Welcome back to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• 📶 World's first AI and 5G telecom network

• ⬇️ Rate of OpenAI GPT improvements slowing down

• 🤖 $100 billion AI hub "Project Transcendence"

• 🤺 AI chip battle among cloud giants

Let’s get right into it!

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BIG TECH

World's first AI and 5G telecom network

Nvidia and SoftBank Corp have launched the world’s first network combining AI and 5G, called an AI radio access network (AI-RAN), which enables simultaneous processing of AI and 5G tasks. This integrated network supports applications like autonomous vehicle remote assistance and robotics control.

SoftBank’s CEO, Masayoshi Son, highlighted this as a new standard that other telecoms will likely adopt. Nvidia’s new Blackwell chips power the AI supercomputer SoftBank is developing for its own generative AI model, combining AI and 5G to enhance real-time data processing and connectivity crucial for next-gen technology.

STARTUPS

Rate of OpenAI GPT improvements slowing down

The rate of improvement in large language models (LLMs) is slowing down, prompting OpenAI to explore new methods to boost its models. OpenAI’s upcoming model, Orion, shows a smaller improvement compared to past releases, raising concerns about scaling laws that assume performance increases with more data and computing power.

Challenges include a shortage of high-quality training data, reliance on synthetic data, and increasing costs. In response, OpenAI is enhancing post-training processes and developing reasoning models, which improve accuracy with additional computing resources. These efforts reflect a shift towards improving models through targeted training, though progress in general-purpose tasks may be plateauing.

WORLD NEWS

$100 billion AI hub "Project Transcendence"

Saudi Arabia is reportedly planning a major artificial intelligence initiative called "Project Transcendence," backed by up to $100 billion to develop a regional AI hub that could rival the UAE. This state-backed effort will invest in data centers, startups, and infrastructure, while also attracting tech talent and encouraging international tech companies to invest in the kingdom.

Modeled similarly to the sustainable manufacturing fund Alat, also backed by $100 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the project aims to establish Saudi Arabia as a global AI leader. A $5-10 billion partnership between PIF and Google, focused on creating Arabic AI models, could serve as a foundation for this initiative.

BIG TECH

AI chip battle among cloud giants

An AI chip competition is underway among cloud giants, with Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) each releasing custom AI chips. AWS is promoting its chip, Trainium, through a $110 million grant program called "Build on Trainium," offering AI researchers, institutions, and students access to Trainium credits, resources, and a research cluster.

While AWS says the program will support AI research and address resource gaps in academia, some critics argue that corporate-backed AI funding may prioritize commercially valuable projects over critical ethical studies. AWS claims there’s no vendor lock-in for recipients, only a requirement to open-source their research outcomes.