. . AI: Watertight: Nvidia digs moats while AI Researchers request 'Safe Harbor' (3.5.24)

Friends, dive into today's news, where companies aim to stay water-tight. We explore Nvidia's strategic moat-building through updates to CUDA licenses, then there is also the urgent call from AI researchers for 'Safe Harbors' to safeguard them as they uncover vulnerabilities. We also cover a new and fast state-of-the-art 3D generation from a single picture, new tiny computer vision models, and large satellite datasets! Enjoy!

-Marshall Kirkpatrick, Editor

Nvidia Prohibits Use of Translation Layers for CUDA Software

First impacted: AI developers, Hardware manufacturers
Time to impact: Short

Nvidia has reportedly updated the end-user license agreement of its CUDA 11.6 and newer versions to ban the use of translation layers for running CUDA-based software on non-Nvidia hardware. This move is seen as a strategy to maintain Nvidia's dominance in AI. While the use of translation layers threatens Nvidia's market leadership, especially in AI applications, recompiling existing CUDA programs remains legal, enabling companies like AMD, Intel, and Tenstorrent to potentially challenge Nvidia's dominance in the future. [Nvidia bans using translation layers for CUDA software — previously the prohibition was only listed in the online EULA, now included in installed files [Updated]] Explore more of our coverage of: Nvidia, CUDA Software, AI Accelerated Computing. Share this story by email

Researchers Urge AI Legal and Technical Safeguards to Allow Independent Evaluation

First impacted: AI researchers, AI firms
Time to impact: Long

Notable researchers have published a blog post on the website of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, calling on AI companies, including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Inflection, Meta, and Midjourney, to establish legal and technical safe zones for AI safety research. These proposed safe zones would protect researchers from potential legal consequences and account suspensions, enabling them to identify and address vulnerabilities in AI systems. [A Safe Harbor for AI Evaluation and Red Teaming] Explore more of our coverage of: AI Safety Research, Legal Safeguards, Technical Safe Zones. Share this story by email

Stability AI and Tripo AI Launch Rapid 3D Model Tool

First impacted: 3D Modelers, AI Developers
Time to impact: Short

Stability AI and Tripo AI have launched TripoSR, a tool that they claim can transform images into 3D models in less than a second. Based on a public technical report, it was trained using a specific section of the Objaverse dataset and the system can be found on Tripo AI's GitHub page, while the model weights are on Hugging Face. Not only does this set a new benchmark in single-image 3D reconstruction but also holds the potential to significantly transform industries and the work of developers, designers, and creators. [Introducing TripoSR: Fast 3D Object Generation from Single Images — Stability AI] Explore more of our coverage of: AI Technology, 3D Modeling, Open-Source Tools. Share this story by email

Moondream Releases Version 2 of Small Computer-Vision Model

First impacted: Security professionals, Retail business owners
Time to impact: Short

The open-source computer vision model Moondream has launched a new version of its algorithm with 1.8 billion parameters, requiring less than 5GB of memory to run at 16-bit precision. Moondream's small size enables it to run on a variety of devices and analyze images in sectors such as security, drones, robotics, and retail. [moondream] Explore more of our coverage of: Open-Source AI, Computer Vision, Image Analysis. Share this story by email

Hugging Face and ESA Launch Largest Satellite Dataset, Major TOM Core

First impacted: Environmental researchers, Scientists
Time to impact: Medium

Hugging Face, in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), has launched Major TOM Core, a dataset they say is the largest of its kind in earth observation. Available on the Hugging Face platform, the dataset reportedly covers 256 million square km of the earth with over 2.5 trillion pixels, and the company says additional datasets from other satellites are being prepared for future release. [Major TOM Viewer - a Hugging Face Space by Major-TOM] Explore more of our coverage of: Hugging Face, Dataset Creation, Earth Observation. Share this story by email

BuildShip Launches Code-Free AI Assistant Builder

First impacted: Assistant dreamers, Database administrators
Time to impact: Short

BuildShip has launched its AI Assistant Builder, which it claims can connect with any database and perform tasks without the need for coding. The company says the builder, which can function as an API or chatbot in apps and websites, works by modifying existing templates, tailoring prompts for various scenarios, and securely integrating with databases such as Firestore, Postgres, Supabase, MySQL, and PlanetScale, in addition to generating its own action nodes to meet different needs. [BuildShip | Assistant API] Explore more of our coverage of: AI Assistant Builder, No-Code Development, Database Integration. Share this story by email