Axie Infinity Teams up with Google Cloud to Validate Transactions on Ronin Network

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September 13, 2022

Axie Infinity Google Cloud Collaboration

The developer of the well-known blockchain game “Axie Infinity,” Sky Mavis, has partnered with Google Cloud to identify itself as a validator for its nonfungible token network and blockchain gaming. This collaboration will enable Axie Infinity to scale in a secure and sustainable way. The particular details of the agreement were not made public.

Sky Mavis announced at the AxieCon conference in Barcelona that it would work with Google Cloud to strengthen Ronin’s security and further its goal of creating a gaming universe with interconnected, immersive, and rewarding experiences. In other words, Google Cloud will aid in transaction processing and sidechain network security.

As the 18th validator for Ronin, Google Cloud will join a validator node pool that includes Animoca Brands, DappRadar, Nansen, and other independent enterprise validators for the Ronin network. It will take on the responsibility of managing validator uptimes and operating a validator node on the Ronin network, which will help to strengthen the network’s overall security and governance.

In the play-to-earn blockchain game Axie Infinity, users gather and trade virtual pets modeled after the axolotl salamanders known as Axies. These creatures are represented by NFTs so that users can trade them for cash. Players can breed and combat these creatures against one another within the game for prizes.

Google Cloud has reportedly been Sky Mavis’s “strategic cloud partner” since 2020, but this is a new development in their partnership, according to a press statement. Searce, a provider of cloud technologies, will support the collaboration as the implementation partner.

Previous collaborations between Google Cloud and other blockchains and distributed ledger-based networks include authenticating transactions for video platform company Theta Labs and joining the Hedera Hashgraph governing council.

With the help of this agreement, Sky Mavis’s revenue will have doubled since it lost hundreds of million dollars in cryptocurrency in a well-publicized March hack. Five out of the nine validators were hacked using stolen private keys due to the attack. The US Treasury has charged Lazarus, a North Korean state-sponsored hacker outfit, with the crime.

To provide seamless and reliable experiences to users everywhere on any device, including those who earn a living through Axie Infinity but reside in remote areas with poor online connectivity, Sky Mavis has also chosen Google Cloud for its content delivery network’s advanced load balancing and caching features.

Sky Mavis aims to make Ronin the standard NFT scaling solution for gaming by developing core offerings like Ronin, its exclusive Axie Infinity game titles, and Mavis Hub launchpad on Google Cloud’s scalable, secure, and sustainable infrastructure and low-latency network. This will give users more opportunities to convert their time and effort into real-world value. This implies that independent and third-party game creators can register with Sky Mavis to release their games.

With the objectives to substantially cut gas costs for its rapidly expanding user ecosystem and speed up transactions, Sky Mavis created Ronin in February 2021. This enabled millions of in-game micro-transactions to take place without any hiccups. This blockchain network is constructed utilizing the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM).

Ronin runs on a Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus model, where validators are chosen based on their credibility and are responsible for validating, voting, and keeping track of transactions on the blockchain. Sky Mavis introduces new validators and puts them to a vote as part of its decentralization move. Overall, the company is seeking to have at least 21 validators for Ronin.

USPTO leverages data analytics, AI, and machine learning to increase efficiency and performance

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Sahil Pawar

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September 13, 2022

USPTO leverages data analytics, AI, and machine learning

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is leveraging data analytics and technologies such as AI and machine learning (ML) to increase its performance and improve the quality of systems and processes.

The agency relies on input from hundreds of experienced workers to supplement the technology, captured actively and passively, to train and refine AI-driven models to ensure the technology delivers the expected outcomes.

The agency has awarded more than 11 million patents since its founding. It employs more than 12,000 people, including attorneys, engineers, analysts, and computer specialists. A constant flow of feedback from its patent examiners on the front lines is also used to improve AI/ML models to fuel the development of new products and support activities in two key areas: patent search and classification.

Performing a comprehensive patent search is challenging given the explosion in the volume of data and possible sources of the prior art. To meet the challenges, technology teams are rolling out an artificial intelligence component in a new patent search tool to assist examiners in finding the most relevant sources they need as they scrutinize applications.

