Every day we wake up, drink some coffee, get ready for work and check on the latest tech. So here’s a handful of stories from around the tech world condensed to fit into that first cup. These are things you need to know before you step foot out of your door (or in front of a webcam) and into the real world this morning.
Gogoro & Enel X Will Deploy 2,500 Battery Swapping Stations Across Taiwan
Taiwanese electric scooter company Gogoro is teaming up with Italian energy services provider Enel X to
deploy 2,500 battery swapping stations in 1000 locations. The project follows a successful pilot program last year and will be the world’s first deployment of the technology.
“We are entering a new era of smart energy infrastructure, and by integrating the Gogoro Network with the Enel X Virtual Power Plant (VPP) in Taiwan, we are providing a new energy resource,” said Horace Luke, founder and CEO of Gogoro. “It is the first time this technology has been deployed this way in the world, and it creates a new Gogoro revenue stream beyond mobility,”.
According to the Taiwan Power Corporation, business opportunities in the electricity sharing economy will net tens of billions of New Taiwan Dollars.
“We believe our work with Gogoro is a world-leading demonstration of what VPPs can do, and we are honored and excited to continue growing our collaboration with them,” said Jeff Renaud, Head of Enel X Asia and Oceania.
Google DeepMind merges with Brain Team to accelerate AI growth
The latest move at Google to accelerate its AI development is a merger between its Brain Team and leading AI research company, DeepMind that Alphabet acquired in 2014. The new group will be called Google DeepMind.
According to a news release, DeepMind’s CEO, Demis Hassabis, will lead development with a goal of creating the “most capable and responsible” AI systems.
“Now, we live in a time in which AI research and technology is advancing exponentially,” said Hassabis. “In the coming years, AI – and ultimately AGI – has the potential to drive one of the greatest social, economic and scientific transformations in history.”
Co-founder of the Brain team, Jeff Dean, will move to the role of Google’s chief scientist for Google’s Research and DeepMind groups.
Last Wednesday, a group of former and current Googlers told Bloomberg, that in its rush to release Bard, Google had compromised safety and ethics.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman: The Age of Giant AI Models Is Already Over
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, believes that the age of giant AI models is over. In an interview with Wired,
he stated that while AI models have grown increasingly complex over the past few years, the trend towards larger models has reached its limit. He cited concerns about the carbon footprint and energy usage of these models, as well as the diminishing returns on investment in terms of performance improvements.
Altman suggests that the future of AI will involve more efficient models that are tailored to specific tasks, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach. He also emphasized the importance of responsible AI development and the need to address issues such as bias and fairness in AI systems.
OpenAI, which was founded in 2015, has been at the forefront of AI research and development, creating advanced language models such as GPT-3. The organization was founded as an open source nonprofit, but has since gone private. Microsoft invested over $10 billion afterward.
Japan Joins the Race Back to the Moon
Today, a privately developed Japanese spacecraft will make history as it attempts a moon landing.
After a five-month, looping and fuel efficient trajectory to the moon, the ispace Hakuto-R mission will attempt a landing as early as 11:40 am ET. If mission control gives the go-ahead, the descent and landing should take about an hour. You can watch the livestream here.
Tokyo-based ispace was founded in 2010 to compete in Google’s XPrize. The company plans to develop and sell lunar resources. Its lander will also deliver the United Arab Emirates’ Rashid rover, as well as a small lunar robot from Japanese toy maker Kakara Tomy, Ltd.
The mission is part of a larger private landing effort is sponsored, in part, by NASA and its Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program. Two US companies, Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, are both set to launch their landers this summer. When completed, Intuitive Machines’ lander will be delivered by a SpaceX Falcon 9. Astrobotics says its lander is ready and it’s waiting on United Launch Alliance to complete its Vulcan rocket.
