(This article is part of Today’s Cache, The Hindu’s newsletter on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, innovation and policy. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here.)
Apple launches iPad with M4 chip
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple announced the launch of the new iPad Pro range yesterday calling it the “biggest day for the iPad.” Touted as the thinnest device Apple has ever made, the iPad has two sizes - 11 inches and 13 inches. The 13-inch model has a larger screen which can be used for sketching, colouring, editing videos, making music and making video calls.
The devices are also powered by the M4 chip which are a major upgrade from the M2 chips in previous models. The chip can reportedly deliver a performance on par with the same chip, using a quarter of the power. The device uses artificial intelligence in several features like scanning and video editing. The launch took place at the company’s UK headquarters which was an unusual choice from Cupertino in California.
Google DeepMind unveils new drug discovery AI model
Google Deepmind has unveiled the third version of its AlphaFold model to help design drugs more effectively. The startup had released the first version of the AI model in 2020 for predicting protein folding patterns. The latest model was able to map behaviour of all life molecules in the world including human DNA. The way in which proteins interact are vital to drug discovery and development given that they form important enzymes in humans and antibodies to fight diseases.
The company also announced the release of the AlphaFold server, a free online tool that scientists can test their theories on before conducting actual tests. AlphaFold has been accessible since 2021 to non-commercial researchers with a database that has more than 200 million protein structures and has been cited multiple times.
Reddit shares soar after earnings
Reddit shares soared as much as 11% in early trading after its first earnings report showed strong growth in revenue and increasing profitability. The social media firm’s profit for the quarter beat analyst estimates with signs that pushing its advertising business and the AI content licensing deals made with Google were working in its favour.
Despite having been founded in 2005, Reddit was still lagging behind other social media platforms when it came to generating ad revenue. Analysts believe the company should benefit now from expanded ad targeting and measurement tools. The platform has more than 100,000 discussion forums or subreddits making it a bank of data for AI models looking to be trained on human-generated content.
