Paperspace Is Building 'A.I.-as-a-Service' Platform
*By Carlo Versano*
Paperspace wants to make artificial intelligence more accessible, according to its co-founder and CEO Dillon Erb.
Erb told Cheddar Tuesday that artificial intelligence is still so new and complex that mainstream companies find the tech difficult to harness.
Although A.I. is a "fundamentally transformative technology," he said, "the tools haven't really been built yet to make it accessible for most applications."
The Brooklyn-based cloud-computing start-up just closed a $13 million Series A funding round to build up its machine learning toolkits, which it sells to other companies looking to develop their own machine-learning platforms or products ー think A.I.-as-a-service.
Erb said he will use a portion of the new financing to market a product offering called "Gradient," which is, essentially, A.I. in a box.
Developers and data scientists can use Gradient to run A.I. and deep learning tasks without having to install or build out their own infrastructure.
One of the current roadblocks in modern machine learning is that it requires a great deal of processing power, and "actually harnessing that power is incredibly difficult," according to Erb. Gradient helps solve that problem by doing the computing without a dedicated server. Erb said his product will make it easier for smaller, "nimble" companies that want to run machine-learning experiments, but don't have the resources to do it on their own networks.
Erb would not reveal any of the clients Paperspace serves, though he said his company touches industries as varied as robotic simulation, cancer research, and media. But most consumers will probably never interface directly with Paperspace's products.
In the vein of the early computer coders, Paperspace is building the backbone that may support our interactions with machines in the future.
"We're kind of behind the scenes a bit," Erb said.
He plans on keeping it that way.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/paperspace-works-toward-accessible-a-i-with-13-million-funding-round).
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
