Users can now specify criteria for the text replies they get from the AI chatbot using the new "ChatGPT custom instructions" function. The feature, which was initially exclusively accessible to Plus subscribers, is anticipated to be made available to all users very soon.

According to the company, this function enables you to "share anything you'd like ChatGPT to take into consideration in its response." Sometimes there are things that about your specific niches, and you need ChatGPT to know them every time you write a new prompt. For instance, while asking for suggestions, a developer may mention their preferred code language. With the new feature, they won't have to write it over and over again.

Custom instructions are useful if users need to define the same context regularly, even though users can already specify these items while conversing with the bot. Additionally, the guidelines are compatible with plug-ins, making it simpler for them to recommend nearby restaurants or flights.

According to OpenAI, the feature is accessible to Plus plan subscribers but not to residents of the EU or the UK. Currently, it is a beta feature.

How to enable ChatGPT custom instructions

It's noteworthy that OpenAI claims the data provided to personalize answers will be used to train its API models to adjust to various directions. There are two different ways to activate it, either on the web or the iOS app. Here is how to enable ChatGPT custom instructions on the web:

1. Click on your name.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Choose Beta features.
4. Enable Custom Instructions.

If you are on the iOS app, do the following:

1. Launch ChatGPT.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Tap New Features.
4. Turn on Custom Instructions.

The adjustments will begin to take effect in the next session once users have entered their responses. The corporation stated that responses are limited to 1,500 characters.

According to OpenAI, the business checks modified instructions to see if they are harmful in any way using their moderation API. If the results of the instructions contravene the company's policy, ChatGPT may choose not to save them or to ignore them. This is to make sure users don't enter commands that prompt ChatGPT to respond in a destructive or nasty way.

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TOKYO – Despite campaigns and sanctions against Chinese-made 5G telecom equipment in the US, Europe, Australia, Japan and elsewhere, Chinese telecom giant ZTE’s share price has risen by 61% over the past year while rivals Ericsson and Nokia’s have dropped 30% and 22% respectively.

This surge-plunge comparison can be attributed to China’s greater commitment to building 5G base stations and its focus on the technology’s industrial application, of which China is the world-leading pioneer. ZTE is China’s second-ranking telecom equipment maker after Huawei.

Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia are paying a heavy price for their dependence on the consumer market in an inflationary and rising interest rate environment.

On July 14, Nokia’s shares plunged 9.6%, the biggest fall in two years, and Ericsson’s dipped 8.7% following disappointing company sales and profit announcements for the second quarter and the rest of 2023.

It was the second abrupt drop in Europe’s two leading telecom equipment companies’ shares so far this year. The first was in April in response to weak first-quarter earnings.

Both companies have been laying off workers and otherwise cutting costs in response to weak demand and excessive inventory, primarily in North America. As a result, their customers – mostly telecom service providers – have been forced to cut prices and postpone 5G projects.

On July 14, Ericsson reported a 3% year-on-year increase in sales (-9% excluding newly consolidated investments and changes in foreign exchange rates) and a 62% decline in operating profit (net of restructuring charges) in the three months to June.

Management said this was in line with their expectations. However, it was not in line with market expectations.  

On July 20, Nokia reported a 3% year-on-year decline in sales and a 16% decline in operating profit in the three months to June.

Neither company expects much improvement in the second half and both are now hoping for recovery in 2024. India and Southeast Asia are bright spots in their otherwise generally dismal performance.

ZTE, on the other hand, reported a 28.5% year-on-year increase in operating profit on a 4.3% increase in sales in the first quarter of 2023. R&D spending was up, but the cost of goods sold was significantly reduced. As of this writing, ZTE had not yet announced second-quarter results.

At the Mobile World Congress held in Shanghai at the end of June, ZTE introduced its method of building “smart” automated factories connected with 5G industrial private networks.

Called “Industrial Field Network + ZTE Digital Nebula,” it includes centralized production and logistics control, energy management, environmental protection and security.

ZTE works with hundreds of industrial companies on energy-saving, emission reduction, operational efficiency improvement through digital infrastructure and the construction of low-carbon supply chains. 

Last February, the company posted on its website an analysis of what is required to take 5G industrial applications from supporting systems to core operations, namely:

Integration of cloud, network and applications: End customers need a one-stop solution that can solve real problems for the core operation and improve efficiency.

Deterministic service assurance: The private network for the core operation needs to provide ultra-low latency and jitter, ultra-high reliability and zero packet loss.

Simplified operation and maintenance: To lower the barriers of 5G private network operation.

“Since the commercial launch of 5G, the application of 5G in vertical industries has developed rapidly, and multiple application cases with commercial feasibility have been incubated,” ZTE said on its website.  

“According to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology [MIIT], more than 7,900 5G 2B private networks had been built in China by September 2022, and the effect of 5G empowerment has gradually appeared in many industries such as manufacturing, ports, mines and power grid.”

Product development has been accelerated and production efficiency significantly improved, the company said.

Last March, MIIT set a target of 2.9 million 5G base stations to be installed in China by the end of 2023. At the end of June, the total was 2.94 million – the target reached six months ahead of schedule with about 600,000 units installed in the first half of the year.

All urban areas of any significant size in China are now covered, with the breadth and depth of coverage steadily increasing.

China now has nearly 700 million 5G mobile phone subscribers and more than two billion IoT (Internet of Things) connections to industrial sensors and consumer electronics devices. This has been accomplished since October 2019, when the first 5G services were introduced.

China’s state-run Global Times reports that 5G industrial parks have been set up in Shanghai, Dalian and many other cities. The first 5G IoT industrial park in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region is scheduled to be completed this month. 

In 2018, ZTE established its Global 5G Intelligent Manufacturing Base in Binjiang, a district of Hangzhou, to develop and set standards for the technology.

Huawei is pursuing the same strategy as ZTE but on a larger scale. It is not publicly traded so its performance cannot be assessed by stock price performance.

However, Asia Times has reported: “Huawei claims 6,000 contracts to build standalone 5G networks for Chinese businesses, vs. about three dozen in Europe and fewer than 10 in the US.”

Market researcher TrendForce estimates that, by 2026, industrial manufacturing, energy and utilities will account for half the value of the global 5G market. Smart vehicles and consumer electronics will provide nearly a quarter.

