Technology
Meta just beat Google and Apple in the race to put powerful AI on phones
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Meta Platforms has created smaller versions of its Llama artificial intelligence models that can run on smartphones and tablets, opening new possibilities for AI beyond data centers.
The company announced compressed versions of its Llama 3.2 1B and 3B models today that run up to four times faster while using less than half the memory of earlier versions. These smaller models perform nearly as well as their larger counterparts, according to Meta’s testing.
The advancement uses a compression technique called quantization, which simplifies the mathematical calculations that power AI models. Meta combined two methods: Quantization-Aware Training with LoRA adaptors (QLoRA) to maintain accuracy, and SpinQuant to improve portability.
This technical achievement solves a key problem: running advanced AI without massive computing power. Until now, sophisticated AI models required data centers and specialized hardware.
Tests on OnePlus 12 Android phones showed the compressed models were 56% smaller and used 41% less memory while processing text more than twice as fast. The models can handle texts up to 8,000 characters, enough for most mobile apps.
Tech giants race to define AI’s mobile future
Meta’s release intensifies a strategic battle among tech giants to control how AI runs on mobile devices. While Google and Apple take careful, controlled approaches to mobile AI — keeping it tightly integrated with their operating systems — Meta’s strategy is markedly different.
By open-sourcing these compressed models and partnering with chip makers Qualcomm and MediaTek, Meta bypasses traditional platform gatekeepers. Developers can build AI applications without waiting for Google’s Android updates or Apple’s iOS features. This move echoes the early days of mobile apps, when open platforms dramatically accelerated innovation.
The partnerships with Qualcomm and MediaTek are particularly significant. These companies power most of the world’s Android phones, including devices in emerging markets where Meta sees growth potential. By optimizing its models for these widely-used processors, Meta ensures its AI can run efficiently on phones across different price points — not just premium devices.
The decision to distribute through both Meta’s Llama website and Hugging Face, the increasingly influential AI model hub, shows Meta’s commitment to reaching developers where they already work. This dual distribution strategy could help Meta’s compressed models become the de facto standard for mobile AI development, much as TensorFlow and PyTorch became standards for machine learning.
The future of AI in your pocket
Meta’s announcement today points to a larger shift in artificial intelligence: the move from centralized to personal computing. While cloud-based AI will continue to handle complex tasks, these new models suggest a future where phones can process sensitive information privately and quickly.
The timing is significant. Tech companies face mounting pressure over data collection and AI transparency. Meta’s approach — making these tools open and running them directly on phones — addresses both concerns. Your phone, not a distant server, could soon handle tasks like document summarization, text analysis, and creative writing.
This mirrors other pivotal shifts in computing. Just as processing power moved from mainframes to personal computers, and computing moved from desktops to smartphones, AI appears ready for its own transition to personal devices. Meta’s bet is that developers will embrace this change, creating applications that blend the convenience of mobile apps with the intelligence of AI.
Success isn’t guaranteed. These models still need powerful phones to run well. Developers must weigh the benefits of privacy against the raw power of cloud computing. And Meta’s competitors, particularly Apple and Google, have their own visions for AI’s future on phones.
But one thing is clear: AI is breaking free from the data center, one phone at a time.
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Technology
100 million affected in worst U.S. health care data breach
Until now, the worst health care data breach occurred in 2015, which compromised 78.8 million people. But the ante has been upped.
The cyberattack in question has hit a new record of 100 million people affected — and just happens to have struck the largest health care company in the world (by revenue), UnitedHealth Group.
The actual incident happened in February 2024, when a ransomware attack caused disruptions at pharmacies all across the country, originally reported by Reuters. The target was Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group that manages finances for medical providers. Cybercriminals reportedly found their way into the Change Healthcare employee system due to a lack of multi-factor authentication on login credentials.
A statement from the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance described the nightmarish results of the hack, which involved prescriptions going unfilled, doctors and hospitals not getting paid, and insurance companies unable to reimburse medical providers. “The Change Healthcare hack is considered by many to be the biggest cybersecurity disruption to health care in American history,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said in the committee statement.
