Latest news with #AlphaFold
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Nvidia, Dell announce major project to reshape AI
I believe that the universe always keeps things in balance. For every positive thing, there is a negative, and vice versa. Imagine working as a teacher for a moment. The world has changed, and suddenly everyone has access to artificial intelligence. Are your students using ChatGPT to do their homework? Absolutely. Would you like to be in that teacher's shoes? I know I wouldn't. What if this AI revolution turns out to be a tragedy like the use of leaded petrol, which is suspected to have lowered the IQ of Americans born in the 1960s and 1970s? While AI advances could potentially extinguish future scientific minds, today's scientists use powerful computers to deliver scientific breakthroughs. Google's AlphaFold, a program for protein structure prediction, had already made breakthroughs in 2018 before the advent of agentic AI. In 2024, its authors Demis Hassabis and John Jumper were awarded one-half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the other half went to David Baker for his work on protein design. Baker wasn't doing his research on pen and paper either; he relied on the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center's Perlmutter supercomputer to do his work. Now, Dell is working on something for those for whom Perlmutter isn't good Technologies (DELL) released its earnings report for Q1 Fiscal 2026 on May 29. Here are some of the highlights: Revenue of $23.4 billion, up 5% year over yearOperating income of $1.2 billion, up 21% YoYDiluted EPS of $1.37, flat YoY, "We achieved first-quarter record servers and networking revenue of $6.3 billion, and we're experiencing unprecedented demand for our AI-optimized servers. We generated $12.1 billion in AI orders this quarter alone, surpassing the entirety of shipments in all of FY25 and leaving us with $14.4 billion in backlog," stated Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer of Dell. Most of that backlog consists of complex systems built using Nvidia (NVDA) Blackwell chips. Related: Dell execs sound alarm with consumer comments While Dell is leaning heavily on Nvidia, Nvidia is looking for ways to minimize losses caused by new government policies that require a license to export its H20 chip to China. As TheStreet's Samuel O'Brient reports, Nvidia could not ship an additional $2.5 billion worth of H20 products during Q1 because of the restrictions. On top of that, Nvidia expects the H20 licensing requirement to result in an $8 billion revenue hit during Q2. Nvidia's guidance is for roughly $45 billion in sales in the second quarter. On May 29, Nvidia and Dell announced Doudna, a supercomputer for NERSC, a U.S. Department of Energy user facility at Berkeley Lab. It is set to launch in 2026 and is named for Nobel laureate and CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna. According to Nvidia, Doudna is expected to outperform its predecessor, Perlmutter, by more than 10x in scientific output, all while using just 2-3x the power. It will be powered by NVIDIA's next-generation Vera Rubin chips. Related: Popular cloud storage service might be oversharing your data "I'm so proud that America continues to invest in this particular area," stated NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. "It is the foundation of scientific discovery for our country. It is also the foundation for economic and technology leadership." More Nvidia: Analysts issue rare warning on Nvidia stock before key earningsAnalysts double price target of new AI stock backed by NvidiaNvidia CEO shares blunt message on China chip sales ban Unlike conventional systems, Doudna merges simulation, data, and AI into a single seamless platform, built for real-time discovery. "We're not just building a faster computer," stated Nick Wright, advanced technologies group lead and Doudna chief architect at NERSC. "We're building a system that helps researchers think bigger and discover sooner." Doudna includes support for scalable quantum algorithm development and the co-design of future integrated quantum high-performance computing systems. Research teams, working on climate models and particle physics, are already porting full workflows to Doudna. Nvidia seems to be finding ways to recoup the revenue losses created by the new regulations, as Huang recently hinted at the possibility of greater partnership with Tesla and xAI. Related: Veteran fund manager who predicted April rally updates S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
These stories could change how you feel about AI
Here's a selection of recent headlines about artificial intelligence, picked more or less at random: For some recent graduates, the AI job apocalypse may already be here Artificial intelligence threatens to raid the water reserves of Europe's driest regions Top AI CEO foresees white-collar bloodbath Okay, not exactly at random — I did look for more doomy-sounding headlines. But they weren't hard to find. That's because numerous studies indicate that negative or fear-framed coverage of AI in mainstream media tends to outnumber positive framings. And to be clear, there are good reasons for that! From disinformation to cyberwarfare to autonomous weapons to massive job loss to the actual, flat-out end of the world (shameless plug of my book here), there are a lot of things that could go very, very wrong with AI. But as in so many other areas, the emphasis on the negative in