AI Breakthroughs Revolutionize Industries from Energy to Healthcare

The world of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve at a rapid pace, with breakthroughs in reinforcement learning, AI-powered energy forecasting, and the integration of AI into federal IT. In this news brief, we'll explore the latest developments in these areas and what they mean for the future of AI.

From Turing to DeepSeek: Reinforcement Learning Soars

Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton, the recipients of the Turing Award for their work on reinforcement learning, have led the effort to establish a computational approach to learning from interactions. Their algorithms for effective learning through trial-and-error and delayed reward have been instrumental in the development of AI systems that can learn from their environment and improve over time. The merging of GPU-powered artificial neural networks with reinforcement learning has led to major advances in the practical applications of AI, including the victories of Google's AlphaGo program over the best human Go players.

National Grid Partners Invests $100M in AI Startups

National Grid Partners, the venture arm of National Grid, plans to invest over $100 million in AI-focused startups over the next five years. The funds will primarily target technology that can boost capacity and resilience for electric grids and natural gas pipelines. The investment will accelerate the development of a more efficient, resilient, and dynamic grid that supports economic growth, reduces customer costs, and helps meet climate goals.

Amperon Secures Strategic Investment from National Grid Partners

Amperon, a leading provider of AI-powered energy forecasting and analytics solutions, has secured a strategic investment from National Grid Partners. The investment will further accelerate Amperon's commercial expansion across North America and Europe, enhancing its ability to provide best-in-class AI-powered energy forecasting and market analytics to utilities, independent power producers, and energy market participants.

ServiceNow’s Yokohama Platform Release Focuses on Agentic AI

ServiceNow has released its Yokohama platform, which focuses on agentic AI. The new release includes teams of preconfigured AI agents that deliver productivity and predictable outcomes from day one, on a single platform. The AI Agent Studio will allow developers to build, manage, and monitor their own AI agents, and to chain agents together to create automation workflows.

Google Launches AI Model Gemma 3 That Can Run on 1 GPU

Google has launched its latest open-source models called Gemma 3, which can run on a single graphics processing unit or tensor processing unit. The Alphabet unit Gemma 3 is a collection of AI models that can be used for a variety of tasks, including natural language processing and computer vision.

Companies That Want to Hire Workers with AI Skills Need to Focus on This 3-Part Strategy

Companies that want to hire workers with AI skills need to focus on a 3-part strategy, including upskilling and reskilling initiatives, investing in sovereign AI, and leveraging AI agents to automate complex tasks.

Wolf Games, Backed by ‘Law & Order’ Creator, Uses AI to Create Murder Mystery Games

Wolf Games, a new startup backed by ‘Law & Order’ creator Dick Wolf, uses AI to create murder mystery games. The company's flagship title, Public Eye, capitalizes on the growing interest among true crime enthusiasts who often love to play detective.

I Outsourced My Memory to an AI Pin and All I Got Was Fanfiction

Bee, a $50 AI wearable, aims to solve the problems of forgetting and misremembering by outsourcing your memory to an AI pin. However, the device has its limitations, including fact-checking your memories and struggling to reliably differentiate speakers.

Key Takeaways

  • Reinforcement learning has made significant progress in recent years, with breakthroughs in AI systems that can learn from their environment and improve over time.
  • National Grid Partners is investing $100 million in AI-focused startups to accelerate the development of a more efficient, resilient, and dynamic grid.
  • ServiceNow's Yokohama platform release focuses on agentic AI, which can deliver productivity and predictable outcomes from day one.
  • Google has launched its latest open-source models called Gemma 3, which can run on a single graphics processing unit or tensor processing unit.
  • Companies that want to hire workers with AI skills need to focus on upskilling and reskilling initiatives, investing in sovereign AI, and leveraging AI agents to automate complex tasks.
  • Wolf Games uses AI to create murder mystery games, capitalizing on the growing interest among true crime enthusiasts.
  • Bee, a $50 AI wearable, aims to solve the problems of forgetting and misremembering by outsourcing your memory to an AI pin, but has its limitations.

Sources

Artificial Intelligence Reinforcement Learning AI-Powered Energy Forecasting Federal IT Agentic AI AI Startups AI Wearable AI-Powered Games AI Model Gemma 3 AI Skills Upskilling Reskilling Sovereign AI