We hope you enjoy this week's hand-picked selection of important and interesting stories from the frontiers of tech.
Deep Tech ⇨DALL-E 2, the future of AI research, and OpenAI’s business model
Artificial intelligence research lab OpenAI made headlines again, this time with DALL-E 2, a machine learning model that can generate stunning images from text descriptions. DALL-E 2 builds on the success of its predecessor DALL-E and improves the quality and resolution of the output images thanks to advanced deep learning techniques. (read)
These images (from the DALL-E 2 blog post) are generated from the description “An astronaut riding a horse.” One of the descriptions ends with “as a pencil drawing” and the other “in photorealistic style.”
Deep Tech ⇨ Exploring the quantum triad: Quantum sensing
Quantum sensors are the next frontier of sensing, as they can unlock innovation in frontier applications like brain-computer interfaces and precise position, navigation, and timing. (read)
Climate ⇨We’ve Never Seen a Carbon-Removal Plan Like This Before
The world’s biggest tech companies are getting serious about carbon removal, the still-nascent technology wherein humanity can pull heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Yesterday, an alliance of prominent Silicon Valley companies—including Google, Meta, Shopify, and the payment company Stripe—announced that it is purchasing $925 million in carbon removal over the next eight years. In a world awash in overhyped corporate climate commitments, this is actually a big deal. (read)
Web3 ⇨ Atoms, Institutions, Blockchains
Josh Stark of Ethereum Foundation lays out a new mental model — Atoms, Institutions, and Blockchains — a set of building materials that, used together in aggregate, make a stronger whole. (read) (thread)
Web3 ⇨ Reputation DAO capital raising lures prominent backers
A group of Australian developers has created a reputation service for decentralised finance (DeFi) by linking data sources used in the traditional financial system to lending protocols on blockchains, a move that promises to reduce the amount of collateral required to borrow. (read)
