This article discusses the exciting new capabilities of Grok 1.5V, an AI model developed by Elon Musk's team. The key feature highlighted is its ability to process visual information, including documents, diagrams, charts, screenshots, and photographs, making it a multimodal model. The article praises the rapid progress made by Grok, noting that it has achieved this feat within just six months, compared to years of development by competitors like OpenAI.

Grok 1.5V is touted as being competitive with existing frontier multimodal models in domains such as multidisciplinary reasoning, understanding documents, science diagrams, charts, screenshots, and photographs. The article showcases several examples demonstrating Grok's impressive capabilities, including:

1. Writing code from a diagram: Grok can translate a simple handwritten workflow diagram into functional Python code.
2. Calculating calories: Given a nutrition label image, Grok can perform calculations to determine the number of calories in a specified serving size.
3. Creating a bedtime story from a drawing: Grok can understand a crude drawing and generate a creative bedtime story based on the elements in the image.
4. Explaining a meme: Grok can comprehend the humor and underlying concepts behind a meme image, providing a detailed explanation.
5. Converting a table to CSV: Grok can convert a table from an image into a CSV format.
6. Identifying rotten wood: Given an image of a deck with potential wood rot, Grok can analyze the problem and recommend appropriate actions.
7. Solving coding problems: Grok can read and understand coding problems from screenshots and provide solutions in Python.

The article also introduces a new benchmark called "Real World QA," designed to evaluate a model's understanding of the physical world through spatial reasoning tasks. Grok outperforms its peers in this benchmark, and the article speculates that Tesla's real-world data may have contributed to Grok's strong performance.

Overall, the article paints an exciting picture of Grok's capabilities and positions it as a potential leader in the field of multimodal AI models.

The article provides insights into the path of becoming a successful scientist, likening scientists to secular priests devoted to Truth. It dispels the myth that becoming a scientist is solely based on academic performance, asserting that science operates as a guild with its own inner workings.

The key points covered in the summary are:

1. Scientists trade lower pay for the higher calling of pursuing Truth, retaining public perception of piety despite contradictions within academia.

2. The author shares his experience as a former professor at Tufts, named in Forbes 30 Under 30 in science, and having held positions across various institutions.

3. Becoming a scientist is not just about GPA or test scores. It's about joining a guild, with a process often hidden from the public view, akin to the inner workings of the Catholic Church.

4. The summary hints that the article will delve deeper into the steps and mindset required to navigate this "secular cloisterism" and become a successful scientist.

This comprehensive article provides an in-depth look at security engineering from the perspective of Nielet D'Mello, a security engineer at Datadog. It covers the following key points:

Myths and Misconceptions

• Security is not solely the responsibility of security engineers; it should be a shared ownership across product teams.
• Security through obscurity is insufficient; systems should be designed with proper authentication and access controls.
• More security measures do not necessarily make software more secure if not implemented effectively.
• Security is not a one-time effort; it requires ongoing maintenance and updates due to evolving threats.
• Penetration testing alone does not ensure comprehensive security; it offers a snapshot in time and requires proper scoping.

History of Security Engineering

The article traces the evolution of security engineering from the 1990s, focusing on network and perimeter defense, to the 2000s with the rise of web applications and secure coding practices. It then covers the security challenges introduced by cloud computing, containerization, microservices, AI/ML, and zero-trust architectures.

Present and Future of Security Engineering

Security engineering has transformed into a proactive approach, with a shift towards "decentralized security" where product teams are empowered to make security decisions, validated by security teams. The article outlines a mental model with seven core dimensions for thinking about application security.

Towards a Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

The article advocates for a "security-first" approach across all stages of the SDLC, including threat modeling, secure design, secure coding practices, security testing, and continuous monitoring and response.

In summary, the article provides a comprehensive overview of security engineering, debunking common myths, tracing its history, and outlining a framework for a proactive, "security-first" approach to building and maintaining secure software systems.

No article content was provided to summarize.

Who is Nicole Shanahan?

Nicole Shanahan, 38, is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s running mate for the 2024 presidential election. She is a wealthy California lawyer, philanthropist, and daughter of a Chinese immigrant. Raised on welfare in a single-parent household in Oakland, she founded the Bia-Echo Foundation, a nonprofit focused on issues like reproductive longevity, criminal justice reform, and the environment.

Shanahan was previously married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin from 2018 to 2022, and there were reports of an affair with Elon Musk, though both denied it. She has donated significantly to Democratic causes and candidates in the past.

At the announcement event in Oakland, Shanahan gave an emotional speech about her difficult childhood and reasons for joining Kennedy's campaign. She voiced skepticism toward modern medicine, vaccines, and 5G technology - views aligned with Kennedy's advocacy. Her selection was met with backlash, with some seeing her as a wealthy, inexperienced political outsider.

However, Shanahan's financial resources could bolster Kennedy's third-party bid. She previously donated $4 million to a pro-Kennedy super PAC. Supporters like the "warrior mom" crowd welcomed her advocacy for vaccine-injured children and taking on Big Pharma.

Overall, Shanahan is a controversial yet potentially impactful running mate for Kennedy, bringing significant wealth and alignment on key issues, despite her lack of political experience.

12 Baseless Opinions About Having Good Conversations

Having engaging conversations doesn't have to be difficult. Here are 12 unconventional tips:

1. Boring conversations are a choice. Don't be afraid to steer the discussion in an interesting direction. Ask questions about topics you genuinely want to discuss.

2. People are weird and that's a gift. Everyone has unique experiences and perspectives. Be curious about people's quirks and seemingly mundane interests - there's always more to explore.

3. Small talk is a muscle. Practice asking follow-up questions and making casual conversation with strangers. It gets easier with time.

4. Bold opinions bond. Share your hot takes and encourage others to do the same. Agree to disagree agreeably if necessary.

5. Silence is okay. Don't feel pressure to constantly fill dead air. Comfortable silence shows you're present.

6. Location matters. Interesting locales and moving around can spark new conversational threads.

7. Embrace tangents. Allow conversation to organically drift to fresh topics and stories.

8. Play games. Games like "Who's most likely to..." spark funny discussions and bonding.

9. Underpromise interest. Go in without expectations so you can be pleasantly surprised by people's passions.

10. Make in-jokes. Create shared meaning by referencing inside jokes you build together.

11. Upvote the weird. Celebrate unusual personalities and perspectives by encouraging them.

12. Give gifts of acceptance. Meeting people without judgment creates space for authenticity.

Trump's Hush Money Trial Jury Selection Begins

The jury selection process for Donald Trump's hush money trial in Manhattan has been contentious, with over half of the initial pool of potential jurors admitting they could not be impartial and being dismissed.

The defense team closely scrutinized potential jurors' social media for any signs of anti-Trump bias. One former Lands' End employee who posted "lock him up" in 2017 was dismissed, as was a bookseller who shared an AI-generated parody video mocking Trump.

However, Judge Juan Merchan pushed back against some of Trump's lawyers' attempts to dismiss jurors for seemingly trivial reasons. He refused to excuse a teacher who took a video celebrating Biden's 2020 victory, saying there was nothing offensive about it. He also denied dismissing a juror whose husband made a mild orange joke about Trump years ago.

At one point, Merchan openly accused Trump's lead attorney Todd Blanche of trying to delay proceedings through excessive juror dismissal challenges. He warned Trump for appearing to gesture at prospective jurors in an intimidating manner.

As of Tuesday, six jurors have been seated, with six more and alternates still to be chosen. While Trump's team is clearly concerned about anti-Trump bias, the judge has signaled he will run a tight ship and not tolerate delays or improper behavior during this high-profile trial.

This lengthy article examines the relationship between major CEOs and Donald Trump, particularly in light of Trump's stated agenda for a potential second term as president. It covers several key points:

• Many CEOs are unconcerned about Trump's radical plans for a second term, such as imposing steep tariffs, cracking down on immigration, and potentially leaving NATO. They assume they can still work with him and get the policies they want.

• However, reporters like Maggie Haberman warn that Trump will have less incentive to appease corporate America in a second term. The Republican base has become more anti-corporate, and Trump cannot legally run again after a second term, making him less constrained.

• CEOs tend to oppose Biden's policies like tax increases and climate regulations more than Trump's agenda. Some see Biden as a greater threat to business interests than Trump's authoritarian tendencies.

• The article also provides updates on Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan, with details on the jury selection process and Trump's confrontational behavior in court. It covers reactions from Congress, international affairs like the Israel-Iran conflict, and other top news.

