new zealander
Founders once linked to Bezos project pitch AI that models physics, not language
Their new type of artificial intelligence model has learned to predict physical phenomena in space and time. SAN FRANCISCO - A research duo, once pitched to lead the Jeff Bezos-backed Project Prometheus, on Tuesday unveiled what they've built on their own: an artificial intelligence model that can take in and produce information so vast that a lone computer might not handle it. Their company, Accelerated Understanding, says it has developed a different type of AI model that in tests handled 5 trillion pieces of data in a single prompt. That is some 5 million times the size of what Anthropic and Google's flagship models can typically consume -- like reading Tolstoy's "War and Peace" not once but 5 million times in one sitting. The difference is that this new system is not built for understanding language. It is built for physics, said co-founders Anima Anandkumar and Benedikt Jenik, in an exclusive interview ahead of Tuesday's corporate launch.
Carney matches Trump tariffs with 50% tax on U.S. dairy, steel
Carney matches Trump tariffs with 50% tax on U.S. dairy, steel Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne (C) speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday. Prime Minister Mark Carney matched dollar-for-dollar the new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump over the weekend and announced support programs for Canadian businesses hurt by the escalating trade war. Prime Minister Mark Carney matched the new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and announced new support programs for Canadian businesses hurt by the escalating trade war with the country's largest trading partner. Canada will double its existing counter-tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum products to 50%. American-made milk, furniture, clothing and apparel will also have new 50% duties applied, as will video-game consoles, smartphones and other electronics. Overall, the retaliatory levies will affect $20 billion worth of annual U.S. exports to Canada, roughly matching the dollar-value impact of the tariffs the White House put on Canadian products on Saturday.
Government urges AI firms to disclose learning data
Kimi Onoda, minister for intellectual property strategy, speaks to reporters Tuesday about the government's adoption of guiding principles on intellectual rights protection. The government on Tuesday adopted guiding principles on intellectual property protection for generative artificial intelligence operators, calling on such businesses to disclose an outline of data and methods used to train their AI tools. The Principles Code, while not legally binding, is designed to boost transparency related to AI and promote both the protection of intellectual property rights and innovation amid the rapidly spreading use of the cutting-edge technology. Businesses that accept all or part of the code will notify the government and disclose the learning processes, types of learning data and methods of collecting such data for their generative AI models on their websites. The code covers not only domestic businesses but also overseas operators that provide AI systems and services in Japan. There are growing concerns that texts, images and other materials are being used by generative AI for learning without permission, potentially resulting in intellectual property rights violations.
The New Zealander helping the United States prepare for an artificial intelligence war with China
At Wander cafe in Auckland's Wynyard Quarter, someone at the next table is listening to Sean Gourley while he is being interviewed about artificial intelligence. After eavesdropping on the chat they get up, walk over to Gourley's table and tell him how scared they are. Gourley says most people think there is a 1% chance of war between China and the United States, but in his universe it is looking more like 50%. US defence and intelligence clients account for a large portion of the business Gourley's San Francisco-based artificial intelligence (AI) company, PrimerAI, does โ and right now business is booming. READ MORE: * Keeping up with the machines, new supercomputer will be NZ's most powerful for AI * Kiwis need to think about what they want from the age of AI, report says * 'Google should not be in the business of war', says employee after it drops Pentagon AI contract * While artificial intelligence is tipped to be'as significant as electricity', it's not coming for your job, yet ...
New Zealand to Set Ethical Artificial Intelligence Strategy
New Zealand is developing an approach to supporting the ethical adoption of AI -- one that is focused on building an AI ecosystem on a foundation of trust, equity and accessibility right from the onset. A crucial part of this approach is to involve key stakeholders in the planning. And that is exactly the reason why the government has designed the system so every New Zealander and every technology expert who matters can contribute. The success of this ITP requires us to form a consensus view on the scope of our ambition and how this can be achieved with actions and initiatives that are sufficiently realistic to bring about meaningful change โ both short and longer-term. Wellington published a draft that should jumpstart its pursuit of an ethical AI ecosystem: the Industry Transformation Plan (ITP) which covers its overall digital transformation road map.
