News from the AI & ML world

DeeperML - #googledeepmind

erichs211@gmail.com (Eric@techradar.com // 21d
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis recently shared his vision of the future, where AI could revolutionize healthcare and potentially eradicate all diseases. In an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes, Hassabis expressed optimism about the capabilities of DeepMind's AI systems, including Astra and Gemini. He highlighted how these advancements could lead to "radical abundance," particularly in areas like medicine. Hassabis believes that AI could drastically reduce the time and cost associated with drug discovery, potentially shrinking the design process of a new medicine from ten years to just months or even weeks.

DeepMind's Project Astra, a next-generation chatbot, was a key focus of the 60 Minutes segment. Astra can interpret the visual world in real time, identifying objects, inferring emotional states, and creating narratives. In one demonstration, Astra analyzed a painting, identified it, and then created a backstory to go along with the art work. Product manager Bibbo Shu emphasized Astra's unique design, highlighting its ability to "see, hear, and chat about anything," marking a significant step toward embodied AI systems and the rise of AI smart glasses.

Gemini, DeepMind's AI system, is being trained not only to interpret the world but also to act within it, performing tasks like booking tickets and shopping online. Hassabis sees Gemini as a step toward achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), an AI with human-like ability to navigate and operate in complex environments. While Hassabis acknowledges the potential risks of advanced AI, including misuse and the need for robust safety measures, he remains confident that these tools will enhance human endeavors and transform various sectors, particularly healthcare.

Recommended read:
References :
  • analyticsindiamag.com: Google DeepMind CEO says AI could end all diseases
  • AI News | VentureBeat: Watch: Google DeepMind CEO and AI Nobel winner Demis Hassabis on CBS’ ’60 Minutes’
  • www.techradar.com: 3 things we learned from this interview with Google Deepmind's CEO, and why Astra could be the key to great AI smart glasses

@www.analyticsvidhya.com // 38d
Google's DeepMind has achieved a significant breakthrough in artificial intelligence with its Dreamer AI system. The AI has successfully mastered the complex task of mining diamonds in Minecraft without any explicit human instruction. This feat, accomplished through trial-and-error reinforcement learning, demonstrates the AI's ability to self-improve and generalize knowledge from one scenario to another, mimicking human-like learning processes. The achievement is particularly noteworthy because Minecraft's randomly generated worlds present a unique challenge, requiring the AI to adapt and understand its environment rather than relying on memorized strategies.

Mining diamonds in Minecraft is a complex, multi-step process that typically requires players to gather resources to build tools, dig to specific depths, and avoid hazards like lava. The Dreamer AI system tackled this challenge by exploring the game environment and identifying actions that would lead to rewards, such as finding diamonds. By repeating successful actions and avoiding less productive ones, the AI quickly learned to navigate the game and achieve its goal. According to Jeff Clune, a computer scientist at the University of British Columbia, this represents a major step forward for the field of AI.

The Dreamer AI system, developed by Danijar Hafner, Jurgis Pasukonis, Timothy Lillicrap and Jimmy Ba, achieved expert status in Minecraft in just nine days, showcasing its rapid learning capabilities. One unique approach used during training was to restart the game with a new virtual universe every 30 minutes, forcing the algorithm to constantly adapt and improve. This innovative method allowed the AI to quickly master the game's mechanics and develop strategies for diamond mining without any prior training or human intervention, pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve in dynamic and complex environments.

Recommended read:
References :
  • techxplore.com: Google's AI Dreamer learns how to self-improve over time by mastering Minecraft
  • Analytics Vidhya: What if I told you that AI can now outperform humans in some of the most complex video games? AI now masters Minecraft too.
  • eWEEK: The new Dreamer AI system figured out how to conduct the multi-step process of mining diamonds without being taught how to play Minecraft.
  • www.scientificamerican.com: The Dreamer AI system of Google's DeepMind reached the milestone of mastering Minecraft by ‘imagining’ the future impact of possible decisions

Scott Nover@GZERO Media // 42d
References: Crunchbase News , Maginative
Isomorphic Labs, a Google DeepMind spinoff, has secured $600 million in its first external funding round to boost its AI-driven drug discovery efforts. The funding round was led by Thrive Capital, with participation from GV and Alphabet, Isomorphic Labs’ existing investor. This significant investment highlights the growing confidence in the potential of AI to revolutionize pharmaceutical research.

