Tierra Biosciences nabs $11M to create new AI-guided proteins

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1. Tierra Biosciences nabs $11M to create new AI-guided proteins

Tierra Biosciences has developed an AI-guided platform for custom protein synthesis, allowing pharmaceutical, industrial, and agricultural organizations to develop new proteins in weeks rather than months. The platform creates cell-free reagents and DNA codes for proteins, generating data on stability, solubility, and other parameters.

Tierra's AI data model becomes larger with each protein it makes, and the company has made more than 5,000 proteins to date. With $11.4 million of new Series A funding, Tierra is leading the company toward commercialization.

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2. Midjourney debuts feature for generating consistent characters across multiple gen AI images

AI image generating service Midjourney has introduced a feature called "–cref" to create consistent characters across new images. This is a significant improvement over traditional generative AI image generators, which rely on "diffusion models" to generate images based on user input.

The feature allows users to add a "character reference" tag to their text prompts, matching the character's facial features, body type, and clothing from a URL. As the feature progresses, it could make Midjourney a more professional tool for narrative continuity.

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3. Cognition emerges from stealth to launch AI software engineer Devin

Cognition, an AI startup, has announced a fully autonomous AI software engineer called "Devin". Devin can handle entire development projects end-to-end, from writing code to fixing bugs. This is the first offering of its kind and even capable of handling projects on Upwork.

Devin can access common developer tools within a sandboxed compute environment to plan and execute complex engineering tasks. The AI can handle a wide range of tasks, from deploying and improving apps to setting up fine-tuning for a large language model.

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4. AI could pose ‘extinction-level’ threat to humans and the US must intervene, State Dept.-commissioned report warns

A report by the US State Department warns of the "catastrophic" national security risks posed by AI, stating that advanced AI systems could pose an extinction-level threat to the human species. The report, based on interviews with over 200 people, includes top executives from AI companies, cybersecurity researchers, weapons of mass destruction experts, and national security officials.

The report calls for dramatic new steps to confront this threat, including launching a new AI agency, imposing emergency regulatory safeguards, and limits on computer power used to train AI models.

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5. Google restricts Gemini chatbot election answers

Google has rolled out a policy restricting the types of election-related questions users can ask its AI chatbot, Gemini, in India, which will hold elections starting in April. The move is part of Google's approach to elections, which includes the US, UK, and South Africa. Gemini can answer questions in text and generate pictures.

The move comes as concerns over misinformation over AI technology have prompted governments worldwide to regulate the technology. India has also asked technology companies to obtain approval before releasing unreliable AI tools. Google has apologised for its AI image generator, which created inaccurate images of the US Founding Fathers and German soldiers.

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