📈 How are companies using AI?

➜ Google Turns to Nuclear to Power AI Data Centres. Google has signed a deal with Kairos Power to use small nuclear reactors to generate the vast amounts of energy needed to power its AI data centres. The agreement allows them to start using the first reactor this decade and bring more online by 2035. "The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies," said Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google. Last year, US regulators gave California-based Kairos Power the first permit in 50 years to build a new type of nuclear reactor. Extremely powerful news. 

BBC

➜ NVIDIA Releases New Llama Model to Outperform Claude and GPT. No big launch, just big results. Nvidia has revealed a new model, Llama-3.1-Nemotron-70B-Instruct, that outperforms offerings from industry leaders OpenAI and Anthropic. This release represents a pivotal moment for Nvidia, known as the dominant force in GPUs that power AI systems. A clear signal just how fast the AI landscape is shifting. 

VentureBeat

➜ Swift Unveils AI-powered Real-Time Fraud Barrier. Swift is rolling out an AI-powered anomaly detection service, available from January 2025, to help banks proactively detect and defend against potential financial crime. Piloted across financial institutions in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East turned out to be a remarkable success. Jerome Piens, CPO at Swift, highlights the urgency of the initiative, noting that “bad actors are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to commit financial crime.”

Finextra 

➜ Ambient AI Takes Healthcare Automation Into Real-Time. Ambient AI, a technology that processes conversations in real time, is being explored in healthcare to streamline clinician workflows, reduce operational costs, and improve patient outcomes. Amit Patel, founder of tech consultancy Mythos Group says that “Ambient AI can automate patient check-ins, suggest optimal appointment times, and even provide real-time language translation to ensure seamless communication”. No more queues for a doctor? 

PYMNTS  

➜ New Product on The Block: AI Customer Service Tool From Shopify.  OpenStore, the Shopify roll-up company, is launching OpenDesk, an AI-powered customer support tool built from managing its portfolio of 51 brands. CEO Keith Rabois reveals that 20% of the team is now dedicated to OpenDesk, marking a strategic shift from the company's original mission of rapid brand acquisition to focusing on brands that can have incredible upside potential, using automated support. 
ModernRetail

💡 What are the nerds up to?

➜ Django Co-Creator Shows How Engineers Should Actually Use AI Tools. In a discussion on The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast, Simon Willison, co-creator of Django and founder of Datasette, shares insights from integrating LLMs into his development workflow. Willison challenges common assumptions about fine-tuning LLMs and advocates for practical approaches like RAG, while offering a glimpse into his personal AI toolkit.
YouTube

➜ AI Model for Diagnosing Multiple Cancer Types From Harvard. Scientists at Harvard Medical School have developed a versatile AI model called CHIEF that can diagnose and predict outcomes for multiple cancer types, outperforming existing AI systems. Trained on millions of images, it can detect cancer cells, predict tumor genetic profiles, and forecast patient survival with 96% accuracy. 

SciTechDaily 

➜ OpenAI’s CPO Vision on Open Source Models and Accessible AI. In a revealing conversation at Ray Summit 2024, OpenAI's CPO Kevin Weil outlines the company's ambitious shift from simple question-answering AI to comprehensive task completion systems. Speaking with Robert Nishihara, Weil emphasizes OpenAI's commitment to accessibility while highlighting the critical evolution in AI capabilities, particularly in reasoning.

YouTube  

➜ CTO of Unidata on a Sustainable Electric Grid with Ethical AI. In the latest Women in AI series by TechCrunch, Marissa Hummon shares her mission towards making the electric grid more sustainable and efficient. Hummon claims that AI is poised to help the utility sector operate more effectively. However, “AI is only as good as the data and information it was trained on” – she adds. One of the first questions we should always ask: “How was the model trained?”

TechCrunch 

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