Apple shops at Amazon. In this case, it is using artificial intelligence (AI) processors from Amazon Web Services (AWS) for some of itsApple Intelligenceand other services, including Maps, Apps, and search. Apple is also testing advanced AWS chips to pretrain some of its AI models as it continues itsrapid pivot toward becomingthe worlds mostwidely deployed AI platform.Thats the big and somewhat unexpected news to emerge from this weeks AWS:Reinvent conference.Apple watchers will know that the company seldom, if ever, sends speakers to other peoples trade shows. So, it matters that Apples Senior Director of Machine Learning and AI, Benoit Dupin, took to the stage at the Amazon event.That appearance can be seen as a big endorsement both of AWS and its AI services, and the mutually beneficial relationship between Apple and AWS.Not a new relationship.Apple has used AWS servers for years, in part to drive its iCloud and Apple One services and to scale additional capacity at times of peak demand. One of the unique elements of Apples business is the scale at which we operate, and the speed with which we innovate. AWS has been able to keep the pace, Dupin said.Some might note that Dupin (who once worked at AWS) threw a small curveball when he revealed that Apple has begun to deploy Amazons Graviton and Inferentia for machine learning services such as streaming and search. He explained that moving to these chips has generated an impressive 40% efficiency increase in Apples machine learning inference workloads when compared to x86 instances.Dupin also confirmed Apple is in the early stages of evaluating the newly-introduced AWS Trainium 2 AI training chip, which he expects will bring in 50% improvement in efficiency when pre-training AI.Scale, speed, and Apple IntelligenceOn the AWS connection to Apple Intelligence, he explained: To develop Apple Intelligence, we needed to further scale our infrastructure for training. As a result, Apple turned to AWS because the service could provide access to the most performant accelerators in quantity.Dupin revealed that key areas where Apple uses Amazons services include fine-tuning AI models, optimizing trained models to fit on small devices, and building and finalizing our Apple Intelligence adapters, ready to deploy on Apple devices and servers.. We work with AWS Services across virtually all phase of our AI and ML lifecycle, he said.Apple Intelligence is a work in progress and the company isalready developing additional services and feature improvements, As we expand the capabilities and feature of Apple Intelligence, we will continue to depend on the scalable, efficient, high-performance accelerator technologies AWS delivers, he said.Apple CEO Tim Cook recently confirmed more services will appear in the future. Im not going to announce anything today. But we have research going on. Were pouring all of ourselves in here, and we work on things that are years in the making,Cook said.TSMC, Apple, AWS, AI, oh my!Theres another interesting connection between Apple and AWS. Apples M- and A- series processors are manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), withdevices made by Foxconnand others. TSMC also makes the processors used by AWS. And it manufactures the AI processors Nvidia provides; we think it will be tasked with churning outApple Silicon server processorsto support Private Cloud Compute services and Apple Intelligence.It is also noteworthy that AWS believes it will be able to link more of its processors together for huge cloud intelligence servers beyond what Nvidia can manage. Speaking on the fringes of AWS Reinvent, AWS AI chip business development manager Gadi Hutt claimed his companys processors will be able to train some AI models at 40% lower cost than on Nvidia chips.Up next?While the appearance of an Apple exec at the AWS event suggests a good partnership, I cant help but be curious about whether Apple has its own ambitions to deliver server processors, and the extent to which these might deliver significant performance/energy efficiency gains, given the performance efficiency of Apple silicon.Speculation aside, as AI injects itself into everything, the gold rush for developers capable of building and maintaining these services and the infrastructure (including energy infrastructure) required for the tech continues to intensify; these kinds of fast-growing industry-wide deployments will surely be where opportunity shines. You canwatch Dupins speech here.You can follow me on social media! Join me onBlueSky, LinkedIn,Mastodon, andMeWe.

