian subcontinent.

In a later section, listeners can also hear him re-iterate the launching of the Macintosh and his criticism of Microsoft. The section is very akin to what (real) Steve Jobs delivered in an interview in 1995. Following the critique, Jobs explains how Apple was formed with a vision of working to improve its products in the “long run” and seeking their betterment with every next thing that is produced.

After hearing the entire episode, one can realize that while the synthetic voices are similar, they are not entirely indistinguishable. Listeners can tell the difference between real and fake if they compare.

It’s unclear whether it is allowed to use Rogan or Jobs’ voices in this way, especially to advertise a business product. People are looking at a future when media artifacts from any past will probably be entirely fluid and flexible, suitable to fit any narrative, with speech synthesis becoming more common and possibly undetectable.

DataRobot Achieves Google Cloud Ready – BigQuery Designation

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Disha Chopra

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October 12, 2022

datarobot google cloud ready designation

DataRobot, the AI cloud leader, achieves Google Cloud Ready – BigQuery designation and plans to strengthen its partnership with Google Cloud to support joint customers. By receiving this designation, the DataRobot AI Cloud platform satisfies a basic set of BigQuery-related functional and interoperability standards.

DataRobot AI Cloud is a multi-cloud platform that can be used at the edge, in public clouds, and in data centers. A global community of strategic technology, solution, and consulting partners powers the cloud.

The DataRobot AI Cloud availability on the Google Cloud Marketplace was announced in June 2022. Now, with the cloud-ready designation, both companies will work together to give data analytics teams faster access to all of the company’s data and the ability to submit model predictions back into BigQuery.

A partner integration validation program called Google Cloud Ready – BigQuery aims to boost customer trust in partner integrations into BigQuery. According to this program, Google Cloud engineering teams validate partner integrations into BigQuery in three stages:

Run a series of data integration tests and compare results against benchmarks.
Collaborate closely with partners to fill gaps.
Improve documentation for shared customers.

This certification from Google Cloud gives our customers more assurance that DataRobot AI Cloud integrates with BigQuery without any issues to produce even more intelligent business solutions.

Sirisha Kadamalakalva, SVP of Alliances and Partnerships, DataRobot, said, “This integration with BigQuery enables data analytics teams and data scientists to quickly enrich datasets and build powerful machine learning models.” She also added that the company is looking forward to delivering more value to the joint customers.

NASSCOM will release an AI Resource Kit for Responsible AI

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Disha Chopra

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October 12, 2022

NASSCOM, a tech trade, and commerce industry leader will release an AI resource kit and a responsible AI hub in collaboration with Fractal Analytics, Microsoft, Deloitte, TCS, and IBM Research to ensure the responsible adoption of AI at scale.

The resource kit, according to NASSCOM, will enable businesses to independently evaluate and track the development and implementation of AI solutions. It will also ensure ethical compliance and suggest management structures for risk mitigation.

Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM, said businesses are subjected to the unconscious biases their owners inherit, and acknowledging them is the biggest challenge. She continued to say that technology and artificial intelligence are becoming the key driver to ensuring that this biasedness does not hamper business efficiency.

She said, “Consumer awareness around AI is increasing, however trust in its adoption is in a very nascent stage. Scaling AI has now become a key business imperative. It is, therefore, vital for us to figure out how to scale AI ethically and responsibly.”

NASSCOM intends to maintain the kit as an evolving reference, gradually building on the most recent research and best practices for responsible AI adoption. Stakeholders from the industry, government, academia, think tanks, and civil society organizations preserve and enhance the kit’s utility over time.

Apple introduces Ask Apple for developers to connect with experts

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Sahil Pawar

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October 12, 2022

Apple introduces Ask Apple for developers

Apple has introduced Ask Apple, which is a new series of interactive one-on-one consultations and Q&As aimed at providing developers with more opportunities to connect directly with Apple experts for feedback, insight, and support.

Developers joining Ask Apple can inquire about several topics, such as testing the latest seeds, adopting new features like Dynamic Island, and implementing updated frameworks from Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). It can also provide insights on moving to Swift, SwiftUI, and preparing their apps for new hardware and OS releases.

Ask Apple is free, and registrations are open for all the members of Apple Developer Program and Apple Developer Enterprise Program. This series will allow developers to ask several Apple team members questions during one-on-one office hours and through Q&As on Slack. Q&As allow developers to connect with Apple designers, evangelists, and engineers to get their queries answered, engage with other developers worldwide, and share their learnings.

