Good Morning! A reality check for the promising but challenging field of quantum computing, as influential figures like Meta's AI head and Amazon's quantum lead highlight significant hurdles still ahead. Major non-profit Code.org slaps edtech giant WhiteHat Jr. with a $3 million lawsuit alleging breach of contract over unpaid licensing fees stemming from a prior coding education partnership. An AI model developed by researchers can predict key life events such as health conditions and lifespan with unprecedented accuracy by analyzing career, income, education and health data from an entire national population.

— Forrest Knight & Meghanadh Vasireddy

Reality Check for Quantum Computing

The skeptics argue that the quantum computing revolution may be further off and more limited than many have been led to believe. Yann LeCun, Meta's head of AI research, recently expressed doubts about the near-term practicality of quantum computers. Similarly, Oskar Painter, head of quantum hardware for Amazon Web Services, highlighted the "tremendous amount of hype" in the industry.

A key challenge for quantum computers is their susceptibility to errors. Some have suggested that these "noisy intermediate-scale quantum" (NISQ) processors could still be put to useful work. However, Painter and others believe that quantum error-correction schemes will be crucial for achieving practical quantum computers.

Despite these challenges, quantum computing still holds promise for solving complex problems in fields such as financial modeling, logistics optimization, and machine learning acceleration. However, the timeline for these advancements remains uncertain.

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Code.org Sues WhiteHat Jr. For $3 Million

Code.org, a prominent non-profit organization focused on computer science education, has filed a lawsuit against WhiteHat Jr, a subsidiary of the Indian edtech giant BYJU'S. The lawsuit, filed in a California district court, alleges that WhiteHat Jr breached a licensing contract by failing to pay the agreed-upon fees while continuing to use Code.org's platform and content.

In 2021, WhiteHat Jr entered into a partnership with Code.org, committing to pay $4 million over a four-year period for the use of Code.org's coding education platform. WhiteHat Jr made an initial payment of $1 million but later informed Code.org that it would be unable to make the remaining scheduled license payments. Despite this, WhiteHat Jr has continued to access and use Code.org's platform and content without making further payments.

The lawsuit comes at a challenging time for BYJU'S, which acquired WhiteHat Jr for $300 million in 2020. BYJU'S has faced scrutiny over its rapid expansion during the pandemic and has recently seen the resignation of key board members and executives. The company is also considering rebranding WhiteHat Jr and integrating its assets into other business verticals.

Code.org's legal team contends that even if the agreement were to be terminated, WhiteHat Jr would still be obligated to fulfill all future licensing payments. The lawsuit seeks $3 million, which represents the unpaid balance of the original $4 million agreement.

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Artificial intelligence can predict events in people's lives

The research, conducted by a team from the Technical University of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, ITU, and Northeastern University in the US, utilized a tool called life2vec, which is built using transformer models, the same technology that powers large language models like ChatGPT.

The life2vec tool was trained on a dataset from the entire population of Denmark, approximately 6 million people. This dataset, made available only to the researchers by the Danish government, included sequences of life events such as health history, education, job, and income. The model uses this information to categorize and draw connections between life events, enabling it to predict future events, including an individual's lifespan, with an accuracy that surpasses current models.

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Introducing React Native AI

This innovative tool is designed to facilitate the creation of cross-platform mobile AI applications, offering a range of features that streamline the development process.

React Native AI supports LLM real-time/streaming text and chat UIs, image services, natural language to image with multiple models, and image processing. The framework was born out of the need for a basic, configurable platform that could easily bring new ideas to life without the necessity of rebuilding basic components from scratch.

The creator of React Native AI has previously launched successful AI experiments and products, including RoamAround, valued at $10M with over 7 million users, and AI Buddy, generating over $1,000 in monthly recurring revenue with more than 2,000 users. These experiences have informed the development of React Native AI, with a particular focus on mobile and launching to the App stores.

One of the key features of React Native AI is its ability to handle streaming/real-time responses. Debugging these on both the client and the server side can be time-consuming, but React Native AI simplifies this process, saving developers valuable time and effort.

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Youtube Spotlight

Computer Science - 2023's Biggest Breakthroughs

In 2023, the field of computer science experienced major breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Researchers combined statistical and symbolic AI methods to achieve abstract reasoning at a scale and speed never seen before, paving the way for energy-efficient AI platforms. Another breakthrough came in the form of an improvement on Shor’s algorithm, which promises faster and more efficient integer factoring using quantum computers. Additionally, large language models (LLMs) demonstrated emergent behaviors, allowing them to solve complex tasks and exhibit novel abilities that were previously unpredictable.

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