Ever find yourself marvelling at the rapid progress of AI technology? Well, here’s another head-turner for you – Baidu, China’s tech powerhouse, has already released more than 70 AI models in the country according to the company’s CEO, Robin Li. Not just any AI models, mind you; these boast over 1 billion parameters, putting them in the category of Large Language Models (LLMs). Impressive, isn’t it?
If you’re not exactly tech-savvy, think of parameters as the model’s ability to take in and process data. More parameters mean better performance, richer detail capture, and overall efficiency. In the world of LLMs, it’s a numbers game, with AI giants like OpenAI and Meta’s Llama leading the pack with dizzying numbers such as 170 trillion parameters (rumoured for GPT-4).
However, Baidu is not lagging behind. In fact, the tech-behemoth recently released a revised version ─ Ernie 3.5 ─ of its chatbot boasting not only a doubled processing speed but also a 50% improvement in efficiency. And the good news doesn’t stop here: Baidu hinted at launching an even more impressive version shortly.
But here’s where it gets somewhat contentious. Despite China’s new AI laws allowing a broader application of AI tech, it inevitably widens the risk net, given the inherent perils of AI ─ misuse of technology, privacy concerns, and the like. Of course, the introduction of more stringent rules helped stimulate this AI explosion in the nation, but the question remains if the trade-off between expansion and risk is worth it.
On a different note, in the non-dramatic sector of the cryptocurrency markets, a peculiar event marked September 5th. Nima Capital, a venture capital firm associated with Synapse, a decentralized finance (DeFi) cross-chain bridge, reportedly dumped nearly 9 million SYN tokens and pulled out all stablecoin liquidity from the bridge. This incident led to the price of SYN nosediving by over 20%, before making a partial recovery later the same day.
These actions make a fascinating case study of how quickly fortunes can turn in the crypto landscape, with promises of decentralization and transparency sometimes overshadowed by alarming incidents like rug pulls. Nima Capital’s case, though not common for a VC firm, serves to remind us of this.
So, whether we’re discussing AI model growth or flustering events in decentralized finance, it’s clear that technology’s cutting-edge sectors like AI and blockchain aren’t just about rosy upwards trajectories, they come with their fair share of vulnerabilities and uncertainties. Today’s advancements might be tomorrow’s failures, or vice versa. Stay tuned in the world of the tech revolution, ladies and gents. It’s a ride worth watching.
Source: Cointelegraph
