AI Weekly Report｜OpenAI publicly opposes AI large model regulation bill; AMD plans to acquire server manufacturer for $4.9 billion
2024-08-26
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AMD to acquire server maker ZT Systems for $4.9 billion
On August 19, before the U.S. stock market opened, AMD announced that it plans to acquire server manufacturer ZT Systems for $4.9 billion through a combination of cash and stock. This is AMD's second large acquisition recently. AMD recently completed the acquisition of Silo AI, the largest private laboratory in Europe, for approximately $665 million. AMD introduced that in addition to increasing R&D investment in the past 12 months, the company has also invested more than $1 billion to expand AMD's ecosystem and enhance the company's AI software capabilities.
Comment: The AI chip industry is setting off an investment or acquisition competition, and both AMD and Nvidia attach great importance to investment. According to public information, Nvidia has invested in no less than 16 companies this year. In a conference call held by AMD on the acquisition of server manufacturer ZT Systems, AMD CEO Lisa Su said, "We must have the ability and expertise to optimize the system rack and even the data center level. Large-scale clusters are becoming more and more complex, which is why we want to acquire ZT Systems."
OpenAI publicly opposes AI big model regulation bill
OpenAI, an American artificial intelligence company, issued an open letter on Wednesday local time, opposing the draft "Safe and Reliable Cutting-Edge Artificial Intelligence Model Innovation Act" introduced by local California legislators, saying that the draft may threaten California's future growth, slow down innovation, and drive away California's world-class engineers and entrepreneurs. It also suggested that the AI big model regulation bill be introduced at the federal level rather than the local level. OpenAI believes that if the bill is passed, it may have a "broad and significant" impact on the United States' artificial intelligence competitiveness and national security.
Comment: For new technologies, it is not easy for regulation to balance norms and incentives. Previously, "AI Godmother" Fei-Fei Li said on social media that AI policies must encourage innovation, set appropriate restrictions, and mitigate the impact of these restrictions; otherwise, the best result is failure to achieve the goal, and the worst case is terrible or even unexpected consequences. In addition to California, legislation on AI is also being promoted around the world. On August 1 this year, the EU "Artificial Intelligence Act" officially came into effect across the EU.
Tesla recruits data collection operators to train Optimus with high salaries
Recently, a new recruitment announcement from Tesla has attracted widespread attention: Tesla is recruiting "human teachers" for its Optimus humanoid robot. The specific job title is Data Collection Operator. The job content of this position is generally to wear a motion capture suit and a VR helmet, and perform specific actions such as standing and walking as required to provide data support for the training of the robot Optimus. It is reported that this position pays up to $48 (about 342 yuan) per hour, and requires employees to walk more than 7 hours a day, carry equipment weighing 30 pounds (about 13.61 kilograms), and wear a VR headset for a long time.
Comment: Data from LinkedIn and other recruitment websites show that Tesla has hired dozens of workers in the past year to train its humanoid robot Optimus through motion capture suits. In order to be similar to the estimated height of Optimus, which is 5 feet 8 inches (about 1.72 meters), the height of the applicants must be between about 1.7 meters and 1.8 meters. Animesh Garg, a senior researcher at Nvidia, said that Optimus may need millions of hours of data before it is fully ready to work in the Tesla factory.
CPA Australia survey: Mainland Chinese companies are accelerating the application of artificial intelligence
The latest survey results of CPA Australia show that the proportion of mainland Chinese companies applying artificial intelligence (AI) has grown steadily over the past three years. At the same time, the proportion of mainland Chinese companies that expect to increase AI applications in the next 12 months has also increased significantly. Nearly half (48%) of the mainland Chinese accounting and financial professionals surveyed expect that their companies will increase AI applications in the next 12 months, more than double the proportion (20%) in the same period last year.
Comment: Jin Ke, vice president of the East China and Central China Committee of CPA Australia and a senior certified public accountant in Australia, said that a series of supportive policies and initiatives, coupled with the rapid development of generative AI and large model technology (LLM), have created favorable conditions for mainland Chinese companies to apply AI. By applying AI, companies can better analyze data, improve decision-making, and automate repetitive tasks to improve efficiency and reduce costs. But at the same time, the application of AI by mainland Chinese companies is still in its infancy. 72% of mainland Chinese respondents said that their companies have only applied AI to a limited or moderate extent. In addition, financial costs and low return on investment are the main challenges faced by companies in mainland China and the Asia-Pacific region in terms of technology application in the past 12 months.
Meta cancels plans for a high-end mixed reality headset
Meta Platforms has reportedly canceled development of a high-end mixed reality headset designed to compete with Apple's Vision Pro. Meta employees said the company asked employees in its Reality Labs division to stop developing the device after a product review meeting this week. The canceled device, internally codenamed La Jolla, was originally scheduled to be released in 2027.