The funds will be used to advance Isomorphic's AI drug design engine and therapeutic programs, with a focus on oncology and immunology. The company aims to accelerate the development of new treatments by applying artificial intelligence to the drug development process. Their key technology, AlphaFold 3, developed with Google DeepMind, predicts molecular structures with unprecedented precision.

Isomorphic Labs already has collaborations with pharmaceutical giants such as Eli Lilly and Novartis. Founder and CEO of Isomorphic Labs, Sir Demis Hassabis, stated that the funding will "further turbocharge the development of our next-generation AI drug design engine, help us advance our own programs into clinical development, and is a significant step forward towards our mission of one day solving all disease with the help of AI.”

Recommended read:
References :
  • Crunchbase News: Google spinoff Isomorphic Labs raised $600 million in its first external funding round as the company looks to apply artificial intelligence to the drug development process.
  • Maginative: AI-first drug design company Isomorphic Labs has raised $600 million in its first external funding round, led by Thrive Capital, to advance its AI drug design engine and therapeutic programs.

@Google DeepMind Blog // 62d
Google is pushing the boundaries of AI and robotics with its Gemini AI models. Gemini Robotics, an advanced vision-language-action model, now enables robots to perform physical tasks with improved generalization, adaptability, and dexterity. This model interprets and acts on text, voice, and image data, showcasing Google's advancements in integrating AI for practical applications. Furthermore, the development of Gemini Robotics-ER, which incorporates embodied reasoning capabilities, signifies another step toward smarter, more adaptable robots.

Google's approach to robotics emphasizes safety, employing both physical and semantic safety systems. The company is inviting filmmakers and creators to experiment with the model to improve the design and development. Veo builds on years of generative video model work, including Generative Query Network(GQN),DVD-GAN,Imagen-Video,Phenaki,WALT,VideoPoetandLumiere— combining architecture, scaling laws and other novel techniques to improve quality and output resolution.

Recommended read:
References :
  • Google DeepMind Blog: Gemini Robotics brings AI into the physical world
  • Maginative: Google DeepMind Unveils Gemini Robotics Models to Bridge AI and Physical World
  • IEEE Spectrum: With Gemini Robotics, Google Aims for Smarter Robots
  • The Official Google Blog: Take a closer look at our new Gemini models for robotics.
  • THE DECODER: Google Deepmind unveils new AI models for robotic control
  • www.tomsguide.com: Google is putting it's Gemini 2.0 AI into robots — here's how it's going
  • Verdict: Google DeepMind unveils Gemini AI models for robotics
  • MarkTechPost: Google DeepMind’s Gemini Robotics: Unleashing Embodied AI with Zero-Shot Control and Enhanced Spatial Reasoning
  • LearnAI: Research Published 12 March 2025 Authors Carolina Parada Introducing Gemini Robotics, our Gemini 2.0-based model designed for robotics At Google DeepMind, we’ve been making progress in how our Gemini models solve complex problems through multimodal reasoning across text, images, audio and video. So far however, those abilities have been largely confined to the digital realm....
  • OODAloop: Google DeepMind unveils new AI models for robotic control.
  • www.producthunt.com: Gemini Robotics
  • Last Week in AI: Last Week in AI #303 - Gemini Robotics, Gemma 3, CSM-1B
  • Windows Copilot News: Google is prepping Gemini to take action inside of apps
  • Last Week in AI: Discusses Gemini Robotics in the context of general AI agents and robotics.
  • www.infoq.com: Google DeepMind unveils Gemini Robotics, an advanced AI model for enhancing robotics through vision, language, and action.
  • AI & Machine Learning: This article discusses how generative AI is poised to revolutionize multiplayer games, offering personalized experiences through dynamic narratives and environments. The article specifically mentions Google's Gemini AI model and its potential to enhance gameplay.
  • Gradient Flow: This podcast episode discusses various advancements in AI, including Google's Gemini Robotics and Gemma 3, as well as the evolving regulatory landscape across different countries.
  • Insight Partners: This article highlights Andrew Ng's keynote at ScaleUp:AI '24, where he discusses the exciting trends in AI agents and applications, mentioning Google's Gemini AI assistant and its role in driving innovation.
  • www.tomsguide.com: You can now use Google Gemini without an account — here's how to get started