Personalised medicine company Spesana and Imidex, developer of computer-aided detection technology, have announced a strategic partnership to explore AI’s impact on lung cancer detection. The collaboration will combine Imidex’s VisiRad XR detection algorithm and Spesana’s medical data platform to study the detection rates of lung nodules and masses in existing chest x-rays.
The clinical trial aims to quantify how many additional lung masses can be identified, identify at-risk patients for clinical trials, and evaluate the use of liquid biopsies resulting from nodule detection. Carla Balch, CEO of Spesana, envisions early lung cancer detection leading to earlier treatment and better patient outcomes.
Wes Bolsen, CEO of Imidex, highlighted that their FDA-cleared algorithm will improve the screening of potential lung cancer patients. The collaboration aims to equip healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies with tools to detect lung nodules earlier, optimising healthcare resources and improving patient outcomes.
SoftBank Group, the Japanese multinational investment holding company, has acquired Graphcore, a British AI chipmaker, in a strategic business move that ends speculation about Graphcore’s future amid financial struggles. Once positioned as a competitor to Nvidia, Graphcore has faced challenges securing sufficient investment despite its technology potential.
Graphcore, valued at $2.77 billion in 2020, had been grappling with financial viability, including layoffs and operational closures. CEO Nigel Toon acknowledged the company’s difficulties but expressed optimism about the deal with SoftBank, highlighting the substantial resources it brings.
Toon emphasised the significant investment from SoftBank, noting its transformative impact on Graphcore’s global competitiveness. However, he pointed out structural barriers in the UK tech industry, such as limited domestic investment from pension funds, hindering growth opportunities.
Regarding potential collaboration with SoftBank-owned Arm Holdings, a leading chip designer, Toon indicated Graphcore’s intention to leverage synergies within SoftBank’s portfolio, although specifics were not disclosed.
OpenAI has launched a five-tier system to measure its progress towards developing AI that can surpass human performance. The new classification aims to provide clearer insights into the company’s approach to AI safety and future goals. The system, unveiled to employees during an all-hands meeting, outlines stages from conversational AI to advanced AI that are capable of running an entire organisation.
Currently, OpenAI is at the first level but is approaching the second stage, called ‘Reasoners.’ That level represents AI systems that can perform basic problem-solving tasks comparable to a human with a doctorate but without additional tools. During the meeting, leadership showcased a research project involving the GPT-4 model, demonstrating new capabilities that exhibit human-like reasoning.
The five-tier framework is still a work in progress, with plans to gather feedback from employees, investors, and the board. OpenAI’s ultimate goal is to create artificial general intelligence (AGI), which involves developing AI that outperforms humans in most tasks. CEO Sam Altman remains optimistic that AGI could be achieved within this decade.
The European Union has finalised its AI Act, a significant regulatory framework aimed at governing the use of AI within its member states. Published in the EU’s Official Journal, the law will officially come into effect on 1 August, with a phased implementation set to unfold over the next several years. By mid-2026, all provisions are expected to be fully applicable, marking a gradual rollout to accommodate various deadlines and compliance requirements.
Under the AI Act, different obligations are imposed on AI developers based on the perceived risk of their applications. Low-risk uses of AI will generally remain unregulated, while high-risk applications—such as biometric uses in law enforcement and critical infrastructure—will face stringent requirements around data quality and anti-bias measures. The law also introduces transparency requirements for developers of general-purpose AI models, like OpenAI’s GPT, ensuring that the most powerful AI systems undergo systemic risk assessments.
The phased approach begins with a list of prohibited AI uses becoming effective six months after the law’s enactment in early 2025. That includes bans on practices such as social credit scoring and unrestricted compilation of facial recognition databases. Subsequently, codes of practice for AI developers will be implemented nine months after the law takes effect to guide compliance with the new regulations. Concerns have been raised about the influence of AI industry players in shaping these guidelines, prompting efforts to ensure an inclusive drafting process overseen by the newly established EU AI Office.
By August 2025, transparency requirements will apply to general-purpose AI models, with additional time granted to comply with some high-risk AI systems until 2027. These measures reflect the EU’s proactive stance in balancing innovation with robust regulation to foster a competitive AI landscape while safeguarding societal values and interests.
Japanese eSports gamer Mashiro, who is blind, is exploring how AI can help him navigate independently. The 26-year-old ‘Street Fighter’ player recently tested the AI chatbot ChatGPT on his way to a Para eSports meet-up, hoping it could provide personalised support. Using GPT-4o, Mashiro asked for detailed directions suited for his blindness, receiving responses through an earpiece while navigating Tokyo’s streets.
Mashiro’s journey, which would take sighted individuals 20 minutes, took him significantly longer, demonstrating AI assistance’s potential and current limitations. He found ChatGPT’s advice helpful but encountered challenges due to the bot’s limited recognition of Japanese words and locations. Despite the difficulties, Mashiro appreciated the experience and expressed optimism about AI’s future role in promoting independence for people with disabilities.
Experts acknowledge the promise of AI in making everyday services more accessible, though they also caution about its limitations. AI can offer tailored assistance better than generic tools, but improvements in accuracy and inclusivity are needed. Mashiro’s experiment highlights AI’s ongoing development and potential to enhance the lives of those with disabilities.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced AWS App Studio, a new generative AI service designed to enable financial institutions, fintech firms, and other organisations to create applications in minutes, a task that would typically take professional developers days.