artificial intelligence risks overshadowing what could go right — both in the future as this technology continues to develop and right now. As a corrective (and maybe just to ingratiate myself to our potential future robot overlords), here's a roundup of one way in which AI is already making a positive difference in three important fields. Whenever anyone asks me about an unquestionably good use of AI, I point to one thing: AlphaFold. After all, how many other AI models have won their creators an actual Nobel Prize? AlphaFold, which was developed by the Google-owned AI company DeepMind, is an AI model that predicts the 3D structures of proteins based solely on their amino acid sequences. That's important because scientists need to predict the shape of protein to better understand how it might function and how it might be used in products like drugs. That's known as the 'protein-folding problem' — and it was a problem because while human researchers could eventually figure out the structure of a protein, it would often take them years of laborious work in the lab to do so. AlphaFold, through machine-learning methods I couldn't explain to you if I tried, can make predictions in as little as five seconds, with accuracy that is almost as good as gold-standard experimental methods. By speeding up a basic part of biomedical research, AlphaFold has already managed to meaningfully accelerate drug development in everything from Huntington's disease to antibiotic resistance. And Google DeepMind's decision last year to open source AlphaFold3, its most advanced model, for non-commercial academic use has greatly expanded the number of researchers who can take advantage of it. You wouldn't know it from watching medical dramas like The Pitt, but doctors spend a lot of time doing paperwork — two hours of it for every one hour they actually spend with a patient, by one count. Finding a way to cut down that time could free up doctors to do actual medicine and help stem the problem of burnout. That's where AI is already making a difference. As the Wall Street Journal reported this week, health care systems across the country are employing 'AI scribes' — systems that automatically capture doctor-patient discussions, update medical records, and generally automate as much as possible around the documentation of a medical interaction. In one pilot study employing AI scribes from Microsoft and a startup called Abridge, doctors cut back daily documentation time from 90 minutes to under 30 minutes. Not only do ambient-listening AI products free doctors from much of the need to make manual notes, but they can eventually connect new data from a doctor-patient interaction with existing medical records and ensure connections and insights on care don't fall between the cracks. 'I see it being able to provide insights about the patient that the human mind just can't do in a reasonable time,' Dr. Lance Owens, regional chief medical information officer at University of Michigan Health, told the Journal. A timely warning about a natural disaster can mean the difference between life and death, especially in already vulnerable poor countries. That is why Google Flood Hub is so important. An open-access, AI-driven river-flood early warning system, Flood Hub provides seven-day flood forecasts for 700 million people in 100 countries. It works by marrying a global hydrology model that can forecast river levels even in basins that lack physical flood gauges with an inundation model that converts those predicted levels into high-resolution flood maps. This allows villagers to see exactly what roads or fields might end up underwater. Flood Hub, to my mind, is one of the clearest examples of how AI can be used for good for those who need it most. Though many rich countries like the US are included in Flood Hub, they mostly already have infrastructure in place to forecast the effects of extreme weather. (Unless, of course, we cut it all from the budget.) But many poor countries lack those capabilities. AI's ability to drastically reduce the labor and cost of such forecasts has made it possible to extend those lifesaving capabilities to those who need it most. One more cool thing: The NGO GiveDirectly — which provides direct cash payments to the global poor — has experimented with using Flood Hub warnings to send families hundreds of dollars in cash aid days before an expected flood to help themselves prepare for the worst. As the threat of extreme weather grows, thanks to climate change and population movement, this is the kind of cutting-edge philanthropy. Even what seems to be the best applications for AI can come with their drawbacks. The same kind of AI technology that allows AlphaFold to help speed drug development could conceivably be used one day to more rapidly design bioweapons. AI scribes in medicine raise questions about patient confidentiality and the risk of hacking. And while it's hard to find fault in an AI system that can help warn poor people about natural disasters, the lack of access to the internet in the poorest countries can limit the value of those warnings — and there's not much AI can do to change that. But with the headlines around AI leaning so apocalyptic, it's easy to overlook the tangible benefits AI already delivers. Ultimately AI is a tool. A powerful tool, but a tool nonetheless. And like any tool, what it will do — bad and good — will be determined by how we use it. A version of this story originally appeared in the Good News newsletter. Sign up here!
