Participants from the AIA Los Angeles chapters recent Wildfire Disaster Response Ad Hoc Task Force virtual meeting have shared feedback in response to the January 15th event that included over 850 participants. (You can watch the meeting in its entirety below.)Recording of the AIA|LA Los Angeles Wildfire Disaster Relief Task Force Meeting on January 15, 2025. Video courtesyAIA LosAngelesOne of them, Dan Brunn of Dan Brunn Architecture, shared his thoughts on two scores. On the "Top level," he says, "its great that city officials are moving swiftly, with some red tape being removed. [The] community of professionals has really stepped up, and is going above and beyond to help.""I have also had contact with some of our favorite vendors and product suppliers, and they are also looking to help. So while I think some are looking for a 'dooms day,' I am actually finding some light. I really think that LA can use this as an opportunity to come back with something demonstrative and a...

In a world of compelling Souls-likes, excellent Metroid-inspired titles, and the rare few games that combine the two, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winterexists. It doesnt strictly adhere to either genre its an action RPG with grim circumstances and rats, like the original. The 2 holds promise, as does the aspect of an epic revenge plot with new threats, mechanics and The North Will Rise Again subtext. For the most part, however, Tails of Iron 2 is recommended for fans of the original, even as it retains many of the same issues.The set-up involves the North, where you play as Arlo, the adopted son of the Warden of Winters Edge. After repelling the Dark Wings long ago, the region is at relative peaceuntil it isnt. The bats make their somewhat expected return, possessing a powerful ancient beast, and burn Winters Edge to the ground. Arlo must now rebuild his home while simultaneously stepping up to new responsibilities."The path of vengeance is one laden with preparation, and Arlo is a busy rat, from building an arsenal of weaponry to restoring Winters Edge to its former beauty."Tails of Iron 2 doesnt feature any dialogue between characters their intentions are laid bare through icons and symbols. Its on the returning Doug Cockle, the voice of Geralt from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, to carry the narrative. And make no mistake the stoic tones fit well enough, even with the occasional animal-focused jokes. Though the frequency can take some getting used to at the start, you eventually settle into the mood, especially with how seamlessly the narration transitions between events and levels.Unfortunately, it cant mask how dry some of the characterization is. Even with some of the more memorable NPCs like Ron the Blacksmith and Billy the Beaver, Im hard-pressed to remember many others by name, much less care (death predictions aside). Arlo is developed enough perks of the protagonist and whatnot. However, Im not quite reconciling the character so vividly depicted in Cockles words with the one Im playing.The connection between narration and on-screen action also occasionally isnt one-to-one, as Cockles narration lagged and came across as awkward during one pivotal point. Not that there was too much dramatic tension, but it certainly didnt help.The path of vengeance is one laden with preparation, and Arlo is a busy rat, from building an arsenal of weaponry to restoring Winters Edge to its former beauty. Youll start by venturing to other regions and recruiting various NPCs to fulfil the roles of builder, blacksmith, and chef. Once your retinue is complete, you can build and upgrade their facilities, unlocking new benefits. The settlement-building isnt the most robust, but its serviceable, neither bogging down the action nor requiring excessive material grinding."That Monster Hunter lite feeling further arises when taking on optional hunts against large monsters, some appearing during story quests and requiring multiple phases of stabbing to defeat later."Despite the action RPG moniker, you wont accrue levels, assigning stat points and attempting to scale off your weapon of choice. Tails of Iron 2 instead takes a pseudo-Monster Hunter approach where meals are key for bonuses like increased health, and your build leans most on the equipped armor and weapons. The Souls-like weight system of Light, Medium, and Heavy builds comes into play, affecting your dodge roll, but theres no stamina. Arlo can parry with a weapon and shield bound to R1, smash enemies with a two-handed weapon to R2, and deliver ranged death with bows, firearms, and more with L1.Combat is intriguing at first. Despite the cartoonish veneer, slices and strikes splatter blood on your surroundings and character, while executions add to the brutality. Yet the actual feel and responsiveness never quite match it, lacking that satisfying crunch at times. It also doesnt help that swapping sides while guarding can feel awkward at first. Holding down R1 or R2 will unleash a charged attack after a short duration, which may seem ideal for closing the distance on a parried foe. The reality is that walking up and smacking them with normal attacks is better.Almost every weapon has an elemental attribute, which is necessary to exploit lest you deal reduced damage to an enemy. You can also use whetstones to sharpen a weapon, exponentially increasing the damage dealt, but it eventually becomes unnecessary once you learn to match elements.That Monster Hunter lite feeling further arises when taking on optional hunts against large