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Today is all about Microsoft

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Cash Nut
May 15, 2023

In Today’s Edition

  • Microsoft agrees to buy electricity generated from Sam Altman-backed fusion company Helion in 2028

  • Microsoft ramps up A.I. game with bet on startup that helps coding novices build apps

  • Microsoft wants Firefox to make Bing its default search engine

  • Binance.US Exploring Options to Cut Changpeng Zhao’s Stake

  • Apple Testing 'M3 Pro' Chip for MacBook Pro With 12-Core CPU and 18-Core GPU

  • First principles on AI scaling

  • The groundbreaking plan to map the entire human immune system

🚀Startups Nuts

Microsoft said Wednesday it has signed a power purchase agreement with nuclear fusion startup Helion to buy electricity from it in 2028. The deal is a vote of confidence for fusion, which has thus far not been commercialized. Silicon Valley insider Sam Altman has invested $375 million into Helion, the largest investment he personally has ever made. His other big bet is artificial intelligence company OpenAI, in which Mirosoft is a large investor.

Through a strategic partnership, Microsoft plans to integrate Builder.ai’s own AI assistant Natasha in its Teams video and chat software to let customers build business apps within the platform. Microsoft has also taken an equity stake in Builder.ai. The companies declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal. The deal signifies a further bid by Microsoft to ramp up its efforts in AI, which has become a core focus for the company as it looks to become a leader in the technology.

🏭Business Nuts

Firefox's contract with Google is ending, and Microsoft wants the browser to make Bing its default search engine. Apple's default browser contract with Google expires next year, allowing Microsoft to make Bing the default browser on Safari. Microsoft sees potential in such partnerships for boosting Bing's usage. These deals may not guarantee increased usage of Bing.

Binance.US and CZ are considering strategies to reduce his significant ownership stake in the entity to improve the company's standing with US regulators. Since last summer, Zhao has been attempting to divest at least a part of his stake in Binance.USBinance.US since last summer. This news comes amid a lawsuit from the CFTC, which accused Binance of operating an "illegal" exchange and circumventing US laws. Company leaders believe reducing Zhao's stake could enhance the company's image and facilitate obtaining regulatory licenses.

📱Tech Nuts

Apple is reportedly testing an unreleased chip believed to be the base-level M3 Pro inside a future high-end MacBook Pro. The chip is expected to be manufactured based on TSMC's 3nm process. It has a 12-core CPU, 18-core GPU, and 36GB of memory. Apple is currently working on new iMac, MacBook Air, and low-end MacBook Pro models with the standard M3 chip. The first Macs with the M3 chip are expected to be released towards the end of this year or early next year. The long-rumored 15-inch MacBook Air will be released this summer with the M2 chip.

Scaling laws indicate that Large Language Models (LLMs) will get substantially better at predicting words with the addition of more data and computational power. However, while it might be feasible to increase dataset size, there are potential barriers to making them more than 10 times larger than their current state, such as cost. Scaling LLMs to maximum potential would cost substantially more than the GDP of the planet with current technology. There is likely a computational limitation. Current scaling laws could be inaccurate due to the small amount of data and computation used to fit the model.

🎁Miscellaneous

Wayne Koff, who spent over 30 years fighting the AIDS crisis, has launched the Human Immunome Project to create a virtual simulation of the human immune system using artificial intelligence. Its success could lead to significant impacts, such as improving cancer therapies and understanding Long Covid. The project faces a much greater challenge than the Human Genome Project, with the data involved being millions of times larger and vastly more complex. Completing it will require an unprecedented level of collaboration between research laboratories.

💡What else are we reading and seeing?

😎Fun Fact

The only thing that grows faster than compound interest is compound interest on compound interest.

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