Cybersecurity startup Prevalent AI announces that it plans to set up a new Security Data Science (SDS) Academy in Kerala.
This new development is a step toward the company’s goal of making Karala a talent hub for emerging new-age technology sectors, including cybersecurity, big data engineering, and data science.
Prevalent AI’s new academy will be located in t Kochi and will also launch a new center of excellence that will operate from the Infopark Campus, Kochi. Prevalent AI, which has a workforce in Kerala, aims to harness more talent in SDS from Kerala based on the confidence it has gained after emerging as a significant force in the industry.
Co-founder and CEO of Prevalent AI, Paul Strokes, said, “In Kerala, we set up this team of over 100 people and are doing a lot of experimentation in security data science. So we really believe that Kerala is at the fore, certainly within India, among the leading places to do security data science.”
He further added that they serve some of the world’s largest corporations outside of this office, which comes to Kerala for data science and security needs. According to the company, the idea behind SDS Academy is to take talented people with technological skills and teach them how to apply science-based methods to data to better understand things.
Kochi-UK-based technology startup Prevalent AI was founded by Andy France, Arun Raj, Iain Lobban, and Paul Stokes in 2017. The company specializes in assisting organizations in gaining control of their cyber technology by unifying their data and developing customized solutions to help them better manage risk.
“Cyber attacks are becoming very prevalent throughout the entire digital economy. Cyber attacks are pervasive in any aspect of supply chains. From a defensive standpoint, if you look at technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, they have also become prevalent,” said Co-founder and COO of Prevalent AI, Arun Raj.
Global mobile telecommunications service providing company Vodafone announces the launch of its cloud-native Unified Performance Management (UPM) platform that uses Google Cloud’s analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning capabilities, reports sdxcentral.
According to the company, this new development will help it increase the reliability of its mobile experience to European customers.
The company will use Cardinality.io’s cloud-native DataOps and analytics platform, in addition to Google Cloud, to update Vodafone’s pan-European networks more efficiently via hybrid cloud architecture.
Vodafone wants to use its platform to process eight billion mobile network performance events per day. The gathered information will then be used to monitor, manage, and improve its mobile network by focusing on 5G investments.
CTO of Vodafone, Johan Wibergh, said, “It is a global data hub that gives us a real-time view of what is happening anywhere on our network, uses our global scale to manage traffic growth cheaper and more efficiently as customer data consumption grows by around 40% per year, and supports the full automation of our network by 2025.”
Vodafone says that its newly announced UPM platform will allow operating companies to collect network performance data points, effectively replacing over 100 other network performance apps. The operator’s UPM platform will be deployed in eleven European countries according to the current plan.
Moreover, Vodafone has assured its users that all the collected data will be stored in European servers, which will be protected using encryption and adhere to other security parameters, minimizing the chances of any data breach.
By simplifying data processes at scale and delivering real-time insights, the operator hopes to address 80 percent of all incidents end-to-end without any human intervention over the coming years.
Artificial intelligence and deep learning startup Landing AI joins the NVIDIA Metropolis Partner program to accelerate AI performance and edge deployment.
This new development will help the company improve its quality control in manufacturing and industrial applications.
NVIDIA Metropolis is an initiative that aims to develop and commercialize a new generation of applications and solutions that use AI vision to make operations safer and more efficient across multiple industries.
According to NVIDIA, its Metropolis application framework makes it easier for developers to combine standard video cameras and sensors with artificial intelligence-powered video analytics to provide operational efficiency and safety applications in sectors such as retail analytics, city traffic management, airport operations, and automated factory inspections.
Senior Director of Customer Success and Strategic Partnerships at Landing AI, Carl Lewis, said, “Having successfully deployed the NVIDIA Jetson platform at customer sites, we are thrilled to be part of NVIDIA Metropolis.”
He further added that they are looking forward to working closely with NVIDIA and their system integration partners as LandingLens becomes the choice for manufacturers looking to optimize efficiency.