monsters, some appearing during story quests and requiring multiple phases of stabbing to defeat later. You can even repeat them to farm certain materials, which is neat. Having them run around the region isnt, especially since the environments dont really mix up or add to the hunt in imaginative ways. At least the bosses have a decent range of attacks, keeping you guessing between the parryable and dodgeable."Even if you become comfortable with all the various quirks, most fights can be resolved by matching the right element. Your opponent spits fire? Switch to ice. Are they using lightning? Go for poison, maybe, and so on."Im a proponent of hunting, gathering and crafting your weapons and armor, but completing quests and hunts is usually enough to earn some free of charge. Its not the first ARPG to try and balance between crafting and quest rewards, but Tails of Iron 2 can feel slightly skewed towards the latter. Higher rarities exist to strive towards, yet at times, it felt like I was sitting on all my gathered and carved materials as blueprints gathered dust at the smithy.Even if you become comfortable with all the various quirks, most fights can be resolved by matching the right element. Your opponent spits fire? Switch to ice. Are they using lightning? Go for poison, maybe, and so on. Combat can thus become repetitive, even if theres a decent variety of enemies to slay and multiple weapon types. The new elemental magic also sadly doesnt do much to change this, long cooldown times notwithstanding.A note on the difficulty: What is the first hour supposed to be? On Tails of Iron mode, the default Medium difficulty, you have few weapon or armor choices and almost no Whetstones to improve damage. Health recovery is gradual, requiring you to hold the button and hope the bar fills fast enough. On the one hand, it feels appropriately challenging, forcing you to read your opponent, know when to parry or dodge and utilize traps to gain an opening.On the other hand, enemies can nearly one-shot you, adding to the frustration of the initially clunky movement, and they seemingly take little damage. The first two real boss fights feel massively overtuned in this regard, leading me to drop the difficulty to Fairy Tail.The next few hours were then a stomp, through and through. Changing it back resulted in bosses two or two-and-a-half-shotting me, which felt much more manageable. Even then, however, most of the encounters were easy-breezy. If this is what the balance on Tails of Iron difficulty is supposed to be, I cant fathom the point of making the first hour so frustrating."If you enjoyed the first game and want more, it may be worth diving into it, but everyone else should think carefully before following the rats."At least Odd Bug Studios environmental art is gorgeous, with immense amounts of hand-drawn details. From the massive skeletons of the Whale Boneyard to the parliament of Owls, its awe-inspiring. I also liked the little details while traversing, like a queen spider who later became a hunting target skulking by in the background or the Owls peeking from trees as you entered their realm for the first time. A few animations can feel stilted at times, like the one odd enemy which went from standing upright to on the floor in a frame, but theyre otherwise fine.The exploration is a whole other rats nest. There are some hidden areas and grapple points with very light platforming, but its otherwise very straightforward, resulting in tedium when backtracking. Fast travel alleviates this later, though you must have the resources and gold available to build the points. Subsequent regions open up a bit and offer more winding paths, but theyre still dull to traverse with only NPC conversations and save benches occasionally breaking up the flow. Something more could have been done, especially for the side hunts, yet it feels like youre going through the motions.Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter starts as a brutal medieval fantasy rooted in the fantastical with its various anthropomorphic races. The awkward combat offers many weapon choices, but the overall loop eventually becomes repetitive. With unimaginative and dull exploration, its up to the story to drive you forward, and the Butcher of Blaviken can only do so much. If you enjoyed the first game and want more, it may be worth diving into it, but everyone else should think carefully before following the rats.This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

While the future release of Grand Theft Auto 6 is still shrouded in quite a bit of mystery, analysts have been having a field day with speculation on how much the game would cost. Epyllions Matthew Ball, for instance, believed that Grand Theft Auto 6 would be the first game to be priced at $100 for its base edition.Several analysts have since taken to social media against this idea, however. Circanas Mat Piscatella, for instance, believes that this kind of price hike just isnt a move that Rockstar needs to make, since it would raise the barrier of entry and be counter-intuitive to the studios goal of having as many people as possible play the game.Theres no need to make the base price of any game $100, posted Piscatella on Bluesky. Special editions, collectors editions, gold/silver editions, etc etc do the same thing, and a high % of day 1 buyers jump on those at their elevated price points. Theres just no need.You want to make the funnel as wide as possible, while also optimizing launch $, he continued. You dont do this [by] making the base price of a game so high that