This plays directly into China’s strengths as a rapidly automating industrial economy with a strong position in autos and consumer electronics, and a great need to use energy more efficiently.

GSMA, the global mobile network operators association, reports that “Mainland China is the largest 5G market in the world, accounting for more than 60% of global 5G connections at the end of 2022.

“With strong takeup of 5G among consumers, the focus of operators is now increasingly shifting to 5G for enterprises. This offers opportunities to grow revenues beyond connectivity in adjacent areas such as cloud services – a segment where operators in China have recently made significant progress.”

TrendForce data, Asia Times chart

Japan is on a 5G track similar to China’s. NEC, Japan’s leading telecom equipment maker, has seen its share price rise over 25% in the past year, supported by a 28.6% boost in operating profit on a 9.9% increase in sales in the fiscal year ended March 2023 and management’s guidance for higher sales and profits this year.

NEC management says, “The impact of 5G will be felt not only by consumers using mobile phones. The real impact will change the way manufacturers design their plants, the way autonomous vehicles travel more safely, and the way healthcare organizations deliver more advanced and safer treatments.”

In factories, “5G makes real-time processing of a series of actions possible based on linkage between cameras and robots, namely capturing minute defects in articles flowing on the production line with high-definition cameras, identifying their characteristics in real-time with an AI engine and picking up the defective articles with a robot.”

NEC is transforming its own factories into 5G-enabled facilities, perfecting the technology and selling it to outside customers. Unlike the US, Japan never abandoned manufacturing.

On the contrary, it has led the world in factory automation and is making a major contribution to China’s automation as its leading supplier of industrial robots and is now likewise equipping its factories with private 5G networks.

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The firm says chip manufacturing will no longer start next year, due to a shortage of skilled workers.

The White House has laid out plans to bring more chip production to the US.

It comes as an ongoing trade row centred on the technology intensifies between Washington and Beijing.

TSMC's shares closed more than 3% lower in Taiwan on Friday.

On Thursday, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said production of advanced microprocessors at its Arizona factory in the south west of the US would now begin in 2025.

During an earnings presentation, Mr Liu said the plant, which has been under construction since April 2021, faced a shortage of workers with the "specialised expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility."

He added that the firm was "working to improve the situation, including sending experienced technicians from Taiwan to train the local skilled workers [in the US] for a short period of time".

TSMC also forecast a 10% drop in sales this year, because of slower demand for semiconductors.

The company said its profits fell by around 23% to 181.8bn Taiwanese dollars ($5.8bn; £4.5bn) in the three months to the end of June, compared to the same time last year.

TSMC first announced plans to build a facility in Arizona in 2020, during the presidency of Donald Trump.

In December last year, the firm said it would more than triple its investment in the project to $40bn (£31.1bn). This marked one of the largest foreign investments in American history.

At that time, Mr Liu said the first of TSMC's two semiconductor production facilities at the Arizona plant would be operational by 2024, with the second coming online by 2026.

A long-running technology dispute has seen the US impose a series of measures against China's chipmaking industry, while investing billions of dollars to boost America's semiconductor industry.

The US produces around 10% of the global supply of computer chips, which are key to everything from cars to mobile phones. In 1990 the country accounted for almost 40% of global production.

Last year, President Biden signed legislation committing $280bn to high tech manufacturing and scientific research in the US.

The investment included tax breaks for companies that built computer chip manufacturing plants in the country.

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Genesis uses "details of current events" and other information to generate news copy. Journalists could use Genesis to help them write articles, freeing them to focus on other tasks, such as reporting and editing.

According to the NY Times report, Google has pitched Genesis to several major news organizations, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. It is said that Genesis could produce "high-quality, factual news articles" at a fraction of the cost of traditional journalism.

In partnership with news publishers, especially smaller publishers, we’re in the earliest stages of exploring ideas to potentially provide AI-enabled tools to help journalists with their work.

For instance, AI-enabled tools could assist journalists with options for headlines or different writing styles. Our goal is to give journalists the choice of using these emerging technologies in a way that enhances their work and productivity.

- Jenn Crider, Google spokesperson

 

However, there are some concerns about the use of AI in journalism. Some people worry that Genesis could lead to the automation of journalism jobs and that it could also be used to spread misinformation.

Google is rumored it is committed to responsibly using Genesis. Genesis will be used to supplement, not replace, human journalists. The new AI will also be subject to the same editorial standards as any other news article.

Previously, we reported that Google will reportedly use generative AI for ads and customer service. The company plans to use generative AI to automate ads. It will also be used to automate ad-based customer services.

The Genesis AI is still in the testing phase, with no official release date announced. And it is still too early to say how it will impact the future of journalism.

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A plentiful supply of clean energy is lurking in plain sight. It’s the hydrogen that can be extracted from water (H2O) using renewable energy. Researchers are on the hunt for cost-effective strategies to generate clean hydrogen from water, with an aim to displace fossil fuels and battle climate change.

Hydrogen is a potent source of power for vehicles, emitting nothing more than water. It also plays a crucial role in several industrial processes, particularly in the production of steel and ammonia. The use of cleaner hydrogen in these industries would be extremely beneficial.

A multi-institutional team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has developed a low-cost catalyst for a process that yields clean hydrogen from water. Other contributors include DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as well as Giner Inc.

“A process called electrolysis produces hydrogen and oxygen from water and has been around for more than a century,” said Di-Jia Liu, senior chemist at Argonne. He also holds a joint appointment in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers represent a new generation of technology for this process. They can split water into hydrogen and oxygen with higher efficiency at near room temperature. The reduced energy demand makes them an ideal choice for producing clean hydrogen by using renewable but intermittent sources, such as solar and wind.

Senior chemist Di-Jia Liu inspects a catalyst sample inside a tube furnace after heat treatment while postdoc Chenzhao Li carries a pressure reactor for catalyst synthesis. Credit: Argonne National Laboratory

 

This electrolyzer runs with separate catalysts for each of its electrodes (cathode and anode). The cathode catalyst yields hydrogen, while the anode catalyst forms oxygen. A problem is that the anode catalyst uses iridium, which has a current market price of around $5,000 per ounce. The lack of supply and high cost of iridium pose a major barrier to the widespread adoption of PEM electrolyzers.

