This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through November 1)

Tech

Nvidia Becomes First $5 Trillion CompanyHannah Erin Lang | The Wall Street Journal ($)

“Nvidia is now larger than AMD, Arm Holdings, ASML, Broadcom, Intel, Lam Research, Micron Technology, Qualcomm, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing combined, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Its value also exceeds entire sectors of the S&P 500, including utilities, industrials and consumer staples.”

Robotics

1X Neo Is a $20,000 Home Robot That Will Learn Chores via TeleoperationMariella Moon | Engadget

“In an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern, 1X CEO Bernt Børnich explained that the AI neural network running the machine still needs to learn from more real-world experiences. Børnich said that anybody who buys NEO for delivery next year will have to agree that a human operator will be seeing inside their houses through the robot’s camera. It’s necessary to be able to teach the machines and gather training data so it can eventually perform tasks autonomously.”

Biotechnology

A New Startup Wants to Edit Human EmbryosEmily Mullin | Wired ($)

“In 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui shocked the world when he revealed that he had created the first gene-edited babies. The backlash against He was immediate. Scientists said the technology was too new to be used for human reproduction and that the DNA change amounted to genetic enhancement. …Now, a New York–based startup called Manhattan Genomics is reviving the debate around gene-edited babies.”

Tech

OpenAI Reportedly Planning ‘Up to $1 Trillion’ IPO as Early as Next YearMike Pearl | Gizmodo

“An anonymously sourced report from Reuters claims that OpenAI is planning an initial public offering that would value the AI colossus at ‘up to $1 trillion.’ Just on Tuesday the company formally completed its slow evolution from an ambiguous non-profit to a for-profit company. Now it appears to be formalizing plans to become one of the world’s centers of economic power—at least on paper.”

Artificial Intelligence

AI Agents Are Terrible Freelance WorkersWill Knight | Wired ($)

“A new benchmark measures how well AI agents can automate economically valuable chores. Human-level AI is still some ways off. …’I should hope this gives much more accurate impressions as to what’s going on with AI capabilities,’ says Dan Hendrycks, director of CAIS. He adds that while some agents have improved significantly over the past year or so, that does not mean that this will continue at the same rate.”

Computing

The $460 Billion Quantum Bitcoin Treasure HuntKyle Torpey | Gizmodo

“Satoshi’s early bitcoin stash creates massive opportunity for quantum computing startups. …These early Bitcoin addresses, including many that have been connected to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, may also be associated with private keys (passwords to the Bitcoin accounts basically) that are lost or otherwise not accessible to anyone. In other words, they’re sort of like lost digital treasure chests that a quantum computer could potentially unlock at some point in the future.”

Future

How AGI Became the Most Consequential Conspiracy Theory of Our TimeWill Douglas Heaven | MIT Technology Review ($)

“The idea that machines will be as smart as—or smarter than—humans has hijacked an entire industry. But look closely and you’ll see it’s a myth reminiscent of more explicitly outlandish and fantastical schemes. …I get it, I get it—calling AGI a conspiracy isn’t a perfect analogy. It will also piss a lot of people off. But come with me down this rabbit hole and let me show you the light.”

Biotechnology

Life Lessons From (Very Old) Bowhead WhalesCarl Zimmer | The New York Times ($)

“By measuring the molecular damage that accumulates in the eyes, ears, and eggs of bowhead whales, researchers have estimated that bowheads live as long as 268 years. A study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday offers a clue to how the animals manage to live so long: They are extraordinarily good at fixing damaged DNA.”

Energy

Renewable Energy and EVs Have Grown So Much Faster Than Experts Predicted 10 Years AgoAdele Peters | Fast Company

“There’s now four times as much solar power as the International Energy Agency (IEA) expected 10 years ago. Last year alone, the world installed 553 gigawatts of solar power—roughly as much as 100 million US homes use—which is 1,500% more than the IEA had projected. …More than 1 in 5 new cars sold worldwide today is an EV; a decade ago, that number was fewer than 1 in 100. Even if growth flatlined now, the world is on track to reach 100 million EVs by 2028.”

Computing

Extropic Aims to Disrupt the Data Center BonanzaWill Knight | Wired ($)

“The startup’s chips work in a fundamentally different way to chips from Nvidia, AMD, and others, and promise to be thousands of times more energy efficient when scaled up. With AI companies pouring billions of dollars into building data centers, a completely new approach could offer a far less costly alternative to vast arrays of conventional chips.”

Tech

AI Browsers Are a Cybersecurity Time BombRobert Hart | The Verge

“‘Despite some heavy guardrails being in place, there is a vast attack surface,’ says Hamed Haddadi, professor of human-centered systems at Imperial College London and chief scientist at web browser company Brave. And what we’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Future

NASA’s Supersonic Jet Finally Takes off for Its First Super Fast, Super Quiet FlightPassant Rabie | Gizmodo

“NASA’s X-59 aircraft completed its first flight over the Southern California desert, bringing us closer to traveling at the speed of sound without the explosive, thunder-like clap that comes with it. The experimental aircraft, built by aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin, is designed to break the sound barrier, albeit to do it quietly.”

Biotechnology

A Bay Area Grocery Store Will Be the First to Sell Cultivated Meat—but You Only Have a Limited Time to Try ItKristin Toussaint | Fast Company

“[Cultivated meat] has only appeared on a handful of restaurant menus since its approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But if you’re in the Bay Area, you’re in luck: Cultivated meat startup Mission Barns will be selling its pork meatballs (made with a base of pea protein plus the company’s cultivated pork fat) at Berkeley Bowl West, one location of an independent grocery store in California.”

Chimps Are Capable of Human-Like Rational Thought, Breakthrough Study FindsBecky Ferreira | 404 Media

“The chimpanzees were able to rationally evaluate forms of evidence and to change their existing beliefs if presented with more compelling clues. The results reveal that non-human animals can exhibit key aspects of rationality, some of which had never been directly tested before, which shed new light on the evolution of rational thought and critical thinking in humans and other intelligent animals.”

Robotics

Is Waymo Ready for Winter?Andrew J. Hawkins | The Verge

“In its first few years of operation, Waymo has strategically stuck to cities with warmer, drier climates—places like Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Austin. But as it eyes a slate of East Coast cities, including Boston, New York City, and Washington, DC, for the next phase of its expansion, its abilities to handle more adverse weather will become a crucial test.”