Latest news with #Fei-FeiLi
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump administration blocks Harvard from enrolling international students
The Trump administration halted Harvard University's ability to register international students, blocking the Ivy League's student visa program. This major escalation of the conflict between the White House and one of America's leading academic institutions, first reported by The New York Times, came after Harvard rebuffed a Department of Homeland Security request for information about students. Foreign students at Harvard will have to transfer colleges or risk losing their visa. Speaking at a Semafor event, leading Stanford University researcher Fei-Fei Li, known as the 'godmother of AI,' stressed the risks of cutting international student visas amid the global tech race. 'Continuing to nourish our higher education, our public sector, for this kind of innovative, blue sky, curiosity-driven research is critical,' Li said, adding that she hoped her students can 'have a path for immigration.'
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna win big at 2025 Webby Awards
The 29th Annual Webby Awards have unveiled this year's winners, honoring some of the most creative and impactful voices on the internet. From global superstars to rising digital talents, the event recognizes those using the internet to inspire, entertain, and connect people across the world. The ceremony, hosted by Ilana Glazer, will take place on May 12 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Special achievement awards spotlight digital changemakers Snoop Dogg received the Entrepreneur of the Year award for his successful fusion between entertainment and business operations. Walton Goggins received the Best Actor award due to his exceptional streaming performances. Jasmine Crockett secured the Advocate of the Year recognition for her efforts to advance equity and inclusion. Marcello Hernández earned the award for his work on Saturday Night Live , while Amelia Dimoldenberg received recognition for changing the online interview dynamic through Chicken Shop Date . Leading AI expert Dr Fei-Fei Li received the Lifetime Achievement Award because of her ethical contributions to the artificial intelligence field. Social media celebrity Jools Lebron won the Crush the Internet Award, alongside The MeidasTouch Podcast earning the Podcast of the Year title for its distinctive political discussions. Also Read : NFL Draft 2025: Date, time, schedule, live streaming, Round 1 order and other details 2025 Webby Award winners list features top names in internet culture Several musicians received Webby Awards this year, with Taylor Swift , Kendrick Lamar , Selena Gomez, and Rihanna earning praises for their digital achievements. Simone Biles and Keke Palmer, together with the Kelce brothers, also received honors. Three distinctive digital personality creators, Caleb Simpson, Laufey and Zach King were also honored as well.. Live Events Google earned the Brand of the Year title as it earned the most awards and nominations, whereas iHeartMedia triumphed as Podcast Company of the Year, while NBCUniversal was declared Media Company of the Year. Webby Awards celebrate the evolving power of digital creativity Executive Director Jesse Feister commended the current honorees for revolutionizing digital and social communication. The Webby Awards demonstrate the growth of the internet through new category additions that feature creators and their immersive storytelling methods. The winners of these digital honors provided entertainment while generating social discourse, expanding limits and engaging international audiences through their content. Also Read : Pope Francis funeral: Donald Trump to Emmanuel Macron, these world leaders set to attend ceremony FAQs: Q1: What honor did Taylor Swift win at the 2025 Webby Awards? Taylor Swift won a Webby Award for her viral For a Fortnight Challenge on TikTok. Q2: Who received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 Webby Awards? AI expert Dr Fei-Fei Li was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to artificial intelligence and ethical tech innovation.
Reuters
27-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Former Meta executives raise $15 million for AI assistant startup
SAN FRANCISCO, March 27 (Reuters) - Two former Meta (META.O), opens new tab artificial intelligence executives have raised $15 million for Yutori, a startup that will develop AI personal assistants, the company said on Thursday. The round was led by Rob Toews at Radical Ventures, with participation from other investors like Felicis, " AI godmother" Fei-Fei Li, and Google DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean. San Francisco-based Yutori is part of a slew of AI startups creating autonomous agents, or systems that use AI to perform actions on their own. Executives in the field such as OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar have said such systems will dominate the AI agenda this year, as models have recently gotten to the point where they can carry out the longer action sequences necessary to execute tasks online without human oversight. "Right now there's a lot happening with chatbots, but chatbots are not doing things for you in a way that can take things off your plate," Yutori co-founder Devi Parikh told Reuters, saying the team has been working to redefine how users interact with autonomous AI agents, with a focus on improving efficiency for tasks ranging from online food orders to complex travel logistics. Yutori says it is focusing on post-training models to make them better at navigating the web, or adapting the base models to hone their performance in specific ways after they have already been 'trained' on reams of generalized data. Post-training has emerged as a crucial step in the development of new reasoning models such as OpenAI's o1 and o3 models. Yutori's team includes Parikh, who led multimodal AI research at Meta, and Dhruv Batra, who led Meta's embodied AI research, a team developing models that robots could use to navigate the 3D physical world. Other team members include the multimodal post-training leads for Llama 3 and Llama 4, Meta's flagship open source models.