The main ingredient in the new catalyst is cobalt, which is substantially cheaper than iridium. “We sought to develop a low-cost anode catalyst in a PEM electrolyzer that generates hydrogen at high throughput while consuming minimal energy,” Liu said. “By using the cobalt-based catalyst prepared by our method, one could remove the main bottleneck of cost to producing clean hydrogen in an electrolyzer.”

Giner Inc., a leading research and development company working toward the commercialization of electrolyzers and fuel cells, evaluated the new catalyst using its PEM electrolyzer test stations under industrial operating conditions. The performance and durability far exceeded that of competitors’ catalysts.

Important to further advancing the catalyst performance is understanding the reaction mechanism at the atomic scale under electrolyzer operating conditions. The team deciphered critical structural changes that occur in the catalyst under operating conditions by using X-ray analyses at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne. They also identified key catalyst features using electron microscopy at Sandia Labs and at Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM). The APS and CNM are both DOE Office of Science user facilities.

“We imaged the atomic structure on the surface of the new catalyst at various stages of preparation,” said Jianguo Wen, an Argonne materials scientist.

In addition, computational modeling at Berkeley Lab revealed important insights into the catalyst’s durability under reaction conditions.

The team’s achievement is a step forward in DOE’s Hydrogen Energy Earthshot initiative, which mimics the U.S. space program’s “Moon Shot” of the 1960s. Its ambitious goal is to lower the cost of green hydrogen production to one dollar per kilogram in a decade. Production of green hydrogen at that cost could reshape the nation’s economy. Applications include the electric grid, manufacturing, transportation, and residential and commercial heating.

“More generally, our results establish a promising path forward in replacing catalysts made from expensive precious metals with elements that are much less expensive and more abundant,” Liu noted.

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According to those with knowledge of the initiatives, the iPhone maker has developed its own foundation for developing massive language models, the AI-based systems at the core of new products like ChatGPT and Google's Bard. Apple has also developed a chatbot service known to some engineers as "Apple GPT" on that "Ajax" basis.

Due to worries over generative AI security, the chatbot's internal distribution was temporarily suspended, but it has subsequently been made available to additional Apple employees. The chatbot is becoming more accessible to employees, but access requires special authorization. Mark Gurman of Blomberg reported any output from the chatbot could not be used to create features aimed at users.

The chatbot is being used by Apple employees to assist with product prototyping. Based on the data it was trained with, the chatbot can be used to summarize text and provide answers to queries.

Apple GPT

Apple GPT can be compared to other AI chatbots like Bard, Bing and ChatGPT

The company's chatbot is comparable to Bard, ChatGPT, and Bing AI because it lacks any further capabilities that set it apart from what is currently on the market.

The report comes at a time when Apple is looking for expertise in generative AI. On its career page, the organization offers a few job openings looking for generative AI specialists. It seeks engineers who have "robust understanding of large language models and generative AI."

According to confidential documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Apple prohibited employees from using ChatGPT internally earlier this year and from using the Microsoft-owned GitHub Copilot, an AI code-writing assistance. The Journal was informed by sources that Apple was considering developing generative AI, which is probably Ajax. In 2020 Apple paid $200 million and $50 million, respectively, for two AI businesses.

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Buyers of the BlackWidow V4 and BlackWidow V4 X have two different key switches to choose from. One is the Green clicky switch:

With a 1.9mm actuation point requiring just 50g of force, experience the perfect pairing of pressure and response time—for precise inputs with satisfying, tactile feedback.

The other is the Yellow linear switch:

With zero distance between actuation and reset points at 1.2mm and only 45g of force required — enjoy instant, rapid-fire inputs that are just as quiet thanks to built-in sound dampeners.

Obviously, the choice of which key switch to buy depends on what you want to feel when you press down on those keys when you work on play. If you want speed, the yellow switch is for you. If you want both precision and to actually feel the pressure of pressing down on keys, the gree switch should be the one to get.

Razer BlackWidow V4 X

The BlackWidow V4 also includes four dedicated media keys on the top right corner, and it comes with a black magnetic plush wrist rest. Both the V4 and V4 X come with a multi-function roller, along with six dedicated macro keys, and support for Razer's Chroma RGB lighting. The Razer BlackWidow V4 also supports two-side underglow for its keyboard:

Featuring per-key lighting and a striking underglow that highlights the keyboard from more angles, sync it with your battlestation and enjoy greater immersion for hundreds of integrated games.

The Razer BlackWidow V4 is on sale now at Amazon for $169.99. The Razer BlackWidow V4 X is a bit more affordable at $129.99. Again they join the already launched BlackWidow V4 Pro, which is currently available for $229.99.

As an Amazon Associate when you purchase through links on our site, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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The media reception of the 4060 Ti was absolutely awful, and rightfully so, as it was found to be just ~10% faster than the 3060 Ti, and still offering 8GB of VRAM like its predecessor, something which really is unacceptable for a $400 GPU in 2023. And much to Nvidia's torment, almost no responsible reviewer recommended purchasing this GPU outside of use cases that warranted the need for an efficient graphics card. It was clear that Team Green was greedy here as it wanted to maximize its profit by offering the bare minimum to consumers.

In response to this poor reception, Nvidia changed its marketing tactic with the RTX 4060 non-Ti as it tried convincing buyers of the power efficiency gains, and also made some pretty outrageous claims when comparing with the six-year-old Pascal-based GTX 1060. Luckily for Nvidia, the RTX 4060 wasn't as bashed as its Ti sibling since the $300 4060 definitely brought more to the table than the $400 Ti did.

Nvidia also announced a 16GB RTX 4060 Ti that would cost a hundred dollars more at $500 with no change in the core specifications. Early reports suggested Nvidia's AIB (Add-in-board) partners weren't too excited about the card, which was sort of expected as the company was essentially offering almost no performance gains over the 8GB SKU and the 16GB frame buffer would only matter in VRAM capacity-constrained situations or when a user wanted to run very-high resolution texture packs. The rest of the memory subsystem, like the bus width and GDDR speeds, see no upgrade over the 8GB variant.

