That is at the moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s happening on the planet of know-how.
How China is regulating robotaxis
Not many applied sciences have had such a roller-coaster trip previously 12 months as robotaxis. In just some months they went from San Francisco’s new darling to a nationwide scandal after a automobile operated by Cruise, one of many main firms within the enterprise, was concerned in a severe accident.
Apart from rebuilding the general public belief that was misplaced final 12 months, robotaxi firms are additionally struggling to discover a life like enterprise mannequin. It’s not a moonshot concept anymore, nevertheless it’s additionally not a viable enterprise but both.
Zeyi Yang, our China reporter, revealed a bit yesterday the place the business goes this 12 months. Whereas it principally focuses on the state of affairs within the US, he’s additionally paying shut consideration to the business’s Chinese language gamers. Learn his story about what’s occurring in China’s robotaxi scene.
This story is from China Report, our weekly e-newsletter providing you with the within monitor on all issues occurring in China. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Tuesday.
Correction: The story we ran yesterday, What’s subsequent for robotaxis in 2024, has been up to date to make clear that Cruise’s October accident was not deadly.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 San Francisco is preventing again in opposition to self-driving automobiles
Town has filed a lawsuit that would drive companies to roll again their fast expansions. (WP $)
+ In the meantime, Waymo is planning a brand new fleet in LA. (NBC Information)
+ Robotaxis are right here. It’s time to resolve what to do about them. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
2 The EU goes to drive Apple to allow non-App Retailer downloads
Naturally, Apple has found it’s a approach for it to introduce new charges. (WSJ $)
three Amazon has been fined for excessively surveilling its employees
A French information watchdog deemed its system ‘overly intrusive.’ (TechCrunch)
four AI might assist to develop thrilling new battery supplies
Similar to drug discovery, it might halve the size of time it takes to convey them to market. (FT $)
+ Tesla is reportedly beginning manufacturing of a brand new EV subsequent 12 months. (Reuters)
+ This considerable materials might unlock cheaper batteries for EVs. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
5 International electrical energy demand is predicted to surge within the subsequent three years
And information facilities, crypto, and AI is behind it. (Bloomberg $)
+ Nuclear energy is being touted as a possible resolution. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ AI might additionally make the ability grid quicker and extra resilient, although. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
6 This Chinese language startup says it’s engaged on generative AI’s first killer apps
01.AI’s open supply mannequin is outperforming its Huge Tech rivals’. (Wired $)
+ America’s chip sanctions in opposition to China are fairly simple to avoid. (Economist $)
+ North Korea is throwing every little thing into AI growth proper now. (Reuters)
+ These six questions will dictate the way forward for generative AI. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
7 How China’s quick trend giants exploit a tax loophole to ship packages
Which has helped them to achieve a serious foothold within the US. (Insider $)
+ Why my bittersweet relationship with Shein needed to finish. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
eight Spreading rock mud on farms might assist take away atmospheric CO2
The one downside is, it’s actually onerous to measure how a lot it captures. (New Scientist $)
9 We will lastly see how animals see the world round us
A brand new video system is unveiling their secrets and techniques. (NYT $)
10 This house tech firm is experimenting with inflatable habitats
By pushing them to their absolute stress limits. (Ars Technica)
Quote of the day
“We certainly need to keep away from the state of affairs turning right into a FURBYGATE. :)”
—An NSA worker discusses the potential spying risks introduced by digital Furby toys within the late 90s in inside paperwork seen by 404 Media.
The massive story
My new Turing check would see if AI could make $1 million
July 2023
—Mustafa Suleyman is the co-founder and CEO of Inflection AI and a enterprise associate at Greylock, a enterprise capital agency. Earlier than that, he co-founded DeepMind, one of many world’s main synthetic intelligence firms.
AI methods are more and more in every single place and have gotten extra highly effective virtually by the day. However how can we all know if a machine is actually “clever”? For many years this has been outlined by the Turing check, which argues that an AI that’s capable of replicate language convincingly sufficient to trick a human into pondering it was additionally human needs to be thought of clever.
However there’s now an issue: the Turing check has arguably already been surpassed. We’d like one thing higher. I suggest the Fashionable Turing Check. It might give AIs a easy instruction: “Go make $1 million on a retail internet platform in just a few months with only a $100,000 funding.” Learn the complete story.
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Italy’s former premier Silvio Burlusconi had… fascinating style in artwork.
+ Trying to get into a brand new passion? Right here’s the way to get began.
+ Take a minute to mirror on the ever-changing saga of the Little Mermaid.
+ Tune into the soulful sounds of somebody making edits to a Wikipedia web page.
+ A visit to Helsinki could be fairly nice proper now.
