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On this day, 120 years ago, Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first controlled and sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft, with Orville's initial 12-second flight followed by Wilbur's 59-second journey, marking the birth of the modern aviation industry.
Here's the latest tech news from the last 24 hours:
🤖 Microsoft unveils Phi-2, a small language model that packs power
🤔 Barely any IT professionals say they actually know how AI tools work
🖼️ Stability AI releases new model for text-to-3D from a single image
🚗 An electric car completed the world's first-ever drive from the North to the South Pole
🍏 Apple introduces 'contingent pricing,' redefining App Store dynamics
🤖 Microsoft unveils Phi-2, a small language model that packs powerLINK
Microsoft Research has released 'Phi-2,' a 2.7 billion-parameter small language model, demonstrating advanced reasoning and language understanding capabilities, outperforming some larger models. Phi-2's development focused on high-quality training data and scaling techniques from the preceding 1.3 billion parameter model, Phi-1.5, which contributed to its enhanced performance and efficiency. Phi-2, with its reduced size, performs better than larger models like Mistral and Llama-2 on various benchmarks and is available in the Azure AI Studio for research purposes.
🤔 Barely any IT professionals say they actually know how AI tools workLINK
According to a SolarWinds report, only 22% of IT professionals understand how AI tools work, despite a significant increase in their availability since ChatGPT's public preview launch over a year ago. The study suggests a lack of understanding among workers regarding AI tools, potentially leading to a disconnect between perceived and actual ROI, as well as underutilization due to the complexity of AI implementation and necessary data management. While 90% of IT professionals believe their colleagues would use AI for productivity, only 38% actually employ these tools, primarily for basic tasks like information gathering, with limited usage for coding (16%) and identifying vulnerabilities (6%).
🖼️ Stability AI releases new model for text-to-3D from a single imageLINK
Stable Zero123 is a new AI model that produces high-quality 3D views from single images with improved datasets and elevation conditioning. The model is based on Stable Diffusion 1.5, matches its memory usage, and significantly speeds up training compared to previous models. Released for non-commercial and research purposes, Stable Zero123 integrates with threestudio for Score Distillation Sampling and 3D mesh generation.
🚗 An electric car completed the world's first-ever drive from the North to the South PoleLINK
Scottish adventurers Chris and Julie Ramsey completed a nine-month, 17,000-mile expedition from the Magnetic North Pole to the South Pole in a modified Nissan Ariya electric vehicle, marking the world's first such journey in an electric car. The electric vehicle's range was reduced to 150-200 miles due to modifications and cold conditions, but battery efficiency was maintained through innovative heating strategies. Throughout their journey, the Ramseys utilized wind and solar power for charging.
🍏 Apple introduces 'contingent pricing,' redefining App Store dynamicsLINK
Apple has introduced a pilot program allowing app developers to offer discounts to customers with multiple subscriptions.
Developers can advertise these discounts on the App Store, in email links, and through external marketing campaigns.
The program aims to make Apple's platform more appealing to developers and customers amidst upcoming EU regulations for third-party app stores.
Other news you might like
ByteDance asserts its use of OpenAI's tech for AI model development abides by service terms, while OpenAI has suspended their access pending further investigation.LINK
The Epic question: how Google lost when Apple won.LINK
Intel CEO argues inference is better for the industry, Nvidia CUDA days are numbered.LINK
The rise of AI fake news is creating a ‘misinformation superspreader’.LINK
FTX proposes a bankruptcy exit plan promising billions in payouts to creditors, with key details and final approval pending.LINK
The UK's first vertical rocket launches are set for next year as SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland receives a historic licence for operation.LINK
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