Latest news with #quantumComputing
CBS News
2 days ago
- Science
- CBS News
New Doudna supercomputer at Berkeley lab to power AI research
A new supercomputer meant to power artificial intelligence will soon be built for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in partnership with the Department of Energy, Dell Technologies and Nvidia. "We're going to take a giant step up in several areas in high performance computing for scientific computing. But also, artificial intelligence as well as quantum classical computing," said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Huang was joined by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright who made the announcement last week at the Berkeley Lab. "It's going to lead to tremendous advancement in science, and it's also going to play a role in national defense," said Wright. "And that is what makes it so critical that the United States lead in artificial intelligence." The new computer will be called Doudna, named after UC Berkeley professor Jennifer Doudna, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2020 for her work in gene editing technology CRISPR. "I can't wait to see what Doudna is going to calculate," she said. "For me, it really signifies the coming together of computing and biology. This is the future. This is how the next breakthroughs are going to be made." The Doudna computer will be built by next year and will go online and become available to scientists in 2027. Currently, the Berkeley Lab is home to the Perlmutter supercomputer, which is the 19th fastest computer in the world, and part of the National Energy Research Supercomputing Center, known as NERSC, which connects 11,000 scientists worldwide. "So, NERSC is available for anyone who is researching a scientific problem that is related to the Department of Energy's mission," said Jonathan Carter, Associate Lab Director for Computing Sciences at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Those missions include creating nuclear fusion simulations, biological research, climate projections, and even mapping the universe. "So, imagine you have a really souped-up laptop or a gaming PC, and imagine you could put 10,000 of them together tightly, so that any one program that you are running could execute on all those 10,000 CPUs at the same time," explained Carter. Once the Doudna supercomputer is built, it is expected to be at least 10 times faster than the Perlmutter computer. Currently, the world's fastest computer is El Capitan, which is housed also in the Bay Area at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Geek Girl Authority
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
Olivia Morris Shares How THE LIBRARIANS: THE NEXT CHAPTER Hooked Her From Page One
The joy of The Librarians has always been watching its team members, usually quite ordinary people who love knowledge, come together to live, love, learn, and save the world. A lot. In The Librarians: The Next Chapter , the sequel series, Olivia Morris portrays resident scientist Lysa Pascal, who detours from her goal of developing multi-dimensional predictive algorithms with quantum computing to work with The Library despite her aversion to the word 'magic' and inherent skepticism of all things supernatural. We were lucky enough to connect with Olivia Morris over Zoom to discuss how she came aboard this fantastical vessel of a show, where the science and magic intersect, and how Serbia has surpassed all her expectations. And like all things to do with The Librarians , it began with reading something truly wonderful. Photograph credit: Aleksandar Letic/TNT THE LIBRARIANS: THE NEXT CHAPTER's Olivia Morris Diana Keng: We are so excited to see The Librarians back! How did you become involved in the show and this magical family? Olivia Morris: I was filming a project, and I was in Tenerife at the time. I remember [the role] coming through, reading it, thinking it sounded familiar as a show, and realizing that it was the restart. Reading the script and thinking, 'Oh, this is absolutely bonkers!' In the most wonderful, magical, glorious way. And I remember seeing my character, Lysa, and thinking, 'This sounds like great fun.' RELATED: Read our recaps of The Librarians: The Next Chapter She's a scientist who believes she knows absolutely everything there is to know about the world. Then, we immediately meet her, and she realizes nothing — nothing — is as she thought. It was a delight to get to play, especially that first episode. Having a character who's just baffled is hilarious. DK: But her ability to pivot is quite remarkable. OM: Yeah, I never wanted it to come too soon in the season. I think the thing is, she's not that stubborn. She believes she knows everything, but as soon as there's something new to learn, she's curious, she's excited, and she's ready to dive in. And what I liked about it is that she was never going to refuse it forever, but she really had to understand it just to accept it. Which, honestly, as time goes on, maybe I'm more like my character than I thought, because I will sometimes be on set and my lovely cast… I will be trying to understand some of the science of what I'm saying, or some magic, and they'll be like, 'Liv, let it go. It's magic.' And I'm like, 'No, I