MLCommons, a group that develops benchmark tests for artificial intelligence (AI) technology, on Tuesday unveiled results for a new test that determines system speeds when training algorithms used for chatbots like ChatGPT — and Nvidia came out on top.

The MLPerf benchmark is based on GPT-3, an AI model used to train ChatGPT, the viral chatbot developed by OpenAI and backed by Microsoft. However, because the model is huge, the benchmark only uses a representative portion.

“This was our most expensive benchmark so far,” MLCommons Executive Director David Kanter told Reuters. “We spent over 600K hours of accelerator compute time to develop it, plus some fantastically talented engineers.”

Kanter declined to disclose the cost of development, only saying it was in the millions of dollars.

Only two chip firms — Nvidia and Intel’s Habana Labs — submitted results for the benchmark, with the fastest time coming from systems using the latest H100 chip from Nvidia, the uncontested leader in hardware for training AI.

Nvidia’s largest system submitted in partnership with AI cloud startup CoreWeave used 3,584 H100 chips, resulting in a training time of 10.94 minutes. Habana Labs, an AI chip company acquired by Intel, ran the benchmark in 311.945 minutes with a much smaller system equipped with 384 Gaudi2 chips.

Generally, more chips and a bigger system mean faster training.

Intel’s Jordan Plawner, senior director of AI Products, said the results demonstrated the potential of Gaudi2, which will have a software update in September to boost speed.

“You will get a 1.5X to 2X speed up on the Habana results. So that’s when we see Habana Gaudi2 being really competitive and lower priced than H100,” Plawner told Reuters.

Plawner declined to say how much a Gaudi2 chip costs, but said the industry needs a second supplier of chips for AI training, and the MLPerf results show Intel can fill that need.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

iQOO 13 is expected to launch soon as a successor to the iQOO 12, with numerous leaks and reports fueling speculation over the past few weeks. A recent report had suggested that the anticipated smartphone may launch in India on December 5. The iQOO 13 is expected to see a China launch in November. Ahead of any official announcements, a new leak has surfaced online that suggests the rear panel design of the smartphone.

iQOO 13 Design (Expected)

The iQOO 13 has surfaced online in a design similar to the preceding iQOO 12, with a squircle rear camera unit. A leaked image of the iQOO 13 shared by tipster Digital Chat Station shows an RGB light strip around the rear camera module. The design of the anticipated handset is visible in an image shared by the Weibo account Sanlian Life Weekly (translated from Chinese). Here, we see the phone in a white colourway, with the RGB strip lit up.

iQOO 13 design leaks as shared by Sanlian Life Weekly (L) and Digital Chat Station (R)
Photo Credit: Weibo

According to the tipster, the light strip is integrated with the design of the iQOO 13 rear camera module. He adds that users will have the option to not use the lights. The RGB lights could be used during gaming or can be customised for call alerts and notifications. 

An iQOO executive had recently shared the design of the iQOO 13 front panel, where it appears with a flat display and a centred hole-punch slot at the top to hold the front camera. The screen is seen with slim, uniform bezels. 

iQOO 13 Features (Expected)

The iQOO 13 has been tipped to get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 ( or Snapdragon 8 Elite) SoC paired with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of onboard storage. It may carry a 6.7-inch 2K AMOLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate. The Chinese variant is expected to ship with OriginOS 5, while the Indian and international versions may run on Funtouch OS 15.

In the camera department, the iQOO 13 may be equipped with a triple rear camera unit, including a 50-megapixel primary sensor, a 50-megapixel sensor with an ultrawide lens, and a 50-megapixel 2x telephoto shooter. The front camera of the handset may house a 32-megapixel sensor. The phone will likely be backed by a 6,150mAh battery with 100W fast charging support.

Asus launched the Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405) laptop on Friday. The company touts it as a “premium ultraportable laptop” which is lightweight and flaunts a sleek design but also claims to offer US military-grade durability. The laptop comes with Intel Core Ultra processors with built-in Intel Arc graphics. The Intel Core Ultra chipsets include specialised Neural Processing Units or NPUs that support offline AI functions. The laptop also claims to offer more than 15 hours of battery life.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405) price, availability

Offered for $1,299 (roughly Rs. 1,07,900), the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405) is available for purchase in the US through the Asus e-store. The company is yet to confirm any details about the India launch of the model. The laptop is seen in black and grey colour options.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405) specification, features

The laptop features a 14-inch 3K (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) Asus Lumina OLED nanoedge display with up to 120Hz refresh rate, an aspect ratio of 16:10, a peak brightness level of 600 nits and a DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification. 

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED is available in variations of Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and Intel Core Ultra 5 125H processors. The laptop comes with 32GB of LPDDR5x RAM and up to 1TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. It runs Windows 11 out-of-the-box.

Featuring the quiet ErgoSense keyboard, the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405) is equipped with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port and one HDMI 2.1 port, alongside a 3.5 mm audio jack. The laptop has super-linear speakers with Asus Audio Booster and Dolby Atmos certification. It also flaunts a full-HD IR camera with a physical shutter and AI noise cancellation for an enhanced video conferencing experience.

