Latest news with #GTC
CNBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
AI's reasoning problems -- why 'thinking' models may not actually be smarter
AI reasoning models were supposed to be the industry's next leap, promising smarter systems able to tackle more complex problems and a path to superintelligence. The latest releases from the major players in artificial intelligence, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Alphabet and DeepSeek, have been models with reasoning capabilities. Those reasoning models can execute on tougher tasks by "thinking," or breaking problems into logical steps and showing their work. Now, a string of recent research is calling that into question. In June, a team of Apple researchers released a white paper titled "The Illusion of Thinking," which found that "state-of-the-art [large reasoning models] still fail to develop generalizable problem-solving capabilities, with accuracy ultimately collapsing to zero beyond certain complexities across different environments." In other words, once problems get complex enough, reasoning models stop working. Even more concerning, the models aren't "generalizable," meaning they might be just memorizing patterns instead of coming up with genuinely new solutions. "We can make it do really well on benchmarks. We can make it do really well on specific tasks," said Ali Ghodsi, the CEO of AI data analytics platform Databricks. "Some of the papers you alluded to show it doesn't generalize. So while it's really good at this task, it's awful at very common sense things that you and I would do in our sleep. And that's, I think, a fundamental limitation of reasoning models right now." Researchers at Salesforce, Anthropic and other AI labs have also raised red flags about reasoning models. Salesforce calls it "jagged intelligence" and finds that there's "significant gap between current [large language models] capabilities and real-world enterprise demand." The constraints could indicate cracks in a story that has sent AI infrastructure stocks like Nvidia booming. "The amount of computation we need at this point as a result of agentic AI, as a result of reasoning, is easily a hundred times more than we thought we needed this time last year," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at the company's GTC event in March. To be sure, some experts say Apple's warnings about reasoning models may be the iPhone maker shifting the conversation because it is seen as playing catch up in the AI race. The company has had a series of setbacks with its highly-touted Apple Intelligence suite of AI services. Most notably, Apple had to delay key upgrades to its Siri voice assistant to sometime in 2026, and the company did not make many announcements regarding AI at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month. "Apple's putting out papers right now saying LLMs and reasoning don't really work," said Daniel Newman, Futurum Group CEO on CNBC's "The Exchange." Having Apple's paper come out after WWDC "sounds more like 'Oops, look over here, we don't know exactly what we're doing.'" Watch this video to learn more.
Cision Canada
3 days ago
- Business
- Cision Canada
Centific, the Market-Leading Enabler of Advanced AI, Closes Transformative $60M Series A Round USA - English USA - English USA
Granite Asia invests in Centific's $60M Series A, led by Midas List investor Jenny Lee, to fuel the company's expansion as the independent AI data backbone for the next wave of global agentic AI systems. SEATTLE, June 25, 2025 /CNW/ -- Centific, the AI Data Foundry trusted by the world's top model builders, AI labs, and enterprise innovators, today announced the close of its $60 million Series A funding round, led by long-time Midas Lister Jenny Lee of Granite Asia, an investment firm behind 56 unicorns and 31 IPOs globally. Founded in 2020, Centific has operated behind the scenes to power many of the world's most transformative AI breakthroughs. Today, the company equips innovators with the infrastructure, oversight and deep expertise required to develop and safely deploy foundational models, multimodal systems and next-generation agentic AI; intelligent platforms that perceive, reason and act at scale. Centific is a recognized innovation partner to NVIDIA, selected for its leadership in real-world Vision and Language AI inferencing. The company was recently featured by Jensen Huang at both CES and GTC as a leading innovation partner, underscoring its role in helping scale AI from prototype to production. "Enterprises globally are moving from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment, but the journey requires scale, trust, and deep integration with legacy systems. Centific is built for this moment." Said Jenny Lee, Senior Managing Partner at Granite Asia." With its global delivery infrastructure, strong existing client base, and commitment to safe, responsible AI, it is uniquely positioned to become a foundational partner in the enterprise AI stack. At Granite Asia, we back the builders of enduring infrastructure for the future of industry, and Centific reflects that vision." Powering the Frontier of AI with safety, speed, and scale As organizations move beyond model training into large-scale, real-world AI applications, Centific delivers the technical sophistication, governance frameworks, and expert oversight required to succeed. "AI is evolving from isolated models to fully agentic systems that perceive, reason, and act at scale," said Venkat Rangapuram, CEO of Centific. "Our full-stack Data Foundry meets this moment by combining deep domain expertise, human-in-the-loop assurance, and true multimodal orchestration—all delivered with unmatched speed and scale." A future-ready platform for real-world AI Centific's AI Data Foundry brings together a global network of experts across 1000's of domains in STEM, vertical and professional, and consumer and lifestyle, human-in-the-loop assurance with built-in QA checkpoints and escalation paths to eliminate bias, hallucinations, and failures, true multimodal orchestration supporting complex prompts across text, image, video, audio, 3D, and spatial data, and unmatched