The US Department of Defense has invested $2.4 million over two years in deepfake detection technology from a startup called Hive AI. Its the first contract of its kind for the DODs Defense Innovation Unit, which accelerates the adoption of new technologies for the US defense sector. Hive AIs models are capable of detecting AI-generated video, image, and audio content.Although deepfakes have been around for the better part of a decade, generative AI has made them easier to create and more realistic-looking than ever before, which makes them ripe for abuse in disinformation campaigns or fraud. Defending against these sorts of threats is now crucial for national security, says Captain Anthony Bustamante, a project manager and cyberwarfare operator for the Defense Innovation Unit.This work represents a significant step forward in strengthening our information advantage as we combat sophisticated disinformation campaigns and synthetic-media threats, says Bustamante. Hive was chosen out of a pool of 36 companies to test its deepfake detection and attribution technology with the DOD. The contract could enable the department to detect and counter AI deception at scale.Defending against deepfakes is existential, says Kevin Guo, Hive AIs CEO. This is the evolution of cyberwarfare.Hives technology has been trained on a large amount of content, some AI-generated and some not. It picks up on signals and patterns in AI-generated content that are invisible to the human eye but can be detected by an AI model.Turns out that every image generated by one of these generators has that sort of pattern in there if you know where to look for it, says Guo. The Hive team constantly keeps track of new models and updates its technology accordingly.The tools and methodologies developed through this initiative have the potential to be adapted for broader use, not only addressing defense-specific challenges but also safeguarding civilian institutions against disinformation, fraud, and deception, the DOD said in a statement.Hives technology provides state-of-the-art performance in detecting AI-generated content, says Siwei Lyu, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University at Buffalo. He was not involved in Hives work but has tested its detection tools.Ben Zhao, a professor at the University of Chicago, who has also independently evaluated Hive AIs deepfake technology, agrees but points out that it is far from foolproof.Hive is certainly better than most of the commercial entities and some of the research techniques that we tried, but we also showed that it is not at all hard to circumvent, Zhao says. The team found that adversaries could tamper with images in a way that bypassed Hives detection.And given the rapid development of generative AI technologies, it is not yet certain how it will fare in real-world scenarios that the defense sector might face, Lyu adds.Guo says Hive is making its models available to the DOD so that the department can use the tools offline and on their own devices. This keeps sensitive information from leaking.But when it comes to protecting national security against sophisticated state actors, off-the-shelf products are not enough, says Zhao: Theres very little that they can do to make themselves completely robust to unforeseen nation-state-level attacks.

This is todays edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of whats going on in the world of technology.OpenAIs new defense contract completes its military pivotAt the start of 2024, OpenAIs rules for how armed forces might use its AI models were unambiguous: it prohibited anyone from using them for weapons development or military and warfare.It has slowly softened those restrictions over the course of this year, and now, OpenAI has announced that its technology will be deployed directly on the battlefield.The company is partnering with the defense-tech company Anduril, a maker of AI-powered drones, radar systems, and missiles, to help US and allied forces defend against drone attacks. Read our story to understand how, and why, this pivot unfolded.James ODonnellWould you eat dried microbes? This company hopes so.Whats new: A company best known for sucking up industrial waste gases is turning its attention to food. LanzaTech, a rising star in the fuel and chemical industries, is joining a growing group of businesses producing microbe-based food as an alternative to plant and animal products.Why it matters: The global food system is responsible for roughly 25% to 35% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions today, and much of that comes from animal agriculture. Alternative food sources could help feed the world while cutting climate pollution. Read the full story.Casey CrownhartTo read more about the potential positive effects of alternative meat on the climate, check out the latest edition of The Spark, our weekly climate and energy newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.Google DeepMinds new AI model is the best yet at weather forecastingGoogle DeepMind has unveiled an AI model thats better at predicting the weather than the current best systems.The new model, dubbed GenCast, is the second AI weather model that Google has launched in just the past few months. In July, it published details of NeuralGCM, a model that combined AI with physics-based methods like those used in existing forecasting tools. That model performed similarly to conventional methods but used less computing power.GenCast is different, as it relies on AI methods alone. It works sort of like ChatGPT, but instead of predicting the next most likely word in a sentence, it produces the next most likely weather condition. But while its results are impressive, that doesnt mean the end of conventional meteorology as a field. Read the full story.Scott J MulliganThe must-readsIve combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.1 Donald Trump has appointed a billionaire astronaut to head up NASAJarad Isaacman has been into space twice, and was the first private citizen to carry out a spacewalk. (CBS News)+ Unsurprisingly, hes also a close associate of Elon Musk. (Fast Company $)+ Will the appointment make Musk more amenable to NASA? (Economist $)2 The price of a single bitcoin has passed $100,000Its a remarkable milestone for the famously volatile cryptocurrency. (NYT $)+ The industrys faithful hope Donald Trump will pass crypto-friendly laws. (The Guardian)+ Congrats, investors. What comes next, though? (FT $)3 Humane isnt giving up on its AI pinDespite few sales, it wants to embed the device in your phone and car. (The Verge)+ The pin made a special appearance in our inaugural AI Hype Index. (MIT Technology Review)4 Amazon deliveries are slower to arrive in low-income zip codesDespite the DC residents paying for the same Prime program as their richer neighbors. (WP $)+ A lawsuit claims Amazon covered up the real reason for the delays. (Ars Technica)5 Law enforcement has busted two major crypto laundering networksCriminals swapped huge sums of cash for crypto across crime networks. (Wired $)+ Over in Dubai, crypto scams are running rampant. (Bloomberg $)6 Where it all went wrong for the worlds biggest offshore wind companyrsted was riding high on the clean energy waveuntil it wasnt. (FT $)+ The UK is failing spectacularly to harness wind power properly. (Bloomberg $)+ Whats next for offshore wind. (MIT Technology Review)7 OnlyFans has quietly launched in ChinaAlthough pornography remains illegal in the country. (CNN)+ Chinese gamers are using a Steam wallpaper app to get porn past the censors. (MIT Technology Review)8 Were getting close to solving a major mystery of the universeIts biggest galaxies may have been formed by cosmic collisions. (The Guardian)+ The galaxy which used to look like a sombrerodoesnt any more. (CNN)9 This winged drone can hop and jumpMaking it look a whole lot like a robotic bird. (IEEE Spectrum)+ Whats next for drones. (MIT Technology Review)10 Why X had a meltdown over a womans PhD thesisGo outside and touch some grass, all of you. (Vox)Quote of the dayWe never doubted. We never wavered. And we will never stop building.Kris Marszalek, chief executive of exchange Crypto.com, celebrates bitcoins colossal surge to a $100,000 valuation for a single coin in a post on X.The big storyWhat the future holds for those born todayAugust 2024Happy birthday, baby.You have been born into an era of intelligent machines. They have watched over you almost since your conception. They let your parents listen in on your tiny heartbeat, track your gestation on an app, and post your sonogram on social media. Well before you were born, you were known to the algorithm.Your arrival coincided with the 125th anniversary of this magazine. With a bit of luck and the right genes, you might see the next 125 years. How will you and the next generation of machines grow up together? We asked more than a dozen experts to imagine your future. Read what they prophesied.Kara PlatoniWe can still have nice thingsA place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet em at me.)+ If you want the best pizza the world has to offer, you should head to Jersey City (apparently)+ Thinking of gifting something thats been previously owned this Christmas? Make sure you conduct these essential checks.+ What science can tell us about how to combat bullying.+ Uhohhoney fraud is on the rise!