Vox
3 days ago
- Science
- Vox
These stories could change how you feel about AI
is an editorial director at Vox overseeing the climate, tech, and world teams, and is the editor of Vox's Future Perfect section. He worked at Time magazine for 15 years as a foreign correspondent in Asia, a climate writer, and an international editor, and he wrote a book on existential risk. Here's a selection of recent headlines about artificial intelligence, picked more or less at random: Okay, not exactly at random — I did look for more doomy-sounding headlines. But they weren't hard to find. That's because numerous studies indicate that negative or fear-framed coverage of AI in mainstream media tends to outnumber positive framings. But as in so many other areas, the emphasis on the negative in artificial intelligence risks overshadowing what could go right — both in the future as this technology continues to develop and right now. As a corrective (and maybe just to ingratiate myself to our potential future robot overlords), here's a roundup of one way in which AI is already making a positive difference in three important fields. Science Whenever anyone asks me about an unquestionably good use of AI, I point to one thing: AlphaFold. After all, how many other AI models have won their creators an actual Nobel Prize? AlphaFold, which was developed by the Google-owned AI company DeepMind, is an AI model that predicts the 3D structures of proteins based solely on their amino acid sequences. That's important because scientists need to predict the shape of protein to better understand how it might function and how it might be used in products like drugs. That's known as the 'protein-folding problem' — and it was a problem because while human researchers could eventually figure out the structure of a protein, it would often take them years of laborious work in the lab to do so. AlphaFold, through machine-learning methods I couldn't explain to you if I tried, can make predictions in as little as five seconds, with accuracy that is almost as good as gold-standard experimental methods. By speeding up a basic part of biomedical research, AlphaFold has already managed to meaningfully accelerate drug development in everything from Huntington's disease to antibiotic resistance. And Google DeepMind's decision last year to open source AlphaFold3, its most advanced model, for non-commercial academic use has greatly expanded the number of researchers who can take advantage of it. Medicine You wouldn't know it from watching medical dramas like The Pitt, but doctors spend a lot of time doing paperwork — two hours of it for every one hour they actually spend with a patient, by one count. Finding a way to cut down that time could free up doctors to do actual medicine and help stem the problem of burnout. That's where AI is already making a difference. As the Wall Street Journal reported this week, health care systems across the country are employing 'AI scribes' — systems that automatically capture doctor-patient discussions, update medical records, and generally automate as much as possible around the documentation of a medical interaction. In one pilot study employing AI scribes from Microsoft and a startup called Abridge, doctors cut back daily documentation time from 90 minutes to under 30 minutes. Not only do ambient-listening AI products free doctors from much of the need to make manual notes, but they can eventually connect new data from a doctor-patient interaction with existing medical records and ensure connections and insights on care don't fall between the cracks. 'I see it being able to provide insights about the patient that the human mind just can't do in a reasonable time,' Dr. Lance Owens, regional chief medical information officer at University of Michigan Health, told the Journal. Climate A timely warning about a natural disaster can mean the difference between life and death, especially in already vulnerable poor countries. That is why Google Flood Hub is so important. An open-access, AI-driven river-flood early warning system, Flood Hub provides seven-day flood forecasts for 700 million people in 100 countries. It works by marrying a global hydrology model that can forecast river levels even in basins that lack physical flood gauges with an inundation model that converts those predicted levels into high-resolution flood maps. This allows villagers to see exactly what roads or fields might end up underwater. Flood Hub, to my mind, is one of the clearest examples of how AI can be used for good for those who need it most. Though many rich countries like the US are included in Flood Hub, they mostly already have infrastructure in place to forecast the effects of extreme weather. (Unless, of course, we cut it all from the budget.) But many poor countries lack those capabilities. AI's ability to drastically reduce the labor and cost of such forecasts has made it possible to extend those lifesaving capabilities to those who need it most. One more cool thing: The NGO GiveDirectly — which provides direct cash payments to the global poor — has experimented with using Flood Hub warnings to send families hundreds of dollars in cash aid days before an expected flood to help themselves prepare for the worst. As the threat of extreme weather grows, thanks to climate change and population movement, this is the kind of cutting-edge philanthropy. AI for good Even what seems to be the best applications for AI can come with their drawbacks. The same kind of AI technology that allows AlphaFold to help speed drug development could conceivably be used one day to more rapidly design bioweapons. AI scribes in medicine raise questions about patient confidentiality and the risk of hacking. And while it's hard to find fault in an AI system that can help warn poor people about natural disasters, the lack of access to the internet in the poorest countries can limit the value of those warnings — and there's not much AI can do to change that. But with the headlines around AI leaning so apocalyptic, it's easy to overlook the tangible benefits AI already delivers. Ultimately AI is a tool. A powerful tool, but a tool nonetheless. And like any tool, what it will do — bad and good — will be determined by how we use it.
New Straits Times
21-05-2025
- Science
- New Straits Times
Malaysian scientist elected to prestigious Royal Society in UK
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian scientist Dr Ravigadevi Sambanthamurthi has made history as the first researcher based in the country to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, one of the world's oldest and most prestigious scientific institutions, according to reports. In a report published by FMT, the UK-based academy said in a statement that this year's cohort includes trailblazers across diverse fields, ranging from artificial intelligence and electron microscopy to global health and neuroscience. Among them are a Nobel laureate whose team developed the transformative AI model AlphaFold, and a public health expert working to prevent HIV among young women. Royal Society president Adrian Smith said the honourees represent the very best of scientific endeavour, from fundamental discoveries to research with real-world impact across health, technology and policy. Ravigadevi, who was born in Johor Baru in 1955 and now resides in Petaling Jaya, will be formally inducted into the academy in London on July 11, just two days before her 70th birthday. "I will have the distinct honour of signing the Royal Society Charter Book, a historic ledger bearing the signatures of scientific giants over the past three centuries, including Isaac Newton," she told FMT. A scientific consultant at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Ravigadevi obtained her Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and microbiology from Universiti Malaya in 1979, followed by a PhD in biochemistry from University College London in 1983. She currently heads the biological, agricultural and environmental sciences division at the Academy of Sciences Malaysia and serves on the board of trustees of the Malaysian Invention and Design Foundation, among other roles. Despite the individual recognition, Ravigadevi said the honour belonged to the wider scientific community with which she has worked throughout her career. "True scientific advancement rarely happens in isolation. Our breakthroughs resulted from seamless collaboration with international partners and a shared commitment to ensuring science serves humanity and the planet," she said. The Royal Society said this year's elected Fellows and Foreign Members hail from countries including Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, China and Switzerland. "They now join the ranks of renowned figures such as Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and Dorothy Hodgkin," the academy said.