United States-based technology startup Landing AI was founded by a former Chief Scientist at Baidu and founding lead of the Google Brain team, Andrew Ng, in 2017. Recently, Andrew Ng also announced the launch of his new course in machine learning, which Stanford and DeepLearning.ai jointly developed.
Landing AI is best known for its core product called LandindLens. It is an end-to-end AI platform specifically designed for industrial customers to build, deploy and scale AI-powered visual inspection solutions. To date, the startup has raised %57 million from several investors like McRock Capital, Intel Capital, Insight Partners, Samsung Catalyst Fund, and others over two funding rounds.
Ph.D. scholars from the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad are developing a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool that can be used to replace subtitles on OTT platforms.
Two Ph.D. scholars from IIT Hyderabad’s Center for Visual Information Technology have come up with an AI-powered online tool named Way2Lip that can drastically change the use of subtitles on online video streaming platforms.
In today’s time, when the gen-z is shifting towards OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar, and are readily consuming entertainment pieces from various parts of the globe, it sometimes becomes difficult to cope with the visuals and subtitles simultaneously. Therefore, the overall viewing experience of multimedia consumers gets hindered.
In a couple of minutes, the patented tool NeuralSync AI can morph authentic-looking dialogues utilizing a single video clip of a human or digital avatar in the viewer’s preferred dialect, making it a potential replacement for traditional subtitles.
According to the developers of this unique AI application, it can automatically dub foreign languages into a language chosen by viewers to help them better consume video content online.
Under the leadership of Prof CV Jawahar and Prof Vinay Namboodiri, Rudrabha Mukhopadhyay and Prajwal KR created this US-patented technology. When Way2Lip gets integrated into an OTT platform, subscribers in any part of the country will be able to watch a video in any language of their choice with dubbed dialogue.
Co-developer Rudrabha claims that except for Mandarin, almost all European and Asian languages can be easily dubbed, and with AI integrating with video production, mismatched lip motions will be a thing of the past.
Wireless multi-room music system developing company Sonos announces that it plans to launch its own new voice assistant for its range of audio products, reports The Verge.
According to the company, the new voice assistant will be launched in the coming week, allowing users to play and control music on Sonos’ whole-home audio platform. Initially, Sonos will roll out this new feature in the United States, followed by a global launch.
Sonos Voice will provide users a third option in addition to Alexa and Google Assistant on the company’s compatible speakers. The company had earlier accused Alexa and Google Assistant of their pricing schemes and patent infringement.
This new development is a step for Sonos to tackle this challenge by launching an in-house developed voice assistant option for its customers. Sonos Voice Control will be activated by saying “Hey Sonos,” and internal tests indicate it to be faster than other available assistants at core music functions.
However, an interesting piece of information is that YouTube Music and Spotify will reportedly not work with Sonos Voice at launch. In addition to this assistant, Sonos is also working on a “Home Theater OS,” which the company will supposedly offer with its televisions.
United States-based music systems developing firm Sonos was founded by Craig Shelburne, John MacFarlane, Thomas Cullen, and Trung Mai in 2002. The company is best known for the Sonos Multi-Room Music System, a wireless multi-room music system that plays all kinds of music. Sonos also partnered with audio services like Audible.com, Last.FM, Napster, Pandora, RadioTime, Rhapsody, and others, to offer users computer-free access to millions of songs.
Automobile manufacturing giant Toyota announces that it will install next-gen computer vision company Invisible AI’s tech in its factories across North America.
The artificial intelligence-powered technology will enable the company to make more informed decisions about quality, safety, and productivity in its factories.
According to the company, it has cracked a deal with Invisible AI to upgrade 14 of its factories with Invisible AI’s cutting-edge computer vision technology.
As per the terms of the agreement, Invisible will supply Toyota with the systems, beginning with a deployment of 500 AI edge devices at its Indiana factory.
Group Vice President, Vehicle Production Engineering & Manufacturing Production Innovation Center, Stephen Brennan, told Forbes, “We observe our employees assembling vehicles to identify inefficiencies and bottlenecks in their standardized work.”
