A Raspberry Pi 2 Model B single-board pc.
Olly Curtis | Future Publishing | Future | Getty Images
The firm behind the Raspberry Pi line of computer systems has raised contemporary funding from Sony’s semiconductor unit, in a deal aimed toward advancing its efforts in synthetic intelligence.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, invested an undisclosed quantity in Raspberry Pi Ltd., the buying and selling firm of Raspberry Pi, the corporate mentioned in a press release on Wednesday.
The extent of the funding was not revealed, however Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi’s co-founder and CEO, mentioned that the agency raised the money on the identical $500 million valuation it was price in a 2021 funding spherical, when it introduced in $45 million.
Upton established Raspberry Pi in 2012 with the purpose of constructing computing extra accessible to younger individuals. Raspberry Pi’s tiny single-board computer systems are the scale of a bank card and have been used to construct every thing from high-altitude balloons to small radio-controlled submarines.
Raspberry Pi’s prospects have been primarily hobbyists and lecturers within the early days. The firm has since turn out to be a extra energetic participant within the enterprise — in a typical 12 months, roughly 70% of its gross sales now come from industrial prospects embedding its merchandise into factories or shopper units, Upton instructed CNBC.
The deal extends an current manufacturing relationship between Sony and Raspberry Pi. A brand new partnership, cast alongside the funding, will see Raspberry Pi customers and builders achieve entry to Sony’s Aitrios platform, permitting them to develop visible sensing functions utilizing AI cameras geared up with its IMX500 imaging sensors.
Upton mentioned this might assist children perceive computer systems as they exist in the present day, reasonably than machines from a number of a long time in the past.
“It’s super important we teach kids about computers as they are now, rather than [how they were] 30 years ago,” Upton instructed CNBC. “While Raspberry Pi looks back, on the education, we hark back to the glory years of 1980s, we’ve got to be conscious we’re not trying to make faster versions of 1980s computers.”
People have already been experimenting with Raspberry Pi merchandise for machine studying functions, Upton mentioned, including that the Sony partnership will permit them to do extra in that discipline.
It comes at a time of great hype for the AI business. ChatGPT, the favored AI chatbot from OpenAI, has turn out to be a viral phenomenon, due to its potential to generate new content material reminiscent of essays and poems from easy consumer prompts. Since its launch in November final 12 months, ChatGPT has amassed over 100 million month-to-month customers, in accordance with UBS.
At the identical time, the capabilities of ChatGPT has led to some worries within the tech group that AI could also be turning into too highly effective and will displace many roles.
In an open letter final month, Elon Musk and several other different tech leaders referred to as for a six-month moratorium on creating AI extra superior than GPT-4 — the most recent massive language mannequin from OpenAI — citing dangers to society. Italy has gone so far as to ban the service, blaming fears round privateness.
Upton mentioned that, though GPT-4 and different massive language fashions reminiscent of Google’s Bard are spectacular, he thinks concern that they may result in AI able to basic intelligence on par with people is overblown.
“You can naively say GPT-3 was good, and GPT-4 looks a lot better, so GPT-8 is going to be general AI, self-aware. That is probably not an extrapolation you should make,” Upton mentioned.
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Source: www.cnbc.com