December 30: Rizal Day in the Philippines (1896)Pro-government rally in Tehran, Iran999 In Ireland, the combined forces of Munster and Meath crushed a rebellion by Leinster and Dublin.1940 The Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of the first freeways built in the U.S., connecting downtown Los Angeles with Pasadena, California, was officially dedicated.1954 The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation was established to consolidate criminal investigation and intelligence into a single agency.1969 Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos began his second term after being re-elected in a landslide.2006 Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, was executed after being found guilty of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi High Tribunal.2009 Pro-government counter-demonstrators held rallies (pictured) in several Iranian cities in response to recent anti-government protests on the holy day of Ashura.Bernard Gui (d.1331)LeBron James (b.1984)V (b.1995)Erica Garner (d.2017)More anniversaries: December 29December 30December 31ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

New images of the rumored DJI Flip folding drone hit late last week, showing the compact, light-colored drone both folded and unfolded, and even in a carrying case. The images appeared in posts by Igor Bogdanov, who has shared other credible DJI leaks in the past.Bogdanov added in a post yesterday that DJI is preparing a new Cellular Dongle 2 module for the compact drone. The new leaks join earlier images of ND filters for the Flip, its propeller set, and charging hub, which Bogdanov wrote can charge two batteries in a minimum of 45 minutes, and can use a 65W parallel charger.Below are some of the other pictures Bogdanov posted, including of its front screen, which drone leaker Jasper Ellens notes shows all the handsfree Quickshots we know from the Neo. 1/12Leaked images of the DJI Flip. Image: Igor Bogdanov1/12Leaked images of the DJI Flip. Image: Igor BogdanovEllens posted a short video of the drone yesterday, writing that the Flips registration numbers put it in DJIs FPV drone category, meaning that it could allow for first-person streaming during flight. In early December, he also leaked details like the drones compact folding approach and that it should get about 30 minutes of flight thanks to a battery thats bigger than the one in DJIs Neo selfie drone.

LLMs have revolutionized software development by automating coding tasks and bridging the natural language and programming gap. While highly effective for general-purpose programming, they struggle with specialized domains like High-Performance Computing (HPC), particularly in generating parallel code. This limitation arises from the scarcity of high-quality parallel code data in pre-training datasets and the inherent complexity of parallel programming. Addressing these challenges is critical, as creating HPC-specific LLMs can significantly enhance developer productivity and accelerate scientific discoveries. To overcome these hurdles, researchers emphasize the need for curated datasets with better-quality parallel code and improved training methodologies that go beyond simply increasing data volume.Efforts to adapt LLMs for HPC have included fine-tuning specialized models such as HPC-Coder and OMPGPT. While these models demonstrate promise, many rely on outdated architectures or narrow applications, limiting their effectiveness. Recent advancements like HPC-Coder-V2 leverage state-of-the-art techniques to improve performance, achieving comparable or superior results to larger models while maintaining efficiency. Studies highlight the importance of data quality over quantity and advocate for targeted approaches to enhance parallel code generation. Future research aims to develop robust HPC-specific LLMs that bridge the gap between serial and parallel programming capabilities by integrating insights from synthetic data generation and focusing on high-quality datasets.Researchers from the University of Maryland conducted a detailed study to fine-tune a specialized HPC LLM for parallel code generation. They developed a synthetic dataset, HPC-INSTRUCT, containing high-quality instruction-answer pairs derived from parallel code samples. Using this dataset, they fine-tuned HPC-Coder-V2, which emerged as the best open-source code LLM for parallel code generation, performing near GPT-4 levels. Their study explored how data representation, training parameters, and model size influence performance, addressing key questions about data quality, fine-tuning strategies, and scalability to guide future advancements in HPC-specific LLMs.Enhancing Code LLMs for parallel programming involves creating HPC-INSTRUCT, a large synthetic dataset of 120k instruction-response pairs derived from open-source parallel code snippets and LLM outputs. This dataset includes programming, translation, optimization, and parallelization tasks across languages like C, Fortran, and