Elena Yunusov

Today’s Nobel Prize in Physics Congratulations to Geoffrey Hinton for being a co-recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in Machine Learning. Some articles this morning have coined him as the grandfather of AI.   Dr. Hinton is a favourite topic of Canadian IP pundits. By all accounts his AI work at UoT was groundbreaking and, along the way, patents associated with some of it are now owned by Google. It is here that the pundits entered the picture with chatter about the loss of Canadian IP.   I too entered the chatter in 2020, sort of. Okay, it was more like talking to myself. At that time I penned a series of three articles about IP in Canada. The first or these (https://lnkd.in/esE7eKc) considered the loss of technology and IP. I said we need to identify the technology that is being developed and patented and we need to invest.  We need to be on the same playing field as those buying Canadian IP. This is one of my motivations for founding IPmart.   A September 15th Opinion in the Globe & Mail framed the IP discussion in terms of productivity. The authors wrote “… we need to dramatically increase the rate at which we protect and commercialize new ideas and the intellectual property (IP) that often starts in publicly funded research.” Hmmm … that sounds familiar! #technology #patents #CDNtech #IPmart

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Quantum science will change the world. This is no exaggeration – it is happening. But where it will happen remains an open question. One thing, however, is clear: It will be where leaders make it a priority. Good things happen to those who commit. Canada, among other countries, has taken the first steps in this direction, but seeing it to fruition will be a big challenge. In an article from the forthcoming edition of the Innovation News Network Innovation Platform, Paul Smith, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer asks what it will take to bring the long-promised quantum technology revolution to fruition. Read the whole article here: https://lnkd.in/eGaHg-Ke #canada #horizoneurope #quantum #quantumphysics #quantumcomputing #quantumtechnology #science #research

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🚨 One-third of AI projects just for show #Relief! And Kudos! Calgary Public Library 📈 How To Make Decisions Like A Billionaire My weekly Tech news round-up of news you can use: 🚨 One-third of AI projects just for show 💡 The main purpose of AI initiatives is to show investors and stakeholders their organization is doing something with AI. However, “You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.” AI is happening, and businesses need to embrace it. Here’s how: 👇 https://lnkd.in/ghrkEUz9 #Relief! And Kudos! No personal data leaked in Calgary Public Library cybersecurity attack 🎉 👏 Kudos to Calgary Public Library's cybersecurity team and incident response protocols that blocked a recent cyber attack. Ransomware attacks are on the rise—stay vigilant, folks! 🔐 https://lnkd.in/gpHGap8C 📈 How To Make Decisions Like A Billionaire These well-known billionaires prove that a boring, principle-driven approach can lead to massive success. 💼 Ray Dalio has detailed playbooks guiding every decision, from investing to hiring. 📊 Bill Gates says measure everything: "If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” ⏰ Warren Buffett lives by a strict routine. Choose method over madness. https://lnkd.in/gczGwq_s

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The EU just solidified its position as global regulatory watchdog with final passage of the EU AI Act… What does that mean for US firms??? We talked to Manoj Saxena of Responsible AI Institute and Daniel Colson of AI Policy Institute about the ramifications: https://lnkd.in/esSdDmX2

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❗Good news for those building AI-ready governments❗ Apolitical received a $5 million grant from @Google.org to scale up the Government AI Campus and train 1 million public servants in #artficialintelligence in two years. Through the AI Campus, public servants can access peer-to-peer communities, free online courses, and masterclasses with global experts. Google.org’s funding will add: - five new courses - in-person and online convenings - briefings for senior leaders - a thought leadership series - case studies - tools and frameworks for government decision-makers The AI Campus will deliver global content in local ways, by partnering with in-country and translating into 10 languages, including: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Korean and Japanese.  Join to the movement to build an AI-ready public sector worldwide: https://lnkd.in/egbcEzRF 

