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This artist s conception symbolically represents complex organic molecules, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, seen in the early universe. These large molecules, comprised of carbon and hydrogen, are considered among the building blocks of life.
AI is helping scientists model molecules
Google updated one of its most potent artificial intelligence applications, an AI model called AlphaFold — and the latest version can model “all of life’s molecules,” the company said last week. Yeah, all of them.
While the previous version of the model could simply predict the structures of proteins, Alpha Fold 3 can actually model DNA and RNA, plus small molecules called ligands. Google’s DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs divisions, which worked on AlphaFold, said the new model is a 50% improvement over the last one.
“It tells us a lot more about how the machines of the cell interact,” John Jumper, a Google DeepMind researcher, told The New York Times. “It tells us how this should work and what happens when we get sick.”
With this technology, researchers can leap ahead in the fundamental techniques they use to model biological systems, test and develop new drugs, and build new materials. Google is letting researchers around the world use the model through a website called AlphaFold Server for any non-commercial research. Here’s hoping we can report on the first lifesaving drugs developed through AI soon.
A student of National University of Malaysia walks past displays of the country's "Stripes of Glory" flags at its campus in Bangi outside Kuala Lumpur August 22, 2007.
Hard Numbers: Microsoft takes Malaysia, Massive (and unknown) startup, Safety first, Don’t automate my news
2.2 billion: Microsoft has its eye on Southeast Asia. The computing giant announced it’ll pour $2.2 billion into Malaysia’s cloud infrastructure over the next four years and will establish a national AI center with the government. This investment is the latest in a string of Microsoft infusions in local economies to help develop AI: In the past month, the company announced a $2.9 billion investment in Japan, $1.7 billion in Indonesia, and a new data center in Thailand, plus a $1.5 billion stake in the UAE firm G42.
19 billion: There’s a $19 billion AI startup that you’ve likely never heard of. It’s called CoreWeave, and it started as a small crypto company that stockpiled powerful graphics chips. Now, it runs data centers that are in high demand from AI companies that need to access those chips to run their models. It’s a company that has quickly “come out of nowhere,” as its cofounder said, to play a major role in the booming AI economy.
2: AI safety research comprises only 2% of total research about artificial intelligence, according to a new report from Georgetown University’s Emerging Technology Observatory. That’s dwarfed by global research into subjects such as computer vision (32%), robotics (15%), and natural language processing (11%).
42: In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, 42% of Americans are concerned that news organizations will create stories with generative AI, according to a new poll from the Associated Press and the American Press Institute. While news organizations have been using AI to write simple stories — such as earnings-related stories and sport recaps — for years, those that have turned to generative AI in recent years to replace human-written stories have received public pushback and condemnation.