Nvidia partner MSI published a preview of its RTX 4060 Ti GAMING X SLIM 16G model earlier today, and as if the situation couldn't get any worse, the new more expensive 16GB model of the GPU actually turned out to be slower than the 8GB card, at least in terms of the average framerates.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the MSI Slim 4060 Ti 16GB was measurably slower than the 8GB model in most of the titles except in CS:GO. This is really an embarrassing showing from the new 16GB model especially since it is supposed to cost $100 more than their 8GB counterparts. We understand that the card used here was a slim variant compared to the 8GB model, but taking into account the $100 (25%) premium, it gets pretty difficult to defend or recommend the 4060 Ti 16GB to anyone.

Source: MSI Gaming (YouTube) via momomo_us (Twitter)

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The tool, known internally by the working title Genesis, can take in information — details of current events, for example — and generate news copy, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the product.

One of the three people familiar with the product said that Google believed it could serve as a kind of personal assistant for journalists, automating some tasks to free up time for others, and that the company saw it as responsible technology that could help steer the publishing industry away from the pitfalls of generative A.I.

Some executives who saw Google’s pitch described it as unsettling, asking not to be identified discussing a confidential matter. Two people said it seemed to take for granted the effort that went into producing accurate and artful news stories.

A Google spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Times and The Post declined to comment.

“We have an excellent relationship with Google, and we appreciate Sundar Pichai’s long-term commitment to journalism,” a News Corp spokesman said in a statement, referring to Google’s chief executive.

Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor and media commentator, said Google’s new tool, as described, had potential upsides and downsides.

“If this technology can deliver factual information reliably, journalists should use the tool,” said Mr. Jarvis, director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.

“If, on the other hand, it is misused by journalists and news organizations on topics that require nuance and cultural understanding,” he continued, “then it could damage the credibility not only of the tool but of the news organizations that use it.”

News organizations around the world are grappling with whether to use artificial intelligence tools in their newsrooms. Many, including The Times, NPR and Insider, have notified employees that they intend to explore potential uses of A.I. to see how it might be responsibly applied to the high-stakes realm of news, where seconds count and accuracy is paramount.

But Google’s new tool is sure to spur anxiety, too, among journalists who have been writing their own articles for centuries. Some news organizations, including The Associated Press, have long used A.I. to generate stories about matters including corporate earnings reports, but they remain a small fraction of the service’s articles compared with those generated by journalists.

Artificial intelligence could change that, enabling users to generate articles on a wider scale that, if not edited and checked carefully, could spread misinformation and affect how traditionally written stories are perceived.

While Google has moved at a breakneck pace to develop and deploy generative A.I., the technology has also presented some challenges to the advertising juggernaut. While Google has traditionally played the role of curating information and sending users to publishers’ websites to read more, tools like its chatbot, Bard, present factual assertions that are sometimes incorrect and do not send traffic to more authoritative sources, such as news publishers.

The technology has been introduced as governments around the world have called on Google to give news outlets a larger slice of its advertising revenue. After the Australian government tried to force Google to negotiate with publishers over payments in 2021, the company forged more partnerships with news organizations in various countries, under its News Showcase program.

Publishers and other content creators have already criticized Google and other major A.I. companies for using decades of their articles and posts to help train these A.I. systems, without compensating the publishers. News organizations including NBC News and The Times have taken a position against A.I.’s sucking up their data without permission.

The post Google Tests A.I. Tool That Is Able to Write News Articles appeared first on New York Times.

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First noticed by hardware enthusiast and Twitter user Buildzoid, and later by other users, it looks like AMD Ryzen 7000, which struggled to go beyond 6400MT/s, is now comfortable reaching close to or even exceeding 8000 sometimes. The feat is made possible with AGESA 1.0.0.7B firmware version, though it is still not 100% recommended that all users try to run their RAM kits at 8000 as it is still a bit finicky at such speeds. However, DDR5-7200 or so could be easily doable now, it seems.

Buildzoid notes that their Ryzen 7900X PC achieved DDR5-8000 on a $300 eight-layered, Daisy Chain board, which generally is far inferior to ones sporting T-topology, in terms of memory compatibility, especially in scenarios where a user is running four sticks of RAM on a dual channel board (two DIMMs per channel):

Ryzen 7000. Running DDR5-8000. On a sub 300USD 8 layer daisy chain motherboard. This new BIOS is completely insanen. I might get DDR5-8000 stable on Ryzen before I ever get it stable on intel LOL.

Another Twitter user Chi11edog also posted screenshots of an X670E Ryzen 7950X system hitting 8200MT/s on a DDR5-7600 kit. They say:

A screenshot reveals MSI X670E Ace reaches DDR5-8200 with new BIOS. The RAM reaching DDR5-8200 is an OLOy Hynix A-die DDR5-7600 kit.

However, one thing noteworthy here is that DDR5 memory, past 6000MT/s (3000MHz) on Zen 4, operates in its Gear 2 mode, which AMD refers to as the "UCLK DIV1" mode. In this mode, the UCLK or the Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) clock runs at half the speed of the system memory (MEMCLK). Or in other words, the UCLK: MEMCLK ratio is 1:2.

This can be clearly observed in both situations above, where the Uncore frequencies (UCLK) are half that of the MEMCLK (Dram frequency). So performance can actually be worse on Ryzen 7000 once we move past 3000MHz (DDR5-6000). Robert Hallock, who served AMD as its Technical Marketing manager, stated that the Infinity Fabric clock (FCLK) on Ryzen 7000 is 1733MHz, though, they had recommended users keep the FCLK at Auto and maintain the 1:1 ratio between the UCLK and the MEMCLK (via Bionic_Squash on Twitter) for the optimum performance.

While such high speeds may not yield linear performance gains on the compute side of things, the story is different for the integrated graphics, which really only cares about the MEMCLK first and foremost. This is because the integrated graphics uses the system memory as its VRAM and hence these higher frequencies will lead to higher memory bandwidth, which is absolutely crucial to feed the on-board RDNA 2 or RDNA 3 graphics.

Source: Buildzoid (Twitter) via Chi11edog (Twitter)

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Every computing device one uses requires some sort of RAM chip to function. From computers to mobile devices to even routers. All of them require different types of RAM.

