The United States and China “are the two largest emitters of carbon in the world,” said Nicholas Burns, former U.S. ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, at a recent MIT seminar. “We need to work with each other for the good of both of our countries.”  During the MITEI Presents: Advancing the Energy Transition presentation, Burns gave insight into the evolving state of U.S.-China relations, its implications for the global order, and its impact on global efforts to advance the energy transition and address climate change. “We are the two largest global economies,” said Burns, who is now the […]

The Pentagon is discussing plans to set up secure environments for generative AI companies to train military-specific versions of their models on classified data, MIT Technology Review has learned.  AI models like Anthropic’s Claude are already used to answer questions in classified settings, including for analyzing targets in Iran. But allowing models to train on and learn from classified data would be a new development that presents unique security risks. It would mean sensitive intelligence like surveillance reports or battlefield assessments become embedded into the models themselves, and bring AI firms into closer contact with classified data than before.  Training […]

The early years of faculty members’ careers are a formative and exciting time in which to establish a firm footing that helps determine the trajectory of researchers’ studies. This includes building a research team, which demands innovative ideas and direction, creative collaborators, and reliable resources.  For a group of MIT faculty working with and on artificial intelligence, early engagement with the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab through projects has played an important role helping to promote ambitious lines of inquiry and shaping prolific research groups. Building momentum “The MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab has been hugely important for my success, especially when […]