Why Your Company Needs a Culture of Curiosity
And why you should be curious yourself
What a week! Bitcoin surpassed 100,000 USD, ChatGPT became 2 years old, and Intel’s CEO stepped down after catastrophic financial results and 52% decline in stock prices.
But there’s more…
✍️ In This Issue ✍️
This Week in AI: ChatGPT Turns 2, The AI Hype Continues, Bitcoin Passes 100,000 USD
AI Company Updates: Amazon, Apple, OpenAI, Salesforce, Intel and more
Deep Dive(s): Harmful Robots?, Culture of Curiosity
AI Tools We Love: Infography🛠️
Culture Corner: Wikipedia Meme
AI Art: 10 Minute AI Batman Movie
Quote for You: Mark Cuban💡
This Week in AI
🚀 Amazon Unveils New AI Models and Supercluster
AWS introduced six new “Nova” models at the Reinvent conference, including a text-based LLM, multimodal models, and a video generator.
Amazon also teams up with Anthropic to create an “ultracluster,” projected to be one of the largest supercomputers by 2025.
Meanwhile, Apple is now leveraging AWS Trainium chips to power its AI ambitions.
🎧 Spotify + AI Innovations
Google's NotebookLM AI hosts are launching a Spotify podcast on personal music tastes for Wrapped, with the Audio Overviews feature now integrated.
🌟 Liquid AI's New STAR Model
MIT-backed Liquid AI debuts STAR, an architecture performing Transformer tasks with 90% less storage.
🌍 Decentralized AI by Nous Research
Nous Research builds a fully decentralized LLM using distributed computing, reducing reliance on massive data centers.
⚡ Geopolitical AI Tensions
The US restricted AI memory chip exports, prompting China’s ban on rare minerals vital for semiconductors. Meanwhile, Europe sleeps further...
💰 Bitcoin Hits $100,000
Bitcoin surpasses a historic milestone, reaching $100,000 for the first time. I should have jumped in at $1,000...
Bitcoin's jump fuelled AI related Altcoins as well.
Analysts say that Bitcoin might rise up to 250% next year, and it's on the way to substitute the good old Gold in a few years. Do you believe that?
🎂 ChatGPT Turns Two
OpenAI may introduce ads to boost revenue, with CFO Sarah Friar hinting at 2025 plans.
The company projects 1 billion users next year, rivaling Meta Messenger’s scale. And, it's still a baby!
🌱 AI for Sustainable Data Centers
Startup Orbital Materials developed AI-designed carbon-absorbing materials to clean data centers, debuting at Amazon in 2025.
🤖 China's Qwen Outshines OpenAI
Alibaba’s upgraded Qwen chatbot surpasses OpenAI’s o1 on reasoning benchmarks, joining China’s competitive chain-of-thought models.
⏳ Quantum Time Crystal Breakthrough
Physicists transformed a quantum computer into a time crystal, paving the way for practical large-scale quantum computing.
🎨 Interactive 3D Worlds by Fei-Fei Li
Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs lets users transform screenshots into immersive 3D environments, enabling quicker animation staging.
AI Company Updates
🤖 AI Chip Power Play
Jeff Bezos, Samsung, and LG invested $700M into Canadian AI chip startup Tenstorrent, now valued at $2.6B as a serious Nvidia contender.
🌱 Leadership Crisis at Intel
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is stepping down after 30 years at the company, and 3 years as a CEO. The company’s AI challenges have contributed to a 52% drop in its stock value over the past year. Is Intel going to be the next Blackberry?
🚀 Marketing Revolution at OpenAI
OpenAI is hiring Kate Rouch, Coinbase’s outgoing CMO, marking its first move toward a dedicated marketing strategy, and probably adding ads to their offering.
👻 Eternal CEO
Panasonic has developed an AI avatar of its legendary late founder, Konosuke Matsushita, 'The God of Management', using his writings to provide business advice and preserve his legacy.
📊 Salesforce AI Momentum
Salesforce reported 200 AgentForce deals closed in one quarter, projecting an 8-9% revenue jump. CEO Marc Benioff anticipates customers deploying up to a billion AI agents next year.
🕵️ NotebookLM Founders Go Rogue
The creators behind Google’s NotebookLM are leaving to form a new startup. The industry is buzzing with speculation about their plans.
🛡️ AI Joins Defense
OpenAI is now collaborating with Anduril to supply AI technology to the US military, following similar partnerships by Meta and Anthropic.
Deep Dive(s)
AI-Powered Robots Can Be Tricked Into Acts of Violence
Researchers hacked several robots infused with large language models, getting them to behave dangerously—and pointing to a bigger problem ahead.
Maybe some of you remember the 'early days' of LLMs, when they could be easily tricked. A memorable example was for this when a regular guy bought a brand new car from the chatbot of Chevrolet in 2023:
After the incident, the chatbot has been shut down...
A year went by, and LLMs are much better now, and their experts and deployment techniques are much more mature. Still, the technology is still lacking the necessary level of security.
Recent experiments revealed the reality: AI-powered robots, equipped with large language models (LLMs), still can be manipulated into performing harmful actions. Researchers successfully hacked these systems, uncovering how easily robots could be tricked into dangerous behaviors. This discovery emphasizes the urgent need for better safeguards in AI-integrated robotics.
Alarming Examples of Manipulated Behavior
Handling Sharp Tools: Robots were coerced into picking up knives and making threatening movements.
Bypassing Safety Protocols: Machines ignored programmed limits, such as opening doors they were designed to keep locked.
Risky Chemical Handling: A robot was directed to mix household chemicals in a hazardous manner, simulating the creation of harmful substances, e.g. bombs.