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405) packs a 75 Wh battery with USB-C Easy Charge support. It claims to offer users more than 15 hours of unplugged operation and up to 20 percent more charging cycles than older models. The device weighs 1.2 kilograms and measures 312.42mm x 220.05mm x 14.9mm in size.

Slack, the work management and productivity platform, is reportedly working on a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature. As per a report, the new feature is called AI file summary, and it can summarise documents uploaded to the platform. The new feature is said to be able to summarise text-heavy files to help users quickly get a gist of the topic. This is an under-development feature, so it might not be visible to current users. Further, once the feature is released for users, it might be limited to users with a paid subscription to Slack and the AI add-on.

Slack Reportedly Working on AI File Summary Feature

An Android Authority report detailed the under-development feature during an application package kit (APK) teardown process. The publication found evidence of the feature in the recent Slack app for Android version 24-10-50-0. Several strings of code were reportedly unearthed that not only highlighted the functionality of the feature but also listed its limitations.

Based on the strings, it appears the AI feature could be offered as a separate section on the platform, where users can upload files and get a quick summary of it. These summaries are said to be sharable and can be seen when the file is forwarded to another conversation. However, one string reportedly also highlights that users can choose to disable the summary when sharing a file.

The strings reportedly also highlighted that the AI File Summary feature on Slack will not work if the file size is too large or if there is not enough text to summarise. At present, the defined limits for these margins are not known. Additionally, another string reportedly revealed that only certain file formats will be supported, and password-protected files will not be summarised. Speculatively, it can be said that PDF, Word, and Text formats could be supported initially.

Further, the publication was able to retrieve more strings with the “AI file summary” tag, which highlighted more functionalities as well as the feedback system that might be implemented. For instance, Slack says that users can remove and delete the AI-generated summary from file details if it is not satisfactory. However, this process is said to be irreversible.

Users can reportedly offer feedback to Slack on how well the feature is working. Some of the things they can choose, based on the strings, include feedback such as whether the information was accurate or inaccurate, whether it included too much or too little detail, and whether the layout was difficult or easy to understand.

PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has claimed that video game publishers unanimously agree that Xbox Game Pass is “value destructive.” As part of the ongoing trial involving Xbox parent Microsoft and the US FTC, Ryan appeared in a pre-recorded video deposition, addressing his concerns regarding Microsoft’s $69 billion (about Rs. 5,66,128 crore) acquisition of Activision Blizzard. He stated that Microsoft’s business model for Game Pass has some challenges, and it isn’t profitable for the company. He further claims to have spoken to publishers whose titles are currently available on the service, and they seem to dislike it as well.

“I talked to all the publishers and they unanimously do not like Game Pass because it is value destructive,” Ryan said in his testimony (via IGN). This contradicts Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer’s claims from last year, where he stated that the subscription service is “very, very sustainable” and that the company was not burning cash aimlessly. It is also worth mentioning that most Game Pass titles announced this year at Xbox’s showcase were from returning publishers, proving there’s some trust built up. That said, Xbox did recently raise the prices for its Game Pass subscriptions around the world. Sony fears that once the deal between Microsoft and Activision closes, Call of Duty would become exclusive to Xbox. Team Green, however, is willing to come to a 10-year agreement that would ensure the franchise’s games release in parity on PlayStation’s consoles — even going into next-gen in 2028.

Ryan added that when Microsoft announced its acquisition in early 2022, Spencer reached out to him with a ‘potential letter of agreement,’ alongside a list of games that Xbox is committed to keeping in parallel with PlayStation. However, it appears as though the agreement did not address the concerns Ryan had about Activision titles on PlayStation and therefore, a counter-proposal was sent. He claimed that Spencer’s response “set the alarm bells ringing,” creating big concerns for Sony. The contents of the interaction were not shared in court, but it all circles back to Call of Duty potentially being added to Game Pass — a fairly cheap alternative — that could move over PlayStation players to the other side.

The hearing also addressed Microsoft’s previous acquisition i.e., Bethesda Softworks and how it impacted Sony. We recently learned that Redfall was originally supposed to be a multi-platform game, but it was then made exclusive to Xbox and PC, following the acquisition. A similar thing happened with Starfield, which Ryan was originally expecting to be available on PlayStation consoles since the developer has always released its games on both platforms. There were a few odd ones like Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, which was made available on PlayStation for a year, before heading on to Xbox. While Ryan isn’t a fan of Starfield becoming locked to the rival platform, he doesn’t consider it anti-competitive. He doesn’t share similar views about Call of Duty, though.

Earlier this week, Spencer testified that Microsoft learnt that Starfield was going to skip Xbox — possibly as a timed exclusive for the PS5 — which led to them acting fast and acquiring Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax Media. “So the discussion about Starfield… when we heard that Starfield was potentially also going to end up skipping Xbox, we can’t be in a position as a third-place console where we fall further behind on our content ownership so we’ve had to secure content to remain viable in the business,” Spencer said during the cross-examination (via The Verge).

