US To Stop Exporting AI Chips To China + ChatGPT Is Working On A New Tool For Scientific Discoveries + AI Becomes The Third Party Seller For E-Commerce Sites
Good evening!
Welcome to the 52nd edition of the Quantumics Weekly Roundup.
In this edition, we’ll take a deep dive into the latest trends as the US to keep a check on US-China AI chip export, ChatGPT-like new AI for scientific discoveries, and AI acting as a third-party seller.
And as usual, we’ll explore the latest news and information in data and AI, business, and tech.
Let’s go!
US To Implement New Rules To Stop AI Chip Export From American Companies To China
A U.S. official has revealed that the United States intends to implement measures aimed at preventing American chip manufacturers from selling semiconductors to China that evade government-imposed restrictions. This move is part of the upcoming actions by the Biden administration to further restrict the export of AI chips. These new regulations, which Reuters is reporting on for the first time, will be incorporated into the extensive restrictions on the export of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China that were announced in October last year. Although the updates are anticipated to be released this week, it's worth noting that such timelines can sometimes experience delays.
The forthcoming regulations will prohibit the sale of certain AI chips that narrowly miss the current technical criteria, while also requiring companies to report shipments of other chips, as disclosed by an anonymous official.
A representative from the U.S. Department of Commerce, responsible for export controls, chose not to provide a comment. This recent tightening of restrictions on technology exports to China aligns with the U.S. government's attempts to improve relations between the world's two largest economies. In recent months, senior members of the Biden administration have engaged in discussions with their Chinese counterparts. However, these latest rules may pose a challenge to diplomatic efforts.
The Biden administration has stated that it implemented these export restrictions with the intention of preventing U.S. chips and equipment from bolstering China's military capabilities. In response, Beijing has accused the United States of using export controls to stifle Chinese companies. These restrictions represent a significant and unprecedented shift in U.S.-China tech policy.
As of now, there has been no immediate response from the Chinese embassy in Washington regarding this matter. It's worth noting that last year, government restrictions prevented Nvidia, the world's most valuable chipmaker, from delivering two of its most advanced AI chips to Chinese customers. These chips have become the industry standard for developing chatbots and other AI systems.
ChatGPT To Introduce An AI Tool Polymathic AI For Scientific Discoveries
A team of scientists from around the world has collaboratively launched an innovative research initiative known as Polymathic AI. This initiative leverages the technology that forms the foundation of ChatGPT to develop an artificial intelligence tool specifically designed for scientific exploration.
While ChatGPT primarily focuses on natural language processing, Polymathic AI is set to excel in a different domain. It will be constructed based on numerical data and physics simulations that span a wide range of scientific fields. This AI tool will assist researchers in modelling diverse subjects, including but not limited to supergiant stars and climate patterns.
Shirley Ho, the principal investigator leading this initiative and a group leader at the Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Astrophysics in New York City, envisions that this project will bring about a transformation in the utilization of AI and machine learning within the scientific domain. She draws a parallel between this concept and the ease of learning a new language when one is already proficient in several others, highlighting the potential for AI to enhance scientific research across multiple disciplines.
Polymathic AI leverages a pre-trained model, referred to as a foundation model, which can significantly expedite and enhance the development of scientific models compared to starting from scratch. This approach has the capability to reveal commonalities and connections between different scientific domains, even when the training data may not appear directly relevant to the specific problem at hand.
The Polymathic AI team is composed of experts hailing from various fields, including physics, astrophysics, mathematics, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience. Their project involves collecting data from numerous sources within physics and astrophysics, with plans to expand into fields such as chemistry and genomics. This interdisciplinary approach will be applied to a wide array of scientific challenges.
Amazon, eBay, and Shopify Use Generative AI For Third-party Sellers
If you recently made a purchase during the Amazon Prime deals event, it's possible that AI played a role in influencing your buying decisions. Amazon reported that Prime members bought over 150 million items from third-party sellers during the event. While Amazon didn't disclose extensive data about the event, it's uncertain to what extent generative AI programs may have assisted sellers in improving their product pitches compared to previous years.
What is clear is that e-commerce platform sellers are increasingly leveraging the power of AI to gain a competitive edge. AI can help these sellers in various ways, such as optimizing product recommendations, personalizing marketing messages, and even automating customer support. These AI-driven strategies aim to enhance the overall shopping experience and increase conversion rates for both consumers and sellers.
Generative AI tools, provided by e-commerce platforms, online marketplaces, and private companies, can be invaluable for automating labour-intensive, time-consuming, and often tedious tasks that sellers may not enjoy. The primary objective of using these tools is to boost sales while reducing the effort and frustration typically associated with selling products.
AI's applications are diverse, encompassing activities such as creating compelling product listings and performing data analytics. However, the recent emphasis has been on improving product listings. For example, Amazon introduced a generative AI tool to assist sellers in crafting more comprehensive and effective product descriptions.
An example of AI's effectiveness in this area is showcased by a New York Times tech reviewer who tested the latest version of OpenAI's ChatGPT, capable of "seeing, hearing, and speaking." This AI tool proved highly capable of crafting product listings for items the reviewer intended to sell on Meta's Facebook Marketplace, highlighting the technology's potential to simplify the selling process.