speed and scalability to deploy, localize, and contextualize AI at the enterprise, citywide, and national levels. Centific's AI Data Foundry integrates every component organizations need to power safe, scalable agentic AI deployments: Infrastructure-Agnostic Deployment: Scale models seamlessly across cloud, core, edge, and far-edge environments to deliver truly transformational experiences High-Precision Model Training: Workflow-orchestrated datasets fine-tune LLMs and domain-specific agents with unparalleled accuracy Optimized AI Inferencing: Low-latency, high-assurance pipelines for perception-based Vision and Language AI in production Agentic AI Experiences: Digital twins, avatars, and multi-agent coordination that bring Physical AI to life Governance & Risk Mitigation: Human-in-the-loop validation, synthetic-data controls, and audit-ready compliance workflows integrated at every stage Trusted by the Magnificent Seven, top model labs, and Fortune 500 organizations, Centific's Data Foundry provides a secure, repeatable infrastructure that keeps pace with rapid innovation while minimizing operational and regulatory risk. Deploying capital to drive next-gen AI innovation With this foundation in place, Centific is channeling this new capital into four key areas: Expand Functionality & Capabilities: Enhance our platform to accelerate the journey from prototype to production; delivering resilient, agile systems finely tuned for real-world impact. Supercharge R&D Frontiers: Continue research and innovation programs fueling breakthroughs and pushing the frontiers of model architectures, Vision AI, and specialized AI; driving cutting-edge advancements. Scale the Enterprise AI Backbone: Cement Centific's position as the foundational partner; powering mission-critical AI deployments at the speed of innovation. Amplify Strategic Ecosystem Alliances: Deepen collaborations with NVIDIA, Microsoft, AWS, Dell, Lenovo, and GPU-as-a-Service leaders; driving global adoption. "This funding round isn't about necessity, it's about ambition. Having trained most the world's leading AI models, our Zero Distance Innovation™ ethos now pivots to enterprise impact, unlocking industries' ability to deploy safe, scalable AI at speed and scale." said Venkat Rangapuram, CEO of Centific. "With significant interest from top-tier firms, we selected Granite Asia for their unrivaled track record in scaling early-stage tech innovators. Built profitably on a foundation of trust and global reach, this investment turbocharges our mission: to empower enterprises with AI systems that are resilient, agile, and meticulously fine-tuned." Looking ahead As demand for sovereign, secure, and scalable agentic AI infrastructure surges, Centific is perfectly poised to lead the charge. The company envisions AI evolving into an unseen yet indispensable layer of everyday life. Fueled by this vision, Centific is building a unified ecosystem, bringing together world-class talent, robust platforms, and cutting-edge technology, to power the next generation of AI-driven innovation. Centific powers the world's most advanced AI. As the trusted data and infrastructure partner for thousands of production-grade systems, Centific empowers innovators to scale models and agents across the full lifecycle—faster, safer, and with expert oversight. From perception-based inferencing to HITL-evaluated datasets, Centific is the backbone for the future of AI.
Business Insider
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
The debate over whether AI will create or take over jobs is heating up. Here's what AI leaders are saying.
AI leaders are split on whether AI will take over jobs or create new roles that mitigate disruption. It's a long-running debate — but one that has been heating up in recent months. While tech leaders seem to agree that AI is shaking up jobs, they are divided over timelines and scale. From Jensen Huang to Sam Altman, here is what some of the biggest names in tech are saying about how AI will impact jobs. Dario Amodei AI may eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs within the next five years. That was the stark warning from Dario Amodei, the CEO of AI startup Anthropic. "We, as the producers of this technology, have a duty and an obligation to be honest about what is coming. I don't think this is on people's radar," Amodei told Axios in an interview published in May. He said he wanted to share his concerns to get the government and other AI companies to prepare the country for what's to come, adding that unemployment could spike to between 10% and 20% in the next five years. He said that entry-level jobs are especially at risk, adding that AI companies and the government need to stop "sugarcoating" the risks of mass job elimination in fields including technology, finance, law, and consulting. Jensen Huang Huang, the CEO of chipmaker Nvidia, was withering when asked about Amodei's comments. "I pretty much disagree with almost everything he says," Huang said. Amodei "thinks AI is so scary," but only Anthropic "should do it," he continued. An Anthropic spokesperson told BI that Amodei had never made that claim. "Do I think AI will change jobs? It will change everyone's — it's changed mine," Huang told reporters on the sidelines of Vivatech in Paris in June. He also said that some roles would disappear, but said that AI could also unlock creative opportunities. Yann LeCun Yann LeCun, Meta's chief AI scientist, wrote a short LinkedIn post just after Huang dismissed Amodei, saying, "I agree with Jensen and, like him, pretty much disagree with everything Dario says." LeCun has previously taken a more optimistic stance on AI's impact on jobs. Speaking at Nvidia's GTC conference in March, LeCun said that AI could replace people but challenged whether humans would allow that to happen. "I mean basically our relationship with future AI systems, including superintelligence, is that we're going to be their boss," he said. Demis Hassabis Demis Hassabis, the cofounder of Google DeepMind, said in June that AI would create "very valuable jobs" and "supercharge sort of technically savvy people who are at the forefront of using these