The MLS Cups championship match between LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls will stream for free this Saturday, December 7, on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Apple has issued an appeal following the decision of an antitrust regulator in Brazil, which requires the company to enable sideloading or face daily fines.Apple has appealed the ruling of Brazilian regulator CADE.In 2022, an antitrust complaint against Apple was filed with the Brazilian regulator CADE, short for Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica. The complaint argued that Apple forced developers into using its own payment system. Following an investigation into the company, a ruling was issued against Apple in November 2024.CADE gave Apple 20 days to lift restrictions on in-app payment methods and steering customers to external websites. If Apple fails to comply, it could face a fine of R$250,000, or roughly $43,000 per day. Now, Apple has filed an appeal, calling the ruling "arbitrary" and saying that it "drastically threatens" user privacy and security. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The release candidate version of iOS 18.2 has arrived, as Apple gears up for the software's full public rollout. Here's everything you need to know about the update and its features.Here's what's new in iOS 18.2.On Thursday, two weeks after the fourth developer beta, Apple deployed the release candidate build of iOS 18.2. While the update can be installed on devices as old as the iPhone XR and iPhone XS, the software includes a variety of features that only work on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the iPhone 16 range.Apple Intelligence makes it possible to use generative AI software for things such as text editing, proofreading, summarization, as well as tone adjustment, among other things. These features are available system-wide through a dedicated Writing Tools framework on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, with iOS 18.2 bringing even more AI-powered functionality to the table. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The Petr Hjek ARCHITEKTI designed atrium of the historical Imperial Spa in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, has been transformed into a modern multifunctional hallhttps://www.e-architect.com/czechrepublic/imperial-spa-concert-hall-karlovy-vary-western-bohemia#atrium #spabuilding #czechrepublic #architecture #multifunctionalhallThe Petr Hjek ARCHITEKTI designed atrium of the historical Imperial Spa in Karlovy Vary, once the technical heart of the building

Designed by architects Farrells, Chelsea Waterfront is a luxurious residential complex situated in the upscale neighbourhood of Londonhttps://www.e-architect.com/london/chelsea-waterfront-residential-complex-london#architects #Chelsea #waterfrontliving #luxuryappartments # #londonDesigned by Farrells, Chelsea Waterfront is a luxurious residential complex situated in the upscale neighbourhood of Chelsea, London

Calling all manufacturers! Have you launched an innovative product or collection since 2023? Submit it to ARCHITECT's Editor's Product Call by December 20, 2024, for a chance to gain exposure to thousands of architects, designers, and industry leaders. Categories include Interiors, Building Envelopes, Doors & Windows, and more! Shine a spotlight on your creativity in innovation, sustainability, and design aesthetics. Submit now: architectproductcall.com#Architecture #DesignInnovation #ProductLaunch #Sustainability #InteriorDesignhttps://www.architectmagazine.com/design/calling-all-new-and-innovative-products-editors-product-call-is-open-for-submissions_oHave you launched a new product or collection? Submit it to ARCHITECT for editorial consideration by December 20.

Transform healthcare spaces! Prefab walls at Bellin Health offer privacy, flexibility, and faster installatiozdn for better patient care. #HealthcareDesign #PrefabWalls #PatientExperience #ZondaMediaIntel #Sponsored https://bit.ly/4fKcdU0Bellin Healths Surgery and Specialty Center demonstrates how modular wall systems provide patient privacy and foster staff collaboration.