He further added that Invisible AI systems would assist them in increasing the frequency and accuracy of process reviews, along with reducing the time required to identify inefficiencies across processes, allowing them to devote more time to improve.
Invisible AI’s technology employs 500 edge AI devices equipped with an NVIDIA Jetson chipset, 1TB of storage, and a 3D camera to track all floor activity. The technology can effectively provide real-time insights and information that could considerably help Toyota increase its teams’ productivity and accuracy.
“What we’re giving them is tools to be able to see more of what’s going on inside their facility, and they can then go in and correct any problems and any bottlenecks, making sure people are being safe,” said Co-founder and CEO of Invisible AI, Eric Danziger.
He also mentioned that what they have is a running AI computer vision model that is constantly processing all of the incoming videos to provide real-time information and insights while processing that data efficiently.
According to sources, NASA is developing a new hypersonic missile that will allow missiles to be optimized for maximum range and damage. It is leveraging an AI-based technology to work around a scramjet missile design by using the results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Compared to typical, bulky rockets, the Scramjet, or ‘supersonic combustion ramjet,’ makes optimal fuel use, reaches hypersonic speeds, and produces maximum damage on impact. The scramjet achieves far quicker speeds because of very effective propulsion mechanisms, and it can be built in a much smaller, lighter form, and has a greater range than traditional rockets. This is where Artificial Intelligence enters the hypersonic missile development process.
Any aircraft or drone that can achieve Mach 5 or more, or five times the speed of sound at sea level, is considered hypersonic. To give an insight, passenger planes fly at around 600 mph (966 kph), whereas hypersonic systems move at speeds of up to 3,500 mph (5,633 kph) – roughly 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) every second.
Achieving such velocity allows hypersonic aircraft to bypass existing air defenses and anti-ballistic missile systems. It also improves their ability to penetrate strongly protected facilities and kill targets with only kinetic energy, without the need for a payload of high explosives. The ability to move and maneuver at hypersonic speeds, on the other hand, poses considerable and diverse engineering hurdles.
Because of their high-velocity mobility throughout their trajectory, these new missiles must be followed throughout their journey since their flight trajectories might alter as they travel.
On the fluid forces factor, when a missile or aircraft breaks beyond the sound barrier, a shock wave is created that is hotter, denser, and has greater pressure than the surrounding air. Friction and air resistance produce a huge amount of heat in the hypersonic phase, which might cause structural damage to commercial aircraft.
By studying the behavior of fluids like air and water, researchers have long used CFD to anticipate, among other things, how an aircraft in flight would interact with the forces surrounding it. In CFD the behavior of fluids such as air and water are expressed numerically and visually to better understand the fluid dynamics. On top of that, aerospace engineers must consider how air flows around the plane or weaponry payload and how it behaves as it passes through the engines and reacts with fuel.
Typically, hypersonic missiles require enormous power and fuel to operate effectively at high speeds, which was previously only conceivable with rockets. This motivated NASA to turn to ‘scramjets’ as an alternative.
Traditional air-breathing jet engines, such as those seen in big passenger planes, actively take in and compress oxygen in order to burn fuel while flying especially using rotor blades. However, after the jet or weapon reaches Mach 3, this is no longer necessary because the passage of the jet or weapon through the air does this on its own. This is where scramjet outshines commercial aircraft.
To help NASA in its mission USA’s Argonne National Laboratory will contribute its supercomputing capability to accelerate the development of hypersonic testing equipment, including experimental aircraft like the X-43A scramjet-powered plane created as part of its Hyper-X program. The company will enlist CFD to model and predict how an aircraft will react to the forces around it at hypersonic speeds. Earlier this year, the lab delivered a presentation at an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Forum, explaining how it is utilizing AI to better computer simulations and simplify the creation of cutting-edge aircraft.
With the help of Argonne, NASA has created a hypersonic computational fluid dynamics code called VULCAN-CFD, which models how combustion occurs in turbulent airflows of engines at sub-, super-, and hypersonic speeds with the aid of Argonne.
