The AI Beat Continues: A Fond Farewell to Our Journey | The AI Beat

Last weekend, I journeyed to San Francisco, gearing up for several days focused on Nvidia and artificial intelligence (AI). Although jet lag threatened my energy, I decided to embrace nature first, spending two rejuvenating days in Monterey observing sea lions and otters—a refreshing prelude to Nvidia’s annual GTC conference, where discussions centered around GPUs and PFLOPS.

Nvidia’s GTC conference was a whirlwind, beginning with CEO Jensen Huang’s dynamic two-hour keynote at the SAP Center in San Jose. Dressed in a striking black leather jacket, his appearance exuded a rock and roll flair, mirroring Nvidia’s impressive stock performance. The event celebrated the authors of the groundbreaking paper “Attention is All You Need,” which introduced Transformers and sparked the generative AI revolution. Attendees participated in hundreds of sessions, panels, and networking events, culminating in the announcement of Nvidia's latest AI chip and platform, Blackwell.

Outside the conference, the fast-paced AI news continued. Microsoft made headlines by hiring Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Inflection AI and DeepMind, to lead its consumer AI initiatives. Reports emerged of Apple and Google exploring collaboration to bring Google AI to iPhones. Additionally, the first “fairly trained” AI model made waves, while the UN adopted its first global AI resolution.

The momentum of AI developments is relentless. Personally, I have news to share: I am transitioning from my current media role to pursue a new professional opportunity. However, I’ll continue covering AI—a field I've grown to deeply appreciate over the past two years. While I’ll miss my dedicated team, my time at the publication has been incredibly rewarding. I had the chance to dive into the AI beat just before OpenAI launched ChatGPT, which ignited public interest in generative AI. I take pride in having contributed hundreds of articles that explored the narratives behind this technology's growth, challenges, and potential.

Reflecting on my journey, my initial encounters with AI were broad and surface-level, focusing mainly on traditional applications like predictive analytics. However, joining my current media outlet transformed my understanding of the field. I vividly recall my first week, as described in a December 2022 column: “I joined in mid-April, right after OpenAI launched DALL-E 2. With my lead AI writer having transitioned to TechCrunch, I found myself in a bit of a panic.”

Eager to learn, I sought insights from fellow journalists, industry analysts, startup CEOs, Big Tech executives, and academic experts. Their guidance has shaped my reporting, allowing me to present balanced and nuanced coverage in an often-hyped and confusing AI landscape.

I have no doubt that my colleagues—Carl Franzen, Michael Nuñez, and Shubham Sharma—will maintain the same high standards in their AI-focused work. I wish them continued success in navigating what I believe to be the most exciting beat in tech!

Thank you for reading,

Sharon