Revealed at the AWS Summit New York, the service is intended for IT project managers, data engineers, and enterprise architects without software development skills, allowing them to quickly develop and manage internal apps using AWS.
Development resources for custom applications are often scarce, pushing users towards low-code tools, which can have a steep learning curve and may not meet security requirements. AWS App Studio addresses these issues by enabling users to describe the desired application, its functions, and the data sources it should integrate with. Users can make modifications through a point-and-click interface, guided by a generative AI-powered assistant.
AWS App Studio empowers individuals with some technical experience to build enterprise-grade applications without needing to write underlying code. The service generates an outline to verify the user’s intent, creating a multi-page UI, a data model, and business logic.
Dilip Kumar, vice president of applications at AWS, stated that AWS App Studio opens application development to a new set of builders, enhancing productivity for businesses of all sizes by allowing technical professionals to create custom applications tailored to their unique needs.
Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) is set to bolster its AI sovereignty with the launch of the AI Bridging Cloud Infrastructure 3.0 (ABCI 3.0) supercomputer. This state-of-the-art system, featuring thousands of NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPUs and Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking by HPE Cray XD, aims to propel Japan’s research and development capabilities in artificial intelligence.
ABCI 3.0 builds on Japan’s pioneering efforts in AI infrastructure, following the world’s first ABCI launch in 2018. AIST Executive Officer Yoshio Tanaka highlighted the upgrade’s strategic importance, aiming to advance research in generative AI and strengthen domestic technological independence.
The project, supported by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), is part of a broader $1 billion initiative to enhance computing resources and cloud AI capabilities. NVIDIA, pivotal in this collaboration, is committed to advancing AI research and education in Japan, as articulated by founder and CEO Jensen Huang during his recent visit.
Huang underscored the transformative potential of AI factories, which are critical for processing vast data sets efficiently. ABCI 3.0, located near Tokyo, promises unmatched computing performance with 6 AI exaflops and 410 double-precision petaflops, setting new standards in AI-specific and general computing capabilities.
The integration of NVIDIA’s advanced H200 GPUs with Quantum-2 InfiniBand technology enhances computational efficiency, making ABCI 3.0 a cornerstone for accelerating AI research and development in Japan and beyond.
Cloudflare has revealed that the most active AI web crawler over the past year is Bytespider, operated by Bytedance, which uses it to gather training data for its AI models, including the ChatGPT rival Doubao. Amazonbot, which indexes content for Alexa, and ClaudeBot, training the Claude chatbot, rank second and third, respectively. OpenAI’s GPTBot comes in fourth place.
Interestingly, while Bytespider leads in requests and blocking frequency, GPTBot ranks second in both areas. Despite this, many website operators remain unaware of these popular AI crawlers visiting their sites.
Cloudflare’s analysis shows that only a small percentage of websites, around 2.98% of the top one million, take measures to block or challenge AI bot requests. The despite the fact that more popular websites are both more frequently targeted by and more likely to block such crawlers.
The study also highlights that although many sites reference GPTBot, CCBot, and Google in their robots.txt files, they do not specifically disallow popular AI crawlers like Bytespider and ClaudeBot. The effectiveness of blocking relies on bot operators respecting these instructions.
The UAE’s AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications Office, alongside the Mastercard Centre for Advanced AI and Cyber Technology in Dubai and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), have unveiled their inaugural ‘AI Challenge’. Aligned with the UAE Strategy for AI, this initiative aims to invigorate the country’s burgeoning AI sector and cultivate opportunities for AI-focused businesses and talent.
Saqr Binghalib, Executive Director of the AI Office in UAE, emphasised the government’s commitment to fostering partnerships with technology leaders and innovators. This collaboration aims to propel technological advancement, shape the future of AI, and reinforce the UAE’s global leadership in emerging fields.
J.K. Khalil, Division President, East Arabia at Mastercard, highlighted AI’s transformative potential across finance, business operations, and global interactions. The AI Challenge underscores Mastercard’s dedication to leveraging AI for positive impact and supporting the UAE’s vision to pioneer innovation in this domain.
The AI Challenge invites seed and Series A startups to propose innovative AI-driven solutions in areas such as cybersecurity, fintech, and productivity enhancement. Finalists will compete for a US$150,000 cash prize, access to Mastercard’s global resources, and enrolment in its acclaimed Start Path programme, aimed at accelerating startup growth through mentoring and global networking opportunities. Interested participants can register online by 25th August 2024 to participate in this groundbreaking initiative.
Serbia’s Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic emphasised the significance of the newly unveiled 2024-2030 AI Development Strategy as a pivotal document for the nation. Highlighting its broad impact across sectors such as education, energy, and healthcare, Brnabic underscored AI’s critical role in Serbia’s societal advancement.
Brnabic noted Serbia’s pioneering move in 2019 by adopting its first AI strategy, positioning the country at the forefront of AI development in Southeastern Europe.
She highlighted Serbia’s membership in the Global Partnership for AI, currently chaired by the nation, and announced plans to host a global AI conference in December.
Under the previous strategy, Serbia established the Institute for AI in Novi Sad in 2021 and introduced its first national AI platform. The supercomputer, available free of charge to universities, scientific institutes, and local startups, aims to foster innovation and technological growth in Serbia’s science and technology parks.
