COP29 DeBriefed 22 November 2024: Countries split on climate finance; Fossil-fuel transition ‘reaffirmed’; Latest texts analysed

Carbon Neutral Regulation in AI Training

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week COP crunch FINAL CALL: COP29 has entered its final scheduled day in Baku. Yesterday’s six-hour “Qurultay” meeting witnessed “unanimous” disappointment over the state of draft texts, with developing countries unhappy about the lack of numbers on climate […]

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Product management stands at a very interesting threshold because of advances happening in the area of Artificial Intelligence. As the capabilities of AI evolve unceasingly, the traditional role of the product manager will be transformed in ways never dreamed possible, marking the dawn of a new era: that of the “Product Alchemist.” As a hyper-growth […]

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John Brooks is the founder and CEO of Mass Virtual, a visionary technology leader with over 20 years of experience driving product and solution innovation across Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Augmented Reality (AR) for both commercial and defense sectors. Under John’s leadership, Mass Virtual has developed the MassXR platform, an advanced training […]

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White House science advisor Arati Prabhakar expressed confidence in U.S. science and technology capacities during a talk on Wednesday about major issues the country must tackle. “Let me start with the purpose of science and technology and innovation, which is to open possibilities so that we can achieve our great aspirations,” said Prabhakar, who is […]

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Fields ranging from robotics to medicine to political science are attempting to train AI systems to make meaningful decisions of all kinds. For example, using an AI system to intelligently control traffic in a congested city could help motorists reach their destinations faster, while improving safety or sustainability. Unfortunately, teaching an AI system to make […]

I love the question: “Who are my people?” I like answering it. I like asking it in community dialogue spaces, and I love to hear how it forces us to turn the cogs in our minds about who, what, and where we come from. My people are: loud, caring, passionate, funny, emotionally mature and emotionally […]

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The Irish philosopher George Berkely, best known for his theory of immaterialism, once famously mused, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” What about AI-generated trees? They probably wouldn’t make a sound, but they will be critical nonetheless for applications such as […]

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Imagine managing a financial portfolio where every millisecond counts. A split-second delay could mean a missed profit or a sudden loss. Today, businesses in every sector rely on real-time insights. Finance, healthcare, retail, and cybersecurity, all need to react instantly to changes, whether it is an alert, a patient update, or a shift in inventory. […]

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What is RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)? Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is a technique that combines the strengths of large language models (LLMs) with external data retrieval to improve the quality and relevance of generated responses. Traditional LLMs use their pre-trained knowledge bases, whereas RAG pipelines will query external databases or documents in runtime and retrieve relevant information […]

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Ubitium, a semiconductor startup, has unveiled a groundbreaking universal processor that promises to redefine how computing workloads are managed. This innovative chip consolidates processing capabilities into a single, efficient unit, eliminating the need for specialized processors such as CPUs, GPUs, DSPs, and FPGAs. By breaking away from traditional processing architectures, Ubitium is set to simplify […]

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Gareth Mitchell, UK Partner Manager at Heliot Europe, a group developing LPWAN networks for industry, discusses the potential of IoT technology and sensors in waste management applications for local councils, as part of the solution to providing a cost-effective solution. Local councils in the UK are facing unprecedented financial pressures, with one in five potentially […]

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A Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyser. The Berlin Electrolyser Conference takes place on 26- 27 November, with this, 7th edition of the event, focusing on safety-oriented design. While many existing electrolyser technologies are ready for scale-up, there are still numerous critical challenges to overcome to achieve cost reductions and to scale up installation worldwide. Hydrogen […]

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The idea of green shipping corridors – referring to specific trade routes where the feasibility of zero-emission shipping is catalysed by public and private action – has gained currency in recent years, but progress could stall without urgent action from governments to overcome a “feasibility wall.” This is the conclusion drawn by a report from […]

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A £2 billion funding package has been awarded to build a proposed new subsea and underground 196km cable between Scotland and the north of England which is intended to help boost energy security, cut bills and hit Government green targets. Flagged by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) as an essential element in achieving the […]

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Sonichem has found a way to extract lignin – “nature’s glue” – from trees. A team of researchers in Scotland is supporting a clean tech startup to transform low-value co-products from the forestry sector into eco-friendly alternatives to chemicals found in everyday items. Sonichem says its ambition is to reduce the reliance on petrochemical-derived ingredients […]

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Imagine this: You’ve spent hours perfecting a long video, only to wonder how you’re going to repurpose it for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts without spending even more time editing. Sound familiar? Did you know that 93% of businesses gain new customers through social videos, yet only 9% feel confident in their editing process? That’s […]

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A team of scientists just found something that changes a lot of what we thought we knew about AI capabilities. Your models aren’t just processing information – they are developing sophisticated abilities that go way beyond their training. And to unlock these abilities, we need to change how we talk to them. The Concept Space […]

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The growth of autonomous agents by foundation models (FMs) like Large Language Models (LLMs) has reform how we solve complex, multi-step problems. These agents perform tasks ranging from customer support to software engineering, navigating intricate workflows that combine reasoning, tool use, and memory. However, as these systems grow in capability and complexity, challenges in observability, reliability, […]