Meta’s AI boss says there’s an ‘AI warfare’ underway and Nvidia is ‘supplying the weapons’

Meta AI boss Yann LeCun sounded off on the industry-wide state of synthetic intelligence and quantum computing throughout a current occasion to have fun the ten 12 months anniversary of the founding of Meta’s Basic Synthetic Intelligence Analysis (FAIR) workforce. 

Throughout LeCun’s commentary, he commented on Nvidia’s present stranglehold on the AI {hardware} {industry}, the probability human-level AI will emerge within the close to future, and why Meta isn’t presently pursuing quantum computing alongside its rivals.

By “not any time quickly”, I imply “clearly not within the subsequent 5 years”, opposite to quite a few of us within the AI {industry}.
Sure, I am skeptical of quantum computing, significantly with regards to its utility to AI.https://t.co/5t63w1GNfL

— Yann LeCun (@ylecun) December 3, 2023

The unreal intelligence warfare

LeCun’s views on the imminence of so-called human-level AI are well-documented. He’s lengthy maintained that we’ll want to realize “canine” and “cat” degree AI earlier than the sector advances sufficient to help human-level AI. And he’s to date been reticent to offer predictions on when these early milestones will occur.

By comparability, Elon Musk not too long ago gave the daring prediction {that a} “Digital God” would arrive inside the subsequent 3 to five years.

Within the center, maybe, lies Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. He not too long ago stated that AI would be capable of full exams in a way “pretty aggressive” with people within the subsequent 5 years. Whereas this stops in need of claiming full human-level capabilities, some consultants view test-taking as a measure of an AI’s capabilities.

LeCun, apparently, will not be amongst them. Throughout FAIR’s 10 12 months celebration, he gave commentary associated to the Nvidia CEO’s assertions:

“I do know Jensen. There’s an AI warfare and he’s supplying the weapons.”

The Meta AI boss’ assertion seemingly refers back to the current information that Nvidia is now the world’s most useful chip producer, a feat largely attributed to the corporate’s GPUs turning into the established order {hardware} for coaching giant language fashions resembling ChatGPT.

LeCun additional defined that the present know-how cited as a possible spark for AGI, generative AI, was merely not ok. “Textual content is a really poor supply of data,” he mentioned, including “practice a system on the equal of 20,000 years of studying materials, and so they nonetheless don’t perceive that if A is identical as B, then B is identical as A.”

Associated: Nvidia posts document $18B Q3 income, cites generative AI as major driver

Quantum computing

One other space LeCun touched on throughout the occasion was quantum computing. Not like rivals Google and Microsoft, Meta has strayed comparatively removed from the quantum computing race.

“Quantum computing is an enchanting scientific matter,” mentioned LeCun, however different feedback made it clear that it was his view that the know-how wasn’t ripe. “The variety of issues you’ll be able to remedy with quantum computing you’ll be able to remedy far more effectively with classical computer systems.”

In the meantime, Microsoft not too long ago entered right into a $100 million partnership with Canadian quantum computing agency Photonic to carry a fault-tolerant, totally purposeful quantum networking system to market inside the subsequent 5 years.