The software works by storing single, one-dimensional snapshots of flames called “flamelets” in enormous, multidimensional flamelet tables. Later, the flamelet table, which was created using Argonne software, was used to train an artificial neural network. This was critical because it minimizes the high memory needs and computing costs involved with simulating hypersonic fuel combustion.
Thanks to the Argonne simulations, NASA aerodynamicists were able to better grasp how high temperatures, high pressures, and turbulent air flows influence aircraft at hypersonic speeds. That is, without putting experimental aircraft in dangerous real-world test scenarios at high altitudes, which can range from 100,000 to 300,000 feet at the very edge of outer space.
Meanwhile, Argonne believes that owing to the positive results of VULCAN-CDF, NASA now has a good handle on the effects of Mach 5 and higher on aircraft, allowing it to pursue the development of experimental and commercial hypersonic aircraft.
Udacity, in partnership with Cognizant, launched a new Skill Accelerator scholarship nanodegree program to help learners kick start their careers in Java programming.
The Cognizant Skills Accelerator is designed to assist students in learning important foundational concepts in Java development.
This unique scholarship program will allow selected learners to potentially start a career at one of the world’s leading tech companies as the top performers will get an opportunity for interviews or additional training with Cognizant.
Learners from multiple locations in the United States, such as Dallas, Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix, Teaneck, and others, can apply for this skill accelerator program offered by Udacity and Cognizant.
Students can take advantage of multiple hours of free training modules and tutorials on Java programming and its real-world applications, along with exciting opportunities to learn competencies in one of the fastest-growing fields in technology.
Moreover, Learners get access to monthly ask me anything sessions with Java experts and curriculum developers (AMAs) along with one-to-one mentoring sessions from the advisors.
It is a part-time online course that allows students to learn at their own pace and convenience. Learners will be eligible for a certificate if they submit and pass all of the given projects by the deadline.
Udacity has already started accepting applications for this skill accelerator program, and learners can submit their applications by 11th May 2022. Interested candidates can visit the official website of Udacity to apply for this program jointly offered by Cognizant.
Apart from this skill accelerator, Udacity had also partnered with Infosys to launch a similar scholarship program aimed at imparting valuable and relevant skills to learners to help them grow their careers in fields like Java programming and data operations analysis.
Last month on April 4, Musk revealed owing a 9.2% stake in the microblogging company’s free-floating stock, making him the company’s largest stakeholder. Though Twitter promised him a seat on its board of directors, Elon pulled a trump card by declining a seat on Twitter’s board of directors on April 10 in favor of attempting to purchase the entire company.
What followed next was an interesting turn of events that started when Elon’s initial offer to buy Twitter at US$54.20 per share, citing that it was his “best and final,” in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on April 13 That offer valued Twitter at about US$43 billion. The board initially rejected the proposal because, while the offer was significantly above Twitter’s existing share price, it was probably too low, considering that the stock had lately risen beyond it. The board also took steps to limit his power, including instituting a “poison pill” on April 15 that would diminish everyone’s shares and prevent a hostile takeover. This so-called poison pill, or shareholder rights agreement, allows other shareholders to buy the shares at a reduced price if Musk or another individual or group acquires more than 15% of the outstanding common stock.
In addition, Musk’s funding for the acquisition was first unknown. However, on April 21 Musk explained in another Securities and Exchange Commission filing that he had obtained US$46.5 billion in commitments to help fund the deal. This includes around US$25.5 billion in loan funding from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding and other companies. Further, Elon stated that he had invested US$21 billion in equity.
After a roller coaster of rumors and speculations, on April 25, Elon Musk finally purchased Twitter. It is important to note that the buyout has not yet occurred, since the procedure will take some time to complete; nevertheless, the deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Though Musk has frequently mentioned that his primary concern with Twitter is the company’s censorship of free speech, critics fear that the billionaire’s control of the platform will result in the silencing of their voices and those with whom he may disagree, given that he has frequently blocked critics from his account. Moreover, the ‘free speech’ bait also implies giving a platform to profiles that spew hate, spread misinformation, and fuel propaganda. Not only that, but since today’s social networking sites have the power to change the course of political opinion, trigger discourse on literally every trivial and important topic, and manipulate the crypto market with hearsay, the ‘free speech’ is a necessary gambit to bring chaos. This is mortifying especially when Twitter has been both fertile ground and echo chamber for anti-Islamic and antisemitic content.