technologies." He told London Tech Week attendees that humans were "infinitely adaptable." He said he'd still recommend young people study STEM subjects, saying it was "still important to understand fundamentals" in areas including mathematics, physics, and computer science to understand "how these systems are put together." Geoffrey Hinton You would have to be "very skilled" to have an AI-proof job, Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called "Godfather of AI," has said. "For mundane intellectual labor, AI is just going to replace everybody," Hinton told the "Diary of a CEO" podcast in June. He flagged paralegals as at risk, and said he'd be "terrified" if he worked in a call center. Hinton said that, eventually, the technology would "get to be better than us at everything," but said some fields were safer, and that it would be, "a long time before it's as good at physical manipulation. Sam Altman "AI is for sure going to change a lot of jobs" and "totally take some jobs away, create a bunch of new ones," Altman said during a May episode of "The Circuit" podcast. The OpenAI CEO said that although people might be aware that AI can be better at some tasks, like programming or customer support, the world "is not ready for" humanoid robots. "I don't think the world has really had the humanoid robots moment yet," he said, describing a scenario where people could encounter "like seven robots that walk past you" on the street. "It's gonna feel very sci-fi. And I don't think that's very far away from like a visceral 'oh man, this is gonna do a lot of things that people used to do,'" he added.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nvidia (NVDA) Continues to Fire on All Cylinders
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the 10 best growth stocks to buy according to billionaires. Today, Nvidia's dominance in powering data centers and AI infrastructure is virtually uncontested. The demand for its GPUs not only boosted the growth of AI-driven applications but also led to tremendous growth for the company. In fiscal year 2021, the Gaming segment accounted for approximately 50% of total revenue. Over the next four years, the Data Center business surpassed it, accounting for around 89% of total revenue, while Gaming's contribution declined to around 9% by 2025. At its recently concluded GTC conference in Paris, the company highlighted its collaboration with European telecommunications companies, cloud service providers, and supercomputing centres in building AI infrastructure in the region. This accelerated investment by the EU is also expected to include building 20 AI Factories, among which 5 are Gigafactories. Therefore, Nvidia is expected to continue running at full speed. While the stock seems to be taking a breather in 2025 after the 170% surge in 2024, the majority of the street remains bullish, with the consensus 1-year median price target still indicating over 20% upside. Among the bullish voices is Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer, who on June 15, reiterated a Buy rating on Nvidia with an unchanged price target of $175. Before that, on June 12, DBS analyst Fang Boon Foo reiterated a Buy rating on Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) but revised the price target to $160 from $175. The analyst highlighted that Nvidia's recent partnership with Mistral AI, a French company, and its expansion plans in Europe support Nvidia's solid market position. Although he lowered the price target, the analyst still sees strong growth potential for Nvidia, and cited healthy demand, solid margins, and a strong capital spending cycle across major tech firms as key drivers for the stock's long-term performance. Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a leading innovator in the design and production of graphics processing units (GPUs), system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, and AI-driven hardware and software. The company's GPUs are used in gaming, high-performance computing, AI training, and inference and serve as the backbone of data center infrastructure worldwide. While we acknowledge the potential of NVDA as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BofA Raises Zscaler's (ZS) PT to $340 Amid Rising Platform Adoption
Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) is one of the 10 best growth stocks to buy according to billionaires. On June 9, Bank of America analyst Tal Liani raised his price target on Zscaler to $340 from $285, while maintaining a Buy rating, following the company's CEO, Jay Chaudhry's, presentation at the Bank of America's 2025 Global Technology Conference (GTC). The analyst highlighted sustained customer demand and increasing platform adoption as key factors contributing to the higher valuation. A computer engineer analyzing a server network for cyber security threats. On June 5, management highlighted several positive trends during the GTC event. In the last quarter, over 70% of new annual contract value (ACV) came from upselling to existing clients, while new logo ACV grew 40% year-over-year. Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) is expanding its reach beyond core secure web gateway services, with strong traction in data security and Agentic operations now representing nearly $1 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Notably, data security alone accounted for $350 million in ARR last quarter. Its recent acquisition of Airgap Networks highlights a deeper investment in cybersecurity advancements. While competition and pricing pressure remain, Zscaler's product differentiation and focus on efficiency appear to be supporting its growth outlook. In Liani's view, rising demand for Zero Trust solutions justifies a higher multiple, primarily as Zscaler executes well on both innovation and customer expansion. Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) is a provider of cloud-based cybersecurity solutions. Its Zero Trust architecture ensures secure connections between users, devices, and applications, regardless of location. While we acknowledge the potential of ZS as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None.
