Eric Sullender

Another day, another new, faster #LLM. Meet Claude 3.5 Sonnet from #Anthropic. "Claude 3.5 Sonnet operates at twice the speed of Claude 3 Opus. This performance boost, combined with cost-effective pricing, makes Claude 3.5 Sonnet ideal for complex tasks such as context-sensitive customer support and orchestrating multi-step workflows." https://lnkd.in/ecXUMhKE #AI #genAI #CX #AIorchestration

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Tech debt comes in many forms. And sometimes it's driven by being an early adopter: ""We were the first agency in the U.S. to adopt this particular technology but it was from an era that computers didn't have a hard drive so you have to load the software from floppy disks on to the computer," said Mariana Maguire, SFMTA Train Control Project." The image for the article is a 3.5" floppy, but the article notes it's actually running on 5" floppies (which has even less capacity): "SFMTA's train control system relies every morning on 5 inch floppy disks." The response? "Jeffrey Tumlin: 'It's a question of risk. The system is currently working just fine but we know that with each increasing year risk of data degradation on the floppy disks increases and that at some point there will be a catastrophic failure.'" Doesn't sound great. #riskmanagement

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Here's an opinion piece I wrote for the Federal Times about the potential impact of #USGovernment investment in #AI. From my perspective, it's not a matter of trying to match the private sector dollar for dollar, since Federal funding is typically focused on different priorities. Government creates conceptual frameworks for its own use that frequently resonate with the private sector, it invests in foundational/early-stage research, and it sets requirements for government as customer. I think these levers apply to AI even though total Federal investment is probably a rounding error compared the what the private sector is spending on #GenAI.

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Ready to revolutionize your approach to platform engineering? Join us at SKILup Day: SREs and the Rise of Platform Engineering on April 30, 2024, to explore the evolution of SREs in platform engineering. https://bit.ly/4az7z8R Discover how SREs are reshaping DevOps workflows at scale, playing a crucial role in driving efficiency and resilience. At SKILup Day: SREs and the Rise of Platform Engineering, we’ll discuss: ➡️ Resilience Redefined: SREs leverage platform engineering to fortify systems against disruptions, ensuring uninterrupted service delivery even amidst unpredictable challenges. ➡️ Scalability at the Core: Through Platform Engineering, SREs architect solutions that effortlessly scale with evolving demands, enabling businesses to adapt and thrive in rapidly changing environments. ➡️ Efficiency Amplified: By embracing automation and data-driven decision-making, SRE-led platform engineering maximizes operational efficiency, empowering teams to focus on innovation and strategic initiatives. Don’t miss out! Register now to gain valuable insights and actionable strategies on how to empower your journey to SRE and platform engineering. https://bit.ly/4az7z8R #SKILupDay #SRE #PlatformEngineering #DevOps

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The New York Times has become the Streaming Wars historian recently. Focused on lost leadership, fruitless competition, expensive tech distractions and lessons ripping it apart. We've been leaking hints of $50M worth of new tech forthcoming that will aide the transition. Will be interesting for sure. June 22, 2024 - The Future of Streaming (According to the Moguls Figuring It Out) May 26, 2024 - What Happened to Our Ad-Free TV? April 21, 2024 - Americans’ New TV Habit: Subscribe. Watch. Cancel. Repeat. March 1, 2024 - Streaming Prices Keep Going Up. Here’s How to Manage Subscriptions. February 28, 2024 - How the Media Industry Keeps Losing the Future January 27, 2024 - The Joy and Sorrow of Streaming #freecast #nextgenstreaming #streamingwars #nomoreappdiving https://lnkd.in/e4F7teM8

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California and Colorado are leading the way in addressing deepfake and consumer protection issues through AI regulations. California aims to tackle misinformation, deepfakes, privacy breaches, and more, while Colorado has enacted groundbreaking consumer protection legislation for high-risk AI systems. With a 245% increase in deepfake content leading up to the 2024 elections, the need for reliable detection tools is evident. Governments worldwide, including the Philippines, are considering bans on deepfakes, while companies like Sumsub are launching biometric deepfake detection tools. #AIregulation #DeepfakeDetection #ConsumerProtection https://lnkd.in/grc73MBM

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This is good news. And I know, I've heard all the arguments. We hate "eavy-handed regulation" and "regulation impedes innovation" and "we don't like governments telling us what to do." Whatever. Opponents of the move trotted out the same old canards from 10 years ago: net neutrality equals heavy-handed regulation, rate control, the smothering of innovation — general arguments that never really had much weight. As Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel points out, the FCC already exerts rules with this authority (like with Title II, for those of you who’ve been with us from the start) in other areas, and they aren’t overcome with Draconian rules and limits. And lest you think it doesn't matter to you personally, here's a snippet from the article: "The FCC recently redefined broadband as being 100 megabits up and 25 down. I got an email from Xfinity the morning that change took effect, telling me my speeds had been magically updated at no cost to me. Generous, right? Of course, if the FCC hadn’t done that, I would have just paid more and more for the lowest speed it felt it could get away with." The least they can get away with is often what broadband providers will do. That's how it works. Leveling the playing field, especially for SMBs and for those in traditionally underserved areas is important. And sometimes, protecting the interests of many requires regulations. #netneutrality #fcc #broadband

