AI pioneers Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield get a Nobel prize in physics, Google is tracking your location every 15 minutes and Samsung apologizes for only making 6 billion dollars.
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Machine learning pioneers win Nobel prize in physics
Geoffrey Hinton, often referred to as the “godfather of AI,” and researcher John Hopfield have been awarded the 2024 Nobel prize in physics for their foundational work on artificial neural networks. Hinton, a British-Canadian professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, and Hopfield, a US professor emeritus at Princeton University, laid the groundwork for modern artificial intelligence, which has become integral to technologies like language translation, facial recognition, and generative AI systems.
Their pioneering research began in the 1980s. Hopfield, 91, developed an associative memory neural network that could store and recall images and other data patterns, mimicking how memories are stored in the human brain. Hinton, 76, extended this work by incorporating probabilities into a multilayered neural network, leading to systems capable of recognizing, classifying, and even generating images after being trained on data.
Announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the pair share the 11 million Swedish kronor (almost a million dollars US) prize for their contributions to enabling machine learning with artificial neural networks. The Nobel committee highlighted how these networks have impacted fields like particle physics, material science, and astrophysics, as well as everyday technologies such as facial recognition and language translation. This award is notable as it effectively acknowledges contributions to computer science, an area traditionally not represented by the Nobel prizes.
Hinton, who left Google last year to speak freely about the potential risks of AI, received the call from Stockholm while staying in a cheap hotel in California without an internet connection. He was surprised at the award.
Hinton emphasized both the promise and dangers of artificial intelligence. He compared AI’s future impact to that of the Industrial Revolution, predicting significant advances in healthcare and productivity but also warning about the risks of systems surpassing human control.
Sources Include:The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com
Google tracks your location ‘every 15 minutes’
A new report from Cybernews, a cybersecurity research and news outlet, has revealed that Google continuously tracks user data, including location, from its Pixel 9 Pro XL phones even when GPS is disabled. The investigation found that the device sends data packets to Google servers every 15 minutes, sharing information like location, email address, phone number, and network status. According to the Cybernews research team, this tracking occurs even with default privacy settings and without explicit user consent.
The Cybernews team conducted the research by rooting a new Pixel 9 Pro XL phone and intercepting its data communications. They found that the phone used nearby Wi-Fi networks to estimate location when GPS was turned off, transmitting information to Google endpoints like Device Management, Policy Enforcement, and Face Grouping. The team also noted that the phone periodically attempted to download and execute new code, potentially exposing the device to security risks.
In response to the report, Google defended its practices, stating that data transmissions are necessary for legitimate services like software updates, on-demand features, and personalized experiences. A Google spokesperson emphasized that user security and privacy are priorities, and users can manage data sharing through privacy settings during setup. However, the researchers argue that the deep integration of surveillance systems within Google’s ecosystem raises concerns about privacy violations and the transparency of data collection practices.
The report also raised concerns about data being sent to services without user interaction. For instance, the Photos app was contacting Google endpoints related to Face Grouping, despite the researchers not opening the app or taking photos. While the data collected remains within Google’s ecosystem, given the company’s mixed record on privacy, this level of continuous data tracking without clear consent has prompted concerns about user privacy.
Sources Include:
Forbes https://www.forbes.com
Samsung apologizes for making just $6.8 billion last quarter
And we don’t cover a lot of earnings or financial stories, unless they have an impact on the companies or the technologies we are covering – but this one caught our attention. Samsung has issued an apology, expressing sincere regret for its most recent quarterly earnings. The world’s leading memory chip manufacturer expected to only post a profit of $6.78 billion, about $900 million short of analyst expectations—and apparently, for them, this constitutes a crisis.
“We have caused concerns about our fundamental technological competitiveness and the future of the company due to our performance falling short of the market’s expectations,” said Samsung Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun. He added, in all seriousness, that “many people are talking about Samsung’s crisis.” To address this “crisis,” Samsung’s executives have already been subjected to a six-day workweek, a move that followed lackluster results in 2023 amid increased competition and reduced chip demand.
The company blamed delays in sales of its high-end HBM3E chips to a major customer and competition from rivals like SK Hynix for the disappointing profit. Apparently, the 15-fold increase in profit from the prior quarter, driven by AI hype and sales to Nvidia, wasn’t enough to keep the analysts happy.
Despite the grim rhetoric, the company expressed optimism that it could turn this “crisis” into a new opportunity by focusing on restoring its technological competitiveness and making substantial improvements.
Sources Include:
The Verge https://www.theverge.com
And that’s our show for today.
You can find more information and links from the stories we’ve covered at technewsday.com or .ca – take your pick. But if you’d like to contact me, I’m at editorial@technewsday.ca
I’m your host, Jim Love. Thanks for listening.