the funnel narrows. It just makes no sense. At all.Piscatellas point about several major game releases already being priced at $100 through collectors editions and early access were also echoed by MIDias Rhys Elliot, who points out that the industry has begun essentially delaying access to players that dont want to spend $100 on a game.Most huge AAA games already charge $100 (sometimes more) in the first 3-7 days before launch, but they call it early access and slap collectors edition in the name, said Elliot to IGN. Publishers have hijacked collectors editions as a way to charge more for early access AKA delayed access for those consumers unwilling to pay the markup.Elliot also called pricing a game at $100 for its basic edition a bridge too far.Theyd find success either way, he said. GTA 6 is going to be a cultural phenomenon and could bear a $100 price point, but player backlash would be significant, and that would be a short-term gain at a long-term cost. Maximizing day-one premium revenues and giving mass consumers sticker shock is not the play here, especially in todays economy. And while many gamers will play through GTA 6s single-player, online is where the engagement and recurring revenue spend happens. Its where the real revenue comes in. Rockstar would not want to limit its total addressable market there.One of the major challenges for GTA 6 is convincing players to jump ship from GTA 5s online component, so creating a needlessly higher switching cost would not be wise here.Other analysts also seem to follow Piscatellas train of thought. NYU Stern professor Joost van Dreunen, for instance, refers to this sort of price hike as a mistake for Rockstar as well as publisher Take-Two.Their success with GTA 5 came partly from their pricing strategy launching at a standard price point late in the console cycle, then selling another copy to those same players when they upgraded to new consoles, said van Dreunen. Theyll likely stick to this proven approach, though theyll definitely offer premium editions with extras at higher price points.Analysts have also brought up the fact that one of the biggest factors to GTA 5s continued success has been the popularity of GTA Online. While the game itself can be sold to a player once, GTA Online has quite a few microtransactions that players can purchase, and has been one of the biggest factors of the games revenue.GTA Online was key to GTA 5s ongoing success, driving premium sales and subscription service licensing; a precedent Take-Two is unlikely to disrupt with GTA 6s launch, said Omdias senior games analyst James McWhirter. Alternative pricing schemes will likely emerge only after establishing a strong player base for the next-gen GTA Online, which will anchor long-term engagement. The real challenge lies in managing continuity between two live-service GTA Online games. Depending on how Take-Two handles this transition, alternative business models could emerge sooner or later.Elliot also explored the idea that Rockstar Games might decouple GTA 6s single-player parts from GTA Online, launching and maybe even selling both components as their own titles.While I think we will see something similar for GTA 6 and its online component, I can also see a world where Rockstar launches them completely separately, said Elliot. If they did this, they would probably add some online perks into the single-player version to nudge players to play online, too. Another possibility is having the core story play out in GTA 6, then adding subsequent story content into the online mode best of both worlds, perhaps.As for subscriptions, Rockstar will likely continue what it set out with GTA+, perhaps adding a battle pass to complement as well.While circumstances around the launch of GTA 6 will continue to be a source of speculation, van Dreunen has predicted that the game will be massively successful, and will even end up surpassing the sales figures of GTA 5 and GTA Online. He put this down to the fact that there are a lot more console gamers out there today, which will automatically lead to a higher number of customers, and predicts around 38 million sales for GTA 6 in its first year.When GTA 5 launched in 2013, about 29% of console gamers (35 million) purchased a copy, said van Dreunen. Assuming a similar adoption rate among an anticipated 130 million console install base in 2025, GTA 6 could sell around 38 million copies in its first twelve months. At an average selling price of $70, this would generate approximately $2.7 billion through both digital and physical channels, aligning with Take-Twos projected earnings increase for 2025.Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently in development, and will be coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Following the trends of the franchise, the game might also eventually make its way to PC.This is getting so much run but its ridiculous. Theres no need to make the base price of any game $100. Special editions, collectors editions, gold/silver editions, etc etc do the same thing, and a high % of day 1 buyers jump on those at their elevated price points. Theres just no need.[image or embed] Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) January 19, 2025 at 10:00 PMYou want to make the funnel as wide as possible, while also optimizing launch $. You dont do this be making the base price of a game so high that the funnel narrows. It just makes no sense. At all. Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) January 19, 2025 at 10:01 PM