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Listen to the newbies. #womenintech #womenindatacenters #tradesintech #tradesindatacenters #vetsintech #vetsindatacenters #datacenterjobs

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What Could Go Wrong? "Researchers detailed a deserialization vulnerability in Siemens software used to monitor energy consumption in industrial settings and attributed the flaw to the German conglomerate's decision to use a programming method that has known security risks. Siemens patched the vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-23450 two years ago - time enough, researchers last week at Claroty said, for Siemens customers to have applied patches ahead of a detailed explanation of the flaw, which they discovered. "Even though many think deserialization vulnerabilities are a thing of the past, we still see them pop up every now and then," Claroty said. Programs serialize and deserialize structured data when transporting it across a network. If hackers insert malicious instructions into a data object before serialization, they can obtain remote code execution over the computer that deserializes the byte stream, assuming countermeasures aren't in place." Like this? Subscribe to Cyberwarfare, Espionage & Extortion for more: https://bit.ly/3HnJbKx

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Interesting Development. I left iRobot not long after he joined for unrelated reasons. When I first started at iRobot on R&D projects it was kind of a dream. Working on products that would be new product lines (not vacs or mops) and using new tech we were trailblazing on where I was able to be listed on a few patents. It was exciting, and a dream job. But over the following few years I watched as these R&D efforts were killed, and/or resource hobbled until it felt like iRobot decided to focus on being just a vacuum company more than being a robotics company. That's just the opinion I had based on my feelings. It would be interesting to know what sort of R&D was underway after I left. Roombas are great products. Best in class I think. But you gotta take risks and innovate to stay that way.

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WSJ 4/20 article and today’s War on Rocks article highlight a generational opportunity to attract CompSci grads to cyber force positions We have an oversupply of computer science grads and an under supply of cyber force. Is there an opportunity here to take advantage of under employment of TENS OF THOUSANDS of recruits to a new force structure? The excess pipeline will exist for 4 years max until parents force kids into the “ing” major (engineering, accounting, nursing etc). Let’s not blow this once in a generation opportunity. Is anyone in DoD leadership willing to be Col. John Boyd (OODA, F16 mafia) for a new Cyber Force? Asking for a friend… https://lnkd.in/gKBQW6VP

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Hitting $20k MRR is a great milestone, but it’s not yet time to expand to new markets and new products. When is it time? And then how do you decide in what direction to expand? Here’s my system:

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Looks like Europe killing off their clean, stable, reliable, 24x7 baseload nuclear power — driven by a Russian disinformation campaign laundered by Putin-backed NGOs — to buy more Russian gas and oil — was unwise across many dimensions. Germany’s coal consumption — and pollution — has skyrocketed without touching that lost baseload. And replacing that nuclear generating capacity by handing a trillion$++ to another anti-Western autocracy for highly intermittent renewable capacity (PRC solar and wind providers) probably isn’t too bright, either 🙄

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Venture capitalists have poured billions into defense tech startups, but the U.S. government seems hesitant to take the plunge. Is it a lack of trust or just a fear of commitment? Is this a case of "innovation theater" or a missed opportunity for national security? Either way, this mismatch could dampen the innovation we need to stay ahead in the global arena. #SiliconValley #DefenseTech #GovernmentContracts #VentureCapital #EmergingTech https://lnkd.in/gSjCP6TU

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The challenge of retaining AI companies and talent in Massachusetts is a real one. As Scott Kirsner 's article today highlights, it's a battle we must face head-on. Let's start with the challenges our industries face every day. The machine shop struggling with job quotes, the nurses in our hospitals grappling with patient falls, the financial advisors striving to offer new services, or the emergency services trying to maintain aging equipment. These are real-world problems that need real-world AI solutions. Solving problems for the Commonwealth's industries starts with understanding. We must understand and curate these problems and then use AI to solve them. It's a process that requires dedication and a deep understanding of customer needs. But it's a process that can lead to transformational solutions. Massachusetts is a hub for AI innovation. Let's turn our challenges into opportunities.  C10 Labs, Shahid Azim, Patricia Geli, Ramesh Raskar, Paul Baier, AI Blueprint for MA, Beth Porter So, what's the problem your Massachusetts company needs to solve? #AI #Innovation #MassachusettsTech, #ai-blueprint-for-ma

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Played with Amazon's new AI-powered Fire TV search function. Touts natural language use to find shows, powered by Amazon's large language model. Finds content by topic, genre, plot, actors, quotes, cool! However, it's not quite the 'video store clerk' experience promised yet, struggled with broad and specific queries. Despite misses, the conversational tone makes it more user-friendly. Early days, but it's an upgrade from Alexa's voice search. More updates are promised. Test it out, folks! #AmazonFireTV #AISearch [Check It Out!](https://lnkd.in/gHJmEW6W)

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