This is important because each of the over 600,000 applications received yearly by the USPTO contains approximately 20 pages of figures and text, or roughly 10,000 words describing the claimed innovations. The agency’s IT organization also developed a classification tool that matches the classification symbols identified with an invention from more than 250,000 possible categories.

In both instances, the models were developed and are continually enhanced through input from human experts who facilitate a human touch to determine whether something is genuinely new and then apply law, facts, and expertise to reach a decision.

Germany’s KBA finds abnormalities in Tesla’s autopilot function

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Sahil Pawar

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September 13, 2022

Germany's KBA finds abnormalities in Tesla's autopilot

Germany’s federal motor transport authority, KBA, found abnormalities while investigating Tesla’s autopilot function. According to WirtschaftsWoche, while some of the problems found during the investigation, which has been running since the start of the year 2022, have been remedied, some outstanding ones where further remedial measures are still being tested and secured.

Recently, Elon Musk-run Tesla was also hit by a class-action lawsuit in the US over a phantom braking problem. The lawsuit allegedly turned the safety feature into a frightening and dangerous nightmare.

The lawsuit accused the electric car-maker of hiding the safety risks associated with the company’s Autopilot driver assist system, thus breaching its warranties, unfairly profiting from Autopilot, and violating California’s unfair competition law.

Phantom braking is when a self-driving system or an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) applies the brakes for no good reason. The system can falsely detect an object on the road or anticipate a collision that will not happen and apply the brake in order to avoid it.

The lawsuit comes as Tesla already faces a federal investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over its phantom braking problem, which first surfaced last fall. The US transport agency investigated over 400,000 Tesla EVs for problems with their automated emergency braking systems.

The US government has received over 750 complaints of unexpected braking from Tesla owners. According to the lawsuit, many Tesla owners have reported significant, unexpected slow-downs and stops due to the false engagement of their Class Vehicle’s braking systems, even though no objects were nearby.

Zuckerberg announces PyTorch Foundation to Accelerate Progress in AI Research

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Sahil Pawar

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September 13, 2022

Zuckerberg announces PyTorch Foundation to Accelerate Progress in AI Research

Mark Zuckerberg announced that the community-driven artificial intelligence (AI) research framework PyTorch would transition to a newly launched PyTorch Foundation. The latter will be part of the nonprofit Linux Foundation, a technology consortium whose core mission is the collaborative development of open-source software.

Since 2016, when Meta partnered with the AI community to create the PyTorch framework for AI research, open collaboration has been crucial to its success. With thousands of contributors who have built over 150,000 projects on it, PyTorch has become one of the top platforms for research and production across the AI community.

PyTorch is now handled by an independent foundation, the #PyTorchFoundation, which is under the #LinuxFoundation umbrella. https://t.co/DnrdhWryKv
— Yann LeCun (@ylecun) September 12, 2022

The creation of the PyTorch Foundation will ensure that decisions are made transparently and openly by a diverse group of board members for years to come. The governing body will consist of representatives from AMD, Meta, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Nvidia to expand further over time.

PyTorch was built with an open-source, community-first philosophy that will not change with the transition to the Foundation. When researchers and developers open-source their code, others worldwide can share their work, learn from each other’s advances and then contribute back to the AI community.

Meta will continue to invest in PyTorch and use it as the primary framework for its AI research and production. The transition does not render changes to PyTorch’s code, core project, or developer operating models.

In the future, the framework’s contributors will benefit from the robust governance, diverse leadership, and additional investments provided by the new PyTorch Foundation partners. The Foundation will adhere to four principles: remaining open, maintaining neutral branding, staying fair, and forging a solid technical identity. One of its top priorities will be to keep a clear separation between the business and technical governance of PyTorch.

Quentin Tarantino to settle lawsuit by Miramax over Pulp Fiction NFTs

By

Preetipadma K

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September 12, 2022

Tarantino settles Miramax lawsuit over Pulp Fiction NFTs

Hollywood filmmaker Quentin Tarantino was sued by American producer Miramax in November of last year after base-layer blockchain company Secret Network announced the sale of unedited screenplay scenes from the 1994 movie as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Except for those allocated for Tarantino, which did not include nonfungible tokens, the movie company asserted ownership of all other rights to Pulp Fiction. This case was one of the first intellectual property conflicts involving the well-known assets minted as NFTs.