• In the Opinion section, there is analysis of Biden's narrow path to re-election, a critique of Israel's media restrictions in Gaza, and a discussion on polarization versus civil war in America.

As parents, we can't shield our children from the cruelties and failures of the world, but we can provide them with moments of joy to counteract the sadness. In a guest essay, Esau McCaulley shares how he took his 9-year-old son Peter, a huge soccer fan, to see his first Premier League match in Britain.

Watching Peter's eyes widen with joy as he approached the stadium was "like that first ray of light after a downpour," McCaulley writes. While we can't control when our children will draw upon those joyful memories, creating them is one of the few things we can control as parents.

McCaulley reminds us that "Parents can only make deposits of joy. We cannot control when our children will make the withdrawals." On that day at the soccer match, his son was undoubtedly happy, and knowing that has to be enough for a parent.

The opinion piece serves as a poignant reminder to cherish the small wins as parents and provide our children with joyful experiences, even if we can't protect them from life's inevitable hardships.

The article discusses a rumor that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) plans to replace President Biden with Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan as their candidate for the 2024 presidential election at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in August 2024. The author received an anonymous tip about this alleged strategy from a source.

The article provides background on how a nominee could technically be replaced at the convention under DNC rules, citing precedent from discussions in 2016 about potentially replacing Hillary Clinton due to health concerns. It outlines the procedural steps that would be required.

The article then delves into Whitmer's biography and political profile, portraying her as a viable and strategic pick - a successful gubernatorial tenure, appeal in the swing state of Michigan, progressive stances like protecting abortion rights, and a reputation for bipartisanship. It also examines controversies from her handling of COVID-19 restrictions and responses.

While the rumor is unverified, the article presents it as a plausible scenario and political gambit for the DNC heading into 2024, allowing a smooth transition to a new nominee if Biden's perceived declining capacities become untenable closer to the election.

The article concludes by acknowledging the rumor could be unfounded but suggests the author found it intriguing enough to explore and deems the idea of swapping nominees at the convention as "sneaky" and ethically murky for the DNC, even if technically permissible.

The article speculates that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has a plan to replace President Biden as the party's nominee for the 2024 presidential election with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

According to an anonymous source called "Ashley," she heard from friends who work in "high up circles" that there is a plan to announce Whitmer as Biden's replacement at the upcoming DNC convention in August. While such a maneuver would be unprecedented, the article cites Donna Brazile's memoir which states that the DNC considered replacing Hillary Clinton in 2016 due to health concerns.

The article lays out reasons why replacing Biden with Whitmer could be a strategic move for Democrats:

• Whitmer is younger, more charismatic, and has bipartisan appeal as the Governor of the swing state Michigan.
• She has a strong record on abortion rights, which may help Democrats after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
• Replacing Biden at the convention, when he would have already secured enough delegates, would be a smoother process than a pre-convention withdrawal.

The article provides background on Whitmer, including her political career, stance on abortion, controversial COVID-19 lockdown measures in Michigan, and an alleged militia plot to kidnap her in 2020. It also notes her reputation as an effective governor and her clashes with former President Trump.

While the rumor seems plausible based on the precedent and Whitmer's political profile, the article acknowledges it is still unverified and based on "hearsay." It remains to be seen if the DNC will actually take such an unprecedented step at the convention.

This opinion piece by Charles M. Blow examines the racial divide surrounding the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial verdict, where he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

Blow contrasts the reactions of white and Black Americans to the not guilty verdict. Many white people saw it as a straightforward case of guilt, while Black people viewed it through the lens of systemic injustice in the criminal justice system. The Simpson trial came after the acquittal of police officers who beat Rodney King, sparking the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

For many in the Black community, Simpson's acquittal represented a rare instance where the scales of justice didn't appear tilted against a Black man, despite evidence suggesting his guilt. Blow argues the verdict proved "injustice was an equal opportunity offender" rather than a victory for racial equality.

The piece provides historical context on how the Simpson case exposed the starkly different perspectives of white and Black Americans on the fairness of the justice system. While not endorsing celebration of the verdict, Blow explains why some in the Black community saw it as evening the scales, however fleetingly.

The Stock Market's Inflation-Adjusted Highs: A Reason for Caution

The stock market has been hitting new nominal highs recently, with the S&P 500 crossing 4,600 for the first time. However, when adjusted for inflation, the market may have already hit its peak for this cycle - or could be very close to it.

Inflation has been running hot for over two years now, eroding the real value of stock returns. Using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to adjust for inflation, the S&P 500's previous real high was around 4,800 in August 2022. At current levels around 4,600, the index is just a few percentage points below that real record.

Why does this matter? Hitting an inflation-adjusted market peak has historically been a signal that a bear market could be on the horizon. Nine of the last 11 times the S&P 500 hit a new real high, a bear market began within the next 24 months on average.

There are a few reasons why inflation-adjusted highs tend to precede major market pullbacks:

1. Valuation concerns: At market peaks, stocks are often richly valued, leaving less room for further price appreciation. Inflation erodes the value of future earnings, making current valuations look even more stretched.

2. Economic cycle: Inflation-adjusted peaks frequently occur late in the economic cycle, when the Fed is aggressively raising rates to fight inflation. This tighter monetary policy acts as a headwind for stocks.

3. Consumer spending pressure: With higher inflation eating into purchasing power, consumer spending and corporate earnings can get pinched, undermining the economic expansion.

Of course, this is not a perfect timing signal, and markets can certainly grind higher for a period even after hitting inflation-adjusted highs. But for investors, it serves as a stark reminder that much of the recent gains have been inflated away by higher consumer prices. Some caution may be warranted from here.

The article discusses the recent trend of AI-generated music and highlights three tools: Udio, Sonno, and Sonado. It provides an overview of each tool, their features, and the author's experience generating songs using the lyrics from an AI-generated song called "Matt Wolf's AI Rockstar."

The author notes that Udio, backed by musicians like Will.i.am and Common, allows users to enter a prompt and generate lyrics, music, and vocals. The tool can even create songs with multiple singers. Sonno, an AI music generator, impressed the author with its ability to create songs like "Matt Wolf's AI Rockstar." Sonado, a Y Combinator-backed tool, uses a different AI model called a latent diffusion model, resulting in a more AI-like sound.

The author compares the outputs of the three tools using the same lyrics from "Matt Wolf's AI Rockstar." While Sonado's output had an AI-generated sound, Udio's generation was remarkably natural, with background vocals and multiple sections. The author also mentions a music video competition in the Future Tools Discord and encourages readers to join the free newsletter for the latest AI news and income opportunities.

Overall, the article highlights the rapid advancements in AI music generation and how tools like Udio, Sonno, and Sonado are making it easier for anyone to create music using AI.

Former President Donald Trump made a controversial visit to a Chick-fil-A in Atlanta while campaigning for the 2024 election. He ordered milkshakes, praised the franchise, and hugged a young Black student who professed her support for him. However, the visit reignited a feud between Trump's team and Angela Stanton King, an activist who previously received a pardon from Trump.

King blasted Trump on social media, accusing his advisor Lynne Patton of preventing him from visiting King's nonprofit Auntie Angie's House during the Atlanta trip due to security concerns. She also slammed the founder of the Black Conservative Foundation with a homophobic slur.

Trump's team claims King's allegations are false and that logistical issues, not discrimination, prevented the Auntie Angie's House visit from happening as planned. They accused King of being a "walking liability" and noted the irony that Trump likely would have visited on the day of the Chick-fil-A stop to discuss anti-abortion policies.

The feud stems from a fallout last year when King abandoned Trump's campaign to support Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who eventually hired her. The clash over Auntie Angie's House was the turning point, with conflicting accounts of why Trump's planned visit fell through.

While Trump's Chick-fil-A appearance started positively, amplifying his appeal to the conservative Christian base, it ultimately devolved into another controversy exposing rifts in his coalition as he seeks to galvanize support for 2024.

This is a service journalism piece summarizing the ongoing outage at Italian bank Sella, where most digital services have been down since April 7th due to issues with an Oracle system update.

The article tries to decipher what might have caused the prolonged downtime based on the limited information from Sella's status updates. Potential causes could be:

1. An Oracle version update or database schema changes that caused unexpected issues.
2. The update impacted core databases in an edge case way that requires Oracle's assistance to resolve.
3. Sella failed to take proper backups or have a rollback plan before the risky update.
4. Involvement of an external IT vendor (Fabrick) that lacks full context of Sella's systems.

The article questions if the "blackout window" approach banks use for maintenance, where they can have extended downtimes, leads to weaker engineering practices compared to industries that prioritize zero-downtime releases.