Mike Moore, former WTO leader and New Zealand prime minister, dies at 71
WELLINGTON โ Mike Moore, who served as New Zealand's prime minister before leading the World Trade Organization during a tumultuous time when thousands protested in Seattle riots, died early Sunday. He died at his home in Auckland, his wife Yvonne Moore said. He had suffered a number of health complications since having a stroke five years ago. Moore was an advocate for both advancing the rights of blue-collar workers and for expanding international trade, a combination which, to some, seemed at odds with itself. Although he had a long political career in New Zealand, Moore's tenure as prime minister was brief: just two months in 1990 before he was defeated in an election.
Facebook data breach hits 63,714 New Zealanders after 10 people download quiz
Ten New Zealanders who downloaded an app on Facebook could have exposed up to 63,714 of their compatriots to the data mining tactics of Cambridge Analytica. Facebook has told the country's privacy commissioner that it is in the process of alerting New Zealanders who were affected by the breach, which occurred when ten users downloaded a personality quiz app. "For New Zealand, we estimate a total of 63,724 people may have been impacted โ 10 are estimated to have downloaded the quiz app with 63,714 friends possibly impacted," said Antonia Sanda, head of communications for Facebook in Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand's privacy commissioner, John Edwards, said he was urgently seeking further information from Facebook on how New Zealanders data was used by Cambridge Analytica, and is working closely with his counterparts in the US, UK Australia and Canada to establish the severity and ramifications of the privacy beach. "I think we have some real information deficits that I hope my colleagues in the UK and the US will uncover ... I am not sure New Zealanders were'targeted' but I think there is a level of complacency [in New Zealand]. And when you say we're so far away, we're only one click away really," Edwards said.
Insight: Is NZ Ready for Artificial Intelligence?
New Zealanders are used to the idea of automation and industrial robots in manufacturing and some homes have those disc shaped vacuum cleaners roaming the house of their own volition in order to keep everything spick and span. Many people have exchanged messages with chat bots online in order to get a few questions answered. But a New Zealand company, Soul Machines, has taken the chat bot idea to the next level and developed so called "digital humans." Just over a month ago, the Natwest Bank in the UK started testing an artificial intelligence-powered "digital human" called Cora who will converse with customers from a terminal in bank branches, with the aim of cutting down on waiting times. The bank hopes Cora's artificial intelligence will eventually expand to answering hundreds of different questions, but at the same time insists the avatar is there to complement, not replace humans.
'Do you do a bingo night?': the New Zealand chatbots designed to scam the scammers
Thu 9 Nov 2017 20.44 EST Last modified on Thu 9 Nov 2017 21.05 EST Thousands of online scammers around the globe are being fooled by artificial intelligence bots posing as New Zealanders and created by the country's internet watchdog to protect it from "phishing" scams. Chatbots that use distinct New Zealand slang such as "aye" have been deployed by Netsafe in a bid to engage scammers in protracted email exchanges that waste their time, gather intelligence and lure them away from actual victims. Computer programmers at Netsafe spent more than a year designing the bots as part of their Re:scam initiative, which went live on Wednesday. Within 24 hours 6,000 scam emails had been sent to the Re:scam email address and there were 1000 active conversations taking place between scammers and chatbots. So far, the longest exchange between a scammer and a chatbot pretending to be a New Zealander was 20 emails long.
Amazon Echo goes on sale in Australia and New Zealand next month
At the tail end of 2017, Amazon announced that both its unlimited music service and Echo speaker would head to 28 more countries. This packaged expansion seems to be their theme in 2018, as the company stated both would be coming to Australia and New Zealand early in the new year. Today, it confirmed that Amazon Music Unlimited would launch in those countries on February 1st with Echoes on sale at select retailers early that month. While the rollout might be good for Australians and New Zealanders who want Echoes for themselves, it'll be harder for Amazon to wean them off other music streaming services, like Spotify, which has been available in Australia since 2012. At the least, Amazon Music Unlimited is priced competitively.