☕️ ChatGPT Edu to Revolutionize Higher Education

OpenAI set its sights on academia this week as it reveal ChatGPT Edu, a model specialized for higher education and use in universities. Meanwhile, China finds another $47.5 billion to supercharge domestic AI productions, Jan Leike sets up shop in Anthropic to continue his mission of superalignment, and Tesla's Elon Musk and Meta's Yann LeCun have a lengthy debate about AI research. Join us at AI Tangle as we untangle this week's happenings in AI.

OpenAI aims to bring its ChatGPT to higher academia with Edu

OpenAI is set to revolutionize the academic world with ​the debut of ChatGPT Edu​, the company's latest AI platform, custom-made for use in universities. The one at the helm of this initiative is Arizona State University, contributing to the development of ChatGPT Edu via critical feedback by conducting over 200 AI projects through its AI Innovation Challenge since January of this year. ​Lev Gonick​, ASU's chief information officer, says "ASU's strategic partnership with OpenAI places us at the forefront of technological advances in education."

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What does Edu provide?

ChatGPT Edu, set to launch this summer, is a highly modified version of GPT-4o with advanced reasoning capabilities across text and vision, along with robust administrative controls, data security, and high usage limits. As executive director of AI acceleration at ASU Elizabeth Reilley put it, Edu aligns with "our principled innovation strategy, incorporating feedback from our community to enhance its features." Universities are also already making use of AI in other ways, such as developing an AI tutor or using AI to battle traffic congestion - more and more new avenues keep opening for AI.

OpenAI debuts a new safety team with Sam Altman at the helm, hints at another model

OpenAI has formed a new safety team from the ground up, led by CEO Sam Altman and board members Adam D'ngelo and Nicole Seligman, responsible for evaluating OpenAI's processes and safeguards and making recommendations. This follows the departure of co-founder Ilya Sutskever and superalignment team co-leader Jan Leike. OpenAI is also testing a new AI model and introducing a replacement voice for ChatGPT. However, some are concerned about how committed the company is to safety by putting Altman in the lead.

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Singapore emphasizes green data centers as the country looks to expand its AI efforts further

It's no secret that AI has a ridiculous effect on power consumption, and officials in Singapore want to tackle it to achieve sustainable growth for the energy-intensive industry. With over 70 data centers, Singapore serves as one of the biggest hubs in the world for AI. A recently published roadmap by the government makes it clear that Singapore is seeking a balance between industry growth and decarbonization efforts, aiming to boost its data center capacity by a further 35%.

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China invests another $47.5 billion chip fund into its AI industry

China has recently piled another $47.5 billion (or 344 billion Chinese yuan) into a ​third semiconductor fund​ to superpower the domestic semiconductor industry amid US sanctions. The China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, also known as the Big Fund, is part of China's strategy to lessen its reliance on semiconductor imports. The most recent one, Fund 3, is the largest by far, with its total funding roughly equaling that of the past two funds combined.

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Elon Musk and Yann LeCun duke it out on social media, highlighting different approaches to AI research

A recent social media feud saw Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk duke it out with Meta's Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun, highlighting the two's contrasting views on AI research as it unfolded over Memorial Day weekend. LeCun started by ​mocking Musk's xAI job postings​, where Musk then questioned LeCun's scientific contributions despite him being a pioneer of deep learning. Musk dismissed the importance of open publishing, and the two went back and forth in a debate about corporate secrecy vs. open research and the viability of artificial general intelligence.

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Ex-OpenAI superalignment team co-leader Jan Leike finds a new home at Anthropic

Jan Leike, an ex-lead safety researcher at OpenAI, joined rival AI startup Anthropic to continue his work on superalignment. Leike's Anthropic team "will work on scalable oversight, weak-to-strong generalization, and automated alignment research." This comes right after ​Jan Leike resigned from OpenAI​ along with Ilya Sutskever a few weeks prior, ultimately causing the disbandment of the company's superalignment team, which focused on long-term AI risks.

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Swiss AI manufacturing startup EthonAI raises $16.5 million in Series A funding

Swiss-based AI manufacturing startup EthonAI recently announced that it had raised $16.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Index Ventures. EthonAI's Manufacturing Analytics System (MAS) combines data from various manufacturing sources, such as sensors and line stops, to pinpoint improvement areas and enhance operations. The company's software can detect visual faults in products during manufacturing and assembly, and it has worked with high-profile names like Siemens and Lindt.

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Should You Trust AI Career Coaches? (5-min read)

As AI threatens job security, ironically, some are turning to it for career guidance - but is that a good idea? Explore with the Washington Post as we peek into the world of AI career coaches and their worth.

Recent Failures in The AI Industry (5-min watch)

Fireship, a YouTube channel covering code, tech, and AI humorously, takes a trip down recent memory lane to cover recent fumbles in the scene, from more news about Sam Altman's firing to the mess that was Google's AI Search.