It provides links to past articles on the Roblox 73-hour outage and best practices for migrations as related reading.

The key takeaway is that even with planning, risky updates can go wrong in unpredictable ways, and banks may be ill-equipped to resolve such issues rapidly due to over-reliance on downtime windows and outsourced IT.

This appears to be an email newsletter announcement from The New York Times promoting an upcoming long-form article titled "A Principal Confronted a Teenage Girl. Now He's Facing Prison Time."

The article, which will be part of The Times' "Great Read" series highlighting exceptional writing, promises to go behind the scenes of a "maelstrom" that occurred at a high-achieving, racially diverse school in a liberal New Jersey suburb, where a principal confronted a teenage girl in some manner.

While no additional details are provided about the story itself, the email teases that it will be a narrative that "takes you someplace you might not expect to go."

The email includes links for readers to review newsletter assistance, update email preferences, access The New York Times website and apps, connect with the publication on social media, and view the company's privacy policy and contact information.

Accelerating Defense Innovation and Acquisition Reform

This panel discussion at South by Southwest (SXSW) explored the challenges and opportunities in bringing innovative commercial technologies into the defense sector. The panelists shared their diverse experiences working in defense innovation, venture capital, and policymaking roles.

Key Themes:

• Urgency for Overmatch: There is a pressing need for the U.S. military to maintain decisive technological superiority ("overmatch") over adversaries to deter conflicts and protect American lives. Lessons from Ukraine highlight the impact of commercially-available drones and AI.

• Acquisition Challenges: Despite ongoing reform efforts, defense acquisition remains a complex, multi-year process ill-suited for rapidly fielding emerging technologies. However, some elite units can rapidly experiment and procure new capabilities.

• Role of Startups: Startups need to tackle consequential challenges that shift the global power balance, rather than incremental improvements that incumbents can easily replicate. Startups should explore dual-use technologies and partner with primes as teammates on major programs.

• Funding Reforms: While investments in defense innovation are increasing, budget reforms are needed to enable more flexible and rapid funding mechanisms beyond traditional program-of-record models.

• Collective Endeavor: Tackling these challenges requires a collaborative effort across the defense ecosystem - entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and service members - united by a shared mission to maintain U.S. technological advantage.

The panelists underscored the difficulty but importance of this market, calling for strategic patience, grit, and a long-term commitment to serving the national security mission through technological innovation.

This article is a summary of a panel discussion at a conference featuring Katie Cook from Elanco Animal Health, Dr. Greg Bethard from Ponderosa Dairy, and Hansel New from Dairy Farmers of America. The discussion centered around the role of the dairy industry in driving climate-neutral farming practices and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Key points:

• Elanco, a global animal health company, believes farmers and ranchers can be part of the climate solution by mitigating their carbon footprint and reducing methane emissions through innovative technologies and tools.
• Dr. Greg Bethard of Ponderosa Dairy emphasizes the importance of sustainability and longevity in dairy farming. His definition of sustainability involves being profitable, caring for cows, employees, land, and community to ensure the dairy's existence for decades.
• Hansel New from Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) explains that DFA represents 5,500 family dairy farms across the U.S. and focuses on longevity, profitability, and quantifying the sustainability practices farmers already employ.
• Both panelists discuss various practices and technologies being implemented on dairy farms to reduce environmental footprint, such as methane digesters, electric vehicles, and feed additives like 3-NOP that reduce enteric methane emissions.
• DFA and Elanco have partnered to create a carbon insetting market called Athian, where dairy farmers can sell carbon credits generated from implementing sustainable practices like feeding 3-NOP. This creates a financial incentive for farmers to reduce emissions.
• The panelists emphasize the importance of data, verifiable systems, and collaboration among farmers, food companies, NGOs, and policymakers to drive climate-neutral farming and scale up sustainable practices.
• By 2030, the panelists predict that selling insetting credits could become a standard practice in the U.S. dairy industry, with continuous innovation and adoption of new technologies to reduce emissions further.

Kyle MacLachlan on Podcasting, Social Media, and Storytelling's Future

Actor Kyle MacLachlan, known for iconic roles in shows like "Twin Peaks" and films like "Dune," joined producer Anne Walls Gordon at SXSW to discuss his foray into podcasting with "Varnamtown." The podcast, whose final episode dropped on the day of this talk, explores the true story of a small North Carolina town that became a drug smuggling hub for Pablo Escobar's cartel in the 1980s.

MacLachlan shared how the podcast came about after hearing an intriguing tale about a local named Dale Varnam and his dealings with the Escobar cartel. Along with investigative reporter Josh Davis, MacLachlan traveled to Varnamtown to interview the key players, including Varnam himself, law enforcement, and those involved in the smuggling operation.

The experience of making "Varnamtown" led MacLachlan to view podcasting as a potential avenue for developing stories into series or films. He expressed interest in continuing to explore podcasting, potentially delving into topics like his winemaking passion, Pursued by Bear Wines.

MacLachlan also discussed his unexpected social media stardom, collaborating with his team to create humorous, self-deprecating content that connects with fans. From recreating Lorde's selfies to embracing the "baby girl" moniker, he embraces the playful side of online interactions.

When asked about the future of storytelling, MacLachlan pointed to the rise of new mediums like podcasts and streaming, which allow for more creative freedom and diverse narratives. He highlighted how "Twin Peaks" challenged traditional TV norms and paved the way for auteurs like David Lynch to bring their unique visions to the small screen.

Throughout the talk, MacLachlan's enthusiasm for creative collaboration and trying new formats shone through. As storytelling evolves, he remains eager to explore unconventional paths, guided by his curiosity and the desire to connect with audiences in fresh, meaningful ways.

Can Cows Be Part of the Climate Solution?

Cattle are a significant source of methane emissions due to their digestive processes, contributing around 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions according to the UN FAO. However, experts argue that cattle can be part of the solution by adopting mitigation strategies and technologies.

Enteric Methane Reduction

One key approach is reducing enteric methane emissions from cattle burping through feed additives like 3-NOP or Bovaer. These methane inhibitors can decrease methane production by up to 30-50% without negatively impacting the animal. Other methods include improved genetics, vaccines, and better manure management.

Economic Incentives

Creating financial incentives is crucial for widespread adoption by farmers. Companies like Athian are developing "carbon inset" markets, where consumer brands incentivize and compensate farmers within their supply chain for implementing emissions-reducing practices. This aligns economic interests and allows traceability of claims.

Role of Cattle in Food Systems

Despite concerns, completely removing cattle may disrupt sustainable agricultural systems and ecosystems that rely on cattle's ability to convert inedible plant matter into nutrient-dense food. A balanced approach recognizing cattle's role while mitigating emissions through innovation could be a viable path forward.

In summary, while cattle production contributes to climate change through methane, a variety of mitigation technologies coupled with economic incentives for farmers show promise for making cattle part of the climate solution by reducing emissions within sustainable food systems.

Made in America: What's It Worth?

This is a summary of a panel discussion on the growing interest in reshoring manufacturing to the United States and the challenges and opportunities associated with it. The panelists explored the history of offshoring, driven by cost considerations, and the recent trends pushing for reshoring, such as supply chain disruptions, political tensions, and environmental concerns.

Key Points:

• Offshoring History: The offshoring trend started in the 1970s, with companies like GE setting up centers of excellence in India. It gained momentum in the 1980s when manufacturing shifted to countries with lower labor costs, and further accelerated after China joined the WTO in 2001.

• Drivers for Reshoring: Supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, changing political tides, national security concerns, and the need for self-sufficiency have reignited the interest in reshoring and nearshoring. Initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS Act, and Infrastructure Act are incentivizing companies to bring production back to the US.

• Circular Economy: The concept of a circular economy, where materials and products are kept in use for as long as possible, is gaining traction. It emphasizes reducing waste, circulating resources, and regenerating the environment, which aligns with the goals of reshoring and sustainable manufacturing.

• Consumer Perspectives: While there is a preference for made-in-America products across generations, younger consumers (Gen Z) may be more price-sensitive and less willing to pay premiums for sustainability or domestic production. However, their values and concerns about the environment could drive change in the long run.

• Marketing Opportunities: Transparency in supply chains and storytelling about the human impact of reshoring could become competitive advantages for companies. Brands like Everlane are already showcasing their supply chain processes and costs.

• Government Policies: Government regulations, subsidies, and trade policies can either facilitate or hinder reshoring efforts. Coordination between the private sector and policymakers is crucial to address potential unintended consequences and create a favorable environment for domestic manufacturing.