CUDA. We fine-tune three pre-trained Code LLMs1.3B, 6.7B, and 16B parameter modelson HPC-INSTRUCT and other datasets using the AxoNN framework. Through ablation studies, we examine the impact of data quality, model size, and prompt formatting on performance, optimizing the models for the ParEval benchmark to assess their ability to generate parallel code effectively.To evaluate Code LLMs for parallel code generation, the ParEval benchmark was used, featuring 420 diverse problems across 12 categories and seven execution models like MPI, CUDA, and Kokkos. Performance was assessed using the pass@k metric, which measures the probability of generating at least one correct solution within k attempts. Ablation studies analyzed the impact of base models, instruction masking, data quality, and model size. Results revealed that fine-tuning base models yielded better performance than instruct variants, high-quality data improved outcomes, and larger models showed diminishing returns, with a notable gain from 1.3B to 6.7B parameters.In conclusion, the study presents HPC-INSTRUCT, an HPC instruction dataset created using synthetic data from LLMs and open-source parallel code. An in-depth analysis was conducted across data, model, and prompt configurations to identify factors influencing code LLM performance in generating parallel code. Key findings include the minimal impact of instruction masking, the advantage of fine-tuning base models over instruction-tuned variants, and diminishing returns from increased training data or model size. Using these insights, three state-of-the-art HPC-specific LLMsHPC-Coder-V2 modelswere fine-tuned, achieving superior performance on the ParEval benchmark. These models are efficient, outperforming others in parallel code generation for high-performance computing.Check out the Paper. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our60k+ ML SubReddit. Trending: LG AI Research Releases EXAONE 3.5: Three Open-Source Bilingual Frontier AI-level Models Delivering Unmatched Instruction Following and Long Context Understanding for Global Leadership in Generative AI Excellence.The post Advancing Parallel Programming with HPC-INSTRUCT: Optimizing Code LLMs for High-Performance Computing appeared first on MarkTechPost.

7.5 /10 SCORE Our Verdict Our Verdict Best for: Back sleeper Stomach sleeper Score Breakdown Performance 8 /10 Policies 7 /10 Durability 7 /10 Features 7 /10 Pros and Cons Pros Firm profile for back and stomach sleepers Accommodating overall feel Excellent motion isolation Cons Not as accommodating as the old model Not a good option for side sleepers Table of Contents Casper has gained popularity as a bed-in-a-box mattress brand. After offering a reliable lineup of quality mattresses for years, it's now shaking things up with five new beds. One of these mattresses is the Casper One, and it replaces the Casper Original and The Casper mattress. Is this new entry-level foam mattress the right one for you? We tried it out, and here are our thoughts on it.Read more: Best Mattress for 2024First impressions of the Casper One Foam mattress Dillon Lopez/CNETI was excited to unbox all of the new Casper beds, because we've always regarded these popular beds highly. We received all of the new beds in our office on the same day, and it was a very cold day outside when the boxes arrived. Sometimes, we'll wait a day or two before unboxing a new bed, but we unboxed these mattresses right off the truck.I mention the weather because the temperature can have an impact on the rigidity of foams, and when we removed the Casper One from the plastic, it was one of the most misshapen-looking beds I have ever seen. I had a good laugh about it because it looked funny, and we knew it was not due to some defect in the mattress. Beds often look misshapen right out of the box, but this one was pretty extreme.It took about a full day for the bed to fully inflate and get into its normal shape. I was immediately surprised when trying the Casper One for the first time because it was much firmer than I'd expected. Previous models of Casper foam beds were usually around a medium on our firmness scale, and it was clear that Casper was going in an entirely different direction with the Casper One.Video: Casper One Foam review videoWatch me review the Casper One Foam mattress in this video.One Foam construction and feel Dillon Lopez/CNETThe Casper One Foam mattress has a classic three-layer all-foam design, which is what we saw on the old models of Casper and beds from many other brands, including Nectar, Bear, Leesa and Nolah.The bottommost layer is a 7-inch layer of Casper Core support foam, which is the main support layer of the Casper One. This is the only mattress out of the five new beds from Casper that features a foam support layer instead of pocketed coils. I generally prefer coil beds for the added bouncy feel, and coils are usually better for support and durability throughout the life of the mattress, but there are plenty of sleepers