Business Wire
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
RevolKa Ltd. Secures 210 million JPY (US$1.4 million) Series A Extension Funding to Advance Therapeutic Programs
SENDAI, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RevolKa Ltd. (RevolKa), a venture-backed biotech company providing a cutting-edge AI-driven protein engineering technology platform called ai Protein ®, has raised 210 million JPY (US$1.4M) in Series A extension funding. This funding will advance RevolKa's drug discovery programs for rare diseases ( and support collaborative partnering efforts. This financing round was co-led by existing investors, D3 LLC (Tomoya Nagata, Managing Partner, CEO) and TOHOKU University Venture Partners Co., Ltd. (Tetsuro Higuchi, President & CEO) with participation from DEEPCORE Inc. (Katsumasa Niki, President & CEO). RevolKa's core technology, ai Protein ® is a robust AI-driven protein engineering technology that creates exceptionally high-performance proteins. This technology platform has already produced many successful outcomes in collaboration with partner companies. About ai Protein ® Technology RevolKa's proprietary ai Protein ® platform is an AI-assisted protein engineering platform. Proteins are linear polymers composed of amino acids and their derivatives, folding into a tertiary structure through internal complex atomic interactions to exhibit biological functions. The relationship between protein sequence, structure, and function remains poorly understood, limiting rational design of protein. AlphaFold developed by Google DeepMind that was awarded the Nobel prize in Chemistry in 2024 has provided an AI-driven solution to the protein sequence-to-structure relationship. ai Protein ®, in turn, addresses the protein sequence-to-function relationship. RevolKa's AI engine is trained on sequence-to-function relationship data, enabling the efficient generation of sequences of proteins with desired functions. Furthermore, ai Protein ® can simultaneously engineer multiple properties, offering a powerful and cost-effective solution for creating novel and highly functional proteins suitable for pharmaceutical and industrial applications. About D3 LLC investment is focused on the biotech and healthcare field. Our mission is to contribute to global healthcare through not only funding promising scientific and technological seeds and business ideas (Discovery) but also working alongside entrepreneurs to create impactful products/services with sustainable business models (Development), and then realizing social implementation of the seeds and ideas (Deployment). We value investing in selected companies and providing hands-on support to them in accordance with the global standards of the biotech and healthcare VC. About TOHOKU University Venture Partners Co., LTD. TOHOKU University Venture Partners (THVP) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tohoku University, established with the philosophy of creating new industries by investing in and supporting venture companies aiming to commercialize excellent technologies based on the research outcomes of Tohoku University and National universities in the Tohoku region. After investment, THVP aims to increase corporate value and maximize shareholder value through hands-on management, business planning support, financing, and sales channel expansion support, as well as active involvement with the investee companies. THVP will also contribute to regional revitalization centered on the seven Tohoku prefectures. About DEEPCORE Inc. DEEPCORE is a venture capital firm dedicated to supporting startups in the fields of AI and advanced technologies, providing funding for pre-seed to early-stage companies across a broad range of industries. In addition to its investment activities, the firm operates the KERNEL community, which fosters connections among AI engineers and entrepreneurs, as well as an accelerator program aimed at helping startups expand globally. Through 'LINKS by KERNEL', the dedicated hiring and matching platform, DEEPCORE also supports career development in the startup ecosystem. About RevolKa Ltd. RevolKa is a venture-backed biotechnology company founded in April 2021 by academic and industry experts specializing in biotechnology and artificial intelligence. Our mission is to contribute to human well-being by creating novel proteins for therapeutics and industrial applications using our proprietary technology, ai Protein®. The name "RevolKa" is derived from the Latin word for evolution, " evolutio ' and the Ainu (an indigenous people of Japan) word for raise, ' reska '. RevolKa's headquarters and laboratories are located in Sendai, Japan. The company's investors include D3 LLC, Tohoku University Venture Partners Co., Ltd., DEEPCORE Inc., and SBI Investment Co., Ltd. For more information, visit
