Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: finance – Page 11

Skild AI, a startup that’s developing artificial intelligence-powered brains for robots, said today it has closed on a bumper $300 million early-stage funding round, bringing its valuation to a cool $1.5 billion.

The Series A round was led by a host of top-tier venture capital firms, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, Softbank Group Corp. and Jeff Bezos’s Bezos Expeditions. It also saw participation from the likes of Felicis Ventures, Sequoia, Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst, CRV, Amazon, SV Angel and Carnegie Mellon University.

Skild AI is building what it says is a “shared, general-purpose brain” that will be able to equip a diverse group of robots that can perform multiple kinds of tasks in a wide range of scenarios, such as manipulating objects, locomotion and navigation. It says its AI intelligence can be integrated with any kind of robot, including humanoid bots with advanced computer vision skills designed to perform dexterous manipulation of objects in the home and in industrial settings, and more resilient quadruped robots that can navigate any physical environment.

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Consciousness is comprised of arousal (i.e., wakefulness) and awareness. Substantial progress has been made in mapping the cortical networks that modulate awareness in the human brain, but knowledge about the subcortical networks that sustain arousal is lacking. We integrated data from ex vivo diffusion MRI, immunohistochemistry, and in vivo 7 Tesla functional MRI to map the connectivity of a subcortical arousal network that we postulate sustains wakefulness in the resting, conscious human brain, analogous to the cortical default mode network (DMN) that is believed to sustain self-awareness. We identified nodes of the proposed default ascending arousal network (dAAN) in the brainstem, hypothalamus, thalamus, and basal forebrain by correlating ex vivo diffusion MRI with immunohistochemistry in three human brain specimens from neurologically normal individuals scanned at 600–750 µm resolution. We performed deterministic and probabilistic tractography analyses of the diffusion MRI data to map dAAN intra-network connections and dAAN-DMN internetwork connections. Using a newly developed network-based autopsy of the human brain that integrates ex vivo MRI and histopathology, we identified projection, association, and commissural pathways linking dAAN nodes with one another and with cortical DMN nodes, providing a structural architecture for the integration of arousal and awareness in human consciousness. We release the ex vivo diffusion MRI data, corresponding immunohistochemistry data, network-based autopsy methods, and a new brainstem dAAN atlas to support efforts to map the connectivity of human consciousness.

One sentence summary We performed ex vivo diffusion MRI, immunohistochemistry, and in vivo 7 Tesla functional MRI to map brainstem connections that sustain wakefulness in human consciousness.

BF has a financial interest in CorticoMetrics, a company whose medical pursuits focus on brain imaging and measurement technologies. BF’s interests were reviewed and are managed by Massachusetts General Hospital and Mass General Brigham HealthCare in accordance with their conflict-of-interest policies.

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Moreover, the concept of limitation, which dictates that the means and methods of warfare are not unlimited, can help prevent the escalation of conflicts in space by imposing restrictions on the use of certain weapons or tactics that could cause indiscriminate harm or result in long-term consequences for space exploration and utilization. Given a growing number of distinct weapons systems in orbit – from missile defense systems with kinetic anti-satellite capabilities, electronic warfare counter-space capabilities, and directed energy weapons to GPS jammers, space situational awareness, surveillance, and intelligence gathering capabilities – legal clarity rather than strategic ambiguity are crucial for ensuring the responsible and peaceful use of outer space.

Additionally, the principle of humanity underscores the importance of treating all individuals with dignity and respect, including astronauts, cosmonauts, and civilians who may be affected by conflicts in space. By upholding this principle, outer space law can ensure that human rights are protected and preserved, particularly in the profoundly challenging environment of outer space. Moreover, with civilians on the ground increasingly tethered to space technologies for communication, navigation, banking, leisure, and other essential services, the protection of their rights becomes a fundamental imperative.

The modern laws of armed conflict (LOAC) offer a valuable blueprint for developing a robust legal framework for governing activities in outer space. By integrating complementary principles of LOAC or international humanitarian law with the UN Charter into outer space law, policymakers can promote the peaceful and responsible use of outer space while mitigating the risks associated with potential conflicts in this increasingly contested domain.

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TAMPA, Fla. — Mandala Space Ventures, a Californian venture studio and incubator, announced July 8 the nine United Kingdom-based startups participating in its UK Space Agency-funded accelerator program this fall.

