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2023
DTN 044: Pentagon Scientists Discuss Cybernetic Super Soldiers
The Big Picture
Pentagon Scientists Discuss Cybernetic Super Soldiers
“Last week, a group of military and military-adjacent scientists gathered at a conference to discuss the possibility of creating a super soldier. They discussed breeding programs, Marvel movies, The Matrix, and the various technologies the Pentagon is researching with the goal of creating a real life super soldier complete with cybernetic implants and thorny ethical issues surrounding bodily autonomy. The talk happened at the The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, or I/ITSEC, an annual conference where military leaders come to talk shop and simulation corporations gather to demo new products. I/TSEC advertised the panel in its program with a picture of the experts next to a posing Master Chief, the genetically enhanced super soldier from the Halo video game franchise.” (VICE)
The EU Just Passed Sweeping New Rules to Regulate AI
“The EU AI Act is the most sweeping rulebook of its kind for the technology. It includes bans on biometric systems that identify people using sensitive characteristics such as sexual orientation and race, and the indiscriminate scraping of faces from the internet. Lawmakers also agreed that law enforcement should be able to use biometric identification systems in public spaces for certain crimes. New transparency requirements for all general-purpose AI models, like OpenAI's GPT-4, which powers ChatGPT, and stronger rules for “very powerful” models were also included. Companies that don’t comply with the rules can be fined up to 7 percent of their global turnover. The bans on prohibited AI will take effect in six months, the transparency requirements in 12 months, and the full set of rules in around two years. (WIRED)
Deep Tech News
- World's deepest, largest underground lab operational in China
- A bitter pill: Amazon calls on rival SpaceX to launch Internet satellites
- Virgin Galactic Hits Financial Turbulence as Richard Branson Halts Funding
- The Coming Boom in Rare Earths
- 3 Laser Fusion Research Hubs Picked by Energy Department
- FDA approves first CRISPR therapy—here’s how it works against sickle cell
- Iran says it sent a capsule with animals into orbit as it prepares for human missions
JPEG of the Week
Peer Review
- Tumor-killing viruses score rare success in late-stage trial
- Breakthrough in coherent two-photon LIDAR overcomes range limitations
- Researchers create 3D DNA nanorobots
- Physicists 'entangle' individual molecules for the first time, hastening possibilities for quantum computing
Funding x M&A
- Meet the 30 European deeptech startups picked for the NATO accelerator
- Kvanted closes its first industrial tech fund at €70m
- OurSky lands $9.5M seed to build out developer platform for space data
- Seattle biotech hub pursues ‘DNA typewriter’ tech with $75M from tech billionaires
- Up Catalyst draws €4M seed round to make battery graphite from carbon dioxide
- EnCharge raises $22.6M to commercialize its AI-accelerating chips
- Veteran life sciences firm RA Capital spins up ‘planetary health’ team to ride climate tech wave
- Elon Musk is looking to raise $1B for xAI
- Clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company ARTBIO raised a $90M Series A
- Aerospace startup Air Space Intelligence raised a $34M Series B
- X-energy, a developer of small modular nuclear reactors and fuel tech, raised a $235M Series C
- Pragmatic, a silicon-free chip producer, raised a $228.5M Series D
- Extropic, a physics-based computing startup, raised a $14.1M seed
- Gecko Robotics, a startup using AI-powered software and robotics to maintain and build infrastructure
- Eligo Bioscience, a gene editing company focused on the microbiome, raised a $30M Series B
- Cambium, a startup building materials for defense and performance fields, raised a $19M Series A
- Nth Cycle, a Boston-based critical metals refining company, raised a $44M Series B
- Atomic Industries, a startup automating tool and die manufacturing, raised a $17M seed
Miscellanea
World War II and the Takeoff of the US Innovation System / Should you tip GPT? / Breakthroughs of 2023 / Beyond "Abolish The FDA" / What predicts risk-taking in research? / The Effect of Public Science on Corporate R&D / Paraguay official resigns after signing agreement with fictional country / Who Is BasedBeffJezos, Leader of the 'E/Acc' Movement? / The Eyepopping Factory Construction Boom in the US / YouTuber sentenced to 6 months in prison for obstructing probe into plane crash / First tomato ever grown in space, lost 8 months ago, found by NASA astronauts / A high school’s deepfake porn scandal is pushing US lawmakers into action / 'Designer Shrooms' Could Be Coming as Scientists Unlock Genetics of Magic Mushrooms / Deep tech exits: Not just science fiction anymore
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