A final report from a U.S. government task force seeks $2.6B in funding for a federal AI data-and-research hub. The report covers plans for a National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR), which would be a publicly available AI cyber-infrastructure for researchers and students to access data and other resources. A White House-led task force said that the infrastructure is needed to further democratize AI, which has so far been restricted to "well-resourced" entities like Big Tech corporations. More: - The NAIRR task force says the initiative would cost $2.6B over six years.
- If enough funding is appropriated, the task force believes the NAIRR could be up and running in an initial capacity within 21 months.
- It believes the resource could be rolled over three years across four planning stages, with "steady-state operations" occurring in the final year.
What's needed: - The report lists recommendations for a NAIRR infrastructure, which includes computational resources like servers and cloud computing.
- It also calls for a large-scale ML supercomputer that could train 1 trillion-parameter AI models. It estimates that training a 1.5 billion-parameter model would cost roughly $1.6M.
- The task force also recommends that an entity to oversee NAIR operations be "a distinct, non-government organization," though resource providers that are hired could be commercial and private entities.
- It suggests that NAIRR tap into the massive amount of federal data that's already stored in commercial clouds.
MERITALK 
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U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss used OpenAI's ChatGPT to generate a speech, which he delivered to Congress on Wednesday. According to his office, it was the first time that an AI-created speech was read on the House floor. More: - Auchincloss, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he issued a prompt for ChatGPT to write a 100-word speech about a bill that seeks to create a joint U.S.-Israel AI Center in the U.S.
- He said he refined the prompt a few times to eventually create the two-paragraph speech that was presented to Congress today.
- "I'm the youngest parent in the Democratic caucus, AI is going to be part of my life, and it could be a general-purpose technology for my children," said Auchincloss, 34. He also noted that ChatGPT's capabilities were "impressive, but this is not ready for prime time."
Zoom-out: - The lawmaker plans to refile legislation that seeks to fund a new joint U.S.-Israel AI Center.
- A bill supporting the center's creation was initially introduced in 2021 by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.).
- That version sought $10M a year over five years for the U.S.-based center, which would focus on AI R&D in areas like machine learning, object detection, image classification, speech recognition, and natural language processing.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Stock photo platform Shutterstock has introduced an AI image generator based on OpenAI's DALL-E 2. The beta tool is now open to all paid users on the platform through the Creative Flow online design toolkit. The feature creates original images that the companies said are "ready for licensing." More: - The generative AI tool is the result of a collaboration between Shutterstock and OpenAI.
- Initially announced in October, that partnership allowed Shutterstock to integrate OpenAI's DALL-E 2 for customers to generate their own images using text prompts.
- In exchange, OpenAI could use some Shutterstock archived images to train DALL-E's AI models. Creators whose images on Shutterstock originally helped train DALL-E 2 are set to receive compensation via a new Contributor Fund.
Related: - Another stock images platform, Getty Images, recently barred the sale of AI-generated artwork on its site over concerns about potential copyright disputes. Getty Images has also sued Stable Diffusion creator Stability AI, alleging copyright violations. Stable Diffusion is a text-to-image AI model like DALL-E.
TECHCRUNCH
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Microsoft's GitHub Copilot, the AI-powered code suggestion tool, has now surpassed more than 1 million users, according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. He made the announcement on Tuesday, the same day that Microsoft reported its latest quarterly earnings. More: - Microsoft and its GitHub service made Copilot generally available to developers last June.
- Within a month, the AI pair programmer has attracted 400,000 subscribers and now counts over 1 million users.
- Copilot, powered by OpenAI's Codex, an AI system trained on billions of lines of public code, suggests lines and functions, as well as other ways to solve problems, write tests, and find new APIs.
- Recently, GitHub said it will soon launch a business version, called Copilot for Business, for companies to buy and manage Copilot seat licenses for their employees.
- GitHub Copilot is also the target of a proposed class action lawsuit challenging the legality of Copilot, which doesn't provide credit for licensed public code when it's reproduced using AI.
REUTERS
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An AI company, DoNotPay, has canceled plans to utilize AI technology during a court case. The technology, based on OpenAI's GPT-3 language model, would have processed audio during a February trial and issued responses for a defendant to tell a judge. However, CEO Joshua Browder said DoNotPay is postponing the use of AI in the speeding-ticket case "after receiving threats from State Bar prosecutors." More: - In a tweet, Browder claimed he would face jail time if the company followed through on its plans to bring the "AI attorney" into an actual court case.
- For that reason, "DoNotPay is postponing our court case and sticking to consumer rights," he wrote.
- Earlier this month, DoNotPay offered $1M to a lawyer or any other individual who allows its AI legal technology to assist in a U.S. Supreme Court case, though it's unclear if that offer still stands.
- Browder also recently demonstrated how DoNotPay's AI technology was able to renegotiate a Comcast bill through a live chat with a customer service rep,
NEW SCIENTIST
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🍋 FRESH FUNDING 🍋 - Global Screening Services (U.K.), helps companies comply with industry regulations by using AI to audit their data: $45M from AlixPartners, The Cynosure Group, and MUFG.
- Scythe Robotics (Colorado), provides commercial-grade autonomous mowing machinery: $42M B led by Energy Impact Partners with participation from ArcTern Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Alexa Fund, True Ventures, and Inspired Capital.
- Chord (New York), provides data analytics tools for e-commerce and retail companies: $15M A led by Bright Pixel Capital and Eclipse, with participation from GC1 Ventures, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Anti Fund VC, Imaginary Ventures, Foundation Capital, and White Star Capital.
- Elo (California), a smart nutrition company that offers diet programs based on custom data and AI: $10M A led by Octopus Ventures, Will Ventures, and Re:food.vc.
- Kewazo (Germany), aims to automate construction by providing autonomous devices: $10M A led by Fifth Wall, with participation from Cybernetix Ventures, Unorthodox Ventures, and Nemetschek.
- GoodOnes (California), uses Ai to free up storage in digital devices: $3.5M Seed led by TLV Partners with participation from Liquid2 Ventures and angel investors.
For the latest on AI startup funding and more in the VC community, check out our Inside Venture Capital newsletter.
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QUICK HITS - Employee training is crucial, but building a scalable program for it is complex work. Use this checklist to take yours to the next level.*
- Atomic AI has launched with $35M in Series A funding. The startup uses machine learning and AI to fuel RNA drug discovery.
- A public meeting held by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will address the topics of AI-driven innovation and intellectual property challenges. The meeting takes place on Feb. 8 at the agency's Texas regional office in Dallas.
- Tech publication CNET has made corrections on 41 out of 77 articles that were written using the help of a proprietary AI engine. The company has paused its use of the AI until it's "confident the tool and our editorial processes will prevent both human and AI errors," CNET Editor-in-Chief Connie Guglielmo said.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
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