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OpenAI’s big game for science
-Will Douglas Haven
In the three years since ChatGPT’s explosive debut, OpenAI’s technology has transformed a remarkable range of everyday activities at home, work, and schools.
Now OpenAI is making an obvious play for scientists. In October, the firm announced that it had launched a whole new team called OpenAI for Science, dedicated to exploring how its big language models can help scientists and is making changes to its tools to support them.
So why now? How does incentives in science fit with OpenAI’s broader mission? And what exactly is the company hoping to achieve? I asked these questions of Kevin Weil, vice president of OpenAI, who leads the new OpenAI team for science, in an exclusive interview. Read the full story.
Why are chatbots starting to check your age?
How do tech companies check that their users are children?
This question has recently taken on new urgency due to growing concern about the dangers that may arise when children talk to AI chatbots. For years Big Tech asked for birthdays (whoever they created) to avoid violating child privacy laws, but they were not required to moderate content accordingly.
Now, two developments in the past week show how quickly things are changing in America and how this issue is becoming a new battleground, even among parents and child-protection advocates. Read the full story.
-James O’Donnell
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To be the first to get stories like this in your inbox, Sign up here.
TR10: Commercial Space Station
Humans have long dreamed of living among the stars, and for two decades hundreds of us have done so aboard the International Space Station (ISS). But a new era is about to begin in which private companies operate orbital outposts – with the promise of greater access to space than ever before.
The ISS is aging and is expected to be brought down from orbit to the ocean in 2031. To change this, NASA has awarded more than $500 million to several companies to develop private space stations, while others have built versions on their own. Read why we made them one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies this year, and check out the rest of the list.
Must read
I’ve scoured the internet to find you today’s funniest/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Tech workers are pressuring their bosses to denounce ICE
The biggest companies and their leaders have remained largely silent until now. (Axios)
+ Hundreds of employees have signed the anti-ICE letter. (NYT $)
+ Formerly politically neutral online spaces have become battlegrounds. (WP $)
2 US Department of Transportation plans to use AI to write new safety rules
Please don’t do this. (ProPublica)
+ Failure to detect any error may result in the death of civilians. (Ars Technica)
3 The FBI is investigating Minnesota Signal chats that tracked federal agents.
But supporters of free speech claim the information was obtained legally. (nbc news)
+ A judge has ordered a briefing on whether Minnesota is being illegally punished. (wired $)
4 TikTok users claim they are unable to send “Epstein” in direct messages
But the company says it doesn’t know why. (npr)
+ Users are also facing difficulty uploading anti-ICE videos. (cnn)
+ TikTok didn’t have a good first weekend under US ownership. (The Verge)
+ Gavin Newsom wants to investigate whether TikTok is censoring Trump-critical content. (politico)
5 Grok is not safe for children or teens
This has come to light in a new report investigating the security measures of chatbots. (techcrunch)
+ The European Union is investigating whether it also broadcasts illegal content. (reuters)
6 America is on the verge of losing its measles-free status
One year after the widespread outbreak. (dark)
+ Measles is on the rise in America. Wastewater tracking can help. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Georgia becomes the latest US state to consider banning data centers
Joining Maryland and Oklahoma’s stance. (Guardian)
+ Data centers are amazing. Everyone hates him. (MIT Technology Review)
8 The future of Saudi Arabia’s futuristic city is in danger
There were arrangements to accommodate 9 million people in this line. Instead, it could become a data center hub. (foot $)
+ We got an exclusive first look at it in 2022. (MIT Technology Review)
9 where to do Earth’s lighter elements go?
New research suggests they may be hidden deep at its core. (worth knowing magazine)
10 AI-generated influencers becoming increasingly unrealistic
This includes virtual conjoined twins and women with triple breasts. (404 media)
+ Why is ‘nudifying’ technology becoming increasingly dangerous? (wired $)
today’s thought
“Humanity is about to be entrusted with almost unimaginable power, and it is deeply unclear whether our social, political and technological systems have the maturity to wield it.”
-Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warns about the imminent dangers of AI superintelligence in a new 38-page essay. Axios Report.
one more thing
Why wouldn’t a developer give up the fight to connect America’s grids?
Michael Skelly has learned not to take ‘no’ for an answer. Over the past 15 years, the energy entrepreneur has worked to develop long-distance transmission lines to carry wind energy across the Great Plains, Midwest and Southwest. But so far he has no effort to show for it.
Skelly has long argued that building such lines and linking the nation’s grids together would accelerate the shift away from coal- and natural gas-fueled power plants toward the renewable energy plants needed to reduce pollution. But his previous business folded in 2019, after stalling two projects and selling stakes in three others.
Skelly argues that he was early, not wrong. And he says: Markets and policymakers are increasingly coming around to his view. Read the full story.
-James Temple
we can still have good things
A place of relaxation, fun and distractions to brighten your day. (Any ideas? drop me a line Or make them sneak up on me.)
+ Cats on the cover of The New Yorker! Do I need to say anything more?
+ Here’s how to know when you’re love someone truly.
+ it became orphan baby seal Very cute.
+ I always had a sneaking suspicion that depeche mode and the cure Make great classmates.
