#65 Biden administrations' $20M AI hackathon

Brace yourself - from game-changing AI hackathons backed by Uncle Sam to Disney's ambitious foray into AI to cut costs, there’s lots to catch up on in today’s issue. Let’s dive in.
 

In today’s newsletter:

• Hottest stories: America’s AI hackathon, Disney’s cost-cutting, and Nvidia bet big - and it paid off

• TL;DR Rundown: Split opinions on AI, concern about AI in healthcare, and Grimes wants AI to do her job

• Tool of the day: Bypass AI detectors

HOTTEST STORIES 
Today’s biggest stories if you’re in a rush 

The Biden administration’s AI Cyber Challenge

The Biden administration just launched the AI Cyber Challenge - a hackathon with a hefty $20 million prize pool, aiming to bolster America's digital defenses. Major players like Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have jumped onboard, offering their platforms for what's shaping up to be a landmark contest.

Starting this spring, 20 elite teams will compete at DEF CON 2024, with the top five grabbing $2 million each. These champs then advance to the grand finals in 2025. Here's the deal: the winning team's strategy gets shared open-source, ensuring everyone benefits from their cybersecurity prowess.

The initiative underscores a bigger agenda. As digital threats escalate, the U.S. sees AI as a vital tool in its defense arsenal, signaling a pivotal shift in national cybersecurity.

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Disney hopes to use AI to manage soaring film and TV production costs

Disney's taking a serious look at AI, and they've got big plans. They've created a task force specifically to uncover how AI can be used across their empire, from cutting film production costs to enhancing visitor experiences at their theme parks. A notable example was in 2021, when Disney introduced an AI-driven robot Groot, mingling with guests.

Currently, Disney is actively hiring for roles specializing in AI and machine learning. These openings span a wide range, from their movie studios to theme parks and even their advertising branch, signaling a clear focus on AI innovation.

However, this push towards AI hasn't been met with universal applause. Hollywood's creative community, including writers and actors, have raised concerns about the technology, fearing it might encroach on their roles. In fact, industry unions like the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild of America are taking a stand, making it a significant point of contention in ongoing contract discussions.

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NVIDIA went all-in on AI - and no one knew

Back in 2018, Nvidia rolled the dice in a big way. According to CEO Jensen Huang, they took a gamble that most didn't even spot but has since proven to be a game-changer for the company and the industry at large. Their move? Diving deep into AI-driven image processing—cue ray tracing and intelligent upscaling, aka RTX and DLSS. Huang shared that the good old rasterization had hit its ceiling, and 2018 was their "all-in" moment, calling for a complete revamp of hardware, software, and algorithms.

And while the gaming world is still warming up to ray-tracing and DLSS, there's been an unexpected twist in the tale. Nvidia's AI architecture, designed for these features, turned out to be a beast at crunching numbers needed to train ever-growing AI models. But hold your horses; this is just the overture. Huang envisions a world where these models are accessed in real-time by potentially billions, with the ultimate pitch being: "The future? Think of 'Human' as the new coding lingo."

GIVE US A CLICK AND TAKE YOUR PICK  
A gentleman’s agreement 

• Expert talks about real AI future 

• Voyage through time

TL;DR RUNDOWN
Listicle of what else is happening today 

Child voices: A weird one, but AI is being used to give missing children a voice that they never asked for. Just because we can most certainly doesn’t mean we should.

Financial future: The impact AI has had on the finance sector gives a reliable window into what other industries can expect, according to experts.

Outlaw AI: AI chatbots are making easier and far more frequent.

Arts & Culture: Google’s app adds AI-generated poem postcards as a new feature.

Down the middle: US public opinion is split 50/50 on AI, but 70% are concerned about it’s use in healthcare.

Amazon descriptions: Descriptions are key to e-commerce. Amazon now offers sellers AI-description writing, which will likely make for some pretty repetitive web-shopping.

Zero learning use: Google has discovered that LLMs can use unfamiliar tools without prior training, just by giving the LLM the tool’s instruction manuals.

Lazy Grimes: Grimes joins the list of people who want to step out of the limelight and get AI to do their jobs for them.

TOOL OF THE DAY 
AI tools we’ve used, loved, and recommend above all others 

Today’s tool is hidemy.ai.

Bypass AI content detectors, and transform AI-generated copy into human-feeling writing with this free to use tool. It does a decent job.

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