The eight-week virtual course starts Sept. 3 and culminates with an in-person investor pitch day at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California.

The SoCal-UK Space Accelerator creates a “transatlantic portal for great ideas from the U.K.,” said Mandala founder and CEO Leon Alkalai, helping prepare them for venture capital and access to the U.S. market.

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This is a recording of the AGI23 Conference, Day 1, June 16th 2023, Stockholm. This video shows the following tutorial: Test and Evaluation First Principles for General Learning Systems, led by Tyler Cody.

SingularityNET was founded by Dr. Ben Goertzel with the mission of creating a decentralized, democratic, inclusive, and beneficial Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). An AGI is not dependent on any central entity, is open to anyone, and is not restricted to the narrow goals of a single corporation or even a single country.

The SingularityNET team includes seasoned engineers, scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, and marketers. Our core platform and AI teams are further complemented by specialized teams devoted to application areas such as finance, robotics, biomedical AI, media, arts, and entertainment.

Website: https://singularitynet.io.

Continue reading “AGI-23 | Test and Evaluation First Principles for General Learning Systems” | >

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – U.S. Army electronic warfare (EW) experts are reaching out to industry for new ways to design electronic payloads that counter enemy positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT).

Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., issued a request for information (W56KGURTI-24-R-1001) on Friday for the Counter-PNT Navigation Warfare Defeat project.

Counter-PNT seeks to defeat enemy satellite navigation and timing systems, such as the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), which are essential for navigation, communications, weapons guidance, surveillance, transportation, and financial transactions.

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In this thought-provoking lecture, Prof. Jay Friedenberg from Manhattan College delves into the intricate interplay between cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and ethics. With nearly 30 years of teaching experience, Prof. Friedenberg discusses how visual perception research informs AI design, the implications of brain-machine interfaces, the role of creativity in both humans and AI, and the necessity for ethical considerations as technology evolves. He emphasizes the importance of human agency in shaping our technological future and explores the concept of universal values that could guide the development of AGI for the betterment of society.

00:00 Introduction to Jay Friedenberg.
01:02 Connecting Cognitive Science and AI
02:36 Human Augmentation and Technology.
03:50 Brain-Machine Interfaces.
05:43 Balancing Optimism and Caution in AI
07:52 Free Will vs Determinism.
12:34 Creativity in Humans and Machines.
16:45 Ethics and Value Alignment in AI
20:09 Conclusion and Future Work.

SingularityNET was founded by Dr. Ben Goertzel with the mission of creating a decentralized, democratic, inclusive, and beneficial Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). An AGI is not dependent on any central entity, is open to anyone, and is not restricted to the narrow goals of a single corporation or even a single country.

The SingularityNET team includes seasoned engineers, scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, and marketers. Our core platform and AI teams are further complemented by specialized teams devoted to application areas such as finance, robotics, biomedical AI, media, arts, and entertainment.

Continue reading “Exploring AI, Cognitive Science, and Ethics | Deep Interview with Jay Friedenberg” | >

Richie Etwaru is Co-founder & CEO at Mobeus. He’s also a former CTO, CDO & CIO at Fortune 500 firms in Financial Services and Healthcare.

Although generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has been making headlines, another of today’s most tantalizing and controversial topics is the concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI). The idea of AGI —a machine with “the ability to understand, learn, and apply knowledge across a wide range of tasks,” much like a human—has captured the imaginations of scientists, entrepreneurs and science fiction writers alike. However, despite the allure of creating such a machine, a growing body of evidence suggests that AGI will never be realized.

Human intelligence is fundamentally collective and constantly evolving. As individuals, we contribute to a vast pool of knowledge that grows exponentially over time. This collective intelligence isn’t merely the sum of all human knowledge but a complex, interconnected web of ideas, insights and innovations that continuously build upon one another. I’m deliberately excluding human instincts from the dialogue, as this requires another article.

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OpenAI has acquired Rockset, which builds tools to drive real-time search and data analytics.

In a post on its official blog, OpenAI said that it would integrate Rockset’s technology to “power [its] infrastructure across products.” Members of Rockset’s team will join OpenAI, and Rockset’s existing customers will be transitioned off of Rockset’s platform “gradually.”

The financial terms weren’t disclosed.

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