TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION INSTITUTE INTRODUCES WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL OPEN LLM: FALCON 180B

 

Falcon 180B Benchmarks (Photo: AETOSWire)

· New Model Ranks #1 on Hugging Face Leaderboard for Open Access LLMs
· Model with 180 Billion Parameters is Trained on 3.5 Trillion Tokens, with 4 times the Compute Resources of Meta’s LLaMA 2
· Falcon 180B is Open Access for Researchers and Commercial Users

ABU DHABI, United Arab of Emirates, Sept 7 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is pushing the boundaries of generative AI once again with the launch of Falcon 180B, an advanced iteration of its flagship large language model (LLM). This groundbreaking release strengthens the UAE's dominance in AI, offering Falcon 180B as an open access model for research and commercial purposes.
 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230906583274/en/ 

Following the remarkable success of Falcon 40B, an open source AI model that swiftly ascended to the top of the Hugging Face Leaderboard for LLMs in May 2023, TII, the applied research pillar of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) continues to lead the charge in generative AI. Falcon 40B marked one of the first instances of open source models for both researchers and commercial users, and it was considered a pioneering leap in the field.

H.E. Faisal Al Bannai, Secretary General of the Advanced Technology Research Council, emphasized the positive impact of Falcon on the AI landscape and said: “We envision a future where the transformative power of AI is within everyone's reach. We are committed to democratizing access to advanced AI, as our privacy and the potential impact of AI on humanity should not be controlled by a select few. While we may not have all the answers, our resolve remains unwavering: to collaborate and contribute to the open source community, ensuring that the benefits of AI are shared by all.”

With a staggering 180 billion parameters and trained on 3.5 trillion tokens, Falcon 180B soars to the top of the Hugging Face Leaderboard for pretrained LLMs. It outperforms notable competitors like Meta’s LLaMA 2 in various benchmarks, including reasoning, coding, proficiency, and knowledge tests.

Among the best closed source LLMs, Falcon 180B ranks just behind OpenAI's latest GPT 4 and is on par with the performance of Google's PaLM 2 Large, the model powering Bard – despite being half the size of the model. The licensing framework for the model is established on ‘Falcon 180B TII License’, which is based upon Apache 2.0.

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Shades Of Success: Mary Kay Is World's Top Direct Selling Brand Of Skin Care, Colour Cosmetics

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- Mary Kay Inc, an iconic beauty brand and global entrepreneurship company, has been named number one direct selling brand of skin care and colour cosmetics in the world by Euromonitor International, coinciding with its 60th anniversary.

Its President of Global Sales and Marketing, Nathan Moore said the award spoke volumes about the company's commitment to quality and innovation as well as its incredible community of independent beauty consultants who remain its heartbeat and driving force. 

“Their dedication and passion have painted our past, present and future with vibrant shades of success.

“While this is a remarkable business achievement and speaks to the strength of our brand, Mary Kay Ash taught us never to rest on our laurels. Here’s to the next 60 years of empowerment, innovation and success,” he said in a statement.

The recognition to Mary Kay not only attests to the brand's unparallelled quality, but also to its vast and continually growing presence on the global stage.

The company has a long-standing commitment to advancing skin health, research and development, and nutrition as the brand holds more than 1,600 patents for products, technologies and packaging designs in its global portfolio.

Euromonitor International stands as the foremost provider of global business intelligence, market analysis and consumer insights with over 50 years of conducting market research across more than 100 countries.

Mary Kay is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skincare, colour cosmetics, nutritional supplements and fragrances.

-- BERNAMA

ZENAS BIOPHARMA ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC LICENSE AND COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB TO DEVELOP AND COMMERCIALIZE NOVEL BI-FUNCTIONAL ANTIBODY OBEXELIMAB IN JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA, TAIWAN, SINGAPORE, HONG KONG AND AUSTRALIA

Collaboration furthers Zenas’ vision to bring innovative immunology-based medicines to patients around the world by leveraging Bristol Myers Squibb’s long-standing expertise in immune-mediated diseases

Zenas will receive a $50 million up-front cash payment and an equity investment from Bristol Myers Squibb, along with additional potential milestone-based payments and royalties in the licensed territory

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept 6 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zenas BioPharma, a global biopharmaceutical company committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of immunology-based therapies, today announced that it has entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb Company to develop and commercialize obexelimab for autoimmune diseases in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

Obexelimab is an investigational bifunctional, non-cytolytic, humanized monoclonal antibody that binds CD19 and FcγRIIb to inhibit B cells, plasmablasts, and CD19-expressing plasma cells. Obexelimab is currently being studied as a subcutaneous injection in a global Phase III trial in patients with IgG4-Related Disease (IgG4-RD), a disease for which there are currently no approved treatments. The compound is also being studied in a global Phase II/III trial in patients with warm antibody Auto-Immune Hemolytic Anemia (wAIHA). 

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Elichens Joins Forces With Sequans To Introduce 1st Natural Gas Detector

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- A provider of non-dispersive infrared sensors and detectors, eLichens, has collaborated with Sequans, resulting in the latest evolution of its Avolta, Natural Gas Detector (NGD).