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Trying to make sense of Agentic AI? Read this explainer on What Are AI Agents? https://buff.ly/3CuMRLd by IEEE. More importantly, what does this mean for the future of human work? #ai #agenticAI #llm #genAI #innovation #futureofwork #productivity

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🔹Origin: Upend is a Canadian startup that began as a summer project by Jeevan Arora from the University of Toronto School. 🔹Purpose: It aims to empower students and professionals with generative AI search capabilities, driven by a large selection of language models. 🔹Differentiation: Unlike its competitors, Upend offers a choice of 100 LLMs including both general-purpose and task-specific models. 🔹Features: - A gen AI search bar where users can select an LLM to answer queries related to work or everyday life. - The ability to provide grounded answers with citations, using a combination of web search and selected sources. - Support for more office file formats like Word and Excel for analysis. 🔹Pricing: Upend has a team package priced at $20 per month, aiming for a cost reduction of up to 90% for enterprise teams. They also offer a discounted student plan at $5 per month. 🔹Search approaches: Microsoft and Google are improving their search engines with AI while OpenAI plans a competitor. Upend focuses on affordability and a wide range of model options, positioning itself as a strong contender in the AI search engine market, while the others prioritize advanced AI for search accuracy. #llm #ai #search #model

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🏆Impressive work from all T-RIZE Labs team and T-RIZE Labs Chairman Professor Kaiwen Zhang ! The integration of AI Federated Learning and blockchain-based carbon credit tokenization is a testament to how decentralized technologies can unlock new levels of privacy, security, and sustainability. 💚By combining these advanced methodologies, T-RIZE GROUP | RWA Tokenization & Onchain Federated Learning is not only driving innovation but also pioneering a path for scalable, eco-friendly solutions that align with global carbon reduction goals. This is the kind of forward-thinking approach that we expect to see from the world’s leading research hubs—an inspiring example for the tech and sustainability sectors alike. Digital Asset Canton Network IEX Chainlink Chainlink Labs

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Is this battle about search or AGI? OpenAI's newly released search engine competitor to Google called SearchGPT, which will also pose a big challenge to Aravind Srinivas' Perplexity, may lead some to believe that the battle is all about challenging Google's search monopoly and denting its advertising revenue. While this is the obvious part, beneath the surface, the bigger fight is also about controlling all streams of user data, including those from search engines and social media, which can help big tech companies such as Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia and Elon Musk's xAI build the world's most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) model. I would love to know your views. LiveMint Daniel Faggella https://lnkd.in/g_8_jABh

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So far, discussions around incentives in the intensifying war for top AI talent have mostly revolved around multimillion-dollar compensation packages and access to GPUs. Jan Lekie’s jump from OpenAI to rival Anthropic to do basically the same job, however, suggests that AI companies’ demonstrated commitment to safety may become an increasingly important factor in the AI talent war. There are a lot of folks who want to see AI developed and deployed responsibly, and the stream of resignations from OpenAI over safety concerns shows that top talent will go elsewhere if they feel the company they’re working for is on a dangerous path. The stakes are getting higher by the day as AI (and its harmful effects) advance rapidly, with insufficient guardrails. For AI professionals, whether they are concerned with existing harms, like deepfakes, or long-term risks, like AI destroying humanity, as Leike is, there’s no time to waste at a company that won’t take their work or the risks seriously. Engineers who are developing AI systems might also think twice about where they bring their talents if they believe certain companies are acting recklessly, fearing they’ll be blamed for unleashing harmful AI and all the consequences that come with it. Read the full story in today's Eye on AI: https://lnkd.in/ev7rZqgd

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My first piece in Rest of World is an exclusive, thanks to the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab sharing their fascinating research with us. Microsoft has long held the position that pulling its internet services out of China would deny the Chinese people of an “important avenue of communication and expression.” But new research found that Bing censors search and translation even more than its Chinese rivals. Why is it the case that Chinese companies censor less? Read to learn more, and let me know what you think! https://lnkd.in/gKRfjz9p