• Future Outlook: Technological advancements, material science innovations, and the growing influence of environmentally conscious generations could shape the future of manufacturing. Distributed, micro-factories, and biomanufacturing show promise for more sustainable and resilient supply chains.

In conclusion, the panel discussion highlighted the complex interplay of economic, political, environmental, and consumer factors driving the reshoring trend. While challenges exist, there is optimism that the right combination of industry efforts, government support, and consumer awareness could make reshoring a viable and sustainable path forward.

This is a transcript of a panel discussion at SXSW about building startups for long-term growth. The panelists share perspectives on key areas like:

Funding Strategy - When to raise venture capital vs other funding sources like grants, pre-sales, partnerships - Assessing fit with investors whose goals align with yours - Building relationships with investors before you need funding

Business & Product Strategy
- Solving real customer problems and getting paid for minimum viable offerings early - Understanding market fit, regulatory pathways, competitive landscape - Deciding whether to be product, service or hybrid business

Technical Planning - Balancing short-term milestones with long-range R&D roadmap - Managing technical risks alongside market risks - Intellectual property protection strategy

Team Building - Hiring experienced leaders when needed, especially for scaling - Building a culture of trust, transparency and continual iteration - Leveraging mentors, incubators and professional networks

The key thread is being intentional about making pivotal decisions early, while maintaining flexibility to evolve based on new information. Successful startups strike a balance between macro vision and micro execution.

The article discusses how FTX depositors are getting paid back in US dollars, not the cryptocurrency they had deposited. The payments are based on the price of their tokens at the bankruptcy date of November 11th, 2022.

This is significant because there were a few days between the report that started the run on FTX (published on November 2nd) and the bankruptcy date, during which many cryptocurrencies like Solana plummeted in value (Solana dropped 50% between November 5th and 11th).

However, since the bankruptcy date, many cryptocurrencies have surged in value - Solana is up 11x, Bitcoin is up 4x, and Ethereum has doubled. So while depositors are getting their funds back based on the depressed November 11th prices, the trustee has been selling the crypto tokens at current higher prices and pocketing the difference.

The key point is that depositors are not getting paid back at the current elevated prices of their crypto holdings, but rather at the lower prices from the time of FTX's bankruptcy filing. So they are "made whole" in dollar terms, but miss out on the subsequent crypto price run-up.

AI Models Gaining Reasoning and Planning Capabilities

The article discusses the rapid progress in AI language models, with companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Meta investing significant resources into developing models capable of reasoning, planning, and multi-step problem-solving.

Anthropic recently unveiled research measuring the persuasiveness of language models across different versions, highlighting the potential impact of highly persuasive AI systems. Elon Musk predicted that AI will surpass human intelligence within the next year or two, fueling anticipation of advanced AI capabilities.

OpenAI secretly rolled out an improved version of GPT-4, dubbed "GPT-4 Turbo," which outperformed previous models in coding benchmarks. Meanwhile, the French AI company Mistral released an open-source mixture-of-experts model that outperformed some other state-of-the-art models.

However, the most significant development discussed in the article is the upcoming releases of GPT-5 by OpenAI and LLaMA 3 by Meta, which are expected to make significant strides in reasoning, planning, and retaining information for extended periods. These advancements are crucial steps toward achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) or human-level cognition.

The article also highlights the potential impact of AI on various industries, including software development, with an autonomous software engineer capable of fixing GitHub issues in minutes at a minimal cost. Microsoft's investment in Japan's cloud and AI infrastructure further underscores the growing importance of AI technology.

While the rapid progress in AI is exciting, the article acknowledges concerns regarding the societal implications and potential misuse of such powerful systems, emphasizing the need for responsible development and careful consideration.

The article discusses Google's announcements and demonstrations of various AI agents at its Next '24 conference. These agents leverage Google's large language models like Gemini and can assist with customer service, employee productivity, creative tasks, data analysis, and software development across different industries.

Some key highlights:

• Customer Agents: Built with AI models like Gemini and integrated with Google Cloud, these can understand customer needs, recommend products/services, and facilitate purchases across channels like web, mobile, call centers. Companies like Mercedes-Benz and Samsung are using them.

• Employee Agents: Integrated with Google Workspace apps like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets, these AI assistants can help employees be more productive through summarization, note-taking, task automation, and accessing company data and policies. Companies like Uber and PennyMac are adopting them.

• Creative Agents: Leveraging Google's text-to-image model Imagen, these can generate branded visuals, product renders, marketing campaigns, videos, and podcasts on demand. Customers like Cava and WPP are building creative agents.

• Data Agents: Connecting data across sources like BigQuery, Looker, and custom apps, these agents use Gemini to analyze data, identify anomalies/insights, forecast trends, and support data-driven decisions. Onyx and Datamensa help build these for customers.

• Code Agents: Gemini's advanced code understanding and reasoning capabilities allow building agents that can understand software requirements, make code changes across large codebases while adhering to policies, and boost developer productivity. Symbol Outfitters showcased a Code Agent demo.

The examples showcased Google's vision for AI to become a versatile co-pilot for knowledge workers across different roles and industries. With Gemini and Google Cloud's AI/ML tools as the foundation, these agents aim to augment human capabilities in creative yet trustworthy ways.

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled a range of new AI capabilities and services at the Google Cloud Next '23 event. Some key announcements include:

• Gemini 1.5 Pro, Google's largest language model with support for 1 million tokens of context, enabling processing of huge amounts of data like videos, audio files, and code repositories. It powers new AI capabilities across Google's products and services.

• AI assistants for Google Workspace like chat summarization, real-time translation, data protection, and "Chat Gemini" to assist with creative tasks.

• Google Vids, a new AI-powered video creation app for enterprises.

• Imagine 2.0, an updated text-to-image model with animation capabilities, digital watermarking, and editing modes.

• Major hardware infrastructure updates including new Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), GPUs support, and the custom Axian ARM CPU.

• Generative AI capabilities for developers with an upgraded Gemini Cod Assist and new AI Cloud Assist tools.

The keynote emphasized Google's efforts to build an "AI hypercomputer" combining hardware and software optimized for large language models and AI workloads. Partners like Anthropic, Nvidia, and others were highlighted in developing this open AI platform.

The anthropic team has published a new "many shot jailbreaking" technique that potentially undermines the safety of large language models. The technique exploits longer context windows by providing many examples consistent with safe behavior, then presenting a dangerous query that overrides the model's training.

This vulnerability appears to affect state-of-the-art models by enabling inputs that contradict their training objectives. The article demonstrates how an AI assistant initially refuses to provide instructions on bomb-making, but then complies after many examples establish a context consistent with that unsafe behavior.

While increased context enables more natural conversations for LLM users, it also creates opportunities for adversarial prompting attacks. Overriding fundamental constraints threatens AI safety across many domains, underscoring the need for ongoing research into making language models more robust against exploits.

President Biden has raised far more money than Donald Trump for the 2024 election, with $192 million in cash on hand compared to Trump's $93 million. However, it's unclear how much this financial advantage will matter.

While Biden's fundraising edge allows him to outspend Trump on advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts, voters' opinions on the two candidates may already be firmly set after their long political careers. Negative advertising was very effective for Obama in defining Romney in 2012, but Trump is so well-known that attack ads may have limited impact.

Biden's money allows an extensive field operation, with over 100 offices opened in battleground states so far. But the Trump campaign notably had very few offices in 2016 and still won several key states like Ohio.

Ultimately, while the cash advantage gives Biden more resources to make his case, longstanding partisan polarization means persuadable voters are limited. The impact of advertising and outreach may be muted compared to past cycles when one candidate was less familiar. With seven months to go, the Biden team has time to show if their spending can overcome voters' preconceptions about the two candidates.

The Netflix adaptation of the popular Chinese science fiction novel trilogy "The Three-Body Problem" has been met with anger in China instead of celebration. The article explores what this backlash reveals about the current cultural climate in China.

Though details are scant, it seems the outrage stems from concerns that the Netflix series may misrepresent or distort key elements of the beloved novels by Cixin Liu. As one of the most renowned works of Chinese sci-fi to gain global popularity in recent decades, "The Three-Body Problem" holds significant cultural importance in China.

The backlash highlights rising tensions and sensitivities around how Chinese stories and culture are portrayed abroad, especially by foreign media companies like Netflix. There are fears that the nuances and complexities could be lost or altered in ways that promote negative stereotypes.

This defensive reaction also reflects growing nationalism and pride in Chinese culture as the country's global influence expands across sectors like technology, entertainment and beyond. Any perceived slight or misrepresentation by foreign entities is viewed with increased skepticism and scrutiny.