Axios
12-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Google looks to give AI its arms and legs
Google announced Wednesday it is bringing the broad knowledge of its Gemini large language models into the world of robotics. Why it matters: The move could pave the way for robots that are vastly more versatile, but also opens up whole new categories of risks as AI systems take on physical capabilities. Driving the news: Google announced two new Gemini Robotics models, pairing its Gemini 2.0 AI with robots capable of physical action. In video demos, Google showed robots handling an array of tasks. In one demo, a robot was able to understand and execute a command to dunk a miniature basketball in a toy hoop — a task for which it had not been trained. In another it was told to put fruit into a clear bowl and continued to revise its approach as a person moved the bowl around. Google said it has a partnership with Texas developer Apptronik to bring Gemini to Apptronik's humanoid robots. It's also working with several robotics companies as early "trusted testers," including Agile Robots, Agility Robotics, Enchanted Tools and Boston Dynamics, maker of the Spot robot dog. "In order for you to build really useful robots, they need to understand you," Google DeepMind senior director Carolina Parada told reporters during a briefing. "They need to understand the world around them, and then they need to be able to take safe action in a way that is general, interactive and dexterous." The big picture: Google isn't the first to combine an LLM with robotics, but prior efforts have been far more limited. Moxie, the ill-fated kids' robot, for example, paired an LLM with a basic robot, but it couldn't do physical tasks. Others are also pursuing the intersection of robotics and AI, including OpenAI and World Labs, the startup run by Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li. Between the lines: Early chatbots had a built-in safety limit; they could talk, but not act. That protection will vanish as AI gains the ability to make decisions and take physical actions — introducing new risks. This transformation has already begun with the move to give AI agentic powers — that is, the ability to take action without human intervention. Combining AI with the ability to interact with the physical world means robots could take actions for which they were not specifically programmed. That could be especially concerning if applied to areas like policing and the military. When asked about military use, Google stressed it was not building for that market, but rather for general purpose use. The other side: Google says it is taking a multi-layered approach to safety, one that includes the content protections already in Gemini, industry standard rules for physical robots as well as a "constitutional AI" governing the system's overall behavior. And, by adding an AI brain, it says that robots can be more versatile and useful. "One of the big challenges in robotics — and a reason why you don't see useful robots everywhere — is that robots typically perform well in scenarios they've experienced before, but they really fail to generalize in unseen, new, unfamiliar scenarios," Google DeepMind principal scientist Kanishka Rao told reporters. My thought bubble: This is a dangerous inflection point and giving a computer limbs is not a step to be taken lightly. If this were "Terminator 2," it would be the moment the heroes go back in time to shut it all down.