To surmise, not everyone is happy with the takeover. Since the world was hit by the news of the then alleged buyout, many netizens have been looking for alternatives to Twitter. This development gave an influx of users to switch to Mastodon, a Germany-based open-source social network site. According to Mastodon’s CEO Eugen Rochko, the platform recently witnessed an influx of approx. 41,287 users with 30,000 new user signups in the wee hours post-acquisition. The unexpected surge of new users has also caused the servers of this modest social network to slow down. There was also discussion among the Twitterati about restarting their blogs and recommitting to RSS (Really Simple Syndication).
We're observing an influx of approx. 41,287 users to the #Mastodon network today
Rochko, who created Mastodon was inspired by a rumor about the potential selling of Twitter to a “controversial billionaire” back in 2016. In its essence, Mastodon is a decentralized social networking platform that allows users to build their own private networks. People can post 500-character messages known as “toots” (similar to Tweets on Twitter), repost or “boost” posts on their own timeline, and follow or privately chat with other users. It’s a software platform based on the open-source ActivityPub protocol, rather than a single company-run site. Anyone could establish their own Mastodon private Twitter-like networks, called instance thanks to the open-source functionality. While each of these instances can set up its own guidelines for users, users from different servers can also freely communicate with each other. When it comes to choosing your instance, users can join groups organized by area, LGBTQ+, and specialty hobbies such as art, music, activism, gaming, technology, humor, cuisine, and more. Also, because these networks are hosted on numerous servers, no one company can target them with adverts. Mastodon’s feed, which is chronological, and non-algorithmic, is another noteworthy contrast from Twitter.
Earlier Mastodon had only a web version, until last year when it launched an iOS app. To entice more users, it has recently launched an Android version.
Mastodon accounts can communicate with ActivityPub-enabled accounts on other social networks. PixelFed, a decentralized and open-source Instagram equivalent, for example, leverages ActivityPub to allow Mastodon users to follow and engage with PixelFed profiles. This cross-network social following and engagement capabilities are contributing to the popularity of Fediverse. The phrase Fediverse is a portmanteau of the words “federation” and “universe.” It’s a cluster of federated (i.e. networked) servers used for online publishing (i.e. social networking, microblogging, blogging, or webpages) and file storage, and could communicate with one other while being hosted independently.
However, ActivityPub is not alone in the game. Bluesky, Twitter’s version of a decentralized protocol, has already been in development. The main difference between ActivityPub and BlueSky is that it is still a vaporware project that is aiming to produce a Web3-based version. Vaporware is software that has been publicly publicized and actively pushed by a company despite the fact that it does not yet exist.
Towards April end, Mastodon welcomed the EU to join its social network and put up its own server, called EU Voice, in the midst of the record inflow of users. The European Commission also opened an account for PeerTube, another decentralized video-sharing network, on the same day.
— European Commission 🇪🇺 (@EU_Commission) April 28, 2022
According to European Data Protection Supervisor Wojciech Wiewiórowski, the EU hopes to offer alternative social media platforms that emphasize individuals and their rights to privacy and data protection with the trial launch of EU Voice and EU Video.
While it is true that there is no guarantee that extremists and others won’t find new platforms to spread hate and misinformation, Mastodon has a number of policies in place regarding content that is not permitted on the network. This includes the requirement for sexually explicit or violent media to be labeled. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and casteism are all prohibited. The propagation of violent beliefs or incitement to violence is likewise forbidden. Users are also forbidden from harassing, dogpiling, or doxing one another. There’s also a ban on any content that’s regarded as illegal in Germany, thus Mastodon users can’t deliberately publish incorrect or misleading information.
