AI On A Friday

Well this week went fast.

I was scanning the tech headlines and saw a number of tidbits on AI in the news.

First, from ZDNet: Qualcomm and Baidu have formed a strategic collaboration to optimize Baidu’s DuerOS conversational AI system and create a better AI voice and smart assistant solution for smartphones and IoT devices. More details here.

CNBC is reporting that Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, was talking up the company’s work to develop custom hardware for AI on Thursday during a talk at a company party for academic and industry researchers.

The specialized hardware could one day be used inside Tesla vehicles to do the computing work necessary for autonomous driving.

And just yesterday, IBM unveiled its next-generation Power Systems Servers incorporating its newly designed POWER9 processor that is built specifically for compute-intensive AI workloads.

The new POWER9 systems are capable of improving the training times of deep learning frameworks by nearly 4X, allowing enterprises to build more accurate AI applications faster.