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In March 2023, MIT Technology Review revealed that Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI (ChatGPT), was the mystery investor behind the $180 million investment into stealth startup Retro Biosciences, a biotech company with the ambition of “adding 10 years to the human lifespan.” This investment marks the latest tech entrepreneur expressing their interest in longevity science and a new connection with innovative AI technology.

According to February 2023 reports, AI is continuing to gain traction in healthcare applications. Currently, the market is estimated at $14.6 billion (USD) with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 47.6%, with solutions spread across various healthcare fields, such as patient data and risk analysis, precision medicine, cybersecurity, lifestyle management, and drug discovery.

The increasing convergence of AI technology and longevity science is sparking advancements in the sector, with established businesses, start-ups, and researchers utilizing the technology. Most recently, scientists explored how ChatGPT, an AI-based language model, was able to predict Alzheimer’s in 80% of cases when analyzing speech. However, it is not the only implementation.

SAN FRANCISCO –New Hampshire startup Light Steering Technologies won a $1.25 million U.S. Air Force contract for angular pointing technology with small satellite applications.

Through the contract with AFWERX, the Air Force organization focused on innovation, LST aims to advance the Technology Readiness Level, or technological maturity, of its Multi-Axis Scanner. LST’s Multi-Axis Scanner is a patented magnetic joint for gimbal-like capability.

“What’s compelling about the technology is we are minimizing the moving mass,” Aaron Castillo, LST senior vice president of business development and program management, told SpaceNews. “This is achieved by actuating a mirror instead of the entire satellite bus or using a traditional gimbal mechanism.”

Google has been vying to win business from big corporations and government agencies that are deciding between major tech vendors as they move from traditional data centers to the cloud and rely on more compute-heavy applications involving artificial intelligence. Amazon Web Services, the leader in cloud infrastructure, popularized the market in the mid-2000s and has been profitable every quarter since 2014. Microsoft, the second-biggest player in the space, doesn’t report profitability figures for its Azure unit.

Alphabet started disclosing cloud revenue in 2020, and the following year began providing information on the scale of its operating losses.

Last week Alphabet restated operating income for cloud and its other segments, resulting in lower cloud losses in 2021 and 2022. The restated numbers show the cloud unit had a $186 million operating loss in the fourth quarter, compared with $480 million before the change, for example.

Its partnership with OpenAI gives Microsoft a head start.

After years of playing second fiddle to Google in the search engine market, Microsoft is set to become a technology leader again as businesses and individuals worldwide look to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into everything they do. In the Q1 2023 earnings reported recently, the 48-year-old company has outperformed its younger rival, Alphabet.

For years, Microsoft was mainly a market leader in operating systems. Still, the changing nature of computing technologies meant it has ventured into other areas, such as cloud computing and gaming, through its Xbox platform.

‘I expect that these tools will be valuable for everyone from regular people to creators to businesses.’

Meta sees “an opportunity to introduce AI agents to billions of people in ways that will be useful and meaningful,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors today.

While he was vague about how exactly Meta will add generative AI to its apps, Zuckerberg gave the most detailed preview yet during the company’s earnings call for the first quarter of this year, when it reported $28.6 billion in revenue and a record 2 billion daily users of the Facebook app, beating Wall Street’s estimates. Meta’s profit for the quarter was $5.7 billion, a 24 percent decrease from the same time last year.

Continue reading “Mark Zuckerberg says Meta wants to ‘introduce AI agents to billions of people’” »

As highlighted in a recent article, the release of ChatGPT in its various guises, along with numerous other generative AI-based technologies, has heralded a flurry of articles, studies, and headlines lauding the often catastrophic impact such technologies will have on jobs and society more broadly.

It’s the kind of simplistic and often doom-laden narrative that so often thrives on social media. As Greg Berman and Aubrey Fox remind us in their recent book Gradual, however, change seldom happens rapidly and almost never happens in such a linear fashion.

The study surveyed executives from 200 large companies and found that while most recognized the importance of new technologies, many were unrealistic about their ability to transform their businesses. The survey revealed that companies that took a more measured and realistic approach to technology adoption tended to be more successful.

Continue reading “We Need Caution When Predicting The Future Of Work” »

Ensuring proper funding level and visibility was another challenge. To provide the necessary resources, we included executive sponsors on the boards of satellite organizations, which offered better visibility and support for innovation projects. Finally, we faced the challenge of process alignment to maintain agility while ensuring safety. As a result, we defined the minimum required processes to guarantee safety as a top priority during developments, allowing satellite organizations to remain agile without compromising safety standards.

By addressing these and other challenges, we were able to determine the appropriate balance between autonomy and oversight for our organization. Our successful model involves a mix of internal and external talent, strong alignment between corporate and satellite strategies, and ongoing investment in innovative projects. We measure success using specific metrics such as project completion rates, knowledge and employee transfer efficiency, and the value of innovations returned to the parent corporation.

The hybrid innovation model represents a groundbreaking approach for corporations looking to harness the benefits of both the corporate and startup worlds. Corporations can foster an agile and dynamic environment that attracts top talent and facilitates rapid development and testing of new ideas. Although there are challenges to implementing this model, the potential benefits make it an attractive option for corporations seeking to drive innovation and growth in today’s fast-paced business environment.

Today is Earth Day.

That said, Americans don’t fully trust the reliability of renewable sources and 67% of the population favors a mix of renewables and fossil fuels, with only about 31% in favor of completely phasing out fossil fuels altogether.

This week’s Current Climate, which every Saturday brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability. Sign up to get it in your inbox every week.

Continue reading “Current Climate: Americans Want The U.S. At Net Zero By 2050” »