Apart from Mastodon, former Twitter users flocked to newcomers CounterSocial and Truth Social, pioneering social networks like Tumblr and MySpace. There are alternatives that also reminisce you of older Internet days or are designed using former social networking sites. These include Neocities, Spacehey, and Pillowfort.
CounterSocial resembles Twitter in appearance and claims to be free of bots, trolls, deepfake, and fake news. It also promises not to mine or sell user data and is ad-free. But its beginnings are murky, as it was formed by The Jester, an anonymous hacktivist who is suspected of carrying out hacks against WikiLeaks, and several Islamist websites.
Unfortunately, this site soon started receiving negative reviews. Users complained about the experience after joining this ad-free social network or tweeted that they had joined CounterSocial but didn’t know how to utilize the platform and that the site crashed after many new registrations.
Former US President Donald Trump’s social media network, Truth Social, has likewise gained a lot of interest since its debut in February. Though there was conjecture that Elon might reinstate Trump following the buyout, it did not materialize, despite news of Trump’s supposed departure from Truth Social. Trump reiterated that he has no plans to return to Twitter, but the prospect of his leaving Truth Social was enough to send shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition firm hoping to join with Trump Media & Technology Group, plunging.
Mastodon still has a long way to go before it can compete with Twitter, especially on the basis of size, backed by its virtues. The Mastodon.social server has just 662,000 users, however, the federated network as a whole has nearly 3.5 million. Twitter, on the other hand, has 217 million daily active users. There are many areas where Mastodon needs work to keep the new users want to continue using it. For instance, though it is simple to use and the UX appears to be dynamic, it has a drab aesthetic and misses some of the functionality of the bird app.
While the open-source feature of Mastodon keeps attracting new audiences, it may not be for long as there Elon has been considering to open-source Twitter and has been an advocate of the same for a long time.
Rochko believes that the decentralized nature of Mastodon guarantees that it would not disappear like MySpace, Friendfeed, and SchülerVZ, a German version of Facebook. Those who remain long enough could observe some significant changes. According to Rochko, “really wonderful groups functionality” and end-to-end encrypted chats are in the works.
This is also not the first time the social networking platform had surged in popularity. Back in 2019, many users in India raced to join Mastodon as they were enraged by moderation policies.
In retrospect, though Mastodon is a drop in the ocean compared the Twitter, years later if Fediverse goes mainstream, this recent mass migration of users and Elon’s Twitter acquisition will be regarded as catalysts.
The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) partners with Virginia Tech to launch a new online course in artificial intelligence (AI).
The online certification program aims to address the challenges involved in the intelligent computation and interpretation of data domains.
According to IIT-KGP, its new online course prepares analytics talent for today’s market, which requires an understanding of AI and its applications in data analytics.
The business analytics program takes an interdisciplinary approach, assisting students in identifying the utility of data so that they can improve the customer experience, diagnose problems, impact efficiency, satisfy customers, and improve quality of life.
IIT-KGP and Virginia Tech’s new program, which will run for nine months from May 30, 2022, to January 7, 2023, will be open to students and industry executives worldwide. A total of 100 applicants would be chosen based on their academic credentials and work experience.
IIT-KGP meticulously designed the course curriculum that includes modules like Big Data, structured & unstructured databases, statistics for business analytics, artificial intelligence, Classification and Clustering Methods, etc.
“Our lead faculty members have Ph.Ds from highly reputed universities and have a vast amount of experience. Each one of them is considered an expert in their field and has achieved excellence in their academic pursuits,” mentioned IIT-KGP.
Furthermore, graduate assistants from IIT Kharagpur will help learners of the program with assignments, projects, and tests.
Individuals with an undergraduate degree in engineering or related subjects having an industry experience of two to five years can apply for this program. Interested candidates can apply for this IIT-KGP and Virginia Tech’s online certification program from the official website of IIT Kharagpur. Indian applicants need to pay an application fee of Rs 500, and foreign nationals need to pay $10.