Such is also the case with graphics cards. They require a special type of VRAM, called GDDR. Debuting preliminarily with GDDR3, the latest versions of graphics card VRAM are GDDR6 and its improved version, GDDR6X.

In memory chip manufacturing, there are three major manufacturers. Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung. Samsung is the largest in terms of sales and revenue.

A few days ago, we reported how Micron announced that it expects GDDR7 to be available by first half of 2024. Meanwhile, it seems that Samsung has developed its first GDDR7 chips.

Samsung Develops GDDR7

In a news release, Samsung has announced (via @harukaze5719) the development of the industry’s first GDDR7 VRAM chips. In it, it is announced that these chips will run at 32Gbps, which is double of what GDDR6 debuted at.

Additionally, Samsung states that compared to the current 24Gbps GDDR6, the GDDR7 chip by them has a 20% improvement in power efficiency and 1.4 times the boost in performance.

These chips will be available in 16Gb (2GB) capacities. Which is slightly disappointing as everyone wants and expects newer VRAM chips to be available in 4GB versions at least, allowing more VRAM in graphics cards. For the record, graphics cards have multiple VRAM chips on them. The larger the chip capacity, the more VRAM a graphics card can theoretically come with.

In terms of raw performance, Samsung describes that its GDDR7 offering achieves a bandwidth of 1.5TBps at 32Gbps per pin, which is, as claimed above, 1.4 times higher than the 1.1TBps found in GDDR6.

To do that, Samsung says it uses the new PAM3 signaling method. This is different from the NRZ used in GDDR6. Samsung claims, “PAM3 allows 50% more data to be transmitted than NRZ within the same signaling cycle.”

To reduce heat generation, Samsung is using an epoxy molding compound with high thermal conductivity in the packaging of these chips, in addition to architectural improvements. Samsung says that doing this has reduced the thermal resistance by 70% when compared to GDDR6.

Technicalities Explained

The announcement is very good. But it lacks clarity in some things.

First, while Samsung says it will start providing them for installation to key customers, it doesn’t mention when they will be mass-produced. What we do expect is that next-gen graphics cards like the Nvidia RTX 5000 and AMD RX 8000 might use these GDDR7 chips. It’s important to mention that the Nvidia RTX 5000 series is going to be delayed. This means it’s highly likely to use GDRR7 instead of GDDR6X it currently uses.

The second thing is that Tom’s Hardware mentions that better efficiency doesn’t mean these chips will use less power. Instead, it could suggest that they will deliver more performance when compared with their power usage.

Tom’s Hardware also argues that as Samsung is using epoxy molding compound in the packaging of these chips, it means that extra effort is being required to control their heat generation.

It is said that the PAM3 signaling method is more complex and requires more power, which translates into more heat generation. However, it must be mentioned that GDDR6X, used by Nvidia in its RTX 40 series, uses the PAM4 signaling method, which is more powerful but less efficient than the PAM3 used in GDDR7.

Another thing worth pointing out is that @RyanSmithAT on Twitter (login possibly required) noticed that these GDDR7 chips use 266 pins, which is 86 (48%) more than the ones found in GDDR6 and GDDR6X. Which can cause minor issues for board makers.

More Technicalities

While writing this article, we came across more information shared by @RyanSmithAT on Twitter.

He has revealed that Samsung has replied to his questions about more technical details of GDDR7.

Samsung has responded to him with the same. GDDR7 is going to run at 1.2 volts, which is less than the 1.35 volts used in GDDR6. Which is great as it reduces power consumption and generates less heat.

The energy efficiency of GDDR7 at 32Gbps is lower when compared to GDDR6 at 24Gbps. Overall, it’s going to use 7% more power.

The process node in GDDR7 is going to be D1z (15.7nm), which is the same as the one found in GDDR6. Which he says means that the 20% improvement in energy efficiency is due to architectural improvements and not process node ones.

Overall, GDDR7 is very exciting. Let’s see how fast it performs in the real world and when it becomes available.

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Now it looks like Apple is finally planning to go head-to-head with companies in the AI space. According to the latest report by Bloomberg (Paywall), Apple is planning to enter the AI space soon with its take on ChatGPT. The report notes that Apple has been working on its own framework as well as a Large Language Model (LLM) that has the potential to power what Apple employees are calling "Apple GPT". The Cupertino giant had first established Ajax foundation last year to unify machine learning development but now is focused primarily on Generative AI technologies.

The company has already deployed AI-related improvements to search, Siri and maps based on that system. And Ajax is now being used to create large language models and serve as the foundation for the internal ChatGPT-style tool, the people said.

Bloomberg also noted that Apple has intensified efforts to develop a compressive AI system that can fit well in the company's ecosystem. A different set of individuals are also working on addressing privacy concerns surrounding the technology.

In recent months, the AI push has become a major effort for Apple, with several teams collaborating on the project, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The work includes trying to address potential privacy concerns related to the technology.

In May, Tim Cook (CEO, Apple) said in an interview that he had been using ChatGPT and while he has been following the space closely, Generative AI technologies still have a long way to go.

According to sources close to the matter, Apple has deployed "Apple GPT" internally for employees to leverage at work. The rollout was halted last year due to security concerns but has been extended to more employees since then. Currently, Apple does not allow employees to use any data produced by the app for features that are bound for customers. As per Apple employees, the chatbot looks similar to Google Bard and Microsoft Bing AI, and can be accessed via a web browser. Unfortunately, it "doesn’t include any novel features or technology."

Currently, there is no word on when Apple plans to reveal the new technology to the public. Unfortunately, there is uncertainty about what could be expected from a chatbot from Apple, and if it will even be available to everyone or restricted to Apple's ecosystem.

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GPT-AdBlocker is a free browser extension for Google Chrome that uses AI to block advertisement. The developers promise that it blocks all ads, including ads that are shown in videos. The extension works in other Chromium-based browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera or Vivaldi as well.

The extension was launched back in April 2023 and was listed on Producthunt at the time. The developers state that it was built "upon the solid foundation of Ublock" and that it uses "advanced artificial intelligence technology to block out all types of ads".

Also, it is based on Manifest V3 already, which means that it is future-proof.

The creators of GPT-AdBlocker have published a short demo video on YouTube.

A look at the privacy practices on the Chrome Web Store shows that the developers have disclosed that they don't collect or use user data.

