DTN 019: The AI Boom has a Chip Problem

The AI Boom Runs on Chips, but It Can’t Get Enough

“A shortage of the kind of advanced chips that are the lifeblood of new generative AI systems has set off a race to lock down computing power and find workarounds. The graphics chips, or GPUs, used for AI are almost all made by Nvidia. But the boom in demand for them has far outpaced supply with the viral success of ChatGPT, a chatbot that is able to respond to questions in humanlike ways.That situation has restricted the processing power that cloud-service providers like Amazon.com and Microsoft can offer to clients such as OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. AI developers need the server capacity to develop and operate their increasingly complex models and help other companies build AI services. (Wall Street Journal)

The world is finally spending more on solar than oil production

“The world saw about $2.8 trillion of investments in energy in 2022, with about $1.7 trillion of that going into clean energy according to the International Energy Agency’s annual report on global investment in energy. That’s the biggest single-year investment in clean energy ever. In 2022, for every dollar spent on fossil fuels, $1.70 went to clean energy. Just five years ago, it was dead even. In 2023, for the first time, investment in solar energy is expected to beat out investment in oil production.” (MIT Tech Review)

Longevity enthusiasts want to create their own independent state

“Around 780 such people gathered at this “pop-up city” in Montenegro to work out how they might create such a state—a place where like-minded innovators can work together in an all-new jurisdiction that gives them free rein to self-experiment with unproven drugs. Some attendees are just visitors, passing through. But the dedicated among them have been living here for almost two months. Welcome to Zuzalu.” (MIT Tech Review)

Read our interview with Laurence Ion for more on crypto-fueled medical innovation districts

Building a Better NIH

“NIH is arguably the most important institution shaping the rate and direction of scientific research, in an area – health – that has enormous implications for human well-being. Even very small improvements in the productivity of how NIH funding is spent could translate into massive improvements in social welfare. Basic research funding through NIH awards are the bread-and-butter of funding support for most U.S.-based academic biomedical researchers, and around 50% of patents linked to drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration directly cite NIH-funded research. These short proposals are meant to open a conversation about practical, tractable reforms that could be considered in the coming years.” (Brookings Institute)