can work this out. Give me a minute.' [laughs] Polar Opposites DK: In the first two episodes, you spend a lot of time with Bluey Robinson with your character, Lysa, and his, Connor, coming from very different mindsets. How did that give-and-take balance work out? RELATED 5 Great Books About Libraries and Librarians OM: I love working with Blue. Immediately, when we both read the script, we loved the idea that these two are polar opposites. You've got him, the historian, and he believes in magic. He is ever-ready for the world to be changing. And you got Lysa, who thinks everything is black and white. There is no such thing as gray area. Connor lives in a bit of a gray area because of his backstory. Image Credit: Aleksandar Letic Really early on, we realized these two have an immediate respect for each other, especially when she finds out he has, in fact, gone to Harvard. He's a smart guy. There's respect there, but I think they suss each other out, and it was great fun to play. The scripts give us everything. These writers are wonderful. Every time there's a snarky line, back-and-forth for each other, me and Blue are both like, 'Yes!' We love it. We find it great fun, and I think it works. They're a fun little dynamic. We're not immediately just happy family, happy Librarians. They are trying to work each other out and work out the situation. The Science And The Magic DK: Your roles on previous shows like Hotel Portofino and The Head required unique and varied abilities. With The Librarians: The Next Chapter , did you find yourself adding to your skill base? OM: Oh my god, the science terminology. I have played a scientist before, but I've never been quite forced to say some of the most mind-boggling stuff. I was determined to make sure Lysa seemed far smarter than me, to really nail down that science because magic and science do go hand-in-hand. The fun of the show is meeting these characters who are so smart, and our fans are so smart. If they were to go and research all these things they're talking about, they'd find that it's all real. I just want to nail down the terminology, but, god, some days on set, I go, 'This is going to be the one that I will not be able to say.' DK: With the show being a sequel series, did you go back and watch the films and original The Librarians series? OM: Yeah, I did. As an actor, often when you get a brand new script, you're like, 'I don't even know where to begin.' And then you get scripts like this and realize, 'Oh, there's a whole legacy of the show.' It's such a big world, and we are part of the exact same world. They live in our world, our Librarians co-exist. This isn't a show where their story has ended and ours is beginning. We carry on coinciding, so it was really important to watch episodes. RELATED: Dean Devlin Dishes on The Librarians: The Next Chapter 's Magical Homecoming They had FOUR seasons, so we didn't quite have enough time to watch all four, but Dean [Devlin] gave us the key ones. Even still now, whilst we're filming Season 2, I'll put on one of the episodes just to see if we're still in the same tone, because sometimes you never know how far things go. There are Easter Eggs in our show of all of it, and it blows me away. The art department, costumes, in the scripts. Everyone's got their eye on this huge world they've created, and they're not going to let it be left behind, so that's wonderful. Coming Home to the Annex DK: Tell me about combining the on-location and studio work while filming in Belgrade, Serbia. OM: Oh, it's wonderful. I mean, there is no such thing as a perfect location, whether it be set or location, because anytime you're in one place for too long, crew and actors — everyone — start to get a bit restless and a bit bored. The wonderful thing about this show is every episode is so different. You will find yourself in a castle one episode, in a theater the next, in an underground bunker … It's amazing and Serbia has been so wonderful at how many places and spaces we can find. RELATED: Find your own Magic Well with our On Location deep dive in the Belgrade Fortress, seen on The Librarians: The Next Chapter And then, obviously, we have the gorgeous Annex, which is in our studios. And that's always lovely. That always feels a little bit like coming home. We'll film the craziest episode and it will be all over Belgrade and we won't even know where we are and then we'll see on the call sheet we're back at the Annex tomorrow and we'll all be like, 'Thank god.' We're back where we know, so it's great. It's just ever-moving. It's got a relentlessness that I think really suits the pace of the show, and I think it really suits us all like a crew and as actors because it's a high-energy show, so you can't stay still for too long. Thank you, Olivia Morris. New episodes of The Librarians: The Next Chapter air on TNT on Mondays at 6 pm PT/9 pm ET. DOCTOR WHO: 5 Jaw-Dropping Moments From the Season 2 Finale Diana lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where she invests her time and energy in teaching, writing, parenting, and indulging her love of all Trek and a myriad of other fandoms. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. You can also find her writing at The Televixen, Women at Warp, TV Fanatic, and TV Goodness.
