Lifeboat Foundation

Every year, the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) puts out its AI Index, a massive compendium of data and graphs that tries to sum up the current state of artificial intelligence. The 2022 AI Index, which came out this week, is as impressive as ever, with 190 pages covering R&D, technical performance, ethics, policy, education, and the economy. I’ve done you a favor by reading every page of the report and plucking out 12 charts that capture the state of play.

It’s worth noting that many of the trends I reported from last year’s 2021 index still hold. For example, we are still living in a golden AI summer with ever-increasing publications, the AI job market is still global, and there’s still a disconcerting gap between corporate recognition of AI risks and attempts to mitigate said risks. Rather than repeat those points here, we refer you to last year’s coverage.

Green jobs go beyond solar panel installation and wind turbine maintenance. They’re found in fields from design to economics and in many types of management.

The DoNotPay app is the home of the world’s first robot lawyer. Fight corporations, beat bureaucracy and sue anyone at the press of a button.

Continue surfing free trials, beating parking tickets, suing robocallers for cash, and more.

Will 2023 shrink their fortunes further?

The world’s top tech billionaires have lost a combined $575 billion of their personal fortunes as the stock price of the companies they have founded have dropped significantly in 2022, Business Insider.

Even as millions in the U.S. lost their jobs, already rich tech billionaires added a combined $2.

Continue reading “Musk, Bezos and other tech billionaires lost over $500 billion of wealth in 2022” »

Quantum money underpinned by the mathematics of knots could be impossible to forge.

We’ve met with Mojo Vision for several CESes, watching the startup’s AR contact lenses develop, year by year. These sorts of things take a lot of time and money, of course — and these days it seems increasingly difficult to find either. Today, the California-based firm announced that it is “decelerating” work on the Mojo Lens, citing, “significant challenges in raising capital.”

In an announcement posted to it site, CEO Drew Perkins blames insurmountable headwinds, including the bad economy and the “yet-to-be proven market potential for advanced AR products” in its ability to raise the necessary funding required to keep the project afloat.

“Although we haven’t had the chance yet to see it ship and to reach its full potential in the marketplace, we have proven that what was once considered science fiction can be developed into a technical reality,” Perkins writes. “Even though the pursuit of our vision for Invisible Computing is on hold for now, we strongly believe that there will be a future market for Mojo Lens and expect to accelerate it when the time is right.”

During its pilot run, carbon emissions were slashed from 2,500 to 500 metric tons.

A British company has created a pioneering tractor that could be a game changer in the green energy-striving agricultural industry.

“The T7 liquid methane-fuelled tractor is a genuine world-first and another step towards decarbonizing the global agricultural industry and realizing a circular economy,” said Chris Mann, co-founder of Bennamann, a company that deals with methane energy products.

Continue reading “Game changer: World’s first cow-dung-powered tractor is here” »

SpaceX Starlink Internet service will soon be available across the West African country of Nigeria, according to Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Pantami. SpaceX already delivered some Starlink user terminals to the country to commence services. “As part of the partnership, SpaceX is to provide broadband access across the whole of Nigeria, enabling nationwide access to broadband connectivity way ahead of the December 2025 schedule, as outlined in our national broadband plan,” said Pantami. “With this collaboration with SpaceX’s Starlink, Nigeria is set to be the first African country to introduce the service.” Nigeria’s goals was to cover 90% of the country’s population with reliable internet access by 2025, the goal is now attainable because the Starlink satellite network is easy to set up and capable of beaming high-speed internet to rural and remote communities. SpaceX’s official Starlink Coverage Map says the service is ‘coming soon’ to Nigeria, users must input their address on the website to find out if its already available in their specific area.

On the partnership with SpaceX and StarLink. They have now commenced the deployment of their facilities in Nigeria is the first African country to reach that partnership & also approval for the deployment. pic.twitter.com/QamCN2AG4z — Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (@ProfIsaPantami) December 29, 2022

The company sent an email to potential customers living in Nigeria, stating that the service is available for pre-order. “Order now to reserve your Starlink expects to expand service in your area [Nigeria] in 2023. You will receive a notification once your Starlink is ready to ship,” the email says. The hardware to access the satellite internet service costs $600 [N438,000] in Nigeria with an internet subscription of $43 [N31,390] per month.

Mastercard, one of the biggest financial payments providers in the world, is launching a web3-focused incubator to help artists connect with fans through a new medium, the company shared at CES 2023 on Friday.

“The core of this program is providing emerging artists with the web3 tools and skills they need to excel and advance their music careers in this digital economy,” Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard, said to TechCrunch. “By providing access to experts and innovators in the space, the artists will be guided on how to incorporate web3 into their work throughout the entire program and then beyond.”

Mastercard partnered with Polygon, a scaling blockchain built on top of Ethereum, which has been making huge strides in the Web 2.0 ecosystem lately. In the past year, Polygon partnered with a number of other big brands like Starbucks for its Odyssey digital collectible rewards program and Disney for its accelerator program, while also having major clothing brands like Prada and Adidas launch NFT projects through its blockchain.