who prefer foam beds because foam has better motion isolation, is easier to move and is usually more affordable.Above the support foam is a 2-inch layer of Align memory foam, and then right above that is another 2-inch layer of Breathe Flex foam. The memory foam layer is classically dense, as you'd expect from memory foam, and the top layer is a more neutral, responsive foam.This combination of foams adds up to give the Casper One Foam a somewhat unique feel. The memory foam layer gives the bed a dense feel that is balanced out by the more responsive layer above it. I think the bed has a similar dense type of feel, like a memory foam, but without the sink in quality.Overall, I'd describe it as having a firm, dense foam feel, which isn't something I've observed very often. It's quite a departure from the old Casper Original, which had a soft, neutral feel that I would describe as more accommodating to more sleepers in comparison to the Casper One.Casper One Foam firmness and sleeper types Dillon Lopez/CNETThe Casper One Foam is significantly more firm than the previous Casper model. The old Casper Original was rated at a medium, but the Casper One is a medium-firm to firm on our scale. It's closer to a medium-firm than a true firm, but it's definitely somewhere in between.Casper describes the Casper One as a firm option that is ideal for back and stomach sleepers, and I absolutely agree. If you're a primary side sleeper, I would look elsewhere for your next mattress. But for back and stomach sleepers who want less give in their mattress, the Casper One has an appropriate firmness profile.For softer options from Casper, you'll want to check out the Dream Hybrid and Dream Max Hybrid.Casper One Foam mattress performance Dillon Lopez/CNETEdge supportThe edge support of a mattress refers to how well the perimeter of the bed holds up under pressure. If the edge compresses too much, you can feel like you are going to roll off the mattress, which usually leads to poor sleep.Even though there's no design element meant to specifically enhance the edge support on the Casper One, we observed pretty solid edge support on this bed. I didn't feel that roll-off sensation when putting all of my weight on the perimeter of the mattress, so if you are planning on sharing this mattress with someone, I don't think you'll have any issues with edge support.Motion isolationIf you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night because your partner tosses and turns a lot, having a mattress that does a good job of isolating cross-mattress motion is important.The motion isolation on the Casper One is excellent, comparable to pure memory foam options like Nectar and Tempur-Pedic. Memory foam beds usually perform best in this category and the Casper One uses a layer of memory foam along with its foam support base, so I expected it to be good, but maybe not quite this good.If motion isolation is something that's been an issue in the past, then the Casper One should be an improvement.Temperature regulationThe top layer of foam on the Casper One is noticeably different from the old Casper models. It was previously called Airscape foam, and I observed it to be very breathable thanks to its perforation. The new Breath Flex foam on the Casper One isn't perforated, but it does have an open-cell design and it's light and breathable.The Casper One shouldn't heat up on you at night, and it should remain temperature neutral. If you sleep hot on this bed, it probably has more to do with your sleeping environment than the bed itself.If you want a bed with active cooling elements, Casper's new Snow and Snow Max mattress are noticeably cool to the touch. We also have a best cooling beds list you can check out.Casper One Foam mattress pricing SizeMeasurements (inches)Price Twin 38x74 inches$749Twin XL 38x80 inches$749Full 54x75 inches$899Queen 60x80 inches$999King 76x80 inches$1,399Cal king 72x84 inches$1,399 The Casper One mattress is the most affordable of Casper's new mattress lineup, and when compared to the old Casper Original, the price is roughly the same. For a queen-size, the price is also fairly competitive with other three-layer foam mattresses like the Leesa Original and the Nolah Original.With these Casper beds being so new, I wouldn't be surprised to see some price fluctuations, but the One should be the most affordable bed from Casper going forward.Be sure to check out our mattress deals page for any discounts we can find to save money on the Casper One.Casper mattress policies Dillon Lopez/CNETFree shippingCasper One mattress ships inside of a box right to your door at no extra cost in the contiguous United States. Unboxing a mattress is a quick and easy process: We've done it literally hundreds of times at CNET, and it's actually fun.This bed is pretty light, so you might be able to unbox it solo, but I'd still recommend getting someone to help you, especially for larger sizes.100-night trialCasper offers the usual standard in-home sleep trial of 100 nights. So