LK-99 Updates, Elon Musk buys AI.com from OpenAI

Welcome to The Dispatch! We are the newsletter that keeps you informed about AI. Each weekday, we scour the web to aggregate the many stories related to artificial intelligence; we pass along the news, useful resources, tools or services, guides, technical analysis and exciting developments in open source.

In today’s Dispatch:

• Scientists at Southeast University in China have independently synthesized the potential room temperature superconductor, LK-99. Their findings suggest that the new compound could indeed be a high temperature superconductor, but do not physically confirm it (more in our technical section).

• An Associated Press article explores whether or not AI chatbot’s "hallucinating" issue can be solved. Some experts argue that the problem may not be entirely fixable due to the inherent mismatch between technology and proposed use cases. The article emphasizes the balance between creativity and accuracy in AI models and highlights ongoing efforts to moderate the technology.

• A reddit user uploaded former President Donald J. Trump’s 45-page indictment for the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol into ChatGPT’s Code Interpreter, and then asked it to identify all 6 unnamed co-conspirators. It did.

Plus: UK spy agencies lobbying for uninhibited access to public data, Meta open sources text-to-audio AI models, trending tools or services, and more.

UK spy agencies want ‘burdensome’ laws on AI data use relaxed

The story: UK spy/intelligence agencies are lobbying for the government to relax surveillance and data laws currently limiting their AI development, arguing the rules are too burdensome. Privacy groups have expressed alarm at the "deregulatory" push.

More details:

• GCHQ, MI6 and MI5 want to create a new category of personal data with fewer safeguards to train their AI models more easily.

• This data would mostly likely include social media content, podcasts, academic papers and other publicly available data where privacy expectations are deemed low.

• The agencies say this will remove barriers to cooperating with tech firms, hiring data scientists, and effectively leveraging AI tools for analysis supporting national security interests.

• Current regulations in the UK require a judge’s approval to access bulk datasets. Their proposal would allow quicker internal authorization instead.

Takeaways: The UK intelligence services' bid for unfettered AI model development prioritizes operational goals over data privacy and transparency. MI5 has had little regard for data laws in the past, and there is an increasing awareness that "low privacy" data can reveal sensitive information when aggregated. The push for bulk data access reflects a global trend of security agencies lobbying for accelerated AI capabilities without democratic controls - or public debate.

OpenAI files application for GPT-5 trademark

The story: Windows Latest has discovered that OpenAI filed a trademark application for GPT-5 a couple of weeks ago, fueling speculation that a GPT-5 release might be imminent. However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has stated recently that GPT-5 was not even being trained yet.

More details:

• OpenAI filed a trademark application for GPT-4 on March 13, 2023, which was released that same month. OpenAI filed this trademark application for GPT-5 on July 18.

• The trademark filing is currently in the "new application processing" phase, indicating the trademark office has accepted it and is awaiting assignment to an examining attorney.

• The GPT-5 application covers a wide range of AI/Natural Language Processing software capabilities, but there are no noteworthy new technical aspects listed.

• At a recent event, Altman said they have "a lot of work to do" before GPT-5 and are "certainly not close to it." OpenAI has not made any official statement on the application yet.

Takeaways: Given the very close timeframes on the GPT-4 trademark application and subsequent model release, it’s easy to see why this discovery was cause for commotion. However, GPT-5 capabilities and release dates are pure speculation at this point.

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LK-99 update

• Scientists at Southeast University in China have reported measuring zero electrical resistance in a sample of LK-99 they synthesized themselves.

• They observed zero resistance at -163°C (110K) using a four-point probe method - a significant finding if confirmed.

• Their LK-99’s resistance switched on/off with an applied magnetic field, suggesting superconductivity.

• Computer models suggest superconductivity happens because copper atoms added to the lead apatite crystals make the electrons bunch together at one energy level instead of spreading out. This "flat energy band" is thought to allow superconductivity.

• Their sample had higher purity than the original LK-99 paper.

• The scientists saw the material's resistance decrease between room temperature and -53°C. This roughly matches the first LK-99 paper's results, lending more support to their claims.

The Southeast University scientists say this isn't absolute proof of superconductivity yet, but everything so far agrees with simulations suggesting LK-99 could enable high temperature superconductivity.

Social media/YouTube:

• Someone uploaded Donald Trump’s 45-page indictment into ChatGPT’s Code Interpreter to identify his co-conspirators [Reddit]

• This AI-generated fake movie trailer was made in 7 hours [Reddit]

• Oni-Step is an AI-powered virtual assistant for Unity game development [X]

• Two Bit da Vinci covers room temperature superconductors and gives a down-to-earth assessment of LK-99 [YouTube]

• Meta’s new AudioCraft gets taken for a test drive [YouTube]

Did you know?

Amazon Clinic is now available nationwide, allowing for video visits with doctors in all states. Amazon's healthcare push comes amid fierce competition from Microsoft, Google and others leveraging AI in virtual care.

While some urge FDA-like validation for healthcare AI, rapid implementation continues. Though Amazon is choosing to emphasize convenience over AI aspirations at this moment, expanding its healthcare data holdings would position it strongly for future AI integrations.

Trending AI Tools & Services:

• Octane AI: The top AI research agent/business growth tool for DTC brands.

• Salesflare: AI-powered processes and broad integrations make Salesflare the top CRM for small and medium sized businesses.

• AdCreative.ai: Generate conversion focused ads and social media post creatives in a matter of seconds using AI. Free trial available.

• TipTap AI: AI features for developers building content editor apps.

• Magical AI: A GPT-powered calendar for your meetings and work