☕️ A Setback in AI Oversight as California's SB 1047 Falls Through

The US' first major AI safety bill falls short at the final hurdle as California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoes SB 1047 in a surprise Sunday announcement. Other key highlights include:

• ByteDance allegedly looks at domestic AI chip suppliers over Nvidia for its next AI model

• AI chip startup Cerebras Systems files to go public as it aims to loosen Nvidia's grip on the chip market

• Raspberry Pi and Sony debut a co-developed AI Camera add-on for onboard visual processing

Join us at AI Tangle as we untangle this week's happenings in AI!

California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoes SB 1047, the first-in-nation major AI safety bill

After multiple rounds of scrutiny and opposition from AI startups and tech giants alike, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed SB 1047 on Sunday, an AI bill that would have regulated the safety measures for creating large AI models and provided whistleblower protection to industry workers. Though just a handful of today's AI models would be covered by this bill, SB 1047 concerns the future of AI model technology - and why Newsom thinks SB 1047's approach isn't the right one.

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Why did it fall through?

Despite the bill's intent to ensure transparency and accountability, Newsom argued it imposed overly strict requirements on any AI systems, regardless of their actual risk levels. In a statement, Newsom said that SB 1047 "can have a chilling effect on the industry" as it applies stringent standards on even the most basic of functions, so long as a large system deploys it. Democratic state Senator Scott Weiner, who authored SB 1047, criticized the veto as a setback for AI oversight.

China's ByteDance looks to swap to Huawei chips for the training of its next AI model

According to people familiar with the confidential matter, Chinese parent to TikTok, ByteDance, is planning to train its next AI model primarily with AI chips from fellow Chinese company Huawei Technologies. ByteDance's supposed decision to swap to Huawei's Ascend 910B chips, despite having supply constraints of its own, comes from US chip export restrictions to China forcing ByteDance's hand to invest in domestic suppliers. The unnamed model is expected to be less powerful than the company's Doubao, though ByteDance spokesman Michael Hughes denies that there's even any plans for it.

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Cerebras Systems files for IPO to challenge Nvidia's AI chips with its own

AI startup Cerebras Systems recently filed to go public under the "CBRS" ticker on Nasdaq, citing its goals of taking on AI chip bigwig Nvidia, along with listing AMD, Intel, Microsoft, and Google as competitors. Cerebras' main selling point currently is its WSE-3 chip, which it touts as having more cores and memory than Nvidia's H100. Though the company reported a net loss of $66.6 million in the first half of 2024, it has seen extensive revenue growth largely thanks to its partnership with UAE-based AI company Group 42.

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Raspberry Pi debuts a $70 add-on AI Camera module co-developed with Sony

Developer-loved Raspberry Pi recently announced the release of the Raspberry Pi AI Camera, an add-on that integrates onboard AI processing with a Sony IMX500 image sensor for $70. The AI Camera allows for real-time image processing without stressing the host Raspberry Pi, making it useful in smart city applications, such as parking spot detection and traffic monitoring, with production promised through at least January 2028. Though it started off as catering to hobbyists, Raspberry Pi now primarily sells to businesses, with 72% of its sales in industrial and embedded sectors.

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Y Combinator faces backlash for backing an AI startup that admitted to cloning another

Y Combinator-backed startup PearAI recently sparked controversy after launching an AI coding editor that its founder, Duke Pan, outlined was a clone of another open-source project, Continue. The real controversy arose when PearAI initially applied its own AI-generated closed license, called Pear Enterprise License, to the project, then later reverted to the original Apache open-source license after backlash. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan defended PearAI, but the incident raised concerns about YC's misleading practices and questions regarding its vetting processes.

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AI sales rep startup 11x.ai raises $50 million in Series B funding backed by Andreessen Horowitz

A recent Series B round of funding sees 11x.ai, a startup that makes AI sales development bots, raise $50 million and put the company at a valuation of roughly $350 million, led by Andreessen Horowitz. Currently, 11x.ai offers its clients two AI bots: Alice, an AI sales development representative that handles sales lead generation and outreach, and Jordan, an AI phone sales representative with over 30 languages under its belt. The startup says the Series B capital will go towards expanding HR and getting more talent into the team as investor interest grows.

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Is OpenAI's Current Direction for The Better? (3-min read)

With more of OpenAI's founders leaving, its talent headcount shrinking, and its company philosophy steering away from a research lab developing AI for the benefit of humanity to a for-profit company, one must wonder if OpenAI is becoming just like any other regular tech company.