Arab News
07-03-2025
- Science
- Arab News
Women hold the key to tech innovation in the Arab world
International Women's Day is as good a time as any to reflect on the progress made and the challenges that lie ahead in achieving gender equality across all sectors. One area where encouraging strides have been made, although more are required, is the participation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, particularly in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science and advanced technologies. All over the world, including the Arab region, the demand for skilled professionals in AI, machine learning and data science is booming. Names like Fei-Fei Li, Timnit Gebru, Rana El-Kaliouby, Margaret Mitchell, Aishwarya Srinivasan, Daphne Koller and Chip Huyen bear testimony to the increasing contribution of female scientists and entrepreneurs. With civilization standing on the cusp of an industrial revolution driven by advanced technologies, it is vital for the momentum to not merely be maintained but accelerated. The inclusion of women in STEM fields, particularly in emerging technologies, is not a matter of equality for the sake of it, it is a necessity for innovation and economic growth. Research shows that teams that allow women's voices and ideas to be heard benefit from more varied perspectives, leading to faster problem-solving and more innovative solutions. In the realm of AI and machine learning, where algorithms can perpetuate biases and prejudices, the involvement of women is crucial to ensure that these technologies are developed with a broad and mature worldview. The field of AI presents plentiful opportunities for women in the Arab world. The global AI market is expected by some research firms to reach $1.8 trillion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 36 to 38 percent. This explosive growth has resulted in a spike in demand for skilled professionals, creating a once-in-a-generation opportunity for women to prove themselves as leaders in this transformative field. The inclusion of women in STEM fields is not a matter of equality but a necessity for innovation and economic growth. Arnab Neil Sengupta Although the journey is far from complete, the Arab world has experienced a quiet transformation in recent years, with women increasingly pursuing STEM education and careers. Across the Gulf Cooperation Council bloc, new benchmarks are being set for gender parity in science and technology. Educational institutions across the Arab world are taking steps to attract and retain female talent in STEM fields. Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 places a growing emphasis on encouraging women to pursue STEM programs. The reform strategy has created numerous scholarship opportunities and training programs aimed at narrowing the gender gap in these fields. The results so far are promising. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology has a female student body population of 39 percent in STEM programs, surpassing the global average. At KAUST, 47 percent of graduates in their AI academy program are women. Additionally, KAUST's entrepreneurship programs have trained more than 24,000 people, with an average female participation rate of 51 percent. Its MENA-based startup accelerator program, Taqadam, has a female founder rate of 49 percent, which is 'well above the global average.' In the UAE, 'the share of STEM enrolments from women … rose from 33 percent in 2018-19 to 41 percent in 2019-20,' according to Coursera's Global Skills Report. The fact that women make up 41 percent of UAE government university graduates in STEM is a compelling testament to the region's commitment to encouraging female talent in these critical fields. Despite the advancements in some Arab states, challenges persist in the rest of the Arab region. Cultural stereotypes, a lack of visible role models and systemic barriers still deter many young women from pursuing careers in STEM. Addressing these drawbacks requires a multipronged approach involving education, policy and private sector initiatives. Although the journey is far from complete, the Arab world has experienced a quiet transformation in recent years. Arnab Neil Sengupta To fully realize the potential of women in STEM and AI, efforts are needed at all levels of society. Action is required in five key areas. First is education reform, such as integrating AI and advanced technologies into school curricula from an early age. Secondly, mentorship programs can establish networks connecting experienced female STEM professionals with young aspirants. Third is the introduction of industry partnerships promoting collaboration between educational institutions and tech companies and providing internships and job opportunities. Fourth is the implementation of policy initiatives that support work-life balance and career progress. Finally, public awareness can be increased through the launch of campaigns that challenge stereotypes and showcase the achievements of women in STEM, particularly in AI and advanced technologies. The Arab world's private sector has a crucial role to play too. Companies have a responsibility to create work environments that support women's career advancement in STEM fields. This includes implementing flexible work policies, mentorship programs and transparent pathways for promotion to leadership roles. To sum up, the journey toward gender parity in STEM and AI is not just about numbers. It is about unlocking the full potential of half the world's population. By empowering women in STEM, nations are advancing gender equality at a minimum. On the macro level, they are encouraging innovation, spurring economic growth and shaping a future in which science and technology serves all humankind. The Arab world is well positioned to capitalize on the opportunities being created by the technological revolution. Countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE are investing heavily in AI research and development, creating new ecosystems ideal for innovation. By encouraging more women to specialize in AI and related fields, these two countries can tap into a large pool of Arab talent to drive future economic growth and technological advancement. The Gulf states are leading by example, showing the Arab world — and indeed the global community — how investing in women's education and careers in STEM can transform societies and economies. Guided by the strategic foresight and bold initiatives of GCC leadership, the future of AI and advanced technologies in the Arab world is bright. There is no reason why Arab women cannot be equal participants in this transformative journey. * Arnab Neil Sengupta is a senior editor at Arab News. X: @arnabnsg
