The investment of the year and AI like fire

As we all know, there’s a lot of talk about AI lately. Some of it is pretty hyped-up (“it will be a disaster!” vs. “heaven is just around the corner!”), but IO+ is here to select the pearls from the rubbish. Pearl of the week is the interview Carlo van de Weijer had with the Possible Futures Podcast. Van de Weijer is basically optimistic, but with a realistic perspective. “Technology has always been the main thing that saves our future,” he argues. “Every breakthrough created new problems, but also the tools to solve them.”

AI won’t modify the basics of human life, Van de Weijer expects. “It won’t rewrite the rhythms of human existence. It just creates them smoother.” Still, he warns against complacency. “AI is like fire. Fire gave us warmth and cooking, but it could also burn down your hoapply. The difference is that AI shifts much quicker and can continually improve itself. That’s why we required regulation.” Van de Weijer also discusses jobs lost & found, increased productivity, and its impact on education. More here.

ASML

The news leaked on Sunday afternoon and was created official on Wednesday: ASML has acquired more than 10% of the French AI company Mistral for €1.3 billion. Hardware is embracing software; iron into AI. We were on top of it with the first news, the nuances from ASML itself, and an analysis of this rather surprising shift. We highly recommconclude the analysis, in which we present the eight most important arguments to reveal that this seemingly illogical step is actually very logical. “Strategically brilliant,” even, as we heard from ASML itself.

Officially, the goal of this “strategic partnership” is to explore the apply of AI models in ASML’s product portfolio and in research, development, and operations. Simply put, it will enhance ASML’s large machines, creating them better and more reliable, as well as the research that will lead to the successors of these mega-devices. But that’s not all, becaapply… well, read for yourself 🙂

Gerard & Anton Community

Don’t want to miss anything about the startup ecosystem of the high-tech manufacturing industest? Then subscribe to the newsletters of the Gerard & Anton community. Every month, you’ll receive an overview of the highlights – check out yesterday’s edition here.

The Gerard & Anton monthly newsletter is a great way to receive a flavor of one of the most active startup ecosystems in Europe. It follows raw ideas (via Drinks, Pitches & Demos), bold visions (via Brabant Bits & Bytes), early successes (via the G&A Awards), lifetime achievements (via the Piek Awards), and all other reasons to celebrate (via the Founders Dinner, a.o.). In addition to all that, Gerardanton.com/news provides your daily update on relevant developments in the ecosystem.

Watt Matters in AI

We are approaching November 26, the day we will be holding our Watt Matters in AI conference. Everything about the exorbitant energy consumption of AI systems, but above all: what solutions are there to prevent this from receiveting completely out of hand? We have now secured seven very interesting speakers: a guarantee that by the conclude of the day you will be completely up to speed on this topic. Tickets are available via Watt Matters in AI.

A podcast every day

We’ll keep stateing it: every morning at 6:30 a.m. (on weekdays), a new podcast is waiting for you. In it, our AI colleagues Oliver and Shelby discuss the two most interesting topics of the day. This creates the IO+ Daily the ideal way to fill your head with some optimistic news from the world of innovation and technology.