Japan Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
How efficiency can transform sustainable development
As China and the United States leapfrog each other with staggering artificial intelligence innovations and the promise of quantum computing hurtles us toward a new dimension of problem-solving, the quest for more processing power with less hardware — for increased computational efficiency — is fierce. The buzz around technological efficiency extends to reforming complex governance systems — but, as the adage goes, haste makes waste. Impulsive reforms for efficiency's sake risk ignoring interconnected dependencies and multilateral benefits. Even cautious cuts can have unintended consequences, but rash restructuring creates shocks that can quickly unravel efforts toward achieving sustainable development. We must find ways to leverage this race for efficiency to strive for lasting peace and prosperity. While some national leaders market efficiency as a novel strategy, the United Nations has systematically worked with its member states for many years to increase organizational impact with fewer resources. In the year of the U.N.'s 80th anniversary, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has refocused reform through the UN80 Initiative, which emphasizes three areas: Identifying efficiencies and improvements in how the U.N. works, reviewing the implementation of all mandates given by U.N. member states and strategically reviewing deeper structural realignment within the U.N. system. Reform of complex institutions has never been easy. It requires evidence, patience and cooperation. Now, institutions exist in a hyper-connected, technology-driven world and while this should be a boon for innovative solutions and efficiency, it also presents challenges and risks — ranging from generative AI disinformation campaigns to economic manipulation and legal conflicts. How can we align initiatives for technological and structural efficiency so that they support sustainable development? First, we must champion the democratization of AI. As the Global Digital Compact emphasizes, this technology can and will turbocharge sustainable development. But to democratize it, we need the creativity and cultural diversity of smaller nations and societies to drive digital advances in directions that serve their needs. These local contributions have the knock-on effect of creating ecosystems of innovation that help countries build their digital futures and the local economies that support them. No matter how powerful the AI or how sophisticated the algorithm, true progress will not materialize unless we invest in local systems. This is key to equalizing access to artificial intelligence and its benefits. In working to democratize AI, we should proceed cautiously and collaboratively: The line between using it for good and for bad can be fine. As technologies become more accessible, their use becomes increasingly difficult to govern. For example, AI is helping us employ drones to distribute humanitarian and medical aid in rural or conflict-prone regions. But these same technologies can be engineered to undermine and target aid workers and health infrastructure while creating mistrust in affected communities. Our success will depend on robust governance. And to build this, our approach should be as creative and innovative as the pursuit of AI itself. Second, our initiatives for increased efficiency must remain centered on the key principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. These five Ps need to be both the tenets of our efficiency goals and the products of efficiency gains. By focusing on people, we can promote a human rights-based approach: If efficiency improvements in technological advancement and institutional reform undermine human rights, then we know we need to go back to the drawing board. On top of this, our planet is facing the severe triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. We can't ignore this reality in the name of quick change or short-term profits, and the potential for AI and digital technology to help us confront this situation is vast. One example is how new leaps in computational efficiency could help reduce AI-supporting data centers' voracious consumption of natural resources and energy. At the same time, prosperity is rooted in access and access is based on the democratization of technology. Successful efficiency gains will improve the availability of and connections between key ingredients of prosperity such as education, health care, new employment markets and agricultural innovations. These benefits are particularly important for Africa, where more than 860 million people face food insecurity and an estimated 65% of the labor force is engaged in agriculture. Peace is also essential for sustainable development. Every proposed effort to increase efficiency has to be examined according to its potential to promote or disrupt peace. In fact, there are great fears surrounding the militarization of AI, from autonomous weapons systems to losing human accountability in war, as unchecked technological development combined with weak governance risks exacerbating and intensifying conflicts while dehumanizing acts of aggression. As U.N. member states implement the Global Digital Compact, they have a new opportunity to restructure cooperation for more effective peace-building efforts, including leveraging AI for preventive diplomacy and predicting conflict before it boils over. We can't forget that partnerships are fundamental to achieve efficiency and impact. Soon after the world embarked on efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, it was clear that we faced a dearth of baseline data and shared data systems to effectively assess progress. This realization resulted in a renewed and successful focus on partnerships to improve shared sustainable development data systems. Since then, the rocketing growth of AI-driven data systems has revealed massive potential for partnerships. In my work, I have also drawn attention to the value of establishing such collaborations for cross-border data flows and their governance. This year, the organization I lead, the United Nations University, celebrates its 50th anniversary. Looking ahead to the next half century, UNU has refocused on expanding its partnerships because we know our work is measurably more impactful if we combine and not duplicate efforts. As the world considers how to increase efficiency across technologies and institutions and looks to automation and AI to achieve this, we must first work together to build a stable foundation. As Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates once said, 'automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency ... automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.' Tshilidzi Marwala is rector of the United Nations University and undersecretary-general of the United Nations. He is the author of "The Balancing Problem in the Governance of Artificial Intelligence" (Springer, 2024).
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW) is favoured by institutional owners who hold 82% of the company
Institutions' substantial holdings in Matthews International implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price 52% of the business is held by the top 8 shareholders Insiders have bought recently This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality. To get a sense of who is truly in control of Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 82% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Matthews International, beginning with the chart below. Check out our latest analysis for Matthews International Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Matthews International. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Matthews International's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Matthews International. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 15% of shares outstanding. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 10% of common stock, and Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC holds about 6.0% of the company stock. Furthermore, CEO Joseph Bartolacci is the owner of 1.8% of the company's shares. We also observed that the top 8 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent. While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage. The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it. Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances. We can report that insiders do own shares in Matthews International Corporation. In their own names, insiders own US$30m worth of stock in the US$615m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying. The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 13% stake in Matthews International. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Matthews International better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Matthews International that you should be aware of. If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data
Forbes
07-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
VCs Are Eyeing U.K. 'Compute' Spinouts - Here's Why?