Approximately a third of all U.S. citizens are somehow connected to the organization, and that includes lots and lots of personal data. We all knew it was bad at the time, as the CEO of Change Healthcare said the stolen files included the personal health data for “a substantial proportion of people in America,” as reported by TechCrunch.
The attack was claimed to have been committed by the BlackCat ransomware gang, which was confirmed by Change Healthcare. A post on the dark web by the Russia-based group later claimed to have stolen the health and patient information of millions of Americans.
But now, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has updated the figure of those affected in its data breach portal to reveal just how bad it really is: a terrifying 100 million people. One industry journal even suggested that the round figure of 100 million could change in the future, as reported by DailyMail. Hopefully that means the actual number could be smaller, but it could just as easily go in the opposite direction.
The sheer scale makes the 5.3 million data breach that affected Mexican health care systems reported on just yesterday look negligible by comparison.
Science & Environment
‘consistent and coherent energy policy’ matters
With a historic presidential election just around the corner, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told CNBC’s Jim Cramer what kind of government action is important for his company.
“What really matters is consistent and coherent energy policy,” he said. “Affordable and reliable energy is essential to keeping inflation at a level that economies can handle — and that’s why we need investments, and we need stable policy to encourage that investment.”
Wirth stressed that energy is a vital part of the global economy, saying that if supplies are constrained by political actions, it can trigger inflationary reactions across the board. The price of energy, he continued, is “embedded in everything,” and he said other countries are looking to the U.S. for long term commitments about energy and investment in the global supply.
According to Wirth, Chevron is apolitical and tries to work with both parties. He said there are legislators from both sides of aisle — usually from energy producing states — that understand his company’s needs. He said Chevron wants to see people elected to office that believe in free markets, competition and “the economic vitality of this country.”
He also stressed that electricity demand in the U.S. will continue to grow, saying there will be a need for all kinds of power, including wind, solar and natural gas. He added that even though electric vehicles are becoming more popular, combustion engines remain important and produced en masse. And Chevron’s oil has purposes beyond gasoline, he continued. For example, he said, oil helps create petrochemicals which are used for a variety of manufacturing purposes, including to create materials for EVs.
“There’s room for all of it. We’re going to need all of it,” he said, “I want to see every solution that is economic and feasible come to bear.”
Technology
GeForce NOW users can stream Black Ops 6 on launch day
NVIDIA GeForce NOW is gearing up to supply subscribers with the latest game in the Call of Duty franchise, as Black Ops 6 will be streamable on launch day. Now as with all GeForce NOW games, you still have to own the game through the respective PC client you plan to play on. Unless of course, that happens to be Xbox Game Pass, where you can play the game for free since it’s included with your Game Pass subscription.
This week is packed full of new titles for subscribers as NVIDIA adds 9 new games to the service in total. Although, to be fair, there are technically 10 new games since one of the 9 is the Xbox Game Pass version of Call of Duty HQ: which includes both Modern Warfare III and Warzone.
If Call of Duty isn’t your thing, don’t worry. There are plenty of other amazing games to stream starting today and tomorrow. Not the least of which is Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven from Square Enix.
GeForce NOW subscribers can stream Black Ops 6 from day one
While I won’t always recommend someone stream a game like the latest Call of Duty as opposed to playing it locally, it’s a pretty awesome capability in a pinch. Let’s say you want to play using your phone while you’re not at home. All you have to do is hook up a controller and launch the GeForce NOW mobile app. Simple. Plus it lets you play anywhere you have an internet connection.
It’s also nice if you have a less powerful PC yet you want to get better performance and graphics. This is especially the case with GeForce NOW Ultimate subscribers. Because they get to stream games off of GeForce RTX 4080 servers.
All of this can be done starting on October 25 as soon as the game goes live for everyone. And it doesn’t matter if you own the game on Steam, Battle.net, or through the Xbox app via purchase or the Xbox Game Pass subscription. All of those are available to stream through GeForce NOW.