Staffers Find a Japanese Hand Grenade From World War II at a Museum in KentuckyAfter police and the nearby bomb squad investigated to the scene, they announced that the weapon was inactive and safe Experts determined that the Japanese hand grenade was inactive. Behringer-Crawford Museum via FacebookMuseums house many fascinating artifactsfromfossilized dinosaur feces andwhale earwax plugs to atent used by George Washington and a mysterious beaten biscuit maker.Typically, the items in their collections are not dangerous. However, employees organizing the inventory of a Kentucky museum were in for a shock when they discovered a Japanese hand grenade from World War II.The incident took place at theBehringer-Crawford Museum, a local history museum in Covington, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. The venue is gearing up to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year, and staffers were sifting through its collection in preparation for the festivities when they stumbled upon the 80-year-old weapon.When I feel complacent and like, Oh, theres nothing else thats going to surprise me, we find a Japanese grenade, says Jason French, the museums longtime curator, toSpectrum News 1s Ryan Hayes-Owens.Though the weapon had been housed in the museum for a long time, staffers werent sure whether it could pose a threat to public safety. So, they called the police.I was not able to really tell if it was a dummy grenade or not with my initial looking, so thats kind of how we ended up having to call some experts in, adds French.Members of the bomb squad from nearby Cincinnati responded and briefly blocked off the area surrounding the museum, reportsWCPOs Felicia Jordan. Ultimately, however, police determined the grenade was inactive and safe.Were going to deem it as the worst-case scenario until we can rule otherwise, Patrick Averbeck, a battalion chief with the Covington Fire Department, tells WLWTs Emily Sanderson. So we assume that its live until we have people on there that can tell us otherwise. And then that way thats the best for the safety of everybody involved.The artifact is whats known as a Type 97 hand grenade, which were made of serrated cast iron to ensure maximum fragmentation at the time of detonation, according to theImperial War Museums in London.Type 97 grenades were typically filled with the explosive chemical compound TNT and weighed about a pound. Measuring nearly two inches in diameter and nearly four inches long, the grenades were equipped with a time-delayed fuse that gave the thrower between four and five seconds to get to safety.This is not the first time a Japanese grenade has turned up unexpectedly. Last February, a resident of Mercer Island, Washington, found a Type 97 hand grenade while cleaning out their fathers house. Police responded and turned over the device to specialists. In September, an exploded Japanese grenade was discovered during a construction project at the U.S. Air Force base in Guam. Two battles with Japanese forces took place in Guam during WWIIone in 1941 and the other in 1944, perStars and Stripes Brian McElhiney.About a month later, a woman in Westlake, Ohio, was cleaning out a closet after her husband died when she found a Japanese Type 89 knee mortar and a Japanese Type 97 hand grenade. Police removed them safely from the home, asWKYCs Justin McMullen reported at the time.Now that the grenade has been cleared, museum staffers say they hope to use it in some future exhibitionpossibly one that explores the history of Kentucky veterans.We take the safety of our staff, visitors and community very seriously, Laurie Risch, executive director at the Behringer-Crawford Museum, tellsWKRC. After it was cleared by authorities, were pleased to confirm that this fascinating piece of history is safe and will be available for display in future exhibits.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Artifacts, History, Japan, Museums, Warfare, Weapons, World War II

Ubisoft cuts 185 jobs in a bid to "prioritise projects and reduce costs"Ubisoft Leamington shuts completely whilst Ubisoft Dsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm, and Ubisoft Reflections are all also impacted News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Jan. 27, 2025 Ubisoft is reducing the headcount across several European studios - and closing one down completely - resulting in 185 job losses.Its Leamington, UK, studio is hardest hit, with our sister site, Eurogamer, reporting all but a "small number" of its 50 employees will be laid off.Ubisoft Dsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm, and Ubisoft Reflections are also impacted following "targeted restructuring" across the company in a bid to "prioritise projects and reduce costs.""As part of our ongoing efforts to prioritise projects and reduce costs that ensure long-term stability at Ubisoft, we have announced targeted restructurings at Ubisoft Dsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm, and Ubisoft Reflections and the permanent closure of Ubisoft Leamington site," a Ubisoft spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz."Unfortunately, this should impact 185 employees overall. We are deeply grateful for their contributions and are committed to supporting them through this transition."The swath of job cuts from last year seems to be continuing in 2025. In January alone, we've reported on the closure of Freejam, Splash Damage and Jar of Sparks.Swedish games firm Enad Global 7 (EG7) also recently initiated the "wind down" of Toadman Interactive, which resulted in 69 job losses and 38 layoffs at Piranha Games.

