Plus, conspiracy theories about the Los Angeles protests are being circulated on social media
IBM revealed today detailed plans to build a quantum computer that corrects errors with significantly greater computational capabilities than existing machines by 2020. It hopes to make this computer available via the cloud to users by 2029. What is
?
Starling is a proposed machine that will consist of a series of modules, with each module containing a set chip, and be housed in a new datacenter in Poughkeepsie.
What’s important: IBM says Starling is a quantum computing leap forward. The company wants it to be the world’s first large-scale machine that implements error correction. IBM will have overcome the biggest technical challenge facing the industry if Starling is able to achieve this. Read the complete story.
–Sophia Chen.
Pentagon is reducing the team that tests AI systems and weapons.
Trump administration’s approach to federal spending, which involves a chainsaw, continues even as Elon musk turns against the president.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, as part of a series of moves, has reduced the size of the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation by half. The group was formed in the 1980s following criticisms that the Pentagon was deploying weapons and systems which did not perform as safely or as effectively as advertised. Hegseth will reduce the agency’s workforce to 45 from 94 and replace its director.
This is a major overhaul of a department, which in 40 years had never been so directly on the cutting block. Here’s what defense tech companies can gain (and we could lose).
–James O’Donnell.
Originally published in The Algorithm – our weekly newsletter about AI. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive stories like this first or
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
Conspiracy theories about the LA protests are spreading
Social media is flooded with misleading photos and videos. (NYT $)
+ Donald Trump pledged to send 700 Marines into the city. The Guardian
and have halted the service of Waymo in downtown LA following the burning of its vehicles. Times ($)
2 RFK Jr fired an entire CDC vaccine panel
the anti-vaccine advocate claimed they had conflicts of interest. (Ars Technica,),
and The anti-vaccine advocate claims that their replacements “exercise an independent judgment.” How to measure vaccine hesitancy. MIT Technology Review
A new variant of covid is spreading in Europe and the US.
Although it’s considered low-risk, ‘Nimbus” appears to be more infectious. (Wired $)
4 White House security warned against installing Starlink internet.
Elon Musk’s crew ignored them, and installed the service anyway. Trump doesn’t plan to get rid of it. (5 Developers are Underwhelmed By Apple’s AI Efforts
]
The WWDC announcements were not met with much enthusiasm. The company is opening its AI models for the first time to developers. (FT $)
+ Where is the AI-powered Siri that we were promised? TechCrunch
Meta is setting up a new AI lab
The researchers will be tasked to beat its rivals in order to achieve superintelligence. (Bloomberg $)
+ Meta is certainly feeling the heat at the moment. (The Information $)
7 Vulnerable youths are becoming more radicalized online.
The sad case of Rhianan Rudd shows how easy it is to access extremist material. (FT $)
8 Our nerves could play a key role in the spread of cancer
Researchers think they may encourage tumors to grow. (New Scientist $)
+[194537]Why AI is so difficult to use to diagnose cancer. MIT Technology Review
Major Labels have reached a tentative agreement with SAG-AFTRA. (Variety$)
+ How Meta, AI companies and striking actors recruited to train AI. MIT Technology Review
The UK is planning a robotics trial next year
Many countries are years behind. (FT $)
Today’s Quote
At the end of it all, they must deliver on what was presented a year earlier.”
—Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research, tells Reuters where Apple went wrong with its lacklustre WWDC announcements.
Another thing
AI consciousness: a morally weighty issue with potentially dire consequences. Philosophers, cognitive scientists, engineers are all grappling with this problem.
If you fail to identify a consciousness AI, you may unintentionally subjugate an entity whose interests should matter. If you mistake an unconscious AI as a conscious AI, you could compromise human safety and happiness in the name of a silicon and code hunk that doesn’t think or feel.
For the past few decades a small group of researchers has been devotedly pursuing the question of consciousness and how it functions. The effort has produced real progress. These insights, combined with the rapid advancement of AI technology, could be our only guide in the morally fraught waters that artificial consciousness is navigating. Read the complete story.
–Grace Huckins.
You can still enjoy nice things.
A place to find comfort, fun, and distraction. (Do you have any ideas? Drop a line to me (or skeet them at me).
Rest in power Sly one of the funky greatests.
+ Did You Know There’s an Olympic Games for scaffolding? Well, you do now .
+ Only one man is responsible for some of the greatest film art of all time — Drew Struzan.
– That’s a dramatic pizza maker