Elder Scrolls Online players get a new reward
If you sub to GeForce NOW and you sub to Elder Scrolls Online, then you’re in for another treat. Because NVIDIA has a new reward for players. You’ll need to have opted into the GeForce NOW Rewards to claim the gift. If you fit into that category then you’ll be able to claim Stag-Heart Skull Sallet Hat as a cosmetic item. Which is apparently pretty rare.
You also need to make sure to claim the reward by November 24 or it disappears for good. So don’t miss out. As for this week’s remaining games, GeForce NOW is adding Worshippers of Cthulhu, No More Room In Hell 2, Windblown, DUCKSIDE, Off The Grid, and Selaco.
Technology
Good Omens’ final season will have only one episode
There’s time for one more Armageddon for Amazon’s Good Omens but not much. announced that Good Omens would return for one final season last year, but it’s only going to have one 90-minute episode that will begin filming in Scotland soon.
Amazon originally confirmed that author Neil Gaiman, who co-wrote the book upon which Good Omens is based with Discworld creator Terry Pratchett, will continue through the final season as the show’s executive producer, writer and showrunner. TVLine says Gaiman “contributed to the episode’s writing,” but “he will not work on the production.”
Gaiman has stepped out of the spotlight and away from several projects based on his works since his sexual assault allegations surfaced in July. The Tortoise Media podcast outlined the author’s alleged behavior with accounts from four women, one of whom signed a non-disclosure agreement. A fifth woman later stepped forward with similar accusations on the podcast. Gaiman denied the allegations and said he was “disturbed” by them, according to .
The allegations paused pre-production for Good Omens’ third season. Gaiman also offered to step away from the show in September, according to .
Good Omens stars Michael Sheen as the angelic, fussy angel Aziraphale and David Tennant as the free-wheeling demon Crowley who formed an unlikely alliance to prevent the coming of the Antichrist and the fall of humankind. The dramatic comedy started as a limited series on Amazon’s streaming network in 2019 but the show’s popularity prompted a second season in 2020 with an expanded cast including Jon Hamm as the archangel Gabriel.
Technology
DeepMind’s Talker-Reasoner framework brings System 2 thinking to AI agents
Talker-Reasoner is inspired by the two-system thinking cognitive framework proposed by Daniel Kahneman.Read More
Technology
Lumen Orbit closed one of the biggest rounds from Y Combinator’s last cohort
Lumen Orbit has closed an oversubscribed, eight-figure seed round of more than $10 million, making it one of, if not the, hottest deal of the most recent Y Combinator batch, a source familiar with the details told TechCrunch.
The Redmond, Washington-based startup is pursuing a moonshot idea to build a network of data centers in space that can scale to a gigawatt capacity and be used to train large AI models. Lumen Orbit declined to comment.
The company went through YC’s 2024 summer batch and garnered a significant amount of attention from VCs, multiple VCs told TC. This interest led to an extremely competitive deal process for the startup’s seed round.
While Lumen has a lofty mission, the company seems to be making notable progress already. It was founded earlier this year and is planning to launch its demonstrator satellite in 2025 in partnership with Nvidia’s Inception program.
It’s not surprising that a company looking to build data centers in space would garner a lot of interest. There’s such a big scramble to power AI that companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon are inking deals with nuclear power plants. Data centers are expected to consume 9% of overall energy consumption in the U.S. by 2030.
Lumen isn’t the only company looking to solve the potential data center crisis, nor is it the only one looking to take the issue to the great beyond. Lonestar Data Holdings is another that has raised $5.8 million and plans to build data centers on the moon.
Venture capitalists recently told TechCrunch that regardless of the data center solution, customer adoption is likely going to be tough for these startups. Still, VCs love to bet on companies with original solutions to big problems.
Lumen was founded in January 2024 by Philip Johnston, CEO, Ezra Feilden, CTO, and Adi Oltean, chief engineer. The startup had previously raised a $2.4 million pre-seed round in March that was led by Nebular with participation from Everywhere Ventures, Tiny VC and Sequoia among others.
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