Up until now, projects such as Sponsorblock were all YouTube users had to skip sponsored content in videos. These rely on manually adding timestamps of sponsored blocks in videos. The popularity of Sponsorblock makes it a good option for many popular channels and videos, but it is not a full solution because of its manual approach to the blocking.

GPT-AdBlocker attempts to address this by automating the skipping of sponsored parts in videos with the help of AI. The feature works automatically once installed and a quick test confirmed that it did indeed detect sponsored parts in videos and skipped them.

The skipping is not as perfect as the manual approach. Sometimes, you'd watch a few seconds in the beginning, at other times, you'd watch a few seconds at the end. It also happened that seconds of the regular video content were cut as well by the extension.

The developers of AdGuard came to similar conclusions when they took GTP-AdBlocker to the test. They concluded that "it leaves “leftovers” of sponsored ads" sometimes, and "cuts the video rather crudely" at other times.

The technology itself is interesting, however, and there is certainly room for improvement, especially when it comes to accuracy.

Improved content blockers will likely be developed in the coming years and these may provide better results. For now, the good old skipping ahead option, using Sponsorblock, or supporting the channel by watching the sponsored part of the video should work for most users.

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However, late on Tuesday, Intel surprised us with some good news for those particular PC fans and users. In a press release, it stated it was going to partner with ASUS, which will keep the NUC design going. Intel stated:

Under the proposed agreement, ASUS will receive a non-exclusive license to Intel’s NUC systems product line designs, enabling it to manufacture and sell 10th to 13th Gen NUC systems products and develop future designs. This will enable ASUS to provide product and support continuity for Intel NUC systems customers. ASUS will establish a new business unit called ASUS NUC BU.

ASUS already sells its own lineup of mini PCs that use both Intel and AMD CPUs. So it definitely makes sense that it would be a solid partner to continue developing the NUC design that was first launched by Intel.

The press release includes a statement from Intel vice president Sam Gao:

Our NUC systems product team delivered unique products that spurred innovation in the ultra-small form factor market. As we pivot our strategy to enable ecosystem partners to continue NUC systems product innovation and growth, our priority is to ensure a smooth transition for our customers and partners. I am looking forward to ASUS continuing to deliver exceptional products and supporting our NUC systems customers.

There's no word yet on when the first ASUS-based NUC PCs will be launched. The press release also didn't reveal any of this deal's financial details.

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Each of the game's player classes has new items along with an new general but very rare item. The new patch also has new legendary aspects, again one for each player class, and two new general legendary aspects

6 Unique items

General

Ahavarion Spear of Lycander (Uber Unique Staff – World Tier 4): Gain a random Shrine effect for 10-20 seconds after killing an Elite enemy. Can only occur once every 30 seconds.

• Developer’s Note: Ahavarion Spear of Lycander is an extremely rare drop. We wish you luck in recovering it from the armies of the Burning Hells.

Barbarian

Azurewrath (Unique Sword): Lucky Hit - Your Core Skills have up to a 20% chance to Freeze enemies for 3 seconds and deal 0.75-1.5 Cold damage to them.

Druid

Fleshrender (Unique One-Hand Mace): Debilitating Roar and Blood Howl deal 0.5-1.0 damage to Nearby Poisoned enemies.

Necromancer

Lidless Wall (Unique Shield): Lucky Hit - While you have an active Bone Storm, hitting an enemy outside of a Bone Storm has up to a 5-25% chance to spawn an additional Bone Storm at their location. Each of your active Sacrifice bonuses increases the chance by 25% and the total number of additional Bone Storms you can have by +1.

Rogue

Eaglehorn (Unique Bow): Penetrating Shot has a 30-80% chance to fire an arrow that bounces off walls and scenery. Hitting enemies from behind with Penetrating Shot will make them Vulnerable for 3 seconds.

Sorcerer

The Oculus (Unique Wand): Gain the effect of the Teleport Enchantment for free. When you Evade using Teleport Enchantment, you are taken to a random location.

• Developer’s Note: The Azurewrath and Fleshrender Unique Items have flat damage effects, which scale with power. For example, at 820 Item Power, Azurewrath deals between 3359-6718 damage.

7 New Legendary Aspects

General

• Audacity (Utility Aspect): When there are at least 5 Close enemies, Stun them for 2-4 seconds. This can only occur once every 20 seconds.
• Craven (Mobility Aspect): You gain 20-40% increased Movement Speed when moving away from Slowed or Chilled enemies.

Barbarian

Ancestral Charge (Offensive Aspect): Charge calls forth 4 Ancients who also Charge, dealing 50-100% of normal damage.

Druid

Subterranean (Offensive Aspect): Poison Creeper’s active also casts Landslide in a circle around you. Earth Skills deal 10-20% increased damage to Poisoned enemies.

Necromancer

Gore Quills (Offensive Aspect): Blood Lance will consume Blood Orbs to also conjure lances from them. Each additional Blood Lance deals 20-50% of normal damage and prioritizes targeting un-lanced enemies.

Rogue

Pestilent Points (Offensive Aspect): Every third cast of Puncture is Poison Imbued with 100-150% of normal potency.

Sorcerer

Searing Wards (Offensive Aspect): After spending 200-100 Mana your next Firewall is free to cast and will destroy incoming Small Missiles.

The patch also includes a lot of general gameplay updates, balance changes for the character classes, and even more dynamic loading screens, including a player's in-game character.

Diablo IV's Season 1, Season of the Malignant, will be available on July 20. It will have new monsters to fight, new dungeons to explore, and a new boss battle, among the many other new additions to the game.

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According to Samsung, the new GDDR7 memory modules (16Gb or 2GB per chip) improve bandwidth by 40%, delivering an impressive 1.5TB/s and 32Gbps per pin. For comparison, GDDR6 chips Samsung announced last year (still sampling) reach up to 1.1TB/s.

Speed improvements were made possible thanks to the Pulse Amplitude Modulation-3 (PAM3) signaling method instead of the previous generation's Non-Return to Zero (NRZ). Samsung claims PAM3 delivers 50% more data than NRZ within the same signaling cycle.

