Day: October 10, 2023

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OpenAI Apparently Wants to Make Its Own AI Chips on Top of the ‘iPhone for AI’

https://gizmodo.com/openai-wants-to-make-its-own-ai-chips-1850906306


Image: Ascannio (Shutterstock)

Due to a shortage of processors needed to run OpenAI’s intense software as well as the exorbitant costs associated with operating it, the makers of ChatGPT are reportedly considering making their own AI chips.

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OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has been relying on Nvidia for its chips ever since it came into existence. With more than 80% of the global market for AI chips captured, Nvidia has been enjoying the pseudo-monopoly that it holds in this field. However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has recently commented on the scarcity of these chips. On Friday, sources that are familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters that Altman has been exploring the possibility of his company either getting into the chip business or acquiring a company that already makes them. He has also considered diversifying suppliers by working with companies other than Nvidia.

OpenAI uses a supercomputer by Microsoft which makes use of 10,000 Nvidia GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). According to Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon, each ChatGPT query costs the company around 4 cents which could end up being an unimaginably huge amount as ChatGPT continues to grow.

Of course, the exorbitant costs of getting into the chip business represent a significant hurdle. Building its own AI chips will easily cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars and a couple of years. And that’s on top of reports that OpenAI is in discussions with former Apple designer Jony Ive regarding the possibility of building the “iPhone of AI”—a moonshot that would also surely require billions of dollars in investment.

When it comes to producing its own chips, the acquisition of a chip company does sound more doable for OpenAI. Both Google and Amazon are in control of designing the chips that run their businesses. Amazon accomplished that in 2015 by acquiring Annapurna Labs. Meta also explored this option and even came up with its own chip, but following several issues with the technology, the company has been working on a redesign.

In the meantime, OpenAI will remain dependent on incumbent giants of GPUs.

via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com

October 6, 2023 at 10:40AM

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Bastl’s Outsidify app lets you capture and transform sounds via a smartphone

https://www.engadget.com/bastles-outsidify-app-lets-you-capture-and-transform-sounds-via-a-smartphone-185421887.html?src=rss

Popular audio gadget maker Bastl just released an iOS app called Outsidify that lets you capture and transform audio directly from your iPhone’s speakers and microphone. Despite the slightly cringey app name, it looks pretty darned fun, allowing users to explore the ambient noise around them to create some truly unique soundscapes.

Once you capture some audio via the app, use Bastl’s latest creation to make harmonious or discordant feedback, manipulate responses, apply resonant filters and more. You can even use your mouth, speaking directly into the phone’s microphone, to create your own resonant filter.

Additionally, you can capture impulse responses from just about anything, with Bastl using a coffee cup or a construction site pipe as examples. These IRs can then be used to run other audio sources through to create custom reverbs and the like, via a DAW or a standalone piece of hardware. The only caveat here is the phone has to fit inside of the object or the space it’s capturing, so your dreams of having an impulse response from the inside of a toilet paper roll are, sadly, quashed.

The integrated media player allows for full looping and lets you adjust the start and end points. There’s also a speed slider, from ¼ speed to 4x, and a cropping function. As for the recorder, it saves wav files to pass on to other devices, again with adjustable start and end points. You can also speed match recordings, so the recorded speed automatically matches the tempo set in the player while preserving the pitch. Of course, there’s also a countdown timer so you can get in position before the app starts recording.

The audio gets transformed via a feedback pad with adjustment options for amount and tone. There’s even an adjustable delay that changes how long it takes the microphone to reach the feedback pad.

Outsidify is an iOS exclusive that costs $6 when purchased from the official App Store. This app is unique for Bastl, as the company typically manufactures physical gadgets like the battery-powered Kastle portable synthesizer. We’ve also praised Bastl’s Microgranny Monolith granular sampler and the Bestie portable mixer.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/A0raFPK

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

October 9, 2023 at 02:03PM