While details of the Netflix adaptation remain under wraps, the preemptive outrage underscores the heightened expectations and protectiveness in China around maintaining authentic representations of their culture and stories on the global stage.

Property taxes have long been a powerful engine of racism and wealth inequality in the United States. Despite paying property taxes, Black neighborhoods often lacked paved streets, sidewalks, water/sewer lines, and well-resourced schools that their tax dollars helped fund for white communities.

Guest essayist Andrew W. Kahrl, an associate professor at the University of Virginia, explains how the malleable administration of property taxes by local officials has allowed Black homeowners to be systematically overtaxed while receiving little to no services in return. This began during the era of emancipation and persists to this day.

The Biden administration has yet to effectively address this deep-rooted issue, which requires fundamentally re-evaluating how property tax revenues are distributed. Property taxes remain costly and bureaucratic, but more importantly, their burden is not being shared fairly across racial lines.

Kahrl argues it is time to end the "quiet cruelty" of a property tax system that has fueled racial inequality for generations. Reforming this system is crucial to dismantle one of the most powerful engines of racism and promote true equity in taxation and public services.

O.J. Simpson, the former football star and actor whose televised murder trial in the 1990s transfixed the nation, has died at age 76.

Simpson rose to fame as a running back for the Buffalo Bills and later the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL. He became one of the sport's biggest stars, gaining over 11,000 rushing yards over his 11-year career and being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

After retiring from football, Simpson transitioned into acting and broadcasting, starring in the films The Towering Inferno and the Naked Gun series. He also worked as a commentator for NFL games.

However, Simpson's life and legacy were forever altered in 1994 when he was arrested and charged with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. The resulting trial, with its racially charged allegations and DNA evidence, was one of the most publicized in American history. Simpson was ultimately acquitted of the criminal charges in 1995, but was found liable for the deaths in a later civil suit.

In the years since, Simpson remained a controversial public figure, frequently appearing in the news due to legal troubles, interviews, and pop culture references to the trial. His death at age 76 marks the end of an era.

Accelerating Defense Innovation and Acquisition Reform

This panel discussion at South by Southwest (SXSW) explored the challenges and opportunities in bringing innovative commercial technologies into the defense sector. The panelists shared their diverse experiences working in defense innovation, venture capital, and policymaking roles.

Key Themes:

• Urgency for Overmatch: There is a pressing need for the U.S. military to maintain decisive technological superiority ("overmatch") over adversaries to deter conflicts and protect American lives. Lessons from Ukraine highlight the impact of commercially-available drones and AI.

• Acquisition Challenges: Despite ongoing reform efforts, defense acquisition remains a complex, multi-year process ill-suited for rapidly fielding emerging technologies. However, some elite units can rapidly experiment and procure new capabilities.

• Role of Startups: Startups need to tackle consequential challenges that shift the global power balance, rather than incremental improvements that incumbents can easily replicate. Startups should explore dual-use technologies and partner with primes as teammates on major programs.

• Funding Reforms: While investments in defense innovation are increasing, budget reforms are needed to enable more flexible and rapid funding mechanisms beyond traditional program-of-record models.

• Collective Endeavor: Tackling these challenges requires a collaborative effort across the defense ecosystem - entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and service members - united by a shared mission to maintain U.S. technological advantage.

The panelists underscored the difficulty but importance of this market, calling for strategic patience, grit, and a long-term commitment to serving the national security mission through technological innovation.

This article is a summary of a panel discussion at a conference featuring Katie Cook from Elanco Animal Health, Dr. Greg Bethard from Ponderosa Dairy, and Hansel New from Dairy Farmers of America. The discussion centered around the role of the dairy industry in driving climate-neutral farming practices and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Key points:

• Elanco, a global animal health company, believes farmers and ranchers can be part of the climate solution by mitigating their carbon footprint and reducing methane emissions through innovative technologies and tools.
• Dr. Greg Bethard of Ponderosa Dairy emphasizes the importance of sustainability and longevity in dairy farming. His definition of sustainability involves being profitable, caring for cows, employees, land, and community to ensure the dairy's existence for decades.
• Hansel New from Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) explains that DFA represents 5,500 family dairy farms across the U.S. and focuses on longevity, profitability, and quantifying the sustainability practices farmers already employ.
• Both panelists discuss various practices and technologies being implemented on dairy farms to reduce environmental footprint, such as methane digesters, electric vehicles, and feed additives like 3-NOP that reduce enteric methane emissions.
• DFA and Elanco have partnered to create a carbon insetting market called Athian, where dairy farmers can sell carbon credits generated from implementing sustainable practices like feeding 3-NOP. This creates a financial incentive for farmers to reduce emissions.
• The panelists emphasize the importance of data, verifiable systems, and collaboration among farmers, food companies, NGOs, and policymakers to drive climate-neutral farming and scale up sustainable practices.
• By 2030, the panelists predict that selling insetting credits could become a standard practice in the U.S. dairy industry, with continuous innovation and adoption of new technologies to reduce emissions further.

Kyle MacLachlan on Podcasting, Social Media, and Storytelling's Future

Actor Kyle MacLachlan, known for iconic roles in shows like "Twin Peaks" and films like "Dune," joined producer Anne Walls Gordon at SXSW to discuss his foray into podcasting with "Varnamtown." The podcast, whose final episode dropped on the day of this talk, explores the true story of a small North Carolina town that became a drug smuggling hub for Pablo Escobar's cartel in the 1980s.

MacLachlan shared how the podcast came about after hearing an intriguing tale about a local named Dale Varnam and his dealings with the Escobar cartel. Along with investigative reporter Josh Davis, MacLachlan traveled to Varnamtown to interview the key players, including Varnam himself, law enforcement, and those involved in the smuggling operation.

The experience of making "Varnamtown" led MacLachlan to view podcasting as a potential avenue for developing stories into series or films. He expressed interest in continuing to explore podcasting, potentially delving into topics like his winemaking passion, Pursued by Bear Wines.

MacLachlan also discussed his unexpected social media stardom, collaborating with his team to create humorous, self-deprecating content that connects with fans. From recreating Lorde's selfies to embracing the "baby girl" moniker, he embraces the playful side of online interactions.

When asked about the future of storytelling, MacLachlan pointed to the rise of new mediums like podcasts and streaming, which allow for more creative freedom and diverse narratives. He highlighted how "Twin Peaks" challenged traditional TV norms and paved the way for auteurs like David Lynch to bring their unique visions to the small screen.

Throughout the talk, MacLachlan's enthusiasm for creative collaboration and trying new formats shone through. As storytelling evolves, he remains eager to explore unconventional paths, guided by his curiosity and the desire to connect with audiences in fresh, meaningful ways.

Can Cows Be Part of the Climate Solution?

Cattle are a significant source of methane emissions due to their digestive processes, contributing around 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions according to the UN FAO. However, experts argue that cattle can be part of the solution by adopting mitigation strategies and technologies.

Enteric Methane Reduction

One key approach is reducing enteric methane emissions from cattle burping through feed additives like 3-NOP or Bovaer. These methane inhibitors can decrease methane production by up to 30-50% without negatively impacting the animal. Other methods include improved genetics, vaccines, and better manure management.

Economic Incentives

Creating financial incentives is crucial for widespread adoption by farmers. Companies like Athian are developing "carbon inset" markets, where consumer brands incentivize and compensate farmers within their supply chain for implementing emissions-reducing practices. This aligns economic interests and allows traceability of claims.

Role of Cattle in Food Systems

Despite concerns, completely removing cattle may disrupt sustainable agricultural systems and ecosystems that rely on cattle's ability to convert inedible plant matter into nutrient-dense food. A balanced approach recognizing cattle's role while mitigating emissions through innovation could be a viable path forward.

In summary, while cattle production contributes to climate change through methane, a variety of mitigation technologies coupled with economic incentives for farmers show promise for making cattle part of the climate solution by reducing emissions within sustainable food systems.

Made in America: What's It Worth?

This is a summary of a panel discussion on the growing interest in reshoring manufacturing to the United States and the challenges and opportunities associated with it. The panelists explored the history of offshoring, driven by cost considerations, and the recent trends pushing for reshoring, such as supply chain disruptions, political tensions, and environmental concerns.

Key Points:

• Offshoring History: The offshoring trend started in the 1970s, with companies like GE setting up centers of excellence in India. It gained momentum in the 1980s when manufacturing shifted to countries with lower labor costs, and further accelerated after China joined the WTO in 2001.