In addition to improving speed and boosting performance, GDDR7 memory from Samsung lowers power consumption and delivers 20% efficiency improvements using "power-saving design technology optimized for high-speed operations." Manufacturers will also have the option to equip their devices (laptops or tablets) with low-voltage memory. Still, there is no exact voltage data from Samsung, so expect more details in the future.

Finally, Samsung says its GDDR7 memory has an epoxy molding compound (EMC) with high thermal conductivity to improve head dissipation and ensure stable performance during intensive high-speed operations. It is no secret how hot GDDR6 memory chips can get, so GDDR7 should improve on this front thanks to reduced package thermal resistance by 70% compared to GDDR6.

Our GDDR7 DRAM will help elevate user experiences in areas that require outstanding graphics performance, such as workstations, PCs and game consoles, and is expected to expand into future applications such as AI, high-performance computing (HPC) and automotive vehicles. The next-generation graphics DRAM will be brought to market in line with industry demand and we plan on continuing our leadership in the space.

You can learn more about Samsung's GDDR7 memory chips on the Samsung Newsroom website.

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CNBC reports that the stock price shot up just after 11:30 am Eastern time, and was up at one point 5.8 percent higher. After the end of the trading day, the stock price came off those higher numbers, but still finished 3.98 percent higher, at 359.49.

The likely reason traders boosted Microsoft stock to an all-time high today was the announcement of the pricing for Microsoft 365 Copilot. The company said that when the generative AI assistant for its online productivity apps is made generally available, it will cost $30 per month per person for its commercial Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard and Business Premium customers.

While many people online felt that such a price is on the expensive side, it likely pleased Microsoft stock owners and traders. They might believe that many corporations that already use Microsoft 365 will spend that amount per user for its generative AI features.

Right now, Microsoft 365 Copilot is in an Early Access phase of development with a small number of companies currently using it. Microsoft has yet to reveal a specific time frame of when it will become generally available, although it is expected to officially launch before the end of 2023.

Besides the Microsoft 365 pricing, the company also revealed a number of other new and upcoming products and services. That included Bing Chat Enterprise, a version of its AI chatbot that's been made more secure for businesses. It also revealed that Copilot features will soon become available for Microsoft Teams Phone and chat. In addition, it announced a partnership with Meta to offer its Llama 2 large language model for Windows PCs and Azure customers.

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TYC, citing industry sources with knowledge of the matter, explains that the problem, apparently, is a consequence of the "I/O driver" of the uncore (System Agent) that was allegedly moved off the CPU on Intel's 12th Gen and 13th Gen chips.

Using latency tests, TYC shows that the problem is especially pronounced on Windows 10 in most cases. Although Windows 11 is not fully immune to these performance quirks, Microsoft and Intel's combined efforts on optimizing Thread Director for the hybrid processors do pay off in some of these cases, even though past gaming performance numbers have not suggested the same.

In the description of their YouTube video, TYC writes:

I always thought Intel's CPUs were snappy, in fact that were the snappiest of snappiest, even vs Ryzen, where AMD have improved a lot over the years with their latency. However with the advent of 12th gen Alder lake and 13th Gen i9-12900k and 13900K CPUs respectively, Intel took something AWAY, and that was they moved the I/O driver directly off the CPU (that's what I was told from multiple sources), and this was the exact reason why latency issues have been occurring on these CPUs for windows users

In order to test and understand the validity of the perceptive difference they felt, TYC compared their 10th Gen Core i9-10850K (Comet Lake-S) with the Raptor Lake-S i9-13900K (13th Gen). In some cases like DPC (Deferred procedure call) latency, the performance is equally bad on both Windows 11 and 10, though still, the Windows 10 system does do worse. This makes sense as DPC is directly related to driver handling efficiency and some part of the I/O is involved.

Other cases like dragging and dropping MP4 files and rapidly opening MP3 files in Adobe Premiere Pro also exhibit poor showing on the part of the newer Raptor Lake CPU.

Some of the performance differences seen here may also have to do with the core-to-core (c2c) latency differences in Raptor Lake compared to Comet Lake.

As you can see in the images above, courtesy of AnandTech (1,2), the c2c latency varies quite a lot on the hybrid Intel 13900K compared to the 10900K. The c2c on the 10900K varies from as low as 5.6 ns to as high as 23.8, while that on the 13900K is anywhere from 4.0 ns to 53.9, and the latencies between the E-cores are especially bad.

Source and images: Tech YES City (YouTube)

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What you need to know

• The performance projections for Intel's upcoming 15th Gen Arrow Lake processors recently leaked. 
• Following that leak, information on the unreleased LGA1851 socket for Arrow Lake has also leaked.
• Arrow Lake will seemingly require a new motherboard to interface with. 
• This upcoming CPU likely won't release until sometime in 2024 and is subject to change.

Recently, internal performance projection charts for Intel's upcoming 15th Gen Arrow Lake processors leaked giving us a clue that AMD might need to start worrying about Arrow Lake's performance increases. However, now additional news has been leaked by German news outlet Igor's Lab, providing details specifically about the upcoming Arrow Lake processor's socket — the LGA1851. For those wondering, a socket is basically what connects a CPU to the motherboard allowing the processor to be swapped out in a computer rather than being a permanent motherboard fixture.

As indicated by the name, the LGA1851 socket features 1,851 pins. That is 151 more pins than the current LGA1700 socket found in Raptor Lake chipsets which houses, you guessed it, 1,700 pins. The more pins a processor has, the more data or power can be transferred between it and the motherboard. In other words, more pins equals a more powerful CPU. Making this change brings Intel Arrow Lake a lot closer to the AMD AM5, which once more gives team red reason to take note of Intel's unreleased processor.

As explained by Igor's Lab, this pin increase works to improve SSD connectivity since the current LGA1700 is somewhat stunted only offering a PCIe 4.0 ×4 interface which makes it so "PCIe 5.0 SSDs have to use eight lanes that are actually intended for graphics cards." The new LGA1851 will improve things by providing a dedicated PCIe 5.0 ×4 interface for the CPU. In short, this will provide full native support for the fastest SSDs while providing a x16 slot for the GPU.

Igor's Lab created this chart regarding the LGA1851. (Image credit: Igor's Lab)

Despite these changes, diagrams show that the LGA1851 and LGA1700 sockets have the same 45 x 37.55mm dimensions and look the same outwardly, even down to the socket retention system. This means the upcoming and current processors are installed the same way.