you get roughly three months to test out the bed and see if it's supportive enough and comfortable enough for you.Keep in mind that it can take a month or longer for your body to adjust to a new mattress, no matter how well-suited it is to you. So, if you struggle to get a good night's sleep in the first week or two, don't panic.Return policyCasper, despite more brands introducing return fees, still offers completely free returns on all of its mattresses if you choose to return it within the provided trial period.Returning a mattress is usually pretty easy; you just contact the company, and usually, a group will come by your house to pick up the bed, and then it will often get donated or sometimes resold by a third party.WarrantyAll Casper mattresses are backed by a standard 10-year warranty. If you buy a mattress online, a 10-year warranty is the minimum you should expect.Final verdict Dillon Lopez/CNETOverall, I was surprised by the Casper One mattress. When a brand redesigns its mattresses, the changes are usually superficial, and the firmness and feel remain the same, but the Casper One is a big departure from the old Casper Original. It's significantly firmer and also has a different feel.In the past, I'd recommend the Casper Original to pretty much everyone because it had such an accommodating firmness and feel. Most people enjoyed it or could at least get by on it comfortably. The new Casper One is a more specialized mattress that's designed for back and stomach sleepers, and it has a less universally enjoyable feel.I think anyone looking for a firm foam mattress at an affordable price should seriously consider the Capser One, especially because other foam mattresses with this firmness profile often have a true memory foam feel, and the Casper One has a more responsive feel.You might like the Casper One Foam mattress if:You are a back or stomach sleeperYou are looking for an affordable mattressYou want a responsive feelYou want a mattress with foam support layersYou might not like the Casper One Foam mattress if:You are a side sleeperYou are seeking a hybrid mattressYou are shopping for a more luxurious mattressYou want a classic memory foam feelOther mattresses from Casper Casper's new Dream Hybrid Mattress. Owen Poole/CNETCasper Dream Hybrid: this is the most affordable hybrid mattress in the new Casper lineup, and it is essentially a direct replacement for the old Casper Original Hybrid. This bed is a medium on the firmness scale and should be accommodating for all sleeper types. It also has more of a soft, neutral hybrid feel in comparison to the dense, firm foam feel on the Casper One. The Casper Dream Hybrid also has a zoned-support design, which makes the bed slightly firmer in the center third to promote better spinal alignment and enhanced edge support. The Casper Snow Hybrid mattress. Jonathan Gomez/CNETCasper Snow Hybrid: this mattress is the most interesting new mattress from Casper because it is Casper's first mattress that has a traditional memory foam feel. The top two comfort layers are made of memory foam that's slow to respond. Like the Dream Hybrid, it has a zoned-support design, enhanced edge support and a more accommodating firmness profile. This bed is also active cooling, and it should help you sleep a few degrees cooler at night.How does the Casper One Foam mattress compare to similar mattresses?Casper One Foam vs. Leesa OriginalThe Casper Original and the Leesa Original used to be so similar I had a hard time telling the two apart in a blind mattress test. With the updated Casper One, these beds still have a similar design, but the Leesa Original has more of a soft, neutral feel in comparison to the dense firm feel on the Casper One, and the Leesa Original is a medium firmness, which makes it more accommodating for side sleepers. Both beds are also in the same ballpark on price.Casper One Foam vs. NectarThe Nectar mattress is a very online mattress and shares some design elements with the Casper One. Both have three-layer all-foam designs (although Nectar does have a separate hybrid option for an additional cost), both are on the firm end of the spectrum and both use memory foam. Nectar has a classic, dense memory foam feel, while the Casper One has a much more responsive feel. Nectar is also a more affordable mattress.Casper One Foam mattress FAQs Is the mattress cover machine washable? No, the cover on the Casper One does include a zipper, but Casper says never to remove the cover. If the cover gets dirty, it should be spot-cleaned. Show more Does Casper have free returns? Yes, if you decide to initiate a return within the 100-night trial period, you can get a full refund and return the bed at no extra cost. Show more Do I need a foundation for the Casper One? Casper beds are designed to work on a firm, solid surface. It's best to use a solid or slatted foundation, not a box spring. Show more

St. Louis residents have plenty of internet options, but not all offer great value. Here are our top picks.