An application submitted on Thursday in federal court in California states that the Academy Award-winning filmmaker and Miramax intend to file dismissal papers within two weeks. While this was going on, Tarantino and Miramax released a joint statement in which they announced they had resolved the issue and were looking forward to working together again, even on NFT projects.

In a June filing, Tarantino argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed since the NFTs are purely based on his script, which is protected by different copyright. He claimed that the NFTs were associated with media from the script, to which he still had the rights, but Miramax filed a lawsuit on the basis that NFTs were an “emerging technology” from which it could legally benefit. This is because the deal was consummated in 1996 when NFT technology did not exist.

In the lawsuit, Miramax’s lawyer stated that Tarantino’s limited reserved Rights were “far too limited for him to unilaterally produce, market, and sell the Pulp Fiction NFTs.” Also, because Miramax was unaware of the distribution of any token-gated content, the NFTs’ workings were also at the center of the legal dispute.

According to the filing, the NFTs include handwritten Pulp Fiction screenplays and Tarantino commentary. The NFTs would incorporate unique, never-before-seen content from Tarantino’s script that only the NFT’s holder could view via Secret Network’s privacy-focused Secret NFTs technology. As per Secret Network, the first of the seven tokens sold for $1.1 million in January. Secret Network canceled the remaining auctions a few days later, citing “extreme market volatility.”

Many people view the incident as a prime example of Web2 copyright regulations being used in a Web3 environment.

GitHub’s AI-powered Copilot increases developer flow and satisfaction, research finds

By

Sahil Pawar

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September 12, 2022

GitHub's AI-powered Copilot increases developer flow and satisfaction

GitHub’s AI-powered Copilot was made available in June this year. GitHub investigated and quantified the impact on developer productivity, finding that 87% of developers found Copilot preserved their mental energy. 74% experienced a rise in overall daily workflow satisfaction.

GitHub Copilot is the artificial intelligence-powered pair programmer that makes helpful suggestions by detecting patterns and prompting with suggestions to finish the code based on history and context. It first went into the technical preview in June 2021 before going live for all developers 12 months later.

The research covers the time from June 2021. Along with the two findings above, GitHub research also found that 73% of developers said it helped them stay in the flow. Dr. Eirini Kalliamvakou conducted the research. More than 50% of the respondents are professional developers.

GitHub also divided a group of 95 developers into two groups to determine the speed of completing a task with and without Copilot. The findings were that those using Copilot completed the task 55% faster than those without, and that is for those who completed the task at all. Those using Copilot had a higher percentage of completing the task, at 78% vs. 70% without.

GitHub had launched Copilot, believing it would improve developer productivity, aid efficiency, and reduce decision fatigue. The research proves the giant developer hub and software repository to be correct, with developers reporting that Copilot helped them stay focused on the task at hand, make meaningful progress, and feel good at the end of a day’s work. Developers reported a significant difference in satisfaction and productivity.

GitHub’s research used the SPACE framework to measure Satisfaction and well-being, Performance, Activity, Communication and collaboration, and Efficiency and flow (hence S-P-A-C-E) and says more insights are still to be released.

Strange woman dubbed ‘Loab’ keeps appearing in images created by AI tools

By

Sahil Pawar

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September 12, 2022

Strange woman dubbed 'Loab' keeps appearing in images created by AI tools

A figure of an eccentric woman keeps appearing in images generated by an artificial intelligence tool. Supercomposite, the artist, has dubbed the woman Loab.

The artist first discovered Loab through a technique called ‘negative prompt weights,’ in which a user can get the AI to generate the opposite of whatever they are typing in the prompt.

With DALL-E and other image generators supported by AI, users are pushing the limits of what such technology can do through prompts. These image generators are trained by using an endless supply of images on the world wide web.

Naturally, the images produced by these artificial intelligence programs can be unpredictable and shocking. The latest buzz in the world of artificial intelligence is coming from an artist called Supercomposite. The artist shared images of a woman who appears in images when specific prompts are registered.

The artist used this method for the word ‘Brando.’ The tool generated the image of a logo with a skyline and the words’ DIGITAPNTICS.’ The strange woman appeared when the technique was used on the words in the logo.

Unfortunately, it is hard to understand what may be causing this woman’s figure to appear in the images. For starters, AI models are trained by using billions of images and are too complex to understand how they reached a particular result.