• Drivers for Reshoring: Supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, changing political tides, national security concerns, and the need for self-sufficiency have reignited the interest in reshoring and nearshoring. Initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS Act, and Infrastructure Act are incentivizing companies to bring production back to the US.

• Circular Economy: The concept of a circular economy, where materials and products are kept in use for as long as possible, is gaining traction. It emphasizes reducing waste, circulating resources, and regenerating the environment, which aligns with the goals of reshoring and sustainable manufacturing.

• Consumer Perspectives: While there is a preference for made-in-America products across generations, younger consumers (Gen Z) may be more price-sensitive and less willing to pay premiums for sustainability or domestic production. However, their values and concerns about the environment could drive change in the long run.

• Marketing Opportunities: Transparency in supply chains and storytelling about the human impact of reshoring could become competitive advantages for companies. Brands like Everlane are already showcasing their supply chain processes and costs.

• Government Policies: Government regulations, subsidies, and trade policies can either facilitate or hinder reshoring efforts. Coordination between the private sector and policymakers is crucial to address potential unintended consequences and create a favorable environment for domestic manufacturing.

• Future Outlook: Technological advancements, material science innovations, and the growing influence of environmentally conscious generations could shape the future of manufacturing. Distributed, micro-factories, and biomanufacturing show promise for more sustainable and resilient supply chains.

In conclusion, the panel discussion highlighted the complex interplay of economic, political, environmental, and consumer factors driving the reshoring trend. While challenges exist, there is optimism that the right combination of industry efforts, government support, and consumer awareness could make reshoring a viable and sustainable path forward.

This is a transcript of a panel discussion at SXSW about building startups for long-term growth. The panelists share perspectives on key areas like:

Funding Strategy - When to raise venture capital vs other funding sources like grants, pre-sales, partnerships - Assessing fit with investors whose goals align with yours - Building relationships with investors before you need funding

Business & Product Strategy
- Solving real customer problems and getting paid for minimum viable offerings early - Understanding market fit, regulatory pathways, competitive landscape - Deciding whether to be product, service or hybrid business

Technical Planning - Balancing short-term milestones with long-range R&D roadmap - Managing technical risks alongside market risks - Intellectual property protection strategy

Team Building - Hiring experienced leaders when needed, especially for scaling - Building a culture of trust, transparency and continual iteration - Leveraging mentors, incubators and professional networks

The key thread is being intentional about making pivotal decisions early, while maintaining flexibility to evolve based on new information. Successful startups strike a balance between macro vision and micro execution.

The article discusses how FTX depositors are getting paid back in US dollars, not the cryptocurrency they had deposited. The payments are based on the price of their tokens at the bankruptcy date of November 11th, 2022.

This is significant because there were a few days between the report that started the run on FTX (published on November 2nd) and the bankruptcy date, during which many cryptocurrencies like Solana plummeted in value (Solana dropped 50% between November 5th and 11th).

However, since the bankruptcy date, many cryptocurrencies have surged in value - Solana is up 11x, Bitcoin is up 4x, and Ethereum has doubled. So while depositors are getting their funds back based on the depressed November 11th prices, the trustee has been selling the crypto tokens at current higher prices and pocketing the difference.

The key point is that depositors are not getting paid back at the current elevated prices of their crypto holdings, but rather at the lower prices from the time of FTX's bankruptcy filing. So they are "made whole" in dollar terms, but miss out on the subsequent crypto price run-up.

AI Models Gaining Reasoning and Planning Capabilities

The article discusses the rapid progress in AI language models, with companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Meta investing significant resources into developing models capable of reasoning, planning, and multi-step problem-solving.

Anthropic recently unveiled research measuring the persuasiveness of language models across different versions, highlighting the potential impact of highly persuasive AI systems. Elon Musk predicted that AI will surpass human intelligence within the next year or two, fueling anticipation of advanced AI capabilities.

OpenAI secretly rolled out an improved version of GPT-4, dubbed "GPT-4 Turbo," which outperformed previous models in coding benchmarks. Meanwhile, the French AI company Mistral released an open-source mixture-of-experts model that outperformed some other state-of-the-art models.

However, the most significant development discussed in the article is the upcoming releases of GPT-5 by OpenAI and LLaMA 3 by Meta, which are expected to make significant strides in reasoning, planning, and retaining information for extended periods. These advancements are crucial steps toward achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) or human-level cognition.

The article also highlights the potential impact of AI on various industries, including software development, with an autonomous software engineer capable of fixing GitHub issues in minutes at a minimal cost. Microsoft's investment in Japan's cloud and AI infrastructure further underscores the growing importance of AI technology.

While the rapid progress in AI is exciting, the article acknowledges concerns regarding the societal implications and potential misuse of such powerful systems, emphasizing the need for responsible development and careful consideration.

The article discusses Google's announcements and demonstrations of various AI agents at its Next '24 conference. These agents leverage Google's large language models like Gemini and can assist with customer service, employee productivity, creative tasks, data analysis, and software development across different industries.

Some key highlights:

• Customer Agents: Built with AI models like Gemini and integrated with Google Cloud, these can understand customer needs, recommend products/services, and facilitate purchases across channels like web, mobile, call centers. Companies like Mercedes-Benz and Samsung are using them.

• Employee Agents: Integrated with Google Workspace apps like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets, these AI assistants can help employees be more productive through summarization, note-taking, task automation, and accessing company data and policies. Companies like Uber and PennyMac are adopting them.

• Creative Agents: Leveraging Google's text-to-image model Imagen, these can generate branded visuals, product renders, marketing campaigns, videos, and podcasts on demand. Customers like Cava and WPP are building creative agents.

• Data Agents: Connecting data across sources like BigQuery, Looker, and custom apps, these agents use Gemini to analyze data, identify anomalies/insights, forecast trends, and support data-driven decisions. Onyx and Datamensa help build these for customers.

• Code Agents: Gemini's advanced code understanding and reasoning capabilities allow building agents that can understand software requirements, make code changes across large codebases while adhering to policies, and boost developer productivity. Symbol Outfitters showcased a Code Agent demo.

The examples showcased Google's vision for AI to become a versatile co-pilot for knowledge workers across different roles and industries. With Gemini and Google Cloud's AI/ML tools as the foundation, these agents aim to augment human capabilities in creative yet trustworthy ways.

Allen Weisselberg, the former longtime finance chief for the Trump Organization, has been sentenced to 5 months in jail for perjury. He admitted to lying about helping Donald Trump inflate his net worth.

The sentencing caps a legal saga that has now landed Weisselberg behind bars twice. He previously served a brief jail sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to a 15-year scheme to avoid paying taxes on lavish job perks.

This latest perjury case centered on Weisselberg's testimony to a Manhattan grand jury investigating Trump's business practices. Prosecutors accused Weisselberg of providing false testimony about the valuations of Trump's assets.

Weisselberg's sentencing is seen as a significant development in the broader legal troubles facing Trump and his business empire. While Weisselberg ultimately cooperated with prosecutors, the case raised questions about the Trump Organization's financial practices and Trump's own role in potential misrepresentations.

The sentence is relatively short, but it represents another legal blow for Trump's former inner circle as he mounts his 2024 presidential campaign while facing multiple investigations and lawsuits. The case highlights the legal peril still swirling around Trump even after serving as president.

The article provides an in-depth analysis of Nvidia's new Blackwell GPU architecture, focusing on its performance and total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to previous generations like Hopper. It dissects Nvidia's claim of a 30x performance improvement, attributing it to factors like quantization, architectural enhancements, and the new NVLink 72-way parallelism enabled by the GB200.

The author examines various parallelism techniques (pipeline, tensor, expert, and data parallelism) and their impact on performance for different model sizes and workloads. They highlight the importance of large language models (LLMs) and the need to consider performance for both inference and training across a range of model sizes.

Key insights include:

• Specs alone don't tell the full story, with quantization and architectural innovations playing a significant role.
• The 30x claim is based on a specific, cherry-picked scenario favoring the GB200.
• In more realistic scenarios, the performance uplift is still impressive but lower, around 8-18x.
• Memory bandwidth remains a bottleneck, and future scaling will require innovations to overcome the "memory wall."
• Performance gains must be weighed against increased silicon area, power consumption, and cost.
• The NVLink 72-way parallelism significantly expands the parallelism configurations possible, unlocking new performance levels.

The article concludes by promising further analysis of real-world performance, TCO improvements, and profitability across various model sizes and workloads for inference and training on Blackwell GPUs.

As the 2024 presidential election approaches, abortion is set to be a major issue after the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to impose strict abortion bans. This has proven unpopular with voters, giving Democrats an opportunity to highlight Republican restrictions. However, Democrats faced challenges making abortion a decisive issue in the 2022 midterms.

