Musk’s xAI Raises $6B, Internet Archive DDoS Attack, GPT-4 Outperforms Analysts, Crows Count, and New Biology Rulle
May 28, 2024
06:33
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Elon Musk's xAI company raises $6 billion for AI development, Internet Archive faces DDoS attack, crows display counting abilities similar to human toddlers, biologist introduces concept of 'selectively advantageous instability' in biology
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XAI secures $6 billion funding to develop AI products and infrastructure.
Crows demonstrate counting abilities similar to human toddlers, challenging cognitive assumptions.
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Elon Musk's XAI Secures $6 Billion Funding Round
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, XAI, successfully secured an impressive $6 billion in its series B funding round. The funding will bolster the company's efforts to launch its initial products, enhance infrastructure, and drive research and development of future technologies. Notable investors like Andreasen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Fidelity Management and Research Company participated in the round. With a pre-funding valuation of $18 billion, XAI's post-money valuation is estimated at $24 billion, positioning the company to compete with industry giants.
Crows' Remarkable Counting Abilities and Cognitive Insights
Recent studies have unveiled that crows exhibit exceptional counting abilities using vocalizations, previously believed to be unique to humans. Research by neuroscientist Diana Liao showcased crows' capability to produce a specific number of vocalizations corresponding to numerical cues from 1 to 4. Their accuracy in responses, akin to human toddlers', suggests an advanced numerical understanding. These findings challenge existing notions about animal cognition, hinting at complex communication and cognitive parallels between humans and crows.
Welcome to a new episode of Discover Daily, the AI-generated podcast curated by Perplexity to satisfy your curiosity about the latest in tech, science, and culture. I'm your host Alex, and in today's episode, we'll explore a range of fascinating topics.
Elon Musk's AI company xAI has raised $6 billion in a Series B funding round, with participation from notable investors. This values the company at $18-24 billion and will support bringing initial products to market, building infrastructure, and accelerating R&D. xAI has already launched the Grok chatbot and plans to build a supercomputer to further develop its AI capabilities.
The Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library, was hit by a DDoS attack on May 27, 2024, temporarily disrupting access to its services. After about an hour, service was restored. The motives remain unclear, but the attack was criticized on social media.
Recent studies have shown that crows can count using vocalizations, producing specific numbers of caws in response to numerical cues. Their counting abilities resemble those of human toddlers, challenging assumptions about animal cognition and numerical abilities.
Finally, biologist John Tower has proposed the concept of "selectively advantageous instability" (SAI), arguing that some instability in biological components is essential for life. SAI allows for genetic diversity and adaptability but also contributes to aging. This new rule of biology could have broad implications for our understanding of life's processes.
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