The week witnessed many new announcements as the world entered 2023 with enthusiasm. The year began with the CES tech event happening in Las Vegas, featuring many recent technological developments. Additionally, there have been many announcements on blockchain-based projects, like Turkey’s blockchain-driven identification initiative for public services. The week also witnessed other updates like NVIDIA’s early access program and Microsoft’s plans to bring ChatGPT-like technology to its search engine Bing.
Here are some Top AI News of The Week [January 6, 2023]:-
Smart AI Stroller by Glüxkind
Canada-based Glüxkind Technologies presented an AI-driven smart stroller Ella at the CES 2023 tech event in Las Vegas. Ella was developed to support new parents on their everyday walks, be more inclusive, and promote family time. Parents and caregivers can take leisurely strolls on any terrain, including inclines, even when they are completely loaded with toys and groceries. Parents can turn on Ella’s clever hands-free strolling when their child wants to take a short stroll outside the stroller.
As per CEO Kevin Huang, with Ella, the company wants to “embolden parents to explore and create their own paths on their parenting journey and be the best parents they can be.”
The Universal AI University: India’s 1st AI University
In close proximity to its campus in Karjat, Mumbai, the Universal Business School has established the first AI university in the country, the Universal AI University. It will offer degree programs in AI and ML, liberal arts and humanities, design, law, sports, management, and a few other fields, making it a top university for artificial intelligence. Numerous tech-focused corporations, including Tata Capital, NSE, L&T, Wipro, Xiaomi, etc., have visited the campus and are willing to assist with collaborations, hiring, and placements.
The announcement was made by Bharat Puri (MD of Pidilite Industries) and Arundhati Bhattacharya (CEO and Chairperson of Salesforce), claiming that the AI university aims to encourage students to get education on AI and promote AI-driven skill development.
PyTorch Gets Compromised with Malicious Dependency
Recently, PyTorch discovered a supply-chain intrusion that could have resulted in people downloading a tainted PyTorch dependency in a malicious attack. The team wrote a warning note informing developers to reinstall the torchtriton package (an internal dependency) as it was uploaded maliciously in the PyPI repository. The team wrote, “This malicious package has the same name, torchtriton but added in code that uploads sensitive data from the machine.”
The guy who is allegedly responsible for this incident said that his activities were a part of an ethical study. He later admitted his wrongdoing and expressed regret to all impacted developers.
Microsoft Plans to Bring ChatGPT-like Technology to Bing
Microsoft plans to release a version of its search engine Bing that uses ChatGPT-powered artificial intelligence (AI) technology in March. For many years, Microsoft and OpenAI have been collaborating on this integration. In 2019, Microsoft engaged in a partnership with OpenAI with a US$1 billion investment. The recent Bing announcement was reported by some internal sources that are yet unnamed, and if it turns out to be accurate, then Bing could result in more human-like answers than other search engines.
NVIDIA Releases Early Access for its Omniverse Avatar Cloud Engine
NVIDIA reveals the Omniverse Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) early access program. It allows developers and teams to create avatars and virtual assistants to improve business application workflows. The Omniverse ACE is a comprehensive suite of cloud-native services that simplify creating and using intelligent virtual assistants and digital humans at scale. The suite provides AI building blocks required to give these assistants intelligence and animations.
The early access program allows developers to experience pre-release versions of ACE services along with 3D animation AI microservices (for third-party avatars), 2D animation AI microservices (for two-dimensional portraits), and text-to-speech microservices with NVIDIA Riva TTS (for natural speech recognition).
Turkey’s Blockchain-driven Digital Identification for Public Services
Turkey intends to employ blockchain technology for online public services login procedures. Turkish individuals will be verified when logging in to E-Devlet, the digital government site used in the country to access various public services. The announcement was made by Fuat Oktay, Turkey’s Vice President, during the Digital Turkey 2023 event. He said that the new login system will be used within the scope of e-wallet management and will revolutionize e-government efforts in the country.
The country started treading the blockchain path in 2019 and announced multiple blockchain technology projects. However, only a few were successful. With this new project, the country aims at enhancing its global position in adapting blockchain and other related technologies.
Cryptosat Launches “Cryptographically-Equipped” Satellite Crypto2, With the Help of SpaceX
A cryptographically-equipped orbiting satellite, Crypto2, has been launched by Cryptosat onboard SpaceX Falcon 9. Cryptosat is a startup that creates satellites with cryptographic building blocks to beam down to Earth. The startup successfully launched its first satellite, Crypto1, last year in May with the help of SpaceX. With the advent of Crypto1, Cryptosat aimed to increase the usability of blockchain applications by providing a physically impenetrable, tamper-proof platform. Additionally, Cryptosat published an API tutorial to educate developers on communicating with Cryptosat’s low earth orbit (LEO). The tutorial was developed with the help of a satellite simulator using the Cryptoim software.
With Crypto2, the startup is moving forward to expand its satellite network. Compared to Crypto1, Crypto2 has 30 times higher computing power. According to Yonatan Winetraub, Cryptosat’s co-founder, “This launch gives us more availability and more powerful specs to support the growing portfolio of use cases in our development pipeline.”
