The Beijing ZhiYuan Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, in collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Renmin University of China, Peking University, and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, has launched an ultra-long video understanding model named Video-XL. This model is an important demonstration of the core capabilities of multimodal large models and a key step towards General Artificial Intelligence (AGI). Compared to existing multimodal large models, Video-XL shows superior performance and efficiency in processing long videos exceeding 10 minutes.

During the opening ceremony of the 2024 Yunqi Conference held today, Wu Yongming, director and CEO of Alibaba Group, as well as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligent Group, delivered a speech sharing profound insights on the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). He revealed that over the past year, the call price for the Tongyi Qianwen API on Alibaba Cloud's Bai Lian has dramatically dropped by 97%, with the cost of calling one million tokens now as low as 0.5 yuan, and Alibaba Cloud will continue to strive to reduce costs.

DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis pointed out in a podcast that current AI capabilities are overstated, but its long-term potential, particularly in terms of General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), is still underestimated. The public's focus on AI has created a double-edged sword effect, showcasing its positive role in future everyday life while also generating a lot of noise. Hassabis appreciates AI models' ability to infer information about the real world through language learning, but he expressed concern over the public's overly high expectations of AI's short-term capabilities.

The EU has initiated a consultation on rules for providers of General AI Models (GPAI), aiming to provide guidance for compliance with the EU AI Act legal obligations and ensure the 'trustworthiness' of GPAI. The consultation is divided into three parts, focusing on transparency, risk classification and assessment, and the review and monitoring of codes of conduct, to establish relevant behavioral guidelines. Participants include GPAI providers, businesses, civil society, rights holders, and academic experts, whose feedback will influence the formulation of the behavioral guidelines, particularly regarding the summary of model training content.

Skild AI recently announced a $300 million funding round, aiming to create a general artificial intelligence system known as the 'Robot Brain'. This startup, originated from Carnegie Mellon University, is focused on developing intelligent systems that can be adapted to various machines and robotic devices. The leaders of this round of funding include Jeff Bezos through his venture company Bezos Explorations, SoftBank Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Coatue. Following this round of funding

During the 2024 National 'Two Sessions', Liu Qingfeng suggested the formulation of a national 'General Artificial Intelligence Development Plan'. He put forward 9 recommendations, including increasing investment, forming an industrial ecosystem, and promoting data openness and sharing. He also emphasized the need to accelerate the formulation and review of laws and regulations and to establish research topics on ethics and humanities.

Renowned game developer John Carmack has stated that General Artificial Intelligence (AGI) may be showcased to the public around 2030. Carmack's AGI startup, Keen, has hired Richard Sutton, the chief scientific advisor at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, who is known as the 'father of reinforcement learning.' Despite limited funding, the Keen team is confident in their ability to achieve AGI, believing that the success of AGI will emerge in the coming years. Carmack believes that this effort will soon yield seemingly successful results: 'We are close to some form of true...'