What’s Next for AI Safety in Robotics?
This study is part of a growing body of research exploring AI vulnerabilities. Efforts include:
Improved Guardrails: Projects to design robust safeguards preventing unsafe responses to prompts.
Ethical AI Frameworks: Teams are working on "value alignment," ensuring robots understand and prioritize human safety.
Simulated Stress Tests: Researchers are exposing robots to adversarial prompts to identify weaknesses before real-world deployment.
As robots become smarter and more autonomous, the stakes of ensuring their safety rise. The future of robotics depends on proactive solutions to these vulnerabilities—before malicious actors exploit them.
I continuously monitor and collect a curated set of valuable resources on AI related Cybersecurity papers. Check out this one for start: What AI and GenAI bring to Cybersecurity?
You love robots? Then you surely want to read this interview with Ruzena Bajcsy, the 91-year-old robotics pioneer who broke barriers, built groundbreaking technology, and shaped the future of the field with her visionary work and students.
Embracing AI: Why Your Company Needs a Culture of Curiosity
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just a futuristic buzzword; it’s here, transforming industries left and right. Yet, as exciting as AI sounds, many companies are struggling to embrace it fully. The real roadblock? It’s not just the technology itself—it’s the mindset. That’s what Diane Hamilton dives into in her Forbes article about fostering a culture of exploration to make AI work for you.
So, what’s the deal with "exploration culture"? It’s a fancy way of saying that businesses need to become curious, creative, and unafraid to try new things—even if they don’t always work out. AI thrives in an environment where people aren’t scared to experiment, fail, and try again. Let’s break down why this mindset shift matters and how to make it happen.
The Curiosity Cure
AI is evolving at lightning speed. To keep up, your team can’t just stick to the old playbook. They need to ask questions, test wild ideas, and figure out how AI can solve problems you didn’t even know you had. This isn’t about throwing money at tech and hoping for the best. It’s about creating a workplace where curiosity is king.
Fostering curiosity doesn’t mean your office turns into a chaos zone. It’s about encouraging thoughtful risk-taking and making room for failure. Yes, failure! Because every flop is a step closer to finding what works.
Leadership Sets the Tone
If you’re a leader, the culture starts with you. If you’re stuck in your ways, your team will be too. Hamilton points out that leaders need to model the behavior they want to see. That means being open to ideas, asking big-picture questions, and showing your team that you’re just as invested in exploring AI’s potential as they are.
A great leader doesn’t just talk about innovation—they make it feel safe. When employees know it’s okay to make mistakes, they’re more likely to take bold steps. That’s where the magic happens.
Why This Matters for AI
AI isn’t plug-and-play. Sure, it can automate tasks and analyze data like a champ, but if your team doesn’t know how to use it—or worse, if they’re scared to use it—it’s like having a Ferrari and never taking it out of the garage.
Creating a culture of exploration makes your company AI-ready. It empowers your people to find creative ways to integrate AI into workflows, making everything more efficient and effective. Plus, it keeps morale high. Employees love feeling like they’re part of something cutting-edge.
How to Get Started
If you’re wondering how to start building this culture, here are a few tips:
Encourage Questions: No idea is too crazy. Create a space where people can brainstorm without judgment.
Reward Experimentation: Celebrate efforts, not just results. Tried something new that didn’t work? Great! What did you learn?
Invest in Training: Help your team build AI skills so they feel confident diving in.
Lead by Example: Show your team that you’re not afraid to explore AI solutions, even if the path isn’t clear yet.
The Bottom Line
AI is the future, but it’s only as powerful as the people using it. A culture of exploration unlocks its true potential, helping your company stay competitive and innovative. So, get curious, embrace the unknown, and let your team lead the charge into this AI-powered era.
As Hamilton puts it, fostering a culture of exploration isn’t just about AI—it’s about building a better, more innovative organization overall. And who doesn’t want that?
AI Tools We love
Create beautiful infographics with AI
Sign Up: Head to Infography and log in or create an account to receive credits.
Generate Infographics: Input your source (text, URL etc.), pick the desired size, and click "Generate" to create multiple infographic options.
Customize Your Design: Use the editor to adjust colors, content, and other design elements to fit your needs. You can even create your own Brand in it.
Choose a Template: Click "Templates" in the left sidebar, select your favorite, and input your source. Wait for it to generate.
Template Styling: The generated infographic will automatically align with the style of the template you chose.
Usability for large enterprises is limited, since even in the bigger plan (15 USD /month), you can only add up to 5 users. Still, for smaller companies or entrepreneurs this is a cool tool!
Culture Corner
For many years, Wikipedia was the go to place on the Internet to check out some information, solve home work for your kids and more. It was just like the 'Encyclopedia Galactica' by Isaac Asimov.
And now?
AI Art
There’s a lot of AI launches on the horizon as we approach the end of 2024. A potential one is SORA, the long-awaited video generator tool by OpenAI.
But, do we even need it? A team of creators just released a stunning genAI Batman movie made with Midjourney and Kling / MiniMax / Runway, with Eleven Labs for voices and Topaz for upscaling.
I use all the tools mentioned here for personal purposes. But I have to tell you, I couldn't create such a cool piece yet. Maybe in 2025!
Quote for You
“Artificial intelligence, deep learning, machine learning — whatever you’re doing if you don’t understand it — learn it. Because otherwise, you’re going to be a dinosaur within three years. — Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American businessman and television personality. He is the former principal owner and current minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks (NBA), co-owner of 2929 Entertainment, and was one of the main "sharks" on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank (Source: Wikipedia).
I hope, you liked this piece.
Thanks for reading!
✌️Until next time!
Zoltan
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