Happy Thursday!

In Today’s Email:

• Microsoft’s AI Skills Initiative 📐

• OpenAI London 🇬🇧

• China’s AI dominance 🇨🇳

Microsoft’s AI Skills Initiative 📐

The company recently announced a new program to bridge the technical skills gap in the workplace.

Microsoft’s AI Skills Initiative is a part of the company’s Skills for Jobs program. The program will include free courses through LinkedIn, including certification. According to Microsoft, they are offering “the first Professional Certificate on Generative AI in the online learning market.”

The coursework will cover introductory AI concepts and “responsible AI frameworks.” Currently, the program is English only, but the company says it plans to add French, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese “over the coming months.”

Through this initiative, Microsoft is also launching a trainer toolkit for educators. The toolkit will have “downloadable, bite-sized content for trainers” and a separate AI course for instructors. Microsoft also announced the Generative AI Skills Grant Challenge, an AI open grant program designed to boost historically marginalized populations. The program will “explore, develop, and implement how nonprofit, social enterprise and research or academic institutions can train and empower the workforce to use generative AI.”

OpenAI London 🇬🇧

OpenAI recently announced its first international expansion.

Yesterday, the Microsoft-backed AI startup announced plans to open its first international office in London. OpenAI said, “The teams in London will focus on advancing OpenAI’s leading-edge research and engineering capabilities while collaborating on our mission with local communities and policymakers.”

“We see this expansion as an opportunity to attract world-class talent and drive innovation in AGI development and policy,” said CEO Sam Altman. “We’re excited about what the future holds and to see the contributions our London office will make towards building and deploying safe AI.” Sam and the rest of the team proposed Poland and France as alternatives for the office.

London is an advantageous choice for OpenAI, which hasn’t ventured past its San Francisco roots. DeepMind, Google’s flagship AI research division is based in London. The city also has an abundance of data science talent, and it’s becoming a hub for AI startup ventures. According to a 2021 report, the city hosts over 1,300 AI companies and is the most venture capital-funded city in the U.K.

China’s AI dominance 🇨🇳

Should we be worried about China’s AI place in the AI race?

The United States has stood at the top of economic and technological innovation for decades, however, China’s recent AI innovation and economic plans may shift the winds. Technology and Innovation are two huge driving forces behind America’s economic success. China is determined to supersede America’s supremacy.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has recently launched several economic initiatives. For example, the “Made in China 2025” plan, aims to funnel massive investment into emerging tech industries. In 2017 China announced its “Artificial Intelligence Development Plan” which outlined a strategy to advance China to global AI dominance by 2030.

5G research has been at the forefront of Chinese technological efforts, as the new technology will provide the digital highway infrastructure for the future. New technologies including AI, biotechnology, and quantum computing will revolutionize economics and society at large. If China pioneers these new technologies, they will establish economic dominance on the global stage.

That’s it for today, we’ll see you back here tomorrow!