Bungie's former vice president of production, Elizabeth Howard, has joined U.S. publisher Midwest Games as the company prepares to deploy a new "shadow publishing" model.Howard has been named chief advisor of services at Midwest and will work to deliver "tailored publishing solutions that empower game developers and bring incredible experiences to players."Prior to joining Midwest, Howard led Bungie development and publishing production teams on Destiny 2: The Final Shape. She also held key roles at 2K and Aspyr, serving as vice president of publishing operations and VP of publishing, respectively.Midwest was established by former Harebrained Schemes and Netflix veterans in 2023 to help developers in the Midwest and other underrepresented U.S. regions find success.The company has already published a range of titles including Tombwater, The Legend of Baboo, and Duck Paradox.Midwest has recruited Howard to spearhead its new shadow publishing initiative to provide "cost-effective, tailored services for hire to development teams." Discussing her new role, Howard said it's vital to provide developers with flexibility in an evolving game market."To succeed, games need to hit all facets of publishing throughout the entire development lifecycle, yet many studios lack the resources," she added. "While flexible models exist for development, that same flexibility has been missing in publishinguntil recently. Midwest Games shadow publishing provides a scalable solution that integrates strategy and execution so studios can focus on making great games."Midwest claims its new full-service model will address a "critical gap in the market" by offering scaled support, pricing, and service timelines while allowing developers to retain IP and revenue rights. Midwest says developers will also have "full say over publishing decisions.""More games entering the market and fewer traditional publishing deals available leaves studios with the daunting task of self-publishing. Midwest Games will offer both la carte and full-service support on a work-for-hire basis, allowing developers to retain future revenue and IP rights," said Midwest in a statement."Midwest Games shadow publishing offers services before, during, and after launch for PC and console games of all genres. The company touts its location as an advantage in pricing to keep publishing support accessible and allow more funds to go directly into each game. Services will cover the full needs of bringing a game to market, including Business & Publishing Strategy, Platform Management, Marketing and PR, and Developer Services."Midwest CEO Ben Kvalo said the publisher wants to empower partners by sharing the right knowledge and resources, and felt it was imperative someone with Howard's experience was brought in to oversee new initiative."Midwest Games can help studios navigate a competitive and fragmented publishing landscape while retaining the value of their game and years of hard work for the long term," he added. "We're incredibly excited to bring Elizabeth's leadership in publishing and developer services to spearhead the initiative to support more games."

Artificial intelligence has grown significantly with the integration of vision and language, allowing systems to interpret and generate information across multiple data modalities. This capability enhances applications such as natural language processing, computer vision, and human-computer interaction by seamlessly allowing AI models to process textual, visual, and video inputs. However, challenges remain in ensuring that such systems provide accurate, meaningful, and human-aligned outputs, particularly as multi-modal models become more complex.The primary difficulty in constructing large vision-language models is achieving the outputs produced by them aligning with the human preferences. Most existing systems fail due to the production of hallucinated responses and inconsistency in the interaction process within multiple modes, as well as because of their dependency on the application domain. Furthermore, such high-quality datasets are scant and range across various types and tasks like mathematical reasoning, video analysis, or following instructions. LVLMs cannot deliver the subtlety needed in real-world applications without proper alignment mechanisms.Current solutions to these challenges are mostly limited to text-only rewards or narrowly scoped generative models. Such models typically rely on hand annotations or proprietary systems, which are not scalable and not transparent. Furthermore, the current methods have a limitation concerning static datasets and pre-defined prompts that cannot capture all the variability in real-world inputs. This results in a large gap between the ability to develop comprehensive reward models that could guide LVLMs effectively.Researchers from the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Nanjing University, Fudan University, and Nanyang Technological University introduced InternLM-XComposer2.5-Reward (IXC-2.5-Reward). The model is a significant step in developing multi-modal reward models, providing a robust framework to align LVLM outputs with human preferences. Unlike other solutions, the IXC-2.5-Reward can process different forms, including text, images, and videos, and has the potential to perform well in varied applications. Hence, this approach is a large improvement