However, making these upgrades makes it so that the maximum dynamic pressure for the new socket goes up by 89% from its predecessor (from 489.5N to 923N). As Igor Labs goes on to point out, this change found in the LGA1851 will likely require new cooler mounting systems as the current ones being used don't offer enough contact pressure to function optimally.

It's worth noting that it was originally believed that the LGA1851 socket was intended for both Intel's Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake processors, however, it looks like the former might no longer be intended for desktop use. At any rate, it seems likely that upgrading to Arrow Lake when the new CPUs launch will require users to upgrade their motherboards to ones with DDR5 memory, which could be costly to current DDR4 owners.

Keep in mind that the Arrow Lake CPU and the LGA1851 socket that houses it aren't planned to release until sometime in 2024. As such, things are subject to change between the time of this leak and the released product.

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This new technology is trying to solve a problem that has been an issue for many PC gamers over the years. Even if they have fast GPUs and CPUs inside their rigs, sometimes it takes more than a few seconds for high-end textures to show up on objects and characters in games. AMD already has its own version of this, also based on Microsoft's DirectStorage, called "SmartAccess Storage".

NVIDIA decided to try to help with this situation. In a blog post today, it stated:

Enter NVIDIA RTX IO, enabling fast GPU-based loading and game asset decompression, massively accelerating IO performance compared to hard drives and traditional storage APIs. NVIDIA RTX IO leverages GPU decompression for smaller data packages, enabling faster texture load times and lower CPU utilization, and allows developers to create a new generation of games with massive highly detailed worlds.

You can see how this works in the brief video above. Using RTX IO, loading times for the textures in Portal: Prelude RTX are over three times as fast compared to its use with this option turned off.

In addition to faster texture loading times, RTX IO also enables those same textures to use up to 44 percent less storage. NVIDIA stated that this can allow games with "32 GB of 4K textures loaded with lossless detail, while only taking up 18 GB of storage space."

In a more technical post on RTX IO, the company says that the new tech is supported by Microsoft's DirectX through its DirectStorage feature, along with Vulkan via extensions.

In addition to Portal: Prelude RTX, the new RTX IO tech will be used in the upcoming PC version of Insomniac and Sony's PS5 game Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which will launch on July 26.

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The company has its own website on the founding of Intel that's worth a look. It states that it was founded by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, who were already well-known in the Northern California area for helping to launch another company, Fairchild Semiconductors, in 1957.

Noyce helped to create the monolithic integrated circuit in 1959 while he was at the company, which is the basis for the modern personal computer chip.

However, Noyce and Moore, who passed away just last March, decided they wanted to leave Fairchild and form their own microelectronics hardware company. While the official Intel site doesn't mention this, the third co-founder of Intel was the financier and the first "venture capitalist" Arthur Rock.

He had also helped to get Fairchild started, and when Noyce and Moore wanted to launch this new business, Rock was available to get the money to start this new venture. Encyclopedia.com has a quote from Rock who stated:

Bob (Noyce) just called me on the phone. We'd been friends for a long time.… Documents? There was practically nothing. Noyce's reputation was good enough. We put out a page-and-a-half little circular, but I'd raised the money even before people saw it.

According to the story, Rock made 15 phone calls in just two hours. He managed to secure $2.5 million to start the company, which was a massive amount of money at that time.

As far as the name of the company, another company history site said that at first it was called NM Electronics, using the first letters of Noyce and Moore. However, the founders quickly decided they wanted a better name.

They tried a number of mashups of different names, like Calex (California Electronics), Digitcom (Digital Computer), and Comptek (Computer Technology). In the end, they made the choice to use Intel (Integrated Electronics). Sounds simple, right? Well, there was one small problem, according to Intel's history page:

When it came out that Intelco was already the name of a midwestern hotel chain, Noyce and Moore purchased the right to use the name. “We thought that paying $15,000 was easier than thinking up another alternative,” Moore recalled.

As far as the first logo for the company, Hatchwise claims it was designed by Noyce and Moore as well. The sans-serif font was used with a blue logo, with the "e" dropped below the "t" and "l" "creating a look as if it had fallen or dropped from the line." The logo was used for decades and only got a refresh in 2005.

Ironically, the current logo for the company, which was first introduced in 2020, looks very much like the first Intel logo, except the "e" is no longer below the "t" and "l", and the dot on the "i" is a lighter colour of blue.

The new company started hiring people and on August 1 it moved into its first headquarters in Mountain View, inside a building that was previously used by Union Carbide.

The first hardware product from Intel was the 3101 Schottky random-access memory chip. However, that was basically a placeholder product for the company to get revenue while it developed something better.

In November 1971, Intel launched the 4004 microprocessor, which was the first such chip that could be programmed to do different tasks in software, rather than hardwire those features in the chip itself.

That was the true start of Intel's rise in the tech company, and today it is still a major force in PC and server CPUs, despite a lot of competition from other companies.

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At Google I/O 2023, Google announced that it's working on extension support for Bard, but we haven't heard anything from Google since then. We may soon, though. Folks over at 9to5google have unearthed the UI of what looks to be an "early preview" of the Bard's "Extensions" capability. The extensions are not currently working as they should, though. However, the leak seems to suggest that Google is closer than ever to launching a preview of the Extensions feature for Bard AI.

The leaked UI also suggests that the Bard AI will have as many as nine extensions available at launch, including Instacart, Kayak, Google Maps, Google Flights, Google Hotels, OpenTable, Zillow, YouTube, and Redfin.

Image credit: 9to5google

Just like how plugins enhance the capabilities of ChatGPT, Extensions will do the same to Bard AI. You'll be able to cross-check a piece of information given by Bard with the help of an extension to be absolutely sure about something. They can also find and book restaurants, which is what OpenTable and Google Hotels do.

While Bard users are ready to welcome extensions, the overall experience may not be as good as that of ChatGPT. The reason for that is some notable names such as Wikipedia, Expedia, and Zapier are missing from the list of extensions expected to be available at launch. However, Google could turn the table by making extensions available without users needing to get a subscription, unlike ChatGPT.

Source: 9to5google

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