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 were launched in July during the Galaxy Unpacked event. The Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition is said to make its debut soon as a thinner variant of the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Rumours about the upcoming book-style foldable phone have been doing rounds on the Web, and now a new leak suggests that it will have a less noticeable display crease. While the launch date of Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition is still a mystery,  it is expected to go official at some point this year.

Tipster Ice Universe (@UniverseIce) on X claimed that Samsung has done a “good job” with crease control on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition, calling it “better than ever.” While the tipster doesn’t reveal specific details about the foldable, the post suggests that the crease on the Special Edition phone will be less noticeable compared to the standard Galaxy Z Fold 6.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition Specifications (Rumoured)

Past leaks have indicated that the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition will come with a thinner body and wider cover display than the Galaxy Z Fold 6. It is likely to have a thickness of 10.6mm when folded compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s 12.1mm thickness. It is said to have S Pen support as well and could carry a 200-megapixel main camera.

The Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition is expected to boast an 8-inch internal display and a 6.5-inch external display, larger than the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s 7.6-inch internal display and 6.3-inch external screen. It is likely to have a titanium frame for added durability.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition might not get a wide launch. It is rumoured to be available in China and South Korea. The handset was earlier speculated to come with Galaxy Z Fold Slim or Galaxy Z Fold Ultra moniker. It is likely to go official before the end of this year.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 series was launched on Friday (December 15) as the latest laptop lineup from the South Korean brand. The new series includes three entries — Galaxy Book 4 Pro, Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360, and Galaxy Book 4 Ultra models. They come with up to Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU and have up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics. These brand-new Intel CPU units are equipped with a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU) for improved on-device AI performance. The Galaxy Book 4 series offers 3K AMOLED touchscreens with a 120Hz refresh rate. The Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 and Galaxy Book 4 Ultra are available with a 16-inch screen while the Galaxy Book 4 Pro comes in 14-inch and 16-inch options.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 series availability

Pricing of the new Galaxy Book 4 series is still under wraps. It will be launched in South Korea first in January next year, followed by select markets. The Galaxy Book 4 Pro and Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 are offered in Moonstone Gray, and Platinum Silver shades, while the top-end Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is available in a single Moonstone Gray colour.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro specifications

The Galaxy Book 4 Pro runs on Windows 11 Home and comes in 14-inch and 16-inch variants. It offers an AMOLED WQXGA+ (1,800×2,880 pixels) display with 400 nits of peak brightness, 16:10 aspect ratio and 120Hz refresh rate. The display is rated to deliver 120 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. The laptop can be configured with an Intel Core Ultra 7 or Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU with Intel Arc graphics, with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD PCIe storage.

The 14-inch Galaxy Book 4 Pro model has a 63Wh battery, and the larger 16-inch variant houses a 76Wh battery. Both models come with 65W fast charging support. It includes a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports and a USB Type-A port, HDMI 2.1 port, microSD slot and headphone microphone combo port. It packs an AKG quad speaker with support for Dolby Atmos and features dual microphones. For video calls, the laptop features a 2-megapixel 1080-pixel full-HD Webcam. It offers Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity options and features a backlit keyboard.

The 14-inch Galaxy Book 4 Pro measures 312.3×223.8×11.6mm and weighs 1.23 kilograms. The 16-inch variant measures 355.4×250.4×12.5mm and weighs 1.56 kilograms.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 specifications

The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 comes only in 16-inch screen size. It has the same operating system and display as the regular Galaxy Book 4 Pro. It is a convertible 2-in-1 laptop with a 360-degree hinge that allows users to turn the machine into a Windows tablet. It comes bundled with S Pen.

The configuration options of Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 are identical to that of Galaxy Book 4 Pro with Intel Core Ultra 7 and Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU options, Intel Arc graphics, 16GB, 32GB LPDDR5X RAM options and 512GB, and 1TB SSD PCIe storage options. It offers the same connectivity features, backlit keyboard, speakers and Web camera as the regular Pro model.

The Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 houses a 76Wh battery with 65W fast charging support. It measures 355.4×252.2×12.8mm and weighs 1.66 kilograms.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra specifications

The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is the top-of-the-line model in the trio. It sports a 16-inch AMOLED WQXGA+ (1,800×2,880 pixels) display with 400 nits of peak brightness, 16:10 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh rate and 120 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut.

Under the hood, it packs an Intel Core Ultra 7 or Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU, coupled with up to 64GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 2TB of SSD PCIe storage. The Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, being the top-of-the-line model of the trio, sports a dedicated GeForce RTX 4050 or 4070 GPU. It also includes a physically separated Knox security chip. The laptop’s vapour chamber and dual fan are claimed to lower heat and fan noise with a new optimal cooling system.

Connectivity options, sound system, and Web cam are similar to the other two models. It also features a backlit keyboard. Samsung has packed a 76Wh battery on the Galaxy Book 4 Ultra, with support for 140W fast charging. This fast charging technology is claimed to fill the battery from zero to 55 percent in just 30 minutes.