over present tools, taking into account a lack of domain coverage and scalabilities.According to the researcher, IXC-2.5-Reward was designed through a comprehensive preference dataset and includes diverse domains such as texts, general reasonings, and video understanding. The model has a scoring head that predicts reward scores for given prompts and responses. The team used reinforcement learning algorithms like Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) to train a chat model, IXC-2.5-Chat, to provide high-quality, human-aligned responses. The training was accompanied by open-source and newly collected data, ensuring broad applicability. Further, the model does not suffer from the common pitfalls of length biases since it uses constraints on response lengths to ensure quality and conciseness in generated outputs.The performance of IXC-2.5-Reward sets a new benchmark in multi-modal AI. On VL-RewardBench, the model achieved an overall accuracy of 70.0%, outperforming prominent generative models like Gemini-1.5-Pro (62.5%) and GPT-4o (62.4%). The system also produced competitive results on text-only benchmarks, scoring 88.6% on Reward-Bench and 68.8% on RM-Bench. These results showed that the model could keep strong language processing capabilities even while performing extremely well in multi-modal tasks, and in addition, incorporating IXC-2.5-Reward into the chat model IXC-2.5-Chat produced large gains in instruction-following and multi-modal dialogue settings, validating the applicability of the reward model in real-world scenarios.The researchers also showcased three applications of IXC-2.5-Reward that underline its versatility. First, it serves as a supervisory signal for reinforcement learning, enabling on-policy optimization techniques like PPO to train models effectively. Second, the models test-time scaling capabilities allow optimal responses from multiple candidates to be selected, further enhancing performance. Lastly, IXC-2.5-Reward was essential in cleaning the data and finding noisy or problematic samples in the datasets, which were filtered out from training data and, therefore, enhanced the quality of training data for LVLMs.This work is a big leap forward in multi-modal reward models and bridges critical gaps regarding scalability, versatility, and alignment with human preferences. The authors have established the basis for further breakthroughs in this field through diverse datasets and the application of state-of-the-art reinforcement learning techniques. IXC-2.5-Reward is set to revolutionize multi-modal AI systems and bring more robustness and effectiveness to real-world applications.Check out the Paper and GitHub. 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 our70k+ ML SubReddit. Nikhil+ postsNikhil is an intern consultant at Marktechpost. He is pursuing an integrated dual degree in Materials at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Nikhil is an AI/ML enthusiast who is always researching applications in fields like biomaterials and biomedical science. With a strong background in Material Science, he is exploring new advancements and creating opportunities to contribute. Meet 'Height':The only autonomous project management tool (Sponsored)

Author(s): Paul Ferguson, Ph.D. Originally published on Towards AI. New AI models emerge almost weekly, making it hard to distinguish between the significant improvements and the minor updates. DeepSeek-R1, however, represents a clear exception.While its performance matches or slightly exceeds leading proprietary models (like OpenAIs o1) in many tasks, there are three reasons why this model is important:Cost Efficiency: Trained for only 510% of the cost of comparable modelsOpen Accessibility: Fully open-source under an MIT licenceTechnical Innovation: Novel methods like self-taught reasoning with task-focussed processingWhat makes this model so interesting isnt just its performance but how its achieved: its open-source framework and over 90% cost reduction put pressure on closed systems to innovate while enabling businesses to deploy advanced AI affordably.In summary: its combination of efficiency, transparency, and adaptably set a new benchmark for the industry.Competitive Performance Without the Premium PriceIndependent benchmarks show DeepSeek-R1 performs comparably to closed models in a number of domains: this challenges the assumption that open-source AI lags behind proprietary systems:Benchmark performance vs state-of-the-art models from OpenAI, Claude, etc. source DeepSeek publicationWhile its marginally behind in general knowledge (e.g., MMLU: 90.8% vs. 91.8%), it has clear advantages in technical tasks: making it particularly suited for software engineering, financial modelling, and scientific research.Open-Source DesignClosed models require costly API subscriptions, whereas DeepSeek-R1s MIT licence allows for:Full customisation: Modify the model for niche applications (e.g., healthcare,, legal contract analysis, etc).Local deployment: Smaller variants (1.5B70B parameters) run on consumer-grade GPUs (avoiding cloud fees). In a previous article, I discussed the growing importance of Small Language Models, and some of these models fit neatly into that category).Transparency: Independent audits of model weights to address bias or safety concerns.Novel MethodsDeepSeeks cost and efficiency advantages come within three