Office hours focus on creating and distributing compelling apps that take advantage of the latest technology and design. Developers can ask for code-level assistance, design guidance, input on implementing technologies and frameworks, advice on resolving issues or help with App Review Guidelines and distribution tools.

Ask Apple is built on successful programs like Tech Talks and Meet with App Store Experts, which have offered developers more than 200 live presentations and thousands of office hours over the past year.

Kaggle ML and DS Survey 2022: Key Insights

By

Disha Chopra

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October 12, 2022

Kaggle, the world’s largest data science community, released the Kaggle ML and DS Survey findings for 2022. Here are some insights from the survey:

Demographic characteristics

The survey shows that India exhibited a strictly increasing trend in the number of data scientists working and residing there during the last five years. Japan was amongst other countries that have shown a rising trend, while countries like the US have shown near-stagnant growth with a hike in the number of data scientists during 2022.

Programming skills and coding infrastructures

As per the survey, Python and SQL remained the most prominent programming languages a data scientist must know. Python outstands SQL by a significant margin and has surpassed R programming and other programming languages like C++, Java, or Javascript, which do not necessarily aid people in excelling in the field.

JupyterLab remains the most widely used source-coding notebook environment, followed by Google Colab and Kaggle notebooks, replacing the traditional R Studio and MATLAB. The survey also reveals that many data scientists have actively shifted to VS Code for software development.

Machine Learning Framework

Scikit-Learn stands out as the most popular framework, followed by TensorFlow and XGBoost. While they have been on the top of data scientists’ lists, they exhibited a near-constant utility, while PyTorch has been growing steadily.

The findings include concrete numbers on the number of people working with data, trends in machine learning across industries, and the best approaches for aspiring data scientists to enter the profession. It is an intriguing example of a survey dataset because Kaggle provided all the data, not just the aggregated survey results, allowing analysts to study the data independently.

Kaggle ML and DS Survey Competition 2022

Kaggle announced a competition following the sixth annual industry-wide survey to surface a comprehensive view of the country’s machine learning and data science state.

It is initiating the annual Data Science Survey Challenge and will award US$30,000 in prizes to notebook authors who best describe a particular segment of the data science and machine learning community. The challenge is an opportunity for people to use their imagination and create a story of a group of people with whom they identify.

The submissions will be evaluated on the following:

Composition: the narrative and the subject should be well put together, researched, and supported by data and visualizations.
Documentation: the code and notebooks should be understandable to an ordinary reader, with adequately cited sources and a concise analysis of each step. The documentation should represent the rationale behind your story.
Originality: the entry should be informative, thought-provoking, and non-plagiarized.

A submission must be contained in a single notebook and made public before the submission deadline to be considered valid. In addition to the Kaggle Data Science survey, participants are welcome to utilize any other datasets. For a submission to be accepted, it must be made accessible to the general public on Kaggle by the deadline.

Humanoid robot Ai-Da becomes first robot to speak in the House of Lords

By

Sahil Pawar

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October 12, 2022

Humanoid painter Ai-Da made history by being the first robot to speak in the House of Lords. The life-size AI robot artist was quizzed by peers on her artwork at the Communications and Digital Committee, examining the future of the UK’s creative industries and how AI could impact the sector.

Ai-Da is a humanoid robot with artistic abilities designed to look like a human female. The robot uses artificial intelligence to create art and respond to questions.

Ai-Da answered questions directly from peers during the session. However, creator Aidan Meller confirmed the questions had been submitted previously to ensure better quality answers from the artificial intelligence language model used to power the responses.

When crossbench peer Baroness Bull asked how she produces art, Ai-Da replied that she produces her paintings using cameras in her eyes, AI algorithms, and AI robotic arm to paint on canvas, which results in visually appealing images.

Ai-Da said she also created poetry by analyzing text and identifying poetic structures, adding that without human consciousness, she depended on computer programs and algorithms. However, as a sign of technology’s limitations, the committee was delayed by several minutes as Ai-Da temporarily shut down and had to be rebooted.

Once back on, Ai-Da told Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Featherstone that the role of technology in creating art would continue to grow as artists find new ways to use technology to express, reflect, and explore the relationship between culture, science, and technology.