PLUS: The latest AI and tech news.
By Jennifer Conrad | 07.19.21   | Autonomous vehicles require dozens of cameras, sensors, and software systems working together to navigate while avoiding pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vehicles. Nvidia, which makes chips used in autonomous vehicles, says a self-driving car can have computing power equivalent to 200 laptops in its trunk—making them a little like data centers or supercomputers on wheels. As Khari Johnson reports, now some people want to tap those computers when the cars are parked. Keith Strier, Nvidia's VP of worldwide AI initiatives, envisions a world in which government fleets of autonomous vehicles that sit idle at night are harnessed to address the computing needs of nations that don't own expensive supercomputers. When Aldo Baiocchi, CEO and founder of Canadian scooter-maker Daymak, unveiled the company's first autonomous car last month, he touted a bonus feature: the ability to mine cryptocurrency when the car is parked. The company is still developing software for this purpose, but designers want crypto mining for car owners to be as simple as pressing a button. Not So Fast Shaoshan Liu, founder of Perceptin, calls off-loading computing from autonomous vehicles for crypto mining a wild and impractical idea that raises questions about energy consumption and network bandwidth costs. And treating the computing power in your car like a personal computer could leave it vulnerable to hardware failures or cybersecurity attacks. Read more about the computing potential of autonomous vehicles. |  | US companies are world leaders in designing cutting-edge chips. But only 12 percent of semiconductors sold worldwide were actually made in the US in 2019, down from 37 percent in 1990. For a long time that wasn't seen as a problem. As Will Knight reports, that view is changing. Supply disruptions caused by the pandemic and an intensifying technology rivalry with China are prompting industry executives and policymakers to say the US must actually make, not just design, chips. The National Defense Authorization Act includes $52 billion over five years to fund the domestic chip industry, but Congress still needs to allocate the funds. American chipmaker Intel plans to launch a foundry business to make chips for others, although the initiative faces logistical hurdles. Why "Made in America" Matters "It's a national security risk if we don't start producing more semiconductors in America," secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo said at last week's Global Emerging Technology Summit. Perhaps most alarming, none of the leading-edge chips—the kind needed for new AI uses and 5G—are made domestically. Read more about the effort to bring chipmaking back to the US. |  | Efforts are underway across the US government to place limits on AI to prevent algorithmic discrimination, injustice, or waste, writes Tom Simonite. President Biden's Office of Science and Technology Policy is working to address the risks of discrimination caused by algorithms. The National Defense Authorization Act orders the Pentagon to assess the ethical issues related to AI technology it acquires, and it requires the National Institute for Standards and Technology to develop standards to keep the technology in check. The Government Accountability Office, which audits US government spending and management, released two reports warning that federal law enforcement agencies aren't properly monitoring the potential errors of algorithms used in criminal investigations. A third GAO report laid out guidelines for responsible use of AI in government projects. Why Now? "We want to make sure we're asking the accountability questions now, because our job is going to get more difficult when we encounter AI systems that are more capable," says GAO chief data scientist Taka Ariga. Read more about government efforts to get a handle on AI. |  |
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