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Today:

• DeepSeek R1-Zero Challenges AI Giants

• Ph.D.-Level AI Agents Coming Soon

• Altman Debunks AI Hype Buzz

• Metropolis Acquires Oosto for $125M

DEEPSEEK DROPS AI BOMBSHELL: A.I Improves ITSELF Towards Superintelligence (BEATS o1)

The open-source AI model DeepSeek R1, developed by a Chinese company, rivals top proprietary models like OpenAI’s GPT-4. Uniquely, it can create smaller, task-specific models via "distillation," enabling powerful, efficient AI applications on consumer hardware. Its self-evolution process showcases autonomous learning and emergent problem-solving. 

This breakthrough disrupts the AI landscape, empowering global innovation and challenging the dominance of closed-source models. The release underscores open-source’s transformative potential for AI research and application.

WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

Ph.D.-Level AI Agents Coming Soon

Generative AI is nearing a breakthrough with the potential to create Ph.D.-level super-agents capable of handling complex human tasks. These AI tools could replace jobs, such as mid-level software engineers, by performing tasks like software development, financial analysis, and logistics. However, challenges like reliability and trust remain. While AI's rapid advancement promises significant productivity growth, there are concerns about job displacement and the potential societal impact, especially as nations compete in the AI arms race.

https://www.axios.com/2025/01/19/ai-superagent-openai-meta

Altman Debunks AI Hype Buzz

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman urged AI enthusiasts to temper expectations amid rumors that the company achieved artificial general intelligence (AGI). The speculation followed recent advancements, but Altman dismissed the claims as hype. OpenAI remains at the forefront of AI innovation, with its o3 reasoning models marking significant progress. However, Altman emphasized realistic perspectives on AI development, addressing the balance between optimism and the challenges ahead in the race toward superintelligence.

Metropolis Acquires Oosto for $125M

AI-powered parking platform Metropolis acquired computer vision company Oosto (formerly AnyVision) in an all-stock deal valued at $125 million, far below Oosto’s peak valuation. Metropolis plans to integrate Oosto’s tech into its parking solutions while avoiding broader applications. Oosto, once controversial for surveillance use, struggled despite rebranding and pivoting to enterprise applications. The acquisition highlights challenges in the AI sector, where high expectations often outpace financial returns.

🧠RESEARCH

Evolving Deeper LLM Thinking

"Mind Evolution," an evolutionary search strategy that enhances Large Language Models' inference time. By leveraging a language model to generate, recombine, and refine responses, it outperforms traditional methods like Best-of-N and Sequential Revision in planning tasks, solving over 98% of instances in TravelPlanner and Natural Plan benchmarks.

PaSa: An LLM Agent for Comprehensive Academic Paper Search

PaSa, a cutting-edge academic paper search agent powered by large language models. Trained with synthetic and real-world datasets, it autonomously searches, analyzes, and selects relevant scholarly papers. PaSa outperforms leading baselines, including Google and GPT-4 integrations, with significant improvements in recall and precision. Resources are publicly available.

Multiple Choice Questions: Reasoning Makes Large Language Models (LLMs) More Self-Confident Even When They Are Wrong

The paper examines how reasoning affects confidence in Large Language Models (LLMs) during Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) evaluations. Findings reveal LLMs are more confident when reasoning precedes answers, regardless of correctness. This behavior parallels human tendencies and suggests limitations in LLM probability estimations, highlighting the need for careful evaluation methodologies.

Bridging Language Barriers in Healthcare: A Study on Arabic LLMs

The paper explores challenges in developing Arabic Large Language Models (LLMs) for healthcare, revealing that simple translation of medical data is insufficient. Optimal language training ratios vary by task, and larger models with balanced data excel. Fine-tuning alone proves inadequate, highlighting the need for data-intensive pretraining for multilingual medical AI.

X-Dyna: Expressive Dynamic Human Image Animation

X-Dyna, a zero-shot, diffusion-based method for animating human images with realistic facial expressions and body movements from driving videos. Using a Dynamics-Adapter and advanced modules, it enhances motion details and expression transfer for lifelike animations. X-Dyna surpasses existing methods, combining human and scene dynamics seamlessly. Code is available.

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📲SOCIAL MEDIA

🗞️MORE NEWS

• OpenAI funded FrontierMath, an advanced math benchmark, but this was undisclosed until its o3 model set a record. The arrangement, involving over 60 mathematicians unaware of OpenAI's role, sparked transparency concerns.

• The £225m Isambard-AI supercomputer in Bristol uses AI to revolutionize drug and vaccine development. It simulates molecular interactions, accelerates medical research, and offers energy-efficient innovations like heating homes with waste energy.

• The FTC's report highlights concerns about partnerships between AI developers like OpenAI and cloud giants such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. It warns these collaborations may hinder competition by limiting access to resources and increasing exclusivity.

• Agentic AI, the next evolution in artificial intelligence, enables machines to make independent decisions and pursue goals. Unlike generative AI, it combines autonomy, planning, and adaptability, promising transformative impacts across industries and human-machine collaboration.