main areas:Reinforcement Learning FirstSelf-taught reasoning: Learns through trial and error problem solving rather than expensive human feedbackDiscovery phase: Explores new strategies (e.g., it will attempt to verify its own answers)Alignment phase: Refines outputs for coherence and accuracyPredicting Two Steps AheadTraining: Forecasts the next two tokens at onceInference: Produces answers faster through parallel token predictionSparse, Task-Specialised ProcessingOnly 5.5% of parameters (37B/671B) are activated per queryCost SavingsDeepSeeks pricing changes what businesses can achieve with limited budgets:Free to use via its web app.Although for business use cases, these are typically carried out through API callsProvides API access at a relatively low cost ($0.14 for 1 million input tokens, compared to $7.5 for OpenAIs o1 model)To companies with significant usage of LLMs, these differences can add up to thousands of dollars over the course of a monthImplicationsDemocratisation: Smaller companies can more easily compete with larger businesses.Pressure on Closed Models: Companies like OpenAI are under pressure to reduce their prices or increase the transparency of their models.Ethical Trade-Offs: Though open weights help in bias mitigation, unregulated customisation risks misuse.ConclusionDeepSeek-R1 proves that AI progress does not have to rely on closed systems or unsustainable compute budgets.For organisations, this means faster experimentation, lower barriers to entry, and control over AI tools: a combination likely to accelerate innovation across different industries.While not flawless, its open-source model and technical ingenuity set a new standard for whats possible in efficient, accessible AI.If youd like to find out more about me, please check out www.paulferguson.me, or connect with me on LinkedIn.Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AI

From Generic to Genius: Comprehensive Guide to Fine-Tuning Large Language Models with Python 0 like January 26, 2025Share this postLast Updated on January 27, 2025 by Editorial TeamAuthor(s): Krishan Walia Originally published on Towards AI. A comprehensive guide to fine-tuning Large Language Models in the most beginner-friendly way using Python!This member-only story is on us. Upgrade to access all of Medium.Not a member?Access the full article here (and just don't forget to leave a clap)The difference between a good AI and a game-changing or genius AI is often just a few lines of code.Welcome to the art of fine-tuning where we can turn generic language models into hyper-intelligent, context-aware problem solvers, which can revolutionize how industries approach complex challenges.With Python as our toolkit and strategic fine-tuning as our method, well learn how to respire specialized intelligence into Large Language Models, turning them from broad generalists into domain-specific experts.Photo by Christopher Gower on UnsplashThe Table Of Contents of this article is as follows, Large Language Model | Fine Tuning Models | AI | Python | Unsloth | Specialized LLMs | Data Science | Programming I. Understanding Large Language Models II. Fundamentals of Fine Tuning III. Technical Prerequisites Python libraries and frameworks Computational Requirements Data preparation strategies IV. Python Implementation Connecting to the Compute Resource Installing the packages Loading the model and tokenizer Adding LoRA Adapters Data Preparation Training the Model V. Inferencing the Fine-Tuned Model VI. Saving the Fine-Tuned Read the full blog for free on Medium.Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AITowards AI - Medium Share this post

Hot off the heels of another successful campaign in 2024, the LEGO group is gearing up for an even bigger 2025. Last year, the worlds largest toymaker expanded into The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, Wicked, and more universes. This year, beloved themes such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings will continue to grow while new and exciting licenses like Twilight and One Piece enter the fray.Den of Geek has compiled a list of the most exciting LEGO rumors and leaks for sets potentially coming out the remainder of 2025. Keep in mind that these are not officially confirmed releases, so take each rumor with a grain of salt. However, these reports usually end up being true more often than not, as was the case with the rumored One Piece and Twilight sets. You can find a list of confirmed sets coming out here.LEGO The Lord of the Rings Bag EndEstimated Release Date: April 2025LEGO brought back the beloved The Lord of the Rings theme two years ago with the release of 10316: Rivendell, a 6,000-piece behemoth. They followed that up last year with 10333: Barad-dr, another massive entry for the theme recreating the iconic Eye of Sauron watching over Mordor. It appears the first of two LOTR sets in 2025 is Bag End, Bilbo, and Frodos quaint little Hobbit Hole in the Shire. LEGO has made this location once before, with 79003: An Unexpected Gathering, based on the original Hobbit film from 2012. Expect the new set to mimic this classic model but at four times the detail and size. A plethora of Hobbit minifigures should be included as well: short legs, proud feet, and all.LEGO Star Wars UCS Jango Fetts Slave IEstimated Release Date: May 1, 2025Every year, LEGO does a special release of a new Ultimate