IITs to create WeB 3.0, Crypto and NFT courses in collaboration with TimesPro

By

Sahil Pawar

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September 12, 2022

IITs preparing for Web 3.0 futures, to provide crypto, blockchain, NFT courses

Web 3.0, Cryptocurrency, Metaverse, NFT, and Blockchain are future-centric technology-based courses. Such educational programs are being developed in India by TimesPro in collaboration with leading industry partners and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Students who complete these new-age technology-based courses will be issued certificates by institutes like IIT-Delhi, IIT-Roorkee, and IIT-Ropar. Even the IIT faculties are involved in designing many of these technology-based courses.

These programs will focus on learner-centricity and high engagement through case studies, projects, assignments, hackathons, and capstone projects.

In addition to core learning, career services such as expert sessions, resume preparation, and one-on-one mentoring with industry experts will be a part of the curriculum. The programs will be delivered through TimesPro’s state-of-the-art learning management system.

A Web 3.0 Centre of Excellence is also being launched as a part of the initiative to develop a robust virtual ecosystem of industry partners, resources, and a network of global SMEs to build a strong learner community.

These programs will develop a deep understanding of Web 3.0 technologies for learners that are changing how the world interacts online. From the origins of Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, its applications, and real-world use cases to a holistic understanding of the programming language used to smart code contracts in many Blockchain projects.

Advanced topics such as Web 3.0, Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the Metaverse-the courses will act as stepping stones for learners to stay ahead of the curve.

University of Jordan launches master’s program in AI and robotics

By

Sahil Pawar

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September 12, 2022

University of Jordan launches master's program in AI and robotics

University of Jordan (UJ) has launched a master’s program in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. It is a joint project between the mechatronics engineering and computer engineering departments. Developing Curricula for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (DeCAIR) project, which the EU’s Erasmus+ Program funds, supports the master’s program.

The program launched Thursday is the first such program to be taught at a university in Jordan that involves AI and robotics. Its launch comes as Jordan gears up to transform itself in the digital era. The government of Jordan linked up all public offices electronically, and many services are now being done online.

According to Nasser Al-Hunaiti, the dean of the engineering faculty, the UJ program is consistent with the general framework of the master’s programs. He said anyone having a Bachelor’s degree in any engineering field could enroll.

DeCAIR has allocated 95,000 Euros to the project. It has established an AI and machine learning laboratory, purchasing electronic tablets, a video and picture conference system, and robotics lab, according to Abandah.

The program’s curriculum includes five mandatory courses, viz. Applied Machine Learning, Industrial Robotics, Applied Research Approach, Robotics Systems, and Machine Vision, in addition to eight different optional courses. Dr. Musa Al-Yaman, a professor from mechatronics engineering department, is responsible for developing curricula for Bachelor’s and Master’s programs at the University of Jordan.

AI Innovation Centre for Medical Imaging by Qure.ai and Erasmus MC

By

Disha Chopra

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September 11, 2022

medical ai innovation center by qure.ai and erasmus mc

Qure.ai, a leading health tech company, and Erasmus MC, University of Rotterdam, has launched an AI Innovation Centre for medical imaging. Initially planned for 3 years, the center will conduct comprehensive research in detecting abnormalities using artificial intelligence algorithms.

The center will aim to understand more potential use cases for AI in medical sciences across Europe and guide physicians in adopting such technologies. Erasmus MC is a recognized innovator in healthcare excellence. It will run the lab and carry forward the musculoskeletal and chest imaging research using Qure.ai’s AI technology.

Dr. Jacob J. Visser, Radiologist & Chief Medical Information Officer at Erasmus, said, “In Qure.ai’s work to date, it is clear that they gathered detailed insights into the effectiveness of AI in healthcare settings, and together we will be able to assess effective use cases in European clinical environments.”

Adopting AI has the potential to alleviate healthcare clinicians’ burden of constrained resources and will also provide early warning systems. With Qure.ai’s technologies, the benefits of automated detection of anomalies and progressive detection are already visible.

Over the duration of 3 years, many radiologists and Ph.D. students will work together to generate evidence and publish it in peer-reviewed journals. The focus will be on chest imaging, including X-rays and brain CTs.