Our Experts Written by Caroline Igo Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement What to consider Firmness A firm mattress will offer more support while a soft mattress will be more pressure-relieving. Medium mattresses fall in the sweet spot right in between. The right firmness level for you depends on your sleeping position. Sleeping position Side sleepers should consider a medium to soft mattress that cradles the hips and shoulders. Back and stomach sleepers should consider a medium to firm mattress that keeps the spine in a straight alignment. Switch between positions? A medium firmness level can accommodate all sleeping positions. Feel Coils and latex foam give a bed more bounce, while memory foam and poly foam make a bed feel more cushy and pressure-relieving. The feel of your mattress will depend on the types of materials it has on the inside. Construction There are essentially two mattress types, hybrid and all-foam. Hybrid mattresses are constructed with steel coils and foam, but all-foam mattresses are just as their name implies. Body Type Hybrid mattresses tend to be best for people who want extra support and durability. Sleepers over 230 pounds in particular should consider a hybrid over an all-foam mattress because its more supportive, durable and long-lasting. Performance Motion isolation, edge support and temperature are important features for couples or people who sleep hot to consider. Hot sleepers should consider a mattress that boasts special cooling features. Couples want minimal motion transfer and a strong, supportive bed perimeter. Company Policies All online brands offer a free trial, free shipping and a warranty, but some brands are more generous with their policies than others. Why You Can Trust CNET 210220230240250260270280290300 Mattresses tested123456789 Testers5706707708709701,0701,1701,2701,3701,470 Hours Tested How we test With five-plus years of mattress testing experience, we use our different sleeping position and body type perspectives to offer well-rounded, honest reviews.Table of Contents Back to selection

December 29, 20245 min readJimmy Carter, Who Has Died at Age 100, Spared Millions of People from Guinea WormFormer president Jimmy Carters charity has helped transform Guinea worm from a disease that used to infect millions to one that infects fewer than a dozenBy Charles Schmidt edited by Tanya Lewis Photo by John Angelillo/UPI/Alamy Stock PhotoFormer president Jimmy Carter was touring villages in Ghana during the late 1980s when he first encountered people with Guinea worm disease. This tropical disease involves an infection with parasitic worms that eventually emerge through a persons skin, and the 39th U.S. president was shocked by the plight of people infected by them. Once youve seen a small child with a two- or three-foot-long live Guinea worm protruding from her body, right through her skin, you never forget it..., he later wrote. In just a few minutes, [former first lady] Rosalynn and I saw more than 100 victims, including people with worms coming out of their ankles, knees, groins, legs, arms and other parts of their bodies.Carter died Sunday, December 29, in Plains, Ga., after entering hospice care in mid-February 2023. His efforts to eradicate this horrific disease improved the lives and well-being of many of the worlds poorest people. Guinea worm cases were averaging 3.5 million per year globally around the time Carter first toured Ghana. But thanks in large part to the efforts of the Carter Center, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) founded by the former president and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died in November 2023, the disease has been nearly stamped out. Surveillance data put the global tally at just 13 cases in 2022 spread across Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan and the Central African Republic, according to Sharon Roy and Vitaliano Cama, scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who work with the Carter Center. Should caseloads dwindle to zero, Guinea worm will become only the second human disease in history (after smallpox) to be eradicated. These efforts are a credit to Carters bold vision, leadership and ability to create political will for supporting Guinea worm eradication in affected countries, Cama says.The Carter Center set out to eradicate Guinea worm disease in 1986, shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) targeted it for global elimination and five years after Carter left office. The disease is spread by drinking stagnant water infested with tiny fleas called copepods that contain Guinea worm larvae. While the fleas die in the human gut, Guinea wormswhich are impervious to stomach acidsurvive and start mating. Over the course of a year, a pregnant female worm will grow into an adult that migrates toward the hosts skin. A blister soon forms, and when it bursts, the worm begins to slither its way out of the body. To relieve the burning pain this causes, infected victims will often dunk their affected body parts into waterin some cases, the same ponds or lakes that other people drink from. The submerged worms respond by releasing eggs that hatch into larvae, which are consumed by copepods, and the parasitic life cycle starts anew.