Collector Series set to celebrate May 4th, a.k.a. Star Wars day. Those sets have been dominated by vehicles, droids, and locations from the original Star Wars trilogy, leaving many fans of some of the other sects of the galaxy far, far away unsatisfied. Well, it turns out their patience has paid off, because it appears the next UCS Star Wars set will be Jango Fetts version of Slave I from Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.LEGO has made Jangos rendition of this iconic vessel only once before, with set 7153 back in 2002. It has now been over 2 decades since that set was on shelves, and its value from third party sellers has propelled it near the top of the most expensive LEGO Star Wars sets of all time. Its about time LEGO made a new version, and the fact its getting the literal ultimate treatment should excite Star Wars collectors. 75060: Slave I from 2015, the UCS version of Boba Fetts vehicle, should serve as inspiration for this set, however the new model will update the color scheme and likely modernize the build techniques.LEGO The Lord of the Rings Gandalf vs. Durins Bane Book NookEstimated Release Date: Summer 2025After the immense success of the aforementioned The Lord of the Rings sets, its no surprise LEGO is doubling its output for the theme this year. The next rumored set will depict Gandalf in his epic clash with Durins Bane, otherwise known as the Balrog. This beloved fiery battle sequence from The Fellowship of the Ring has been requested by LEGO LOTR fans ever since the themes inception in 2012, and it appears theyll finally deliver, but not in the way we expected. This set is rumored to be a LEGO-ified book nook, a piece that can slide comfortably into a shelf to hold up those dusty books you never read. This a natural fit for a Lord of the Rings set, seeing as those movies originated from Tolkiens masterwork, and were excited to see LEGOs creativity on display with this model.LEGO Transformers SoundwaveEstimated Release Date: Summer 2025In an unprecedented crossover, rival toy manufacturers LEGO and Hasbro teamed up to bring brick-built Transformers to life, with the release of 10302 Optimus Prime in 2022 and 10338 Bumblebee in 2024. Fans speculated the next LEGO Transformer would be the Autobots arch nemesis, Megatron. However, it appears the character Soundwave is getting the LEGO treatment; perhaps Megatrons design is too militaristic for the infamously anti-war LEGO. Needless to say, Soundwave should prove to make for a fun LEGO set, and the Transformers blocky aesthetic perfectly fits their system.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean The Black PearlEstimated Release Date: Late 2025LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean is back! After an eight year hiatus, the once-retired Disney theme is making a comeback in the fall of 2025 with a large-scale remake of The Black Pearl. The titular pirate ship from the first film in the franchise, The Black Pearl, was once made into a LEGO set 14 years ago, as seen with 4184. That set was made of less than 900 pieces and only retailed for $99.99. The new set is rumored to be much, much bigger. The full extent of it is unknown at this time, but fans can likely anticipate new minifigures of your favorite POTC characters and one of the most detailed sailboats LEGO has ever produced.LEGO Star Wars UCS Death StarEstimated Release Date: October 2025Would you pay $999.99 for a single LEGO set? Thats the rumored price of the latest Ultimate Collector Series Death Star. The piece count is unknown now, but there will likely be quite a few. Before this, two Star Wars sets were tied for the title of the most expensive set ever. Those sets in question, 75192: Millennium Falcon and 75313: AT-AT, rang in at $849.99, meaning the new Death Star will take the crown by a hefty margin. LEGO Star Wars aficionados hope for a fully detailed interior to pair with an extravagant interior for the latest UCS Death Star, seeing as the previous iterations have either had one or the other. Were also hoping this set comes with a smorgasbord of minifigures, with characters from multiple movies like A New Hope, Return of the Jedi, and perhaps even Rogue One.LEGO Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise DEstimated Release Date: November 28, 2025LEGO Star Wars has been around for 26 years now. The theme had a massive celebration for its quarter-century anniversary last year. Its a staple for LEGO in the 21st century. But where is Star Wars pseudo-space rival, Star Trek? Lost to the void of the great unknown, apparently. Despite being one of the biggest IPs in the history of Hollywood, Star Trek has never received an official LEGO set until now.This Black Friday, the nightmare might finally be over, as LEGO is expected to begin its journey exploring strange new worlds with the release of the USS Enterprise D. Thats right, instead of kicking things off with the ship from the original series, it appears that the first LEGO Star Trek build is the Enterprise D from The Next Generation. Were unsure whether this will go over well with fans or not, but perhaps LEGO has bigger plans for the future of this partnership. That notwithstanding, the possibilities of a collaboration between LEGO and Star Trek are endless, and you can bet your bottom dollar the release of this set will crash websites come midnight after Thanksgiving.