Brian Heater / TechCrunch: Q&A with Google DeepMind Head of Robotics Vincent Vanhoucke on the robotics team’s history, general purpose robots, generative AI’s role in robotics, and more  —  [A version of this piece first appeared in TechCrunch’s robotics newsletter, Actuator.  Subscribe here.] Lees verder op Tech Meme

Nancy Scola / Politico: A profile of, and interview with, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed, who is in charge of developing the Biden administration’s AI strategy  —  Bruce Reed had seen the pitfalls of letting Big Tech run roughshod over government.  He is determined not to make the same mistakes on AI. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Bloomberg: Chinese startup 01.AI, launched in March 2023 by computer scientist Kai-Fu Lee, reaches a $1B+ valuation and releases its AI model Yi-34B in Chinese and English  —  – 01.AI’s model outperforms Meta’s Llama 2 on certain metrics  — Startup to offer open-source model; proprietary options later Lees verder op Tech Meme

David Gilbert / Wired: A look at CulturePulse, which is building an AI model to create a virtual version of Israel and Palestinian territories and has signed a nine-month UN contract  —  CulturePulse’s AI model promises to create a realistic virtual simulation of Israel and the Palestinian territories. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Maria Heeter / The Information: Sources: Palo Alto Networks is close to acquiring Tel Aviv-based startup Talon Cyber Security for $600M to $700M, and may announce the deal as soon as Monday  —  Palo Alto Networks is close to acquiring Israeli startup Talon Cyber Security in a deal that could value it at $600 million to $700 million … Lees verder op Tech Meme