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Zane Wolf; Source: The Carter CenterThere arent any vaccines or treatments for Guinea worm disease, and people cannot develop immunity against it. The traditional strategy for extracting an emerging worm has been to wind it around a stick, tugging on it a few centimeters per day. Its important not to pull too fast, because if the worm breaks apart, remnants in the body can cause secondary infections. But the best defense is prevention.To move toward eradication, the Carter Center organized NGOs, national health ministries and donors around a single overarching goal: to provide affected villages with clean drinking water. A few simple interventions proved highly effective. Village-based volunteers and supervisory health staff built protective walls around wells and other water sources to block people from wading in and seeding new infections. The Carter Center supplied villages with fine-mesh cloths that strain fleas out of drinking water, as well as filtered straws for personal use. Stagnant water was treated with a larvicide called temephos (which the WHO considers acceptable for use in drinking water), and rumored infections were tracked down and investigated.Over time, more and more countries joined the effort. Meanwhile former president Carter personally met with leaders in the nations where Guinea worm was endemic, says Kashef Ijaz, the Carter Centers vice president for health programs. In 1995 Carter brokered a four-month Guinea worm cease-fire during Sudans civil war. The pause in fighting allowed health workers to distribute 200,000 cloth filters to impoverished areas, along with vaccines and drugs for other diseases such as river blindness, measles and polio.Sometimes the Guinea Worm Eradication Program provides the only touch point local people have with any sort of public health system, says Jordan Schermerhorn, a global health specialist based in Austin, Tex. Schermerhorn spent more than a year between 2016 and 2017 working as a technical adviser to the Carter Center in southern Chad, often traveling by motorcycle to remote areas where people live in mud huts spread across a barren landscape. She and her colleagues would visit each of the villages within their purview roughly once a week to check for new cases and educate people on how to protect themselves from infection.By this time, the eradication program was highly successful: only 25 human cases were documented worldwide in 2016. Yet the program has also been confronting an emerging problem: scientists, who once assumed Guinea worms only infect people, have been finding them in other species. The worms were discovered in dogs first and then later in cats and baboons. More recent evidence suggests frogs and fish may also carry the worms, although its not clear if these animals transmit them. Carter Center staff have responded by urging villagers to report and tether infected dogs and to avoid eating inadequately cooked fish. They hypothesize that these are the routes through which most people and animals are becoming infected today.Matthew Boyce, an assistant professor of health policy and management at Texas A&M University, says its unclear if the Guinea worm is broadening its range or if its discovery in other animals merely reflects expanded disease surveillance. It could be a classic case of the more you look, the more you find, he says. Theres still no definitive evidence that these animals can transmit the disease in the absence of human hosts, something that could make it difficult to fully eradicate. Nevertheless, the WHO has pushed the target date for eradicating Guinea worm disease from 2020 to 2030. During a press conference in 2015, Carter said that he hoped the last Guinea worm would die before he did. While that didnt happen, Ijaz remains confident that eradication is still an achievable goal. The last mile is the hardest, he says. We have to stay committed and remain more focused than ever before.

AI and societyDec 28, 2024Dec 28, 2024UpdateChinese ebook reader Boox ditches GPT for state-censored China LLM pushing propagandaMidjourney prompted by THE DECODEROnline journalist Matthias is the co-founder and publisher of THE DECODER. He believes that artificial intelligence will fundamentally change the relationship between humans and computers.ProfileE-Mail Update: December 28, 2024AdFollowing user backlash, Boox has reportedly switched back to an OpenAI model. The company hasn't yet released an official statement.Original Article: December 26, 2024A recent AI model switch at Chinese e-reader company Boox has raised concerns about censorship and propaganda.AdAdTHE DECODER NewsletterThe most important AI news straight to your inbox. Weekly Free Cancel at any timeBoox recently switched its AI assistant from Microsoft Azure GPT-3 to a language model created by ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, according to findings shared by Reddit user HIVVIH.Testing shows the new AI assistant heavily censors certain topics. It refuses to criticize China or its allies, including Russia, Syria's Assad regime, and North Korea. The system even blocks references to "Winnie the Pooh" - a term that's banned in China because it's used to mock President Xi Jinping.When asked about sensitive topics, the assistant either dodges questions or promotes state narratives. For example, when discussing Russia's role in Ukraine, it frames the conflict as a "complex geopolitical situation" triggered by NATO expansion concerns. The system also spreads Chinese state messaging about Tiananmen Square instead of addressing historical facts.The new Boox assistant does not comment on Tiananmen Square, but instead spreads Chinese state propaganda. | Image: HIVVIH via RedditShareRecommend our articleWhen users tried to bring attention to the censorship on Boox's Reddit forum, their posts were removed. The company hasn't made any official statement about the situation, but users are reporting that the AI assistant is currently unavailable.France bad, North Korea good. | Image: HIVVIH via RedditNo one knows exactly why Boox made the switch. The company might have faced political pressure, been unaware of how heavily censored the Chinese model was, or simply failed to consider how Western users would react to the censorship.RecommendationImporting AI means importing its values tooThe Boox case raises bigger questions about using AI from other cultures. As OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently warned, when companies bring in foreign language models, they're not just getting new technology - they're importing all the values and viewpoints baked into these systems.The word "genocide" triggers the new Boox assistant to deny that the Chinese government is committing genocide against the Uyghurs. | Image: HIVVIH via RedditIn China, every AI model has to pass a government review to make sure it follows "socialist values" before it can launch. These systems aren't allowed to create any content that goes against official government positions.We've already seen what this means in practice: Baidu's ERNIE-ViLG image AI won't process any requests about Tiananmen Square, and while Kling's video generator refuses to show Tiananmen Square protests, it has no problem creating videos of a burning White House.Some countries are already taking steps to address these concerns. Taiwan, for example, is developing its own language model called "Taide" to give companies and government agencies an AI option that's free from Chinese influence.AdAdJoin our communityJoin the DECODER community on Discord, Reddit or Twitter - we can't wait to meet you. Support our independent, free-access reporting. Any contribution helps and secures our future. Support now:Bank transfer SummaryChinese e-book reader manufacturer Boox has replaced the Microsoft Azure GPT-3 language model in its AI assistant with a new model that exhibits clear signs of state censorship.The new model blocks critical questions about China and its allies, such as Russia, Syria, and North Korea, and refuses to make statements about sensitive topics like Tiananmen Square, instead promoting state-approved narratives.This case illustrates that imported AI models not only transport technology but also carry with them the values and attitudes embedded in their training data, potentially spreading the influence of the originating country's ideology and propaganda.Sourcesvia Reddit Online journalist Matthias is the co-founder and publisher of THE DECODER. He believes that artificial intelligence will fundamentally change the relationship between humans and computers.ProfileE-Mail ShareAI and societyDec 29, 2024Dec 29, 2024UpdateDeepseek's V3 is the latest example of state-controlled censorship in Chinese LLMsAI in practiceNov 12, 2024Nov 12, 2024Baidu unveils LLM smart glasses and new image generatorGoogle NewsJoin our communityJoin the DECODER community on Discord, Reddit or Twitter - we can't wait to meet you.

In BriefPosted:4:15 PM PST December 29, 2024Image Credits:Tesla /Nvidias next move: powering humanoid robotsThe chipmaking giant Nvidia is leaning more heavily into robotics in 2025. More specifically, its launching a new generation of compact computers for humanoid robots, called Jetson Thor, in the first half of the new year, confims the Financial Times.The move, which was expected, is part of an evolving, years-long strategy. Back in March, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang showed off a range of robots powered by Nvidias chips at the companys annual conference. Nvidia doesnt plan to compete directly with manufacturers like Tesla, but rather provide the hundreds of thousands of robot makers in the world with a kind of underlying OEM, as its vice president of robotics, Deepu Talla, told reporters last month in Tokyo.As for why now, Talla tells the FT that the shift owes to two technological breakthroughs: the explosion of generative AI models, and the ability to train robots on them using simulated environments.What Nvidia isnt saying but is also plainly the case: its push into AI-powered robots comes as major customers like Amazon and Google work to lessen their dependence on the outfits AI chips by developing their own.Above: Teslas humanoid robot, Optimus; Nvidia has said it supplies Tesla with tech to build the machines.Topics

In BriefPosted:2:34 PM PST December 29, 2024Image Credits:Daniel Balakov (opens in a new window) / Getty ImagesAI data centers could be distorting the US power gridThe proliferation of data centers aiming to meet the computational needs of AI could be bad news for the US power grid, according to a new report in Bloomberg.Using the 1 million residential sensors tracked by Whisker Labs, along with market intelligence data from DC Byte, Bloomberg found that more than half of the households showing the worst power distortions live within 20 miles of significant data center activity.In other words, there appears to be a link between data center proximity and bad harmonics a term for the less-than-ideal flow of electrical power into homes.Bloomberg says this distorted power could eventually destroy plugged-in appliances, increase vulnerability to electrical fires, and even lead to brownouts and blackouts. And AI data centers could be even more problematic because of their volatile energy requirements.No grid is designed to be able to handle that kind of load fluctuation not only for one data center but for multiple data centers at the same time, said Bloom Energys chief commercial officer Aman Joshi.A spokesperson for Chicagos Commonwealth Edison told Bloomberg the utility strongly questions the accuracy and underlying assumptions of Whisker Labs claims.Topics