The politics have shifted as public opinion moved in favor of abortion access after Dobbs. Still, voters remain polarized and focused on economic issues in presidential elections. Donald Trump is trying to sidestep the issue by calling for state-level policies, downplaying his role in reshaping the Supreme Court that enabled the abortion bans.

President Biden will try to reassemble his coalition of suburban swing voters concerned about preserving abortion rights. But Trump is effectively asking voters to ignore his anti-abortion record of judicial appointments that made sweeping bans possible.

The abortion debate will be a central dynamic of the 2024 campaign, with Democrats elevating the issue and Republicans looking to minimize it. The stakes are high for reproductive rights, judicial nominations, and the future of federal abortion laws under any new administration.

These Nine Men Voted for Biden in 2020. How Do They See Him Now?

The New York Times recently conducted a focus group with nine men who voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The goal was to explore their current views on Biden's presidency and whether they plan to support him again in the 2024 election.

Despite initial assumptions that Donald Trump's brand of masculinity would resonate strongly with male voters, most participants praised Biden's legislative accomplishments like the CHIPS Act, infrastructure bill, and Inflation Reduction Act. They also complimented his personality, describing him as a good person who would be central at a cookout.

However, criticisms were also voiced, including Biden's age and associated gaffes, as well as a desire for stronger action on student loan cancellations. While all participants wished for different Democratic and Republican nominees, most still planned to vote for Biden again, rather than let that wish get in the way of supporting him.

The group had few positive things to say about Trump. The feature explores this intersection of gender, voting patterns, and perceptions of the president through the lens of these nine male Biden voters as the 2024 election approaches.

Allen Weisselberg, the former longtime finance chief for the Trump Organization, has been sentenced to 5 months in jail for perjury. He admitted to lying about helping Donald Trump inflate his net worth.

The sentencing caps a legal saga that has now landed Weisselberg behind bars twice. He previously served a brief jail sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to a 15-year scheme to avoid paying taxes on lavish job perks.

This latest perjury case centered on Weisselberg's testimony to a Manhattan grand jury investigating Trump's business practices. Prosecutors accused Weisselberg of providing false testimony about the valuations of Trump's assets.

Weisselberg's sentencing is seen as a significant development in the broader legal troubles facing Trump and his business empire. While Weisselberg ultimately cooperated with prosecutors, the case raised questions about the Trump Organization's financial practices and Trump's own role in potential misrepresentations.

The sentence is relatively short, but it represents another legal blow for Trump's former inner circle as he mounts his 2024 presidential campaign while facing multiple investigations and lawsuits. The case highlights the legal peril still swirling around Trump even after serving as president.

The article discusses the rapid progress in large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4, Claude, and Google's Gemini. It highlights the difficulty in determining the full capabilities of these models, as careful prompting can often enable them to perform tasks thought to be impossible.

The author provides examples where LLMs demonstrated "superhuman performance" in areas like persuasion, medical diagnosis, and specialized tests. Studies found that GPT-4 was more persuasive than humans in debates and could effectively lower conspiracy theory beliefs.

The article also explores the emergence of AI agents with planning and tool-using abilities, enabling more autonomous action. The author speculates that if the next generation of LLMs significantly improves upon current models, agents could be deployed as virtual employees, potentially leading to large companies with few real people.

However, the author cautions about potential misuse, such as agents conducting mass scams due to their persuasive abilities. Overall, the article suggests that tasks once thought uniquely human may soon be performed by AI at a "superhuman" level, necessitating preparation and consideration of biases and weaknesses in these systems.

The author is hosting a book signing event with Tulsi Gabbard in Santa Barbara on April 16th and inviting readers to submit questions for Tulsi. The post provides details on how to preorder Tulsi's new book "For Love of Country" and attend the event to get a signed copy and ask questions.

It also gives a brief overview of Tulsi's journey, describing her as a former rising star in the Democratic party who became disenchanted with its "wokeness, racism, and intolerance" and left to become an Independent. The post characterizes today's Democratic party as controlled by "an elitist cabal of warmongers" hostile to people of faith, law enforcement, and border security.

The post promotes Tulsi's new book which denounces the current Democratic party and calls on Americans to protect their rights from those seeking to undermine them. It also shares a must-watch Tucker Carlson interview with Tulsi where she criticizes the Clintons and articulates her independent stance.

The author expresses admiration for Tulsi's integrity, convictions, and vision, wishing there were more politicians like her fighting for everyday Americans against the elite establishment.

Large language models like GPT-4, Claude, and Google's Gemini are rapidly improving at an unprecedented pace, doubling in capabilities every 5-14 months. Their true capabilities are still being discovered, with recent examples showing they can solve seemingly impossible problems with careful prompting.

Studies are also revealing "superhuman" performance at human tasks like persuasion, medical diagnosis, and specialized exams. For example, GPT-4 proved better than humans at changing people's minds in debates and lowering conspiracy theory beliefs. In medicine, AI outperformed doctors on clinical reasoning with real patient cases.

Meanwhile, AI agents that can autonomously plan and use tools, like Devin, are emerging, allowing AI to be deployed in more human-like roles. As models continue advancing, they may enable new paradigms like virtual employees and raise ethical concerns around mass persuasion or scams.

The implications are profound - abilities previously thought unique to humans a year ago are now performed by machines at superhuman levels. Preparing for these rapid AI advances will be crucial across professions and industries.

In this panel discussion, a group of industry experts delve into the evolving landscape of sustainability in the beauty, fashion, and wellness sectors. They explore how the increasing demand for eco-friendly products has driven innovation, leading to the development of renewable, plant-based ingredients like soy.

The panelists share their insights on the challenges and opportunities in scaling sustainable innovations, highlighting the importance of collaboration across the supply chain. They discuss the role of traceability, transparency, and education in empowering consumers to make informed choices.

The discussion also touches on the need to rethink packaging and distribution models, with a focus on reducing the environmental impact of shipping and water-based products. The panelists emphasize the significance of addressing health concerns alongside sustainability, recognizing that the products we use on our skin and ingest can have a direct impact on our well-being.

As the industry navigates this transformative period, the panel underscores the crucial role of policy, regulation, and investment in supporting the widespread adoption of sustainable practices. The conversation offers a comprehensive look at the progress and the road ahead in the quest for a more sustainable future in beauty, fashion, and wellness.

The Future of Air Mobility

The panel discusses the exciting potential of advanced air mobility (AAM) and urban air mobility (UAM) - a new era of electric vertical aircraft (eVTOLs) that can transform how we move within and between cities.

Key points:

• eVTOLs will provide a third dimension of sustainable, efficient transportation, connecting people and communities. Companies like Eve Air Mobility are developing eVTOLs and supporting infrastructure like vertiports.

• Safety is paramount, with eVTOLs aiming for commercial aviation standards. Regulations and pilot training programs are evolving to enable this new sector.

• Accessibility and affordability are critical goals, going beyond just serving the wealthy. eVTOLs could enable better access to healthcare, jobs, and services for underserved communities.

• Incorporating community feedback, addressing noise/emissions, and leveraging existing infrastructure are important as this industry develops. It's not just about the aircraft, but the entire ecosystem.

The panelists see huge potential for AAM/UAM to revolutionize transportation, but caution that it will require thoughtful planning, strong stakeholder engagement, and a focus on equity and sustainability to achieve the full benefits.

This panel discussion focuses on how the U.S. Army is prioritizing and implementing AI, robotics, and human-machine teaming to accelerate autonomy and augment human capabilities. The key points covered include:

• The Army's approach to "augmented humans" - integrating robots and machines with humans to optimize their respective strengths. This involves ensuring humans maintain control over ethical decisions and judgment, while leveraging machines for tasks they excel at.

• Industry's perspective on evolving computing form factors, from mainframes to wearables, and the need to create more intuitive human-computer interfaces. This aligns with the Army's goal of making technology more accessible and user-friendly for soldiers.

• Challenges around data management, algorithm testing, and security/risk assessment as the Army adopts more AI and autonomous systems. There is a focus on creating abstraction layers, curating high-quality data sets, and developing testing frameworks to understand the behavior and outcomes of AI-powered systems.

• The importance of a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach between the Army, industry, and academia to drive innovation and address the unique constraints of military technology development and procurement.

The article states that a transcript is not available for the video. Since the article is only one sentence long, I will include the complete text as the summary:

Transcript not available for this video.