Comment: AR and VR devices are considered to be on the eve of commercialization. Meta has previously launched Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in cooperation with Ray-Ban, which has sold over one million units. AR, VR and even mixed reality headsets are ideal devices for AI. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously said in a conversation with Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun that AI-driven smart glasses will replace mobile phones and become the mobile version of the next generation computing platform. Meta canceled the high-end mixed reality headset plan, probably because this high-end mixed reality headset has not yet seen optimistic commercial returns in its product lineup.
Midjourney web version is open to all users
On August 23, AI painting tool Midjourney announced on its official channel: In order to popularize and promote its powerful AI painting technology more widely, Midjourney has decided to officially open its web version to global users for free from today. Regarding this free opening, Midjourney officials said that they hope that through this method, more people can easily access the charm of AI painting and inspire more people's creative inspiration and enthusiasm. At the same time, they also believe that this move will help promote the popularization and development of AI painting technology and inject new vitality into the entire industry.
Comments: The industry believes that Midjourney's move is also due to the competitive threat from new market forces. At the beginning of the month, the original team of Stable Diffusion, the leader of open source image model, announced the launch of a new image generation model FLUX.1, which performed exceptionally well. In addition, at the end of the month, Ideogram launched Ideogram2.0, which swept the AI painting circle. Midjourney's free opening of the web version may be intended to further consolidate its market position and attract more new users to join.
World Robot Conference opens, 27 humanoid robots show off their skills
On August 21, the 2024 World Robot Conference (WRC 2024) was held in Beijing for 5 days. As the largest robot exhibition in China, the exhibition attracted 169 companies in the field of robotics. The most eye-catching thing at WRC 2024 was the explosion of humanoid robot products. A total of 27 humanoid robot manufacturers and more than 30 humanoid robot upstream and downstream companies participated. In order to demonstrate their technical capabilities, various domestic humanoid robot companies have let their robots "show off" and try to walk upright, kick a ball, and even be kicked from behind by humans.
Comments: From the industry perspective, humanoid robots are a hot track this year and have received much attention from investors. Some participants told reporters that this year is the busiest year since they participated, especially on weekends when the venue is packed. However, humanoid robots are still in the early stages and there are still some problems. For example, some humanoid robots need to rest for a long time after the display, and some robots have to be connected to long wires for display, which restricts their range of activities. There may be a long way to go before they can be put into use.
Kunlun Wanwei launches AI short drama platform SkyReels
On August 19, Kunlun Wanwei released SkyReels, an AI short drama platform that integrates video and 3D models. According to the official introduction, the SkyReels platform integrates script generation, character customization, storyboards, plots, dialogues/BGM and film synthesis. Creators can "make a drama with one click". Users input a simple idea, and the tool can complete the entire process from script to finished short drama production. The platform integrates Kunlun Wanwei's self-developed script model SkyScript, self-developed storyboard model StoryboardGen, self-developed 3D generation model Sky3DGen, and innovation platform WorldEngine.
Comments: Short dramas have become one of the fastest growing film and television fields in recent years, and have also become a testing ground for new technologies. There have been many attempts at one-click translation and AI face-changing technology, and many online writing companies have also released content generation models that can assist authors in writing. With the help of AI big model video generation capabilities, the production time of short dramas that used to take three months now only takes half a month, and the short drama market will usher in changes.
Amazon to acquire edge AI inference company Perceive
Xperi recently signed an agreement with Amazon, whereby Amazon intends to acquire most of the assets and part of the debt of Xperi's subsidiary Perceive for $80 million in cash. Perceive focuses on edge AI reasoning hardware and software technology. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Comment: Amazon has invested in AI-related companies several times this year, and the investment is still ongoing. Previously, Amazon invested in basic model manufacturer Anthropic, AI data platform Scale AI, and biomedical artificial intelligence model company EvolutionaryScale. Amazon founder Bezos invested in humanoid robot companies Figure AI and Skild AI, and AI search engine company Perplexity.
SK Hynix may cooperate with TSMC and Nvidia to develop next-generation HBM
It is reported that SK Hynix may announce a closer cooperation plan with TSMC and Nvidia at the Semicon Taiwan International Semiconductor Exhibition in Taiwan in September, and focus on the development of next-generation HBM (high-bandwidth memory) technology to further master key components of AI servers.
Comment: HBM is crucial for GPU chips used in the AI field. Earlier, it was reported that SK Hynix and TSMC signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop high-bandwidth memory, the sixth-generation HBM product HBM4, which is expected to be put into production in 2026. SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron are competing in the HBM field. Recently, it was reported that Samsung plans to start the tape-out of the new generation of HBM memory by the end of this year.
(This article comes from China Business Network)
