On a vivid afternoon in August, the shore of Utah’s Nice Salt Lake seems like one thing out of a science fiction movie set in a scorching alien world.
This otherworldly scene is the check web site for a corporation known as Lilac Options, which is growing a expertise it says will shake up the US’ efforts to pry management over the worldwide provide of lithium, the so-called “white gold” wanted for electrical automobiles and batteries, away from China.
The startup is in a race to commercialize a brand new, much less environmentally-damaging solution to extract lithium from rocks. If every thing pans out, it might considerably enhance home provide at an important second for the nation’s lithium extraction trade. Learn the complete story.
—Alexander C. Kaufman
The three massive unanswered questions on Sora
Final week OpenAI launched Sora, a TikTok-style app that presents an countless feed of completely AI-generated movies, every as much as 10 seconds lengthy. The app lets you create a “cameo” of your self—a hyperrealistic avatar that mimics your look and voice—and insert different peoples’ cameos into your individual movies (relying on what permissions they set).
Within the days since, it soared to the highest spot on Apple’s US App Retailer. However its explosive development raises a bunch of questions: can its reputation final? Can OpenAI afford it? And the way quickly till we begin seeing lawsuits over its use of copyrighted content material? Right here’s what we’ve realized up to now.
This story initially appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly e-newsletter concerning the newest in AI. To get tales like this in your inbox first, join right here.
—James O’Donnell