Dr Anne Lane, Head of Business, UCL says spinouts can make a global impact UCL Clever software can take you a long way. Couple algorithms with data and you can model climate change, accelerate the production of game-changing drugs, design new materials or predict customer demand over the next decade. However, all this depends on the availability of computer systems that will handle the demands of increasingly powerful and resource-hungry software. This is where a sector dubbed The Future of Compute is coming into play, and according to a new report, VCs in the U.K. are allocating more funds to university spinouts specialising in fields such as quantum, photonic and neuromorphic computing. According to the report - published by venture firm AlbionVC and market intelligence company Beauhurs t - equity investment in this field amounted to just £3 million in 2015. Fast forward to 2024, and that figure had risen to £284 million. Small in comparison with the sums being poured into, say, fintech or climate science, but still significant, given that much of the cash is being directed towards academics seeking to commercialise their research. So what's behind the reported increase in investment in a corner of the deeptech universe that is - to say the least - esoteric ? Well, there's a certain amount of history here. Back in 2022, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak ordered a review of The Future of Compute, stressing the importance of high performance computer and cloud technology for U.K. prosperity in the years ahead. Since then there has been a drive towards commercialisation of university research. And according to AlbionVC partner David Grimm, equity investors have been looking more favorably on a sector that they might once have shied away from. 'Software ate investment for a while,' says AlbionVC partner, David Grimm. 'It was so attractive to investors that persuading people to put money into harder, more complex tech was difficult. However, software deals are harder to get into now and more expensive and there are other opportunities that can be exploited.' Grimm says interest in The Future of Compute segment is rising because the technologies that are spilling out of labs dovetail neatly with the needs of hot sectors within the innovation economy. David Grimm of AlbionVC says several demand for more computing power and efficiency is boosting ... More investment RORY LINDSAY Today you have software – such as large language models – that demands exponentially larger compute capacity. Suddenly there is a need to invest in Compute and hardware,' adds Grimm. Meanwhile, universities are keen to send their cutting edge research out into the world. 'Universities are very aware of the impact that can be generated from research. Having a spin out is a great way of getting a global impact,' says Dr Anne Lane, Head of UCL Business, University College London's technology commercialisation division. The challenge, of course, lies in successfully navigating a path that leads from lab-generated IP to world-beating product and (from the VCs perspective) a returns-generating exit. This in turn means guiding academic founders through a world of unfamiliar commercial disciplines. Academic/VC Engagement Grimm stresses the importance of early engagement between academics and VCs. 'We are going earlier and deeper and talking to researchers before they have spun out a company,' he says. Often academics know how to build a spinout, they don't understand the financing journey and they don't know how they will be judged at each stage.' The idea, he says - citing the example of funding - is to provide the kind of guidance that will help founders avoid mistakes. 'It's so easy to take the wrong amount of funding. Usually too little, so the business fails, but sometimes too much, making it difficult for future investors.' Dr Lane, who works closely with Albion, says the universities also play an important role. 'Things often take a long time. You need patient capital in there. That's where universities can help. Proof of concept funding is key. A small amount of money to make something investor ready.' From there, universities can work with partners to build an ecosystem that will support spinouts throughout their journey. For its partUCLB invests through its technology fund. Businesses offering promising technologies are finding capital is available. The report cites the examples of Oxford Quantum Circuits, which has raised £79 million in just two years and Oriele Networks, which secured funding of £27.5 million within 18 months from its establishment. And VCs don't neceessarily have to wait for a decade to see returns, even if the technology is cutting edge. 'It's not always true that Deeptech takes a long time. We helped spinout called Odin Vision in 2019 which sold to Olympus in 2022. So you can seek returns relatively quickly," says Grimm. The Funding Gap However, there is a funding gap. As things stand, it's hard to find VCs who will wait ten or fifteen years for a return and that will affect the funding opportunities for some spinouts. However, there are other options, such as sales to Private Equity businesses that might be prepared for the long haul. There are also efforts being made by governments to unlock pension fund investment through the Mansion House Agreement, but that is a work in progress. There is also a sovereignty question. Grimm says rounds of $20 million or more are often dependent on U.S. investors, something that has implications for the ability of the U.K. to hold onto its deeptech success stories. That said, Compute spinouts are being created in greater numbers. The report identifies the Oxford, Cambridge, London golden triangle as the U.K.'s Compute Powerhouse. Oxford has so far produced eight spinouts, and the London Ecosystem and Cambridge six apiece. More will surely follow.