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Here is how AI can cut out the middleman between practitioners and solution providers. What do you think of this AI experiment? It dawned on me that AI's ability to instantly provide humans with the information we need, why not let it tell me which solution provider I should engage to solve the very specific and immediate challenges I am facing as a practitioner? Think of it like letting "your fingers do the walking through the yellow pages." (Some of you will get this, others won't). After all, if you consider the following, this is an immediate pathway to scalability of success - right? 💡 80% of all generational ProcureTech initiatives fail to deliver the expected results, e.g., ERP, SaaS, digital transformation, AI, data democratization et al. 💡 Talking with any solution provider, including reading their "detailed" case studies, websites, and press releases, AI is the answer, so why not use it to select one of these providers? In today's post, I asked AI - specifically ChatGPT, to tell me which of the following solution providers can help the LCBO if there is a rail strike and how they would do it. The five suppliers are TealBook Expana SAP Ariba Trust Your Supplier (TYS) and Helios. Now, to kick back, enjoy my morning coffee, and let AI do the walking for me toward ultimate success. Thoughts? David Loseby MCIOB Chtr'd FAPM FCMI FCIPS Chtr'd FRSA MIoD MICW Dr. Thierry Fausten Dr Tony Bridger Sarah Scudder - ITAM Nerd in Training Kelly Barner Canda Rozier, Procurement Evangelist Joselina Peralta Lisa Fenton Michael Lamoureux Jennifer Cameron Stephany Lapierre Roger Blumberg Bill Michels Dr. Paul Stanley FRSA FIoD AFRIN David Shillingford Ulf Venne Jason Busch Dr. Marcell Vollmer Howard Richman Yash Thula Claude Egli Arpit Choudhury Meir Vatagsky Marion Van Espen Bertrand Maltaverne Alun Rafique MCIPS CEng, MIMechE Gregor Stühler Sai Nidamarty Michelle Armstrong Debra Yorkman Shiv Shankar Bill Foudy Nick Nanos Luis Lima https://lnkd.in/gy4MH2vQ

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Some good news for British Columbia's quantum technology industry. 🎉  The Canadian Government has announced over $11 million in funding for the sector.   Quantum science has been responsible for groundbreaking progress in domains such as medicine, digital communication and forecasting climate change.   And British Columbia has long been a global leader in the industry.   Now, it's in a strong position to achieve even more growth.  The Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan) has allocated $11 million under the Regional Quantum Initiative for three B.C.-based organizations that are innovating in quantum computing.   It's hoped these businesses will help further boost Canada's global authority in the field and commercialize quantum technologies within Canada and beyond.   "Quantum technology has the capacity to deliver innovations in the future with enormous potential for commercialization. British Columbia is well-positioned to increase its lead in this exciting field. The PacifiCan-funded projects announced today will help B.C.-based organizations access the support they need to propel themselves forward, creating jobs and prosperity here in British Columbia."  - The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan). Where do you think Canada's quantum technology will go next?  https://lnkd.in/gyGgP2gF  #BritishColumbia #Technology #Recruitment

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Interesting to see OIX - Open Identity Exchange working on cross-border interoperability with Canada's DIACC. (And not just because I'm a Canuck.) https://lnkd.in/g-p2DAEZ

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👀 This is as wild a story as I've read in a long time. #Deepfakes powered by #AI are coming this #election season, and main tools we have to detect them don't always work. So how do these deepfake detectors function? Go inside with Cat Zakrzewski, Pranshu Verma & Kevin Schaul, my colleagues The Washington Post.

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This “quantum-inspired” laser computer is more effective than both supercomputers and quantum computers, its creators claim. The desktop-sized LPU100 eschews traditional electronics and qubits in favor of lasers – and it can reportedly perform complex AI calculations in “nanoseconds”. https://lnkd.in/e-s7V3WK #quantumcomputing

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