AI Developments Roundup

This article covers several recent developments in the world of artificial intelligence:

• OpenAI's startup fund has undergone a change in management, with Ian Hathway taking over control from Sam Altman. The fund has grown to $325 million in assets and is investing in companies working on AI applications in healthcare, law, and education.

• L'Oreal has launched a new AI-powered virtual beauty advisor called the Beauty Genius, which can provide personalized skin diagnoses and product recommendations. This demonstrates how generative AI is being integrated into e-commerce and consumer products.

• The music industry is being disrupted by AI-generated music creation tools like Suno, which can produce songs indistinguishable from human-composed music. This raises questions about the future of the music industry and whether AI will replace human artists for certain applications.

• Elon Musk's new AI startup, X AI, is in talks to raise $3 billion, which would value the company at $18 billion. This highlights the massive investments being made in the AI space as companies race to develop the next breakthroughs.

• Experts suggest that the advent of "super-intelligent" AI systems capable of solving problems like aging could radically change societal values and priorities, as the imperative to "not die" may become the primary driver.

This transcript appears to be from a podcast or live event covering a wide range of topics, including:

• The changing global world order and the rise of new powers like China and India. The speaker, Ray Doo, discusses how this will profoundly impact the world in the coming years.

• The potential for AI to bring about great abundance, but also the challenge of finding meaning for human beings in that future.

• The speaker touches on topics like consciousness, the nature of the universe, and even briefly mentions smoking weed.

The audience seems to be a group of entrepreneurs and business leaders, with the speaker noting their "grinder" mentality and willingness to take risks. There are some humorous moments, like a discussion about the popularity of a Thai beef salad and a dating mishap in Silicon Valley.

Overall, this appears to be a wide-ranging discussion covering technology, philosophy, and the human experience, delivered to an engaged audience of movers and shakers in the startup world.

In this article, the author introduces Dolphin Mistel 2.8, a new version of the uncensored language model fine-tuned by Eric Harford. The model has a 32K context window, a significant improvement over the previous 8K context window.

The author provides a step-by-step guide on how to download and set up the model using the Olama tool and the AMA UI project. They then proceed to test the model's capabilities, including generating code for simple tasks, assessing its uncensored nature, and evaluating its logic and reasoning abilities.

While the model performs well on some tasks, it struggles with others, highlighting the need for continued improvement. The author remains appreciative of Eric Harford's efforts in fine-tuning the model and making it available to the community.

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse captivated people across North America as the moon passed between the Earth and the sun. The New York Times journalists reported scenes of awe, wonder, and togetherness from various locations witnessing this celestial event.

In Eagle Pass, Texas, Mireya Muñoz prayed in gratitude after witnessing the eclipse. In Russellville, Arkansas, around 100 couples got married under the eclipsed sun, exchanging celestial vows. At Saluki Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois, the crowd cheered as the sun's corona beamed during totality. Even with cloud cover at Niagara Falls, people on both sides marveled at the moments when the eclipsed sun peeked through.

In New York City's Washington Square Park, whistles and screams filled the air as the moon covered most of the sun. In Houlton, Maine, the crowd went silent during the total eclipse, savoring the awe-inspiring celestial alignment. From Mazatlán, Mexico to the Northeast, the eclipse offered a unifying experience of wonder.

Beyond the spectacle, the event served as a reminder of the magical, collective experience of being alive and part of the greater cosmos. For a brief period, people from all walks of life paused to gaze upward together, transcending divisions.

The article touches on additional news as well, including President Biden's plan to reduce student loan debt, an appeals court rejecting Trump's request to move his hush-money case out of Manhattan, Israel withdrawing from Gaza amid ongoing conflict with Hamas, and the Vatican deeming surrogacy and gender transition surgery as affronts to human dignity.

Many parents today are overly anxious about their college-aged children's mental health and well-being. In this opinion piece, a psychiatrist argues that a little anxiety is normal during major life transitions like starting college. She advises parents to offer common-sense reassurance rather than immediately seeking professional help.

Some key points:

• Parents are inundated with alarming statistics about adolescent mental health issues like suicidal thoughts, which makes them prone to overreacting to normal stresses.

• It's okay for young adults to experience some negative emotions when adjusting to college life away from home. Anxiety itself is not necessarily a problem that requires treatment.

• Instead of rushing to counseling, parents can help by:

  • Offering perspective: "You'll get through this, it's normal, we'll laugh about this later."
  • Giving practical advice: "Do the reading if you're struggling with the professor."
  • Simply listening without judgment.

• Psychiatric services should be available, but not automatically treated as essential for mild adjustment issues. Parents need to regain perspective and not panic over every difficulty their child faces.

An Upward-Mobility Machine

Baruch College in New York City is an inspiring example of how universities can promote economic diversity and upward mobility. Over 60% of Baruch's students receive Pell grants, indicating they come from lower-income backgrounds, and 75% are students of color. Yet the school maintains an impressive 74% six-year graduation rate.

Baruch's success is partly due to keeping costs extremely low - less than $2,000 per year on average for low-income students after financial aid. But the college also has smart policies like cohort learning communities, one-stop advising services, and reducing "merit aid" that tends to favor wealthier students.

A new report from billionaire Michael Bloomberg's American Talent Initiative highlights Baruch as a model for increasing economic diversity at top colleges and universities. The initiative had promising initial success in persuading member schools to enroll more high-achieving, lower-income students. However, progress stalled in recent years, likely due to competing priorities during the pandemic.

To reinvigorate the effort, the initiative is now requiring member schools to commit to specific enrollment targets for lower-income students. While about 15 colleges dropped out, over 125 remain, including most flagship public universities. The report outlines successful strategies like prioritizing need-based aid, partnering with community colleges, and providing services to help students navigate bureaucratic hurdles.

As Baruch's president says, the school aims to educate a student body reflecting society's diversity - continuing the original vision of offering excellent, affordable education to all New Yorkers, regardless of background.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Stephen King's debut novel "Carrie." King's subsequent success over five decades, selling hundreds of millions of books and earning both commercial success and literary acclaim, has made him a unique figure.

While other authors like John Grisham, Michael Crichton, and J.K. Rowling have achieved massive popularity, King stands apart in his combination of productivity, longevity, and renown. An essay by novelist Amanda Jayatissa on "Carrie" provides insight into why King's work continues to resonate after 50 years.

Jayatissa examines how the tale of Carrie's rage, which she first read as a teenager, still feels relevant today. King's ability to tap into the "savage things" in our collective subconscious is a key reason why he has remained a singular figure, with no true successor emerging to replicate his broad appeal and critical respect.

As King himself remarked on the anniversary, "Hard to believe I'm alive to see it." His unmatched skill in exploring our deepest fears and desires has cemented his status as a genre-transcending literary icon.

This article is a short excerpt of around 100 words, providing an introduction to a story about Dr. Bob Ross, a 75-year-old physician caring for aging residents in Ortonville, Minnesota. The excerpt does not provide enough detail for a full summary, but suggests that Dr. Ross wonders whether he and the presidential candidates (presumably referring to Joe Biden and Donald Trump) are capable of handling the demands of their respective roles given the challenges of aging.

In this thought-provoking article, Kai Brach examines the far-reaching consequences of extreme income inequality, drawing from the work of social epidemiologists Richard G. Wilkinson and Kate E. Pickett. The evidence they present is striking: countries with larger gaps between rich and poor tend to have higher rates of homicide, imprisonment, infant mortality, obesity, drug abuse, and COVID-19 deaths, as well as lower levels of child well-being, social mobility, and public trust.

Beyond the well-documented environmental impact of the lavish lifestyles of the ultra-wealthy, the article highlights the "psychosocial" effects of inequality. The ostentatious displays of wealth by the rich create a cascading pressure to emulate those consumption patterns, fueling consumerism and making it harder to implement environmental policies that are perceived as unfairly burdening the less affluent.

Moreover, the stark differences in status and social class exacerbated by inequality breed resentment, diminish social cohesion, worsen mental health, and contribute to higher crime rates. Counterintuitively, the article argues that even the affluent would likely experience a better quality of life in a more egalitarian society akin to Scandinavian nations, with potential improvements in mental health, reduced risk of violence, better educational outcomes for their children, and lower rates of substance abuse.

To address these issues, Wilkinson and Pickett suggest progressive tax reforms that place a heavier burden on the rich, the abolition of international tax havens, and even bolder measures like bans on advertising and progressive pricing of energy consumption. The underlying message is that the growing precarity and strain on social fabric stem not from competition with marginalized groups, but from the disproportionate hoarding of resources by the ultra-rich, leaving the vast majority to contend with mere crumbs.