According to eLichens in a statement, this new edition of Avolta harnesses the power of NB-IoT/LTE-M technology, utilising the Sequans’ Monarch-2 platform.

eLichens Chief Executive Officer, Wahid Issa said accelerating the deployment of natural gas detection across the entire energy value chain is an essential part of global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Avolta integrating Sequans' Monarch-2 connectivity enables gas utilities to deploy ubiquitous NGD at an optimised cost of ownership, and ensures compliance with FirstNet certification and standards such as UL1484 and EN50194-1,” he said.

A battery-operated NGD device with a longevity of 10 years, Avolta offers near-infrared spectroscopy to detect methane’s unique signature on the light spectrum, delivering unparallelled accuracy while effectively mitigating the risk of interference from other household chemicals.

Avolta’s core mission is to drive a significant reduction in methane emissions, safeguard the future of energy resources, and ensure the safety of individuals and the environment.

Based in Grenoble, France, eLichens relies on a portfolio of patents and expertise that allow it to develop innovative and disruptive smart infra-red sensors and industrial Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

-- BERNAMA

500 Global Raises US$143 Mln For Early-stage, Growth Vehicles In Southeast Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- Venture capital firm 500 Global announced the successful close of US$143 million across its largest Southeast Asian early-stage fund to date, 500 Southeast Asia III L.P. (500 SEA III), and its growth investment vehicle for Southeast Asia. (US$1=RM4.67)

According to a statement, the new early-stage and growth vehicles demonstrate the team’s commitment to supporting founders in Southeast Asia from pre-seed to pre-initial public offering (IPO). 

Limited partners (LPs) across its early-stage and growth investment vehicles include a sovereign wealth fund, public and private pension funds such as Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) [KWAP], and Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

A university endowment, family offices of prominent global investors, and portfolio companies valued at over US$1 billion from 500 Global’s first Southeast Asia early-stage fund have invested as LPs as well.

“We continue to believe in the strong potential and opportunities in Southeast Asia. With a global portfolio of over 2,800 companies across more than 80 countries, we believe that the founders in Southeast Asia will benefit from one of the few truly global venture platforms with deep local roots and in-market expertise.

“We are confident that with access to insights, connections and capital, this can help the next generation of Southeast Asian founders build global tech giants,” said 500 Global Chief Executive Officer & Founding Partner, Christine Tsai.

500 SEA III is 500 Global’s third Southeast Asia-focused early-stage fund, with each successive fund having nearly doubled in size since 2014. Originally targeted for US$75 million, 500 SEA III closed at US$100 million with over half of the fund coming from returning LPs.

The early-stage fund will focus on investing in businesses and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies that advance rural digitalisation, sustainable cities, human and machine productivity, healthcare, food security and financial inclusivity.

500 SEA III aims to invest in 100 pre-seed to Series A startups, providing first checks between US$250,000 to US$500,000 across Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

Over the past decade, 500 Global backed over 340 companies across Southeast Asia and has a rich history of supporting early-stage founders in Southeast Asia, bolstered by its deep in-market expertise that forms the foundation of the firm’s multi-stage platform.

-- BERNAMA

XEV Presents Latest Mini Electric Car At IAA Mobility

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- Global new energy vehicle technology company, XEV, has recently unveiled its upgraded urban mobility product YOYO at IAA Mobility.

According to XEV in a statement, the new YOYO model will be simultaneously launched in countries such as Italy, Germany, France and Spain, with deliveries scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter this year, with starting price set at 16,990 euro (excluding subsidies). (1 euro = RM5.00)

Currently, XEV has established over 120 sales outlets in Italy, Germany, France and Spain, with expectation that the total number of outlets in Europe will exceed 300 by year-end.

As a fashionable mini electric car designed to meet the demands of urban travel, YOYO combines technology, aesthetics and practicality, in which its futuristic design includes features such as anti-pinch frameless windows, three-dimensional LED light clusters and panoramic glass roof.

With a full electrical power range of 150 kilometres (km) and a top speed of 80 km/h, YOYO offers precise and agile handling, making it a perfect choice to explore in the city.

In addition, with XEV’s unique lightweight battery swapping system, YOYO can complete a battery swap in just three minutes, ensuring users to continue their journey without interruption.

XEV has partnered with European energy giant, ENI to deploy and operate battery swapping networks across Europe, allowing users to charge at the ENI gas stations.

With the launch of YOYO in Italy, Germany, France, Spain and other countries, XEV's battery swapping network will also be expanding concurrently, providing users with a more convenient urban travel experience.

At this year’s IAA Mobility, XEV officially introduced the Xpression personalised service, offering 42 different YOYO blade designs for customisation.

The company has also partnered with the New York based online art platform, UAAD to continually provide innovative and engaging design options for users, making urban travel more creative and enjoyable.

-- BERNAMA

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY SPECIALTY INSURANCE PROMOTES EDWIN SIM TO LEAD EXECUTIVE & PROFESSIONAL LINES IN SINGAPORE

BOSTON & SINGAPORE, Sept 5 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) today announced that it has named Edwin Sim as Vice President and Head of Executive & Professional Lines in Singapore. 

“Our Executive & Professional Lines capabilities continue to expand in Singapore and throughout Asia. Edwin has been integral to this expansion, while also delivering BHSI holistically, with multi-line solutions and multinational programs, to our customers and brokers throughout the region,” said Scotland Walsh-Riddle, Regional Head of Executive & Professional Lines, Asia, BHSI. “I look forward to working with Edwin and our stellar Singapore team to bring our expansive, simply worded policies and customized Executive & Professional Lines capacity to the marketplace.” 

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