Tech 5: AI Advances Win Nobel Prizes, Autonomous Tesla Falls Flat

1. AI takes home two Nobel Prizes

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences presented the annual Nobel prizes this week, bestowing two of the three prizes in science to researchers in artificial intelligence (AI).

On Tuesday, the Nobel Prize in physics was given to Canadian computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton and American physicist John Hopfield. Their research into neural networks laid the foundation to develop machine learning technology based on the way the human brain processes information.

Hopfield’s invention, a computer that works like a human brain, can store patterns and recall them even if given only partial information. Hinton’s research led him to create a way to help computers to discover patterns on their own, essentially allowing them to “learn” without being programmed.

On Wednesday, Sir Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs, and John Jumper, Director of Google DeepMind, were awarded the Noble Prize in chemistry for the development of AlphaFold 2, an AI model developed by the Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) subsidiary in 2020 to predict the three-dimensional structure of a protein.

A protein’s function is determined by its structure, which is an exceptionally difficult — and expensive — task for human researchers. In July 2021, AlphaFold 2 accurately predicted the structure of virtually all 200 million identified proteins, using only their amino acid sequences as input. This revolutionary technology has led to groundbreaking discoveries in science and medicine and has the potential to accelerate drug discovery and development.

It wasn’t all good news for Alphabet companies this week. On Monday, the judge ordered Google to overhaul its mobile app store, allowing Android users to purchase apps from alternative providers. Subsequently, on Wednesday, the US Department of Justice indicated it may seek a court order to force Google to separate its Chrome and Android businesses, following the ruling in its antitrust case against the tech giant on August 5. Shares of Google stock are down 2.65 percent for the week.

2. Tesla Cybercab unveiling falls flat

Tesla shares fell 8.78 percent on Friday afternoon after the electric vehicle maker unveiled its long-awaited fully autonomous model on Thursday evening. The Cybercab, a two-seater with no steering wheel or foot pedals, was presented an hour late at the company’s “We Robot” event at the Warner Brothers studio in Burbank.

During the presentation, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk told the audience that the model would cost below US$30,000 and that the company “hoped” to begin production before 2027, but did not offer specific details as to where, how or when production would begin. Musk also revealed his company’s plans to produce a fully autonomous 20-passenger Robovan but gave no further details other than that both vehicles would charge wirelessly.

Musk also offered an update on the development of Tesla’s full-self driving (FSD) technology, which is set to roll out in China in 2025 but has faced regulatory hurdles in the US. Musk said he expects to install FSD in Model 3 and Model Y Teslas in Texas and California “next year,” but was unable to provide a set release date.

As of writing, Tesla is down 12.5 percent for the week and 12.33 percent year-to-date.

Tesla’s price movements for the week ending October 11.

Chart via Google Finance.

3. Samsung apologizes for disappointing quarterly projections

South Korean tech company Samsung (KRX:005930) posted its Q3 profit guidance on Tuesday, announcing that it expects operating profits to surge by 274 percent for the quarter to around 9.1 trillion Korean won, approximately US$6.74 billion. While this figure signifies impressive growth from the 2.43 trillion won in profits the company earned during Q3 2023, it missed LSEG expectations of 11.45 trillion won, resulting in a 1.47 percent decrease in share value on Tuesday morning.

Samsung’s vice chairman, Jun Young-hyun, issued an apology following the report’s release, translated here by CNBC. He citing the decline to “one-time costs and negative impacts” in the company’s memory division, including “inventory adjustments by mobile customers and increased supply of legacy products by Chinese memory companies.”

He went on to promise shareholders that Samsung’s leaders “will prepare for the future more thoroughly.” In a translated statement, Young-hyun said, “Samsung … has always turned crises into opportunities, having a history of challenge, innovation, and overcoming.

“We will definitely make the dire situation we are currently facing an opportunity for a leap forward.”

Shares of Samsung are down 3.26 percent for the week.

4. Profits are still years away for OpenAI

The Information reported on Wednesday that, despite OpenAI’s rapid growth, the company projects it will lose up to US$14 billion in 2026, with losses totaling US$44 billion between 2023 and 2028. According to documents the Information says it has seen first-hand, OpenAI plans to spend up to US$200 billion training new AI models by the end of the decade.

Under the terms of OpenAI’s most recent funding round, which raised US$6.6 billion and included contributions from venture capitalist firm Andreesseen-Horowitz, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), OpenAI was required to restructure its business model, handing control over to a for-profit arm. However, based on these projections, the company, which is now valued at US$157 billion, does not expect to become profitable until 2029. At that time, according to the Information, it hopes to achieve US$100 billion in revenue primarily driven by ChatGPT.

5. Bitcoin wobbles midweek but recovers

At the start of the week, Bitcoin’s price fluctuated around US$63,000, influenced heavily by China’s failure to provide a detailed stimulus plan, while meme coins rallied. On Monday, Ether ETFs experienced zero flows in or out for the second time since their inception, while Bitcoin ETFs saw their highest inflows since September 27 that day.

Bitcoin’s price decreased through Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s consumer price index (CPI) data release, and plunged in the hour following the release. This sent it below US$60,000 for the first time in October, a historically bullish month.

The data showed that the CPI rose 0.2 percent from last month and just 2.4 percent year-over-year, its smallest annual rise since inflation first began surging in February 2021.

Bitcoin began trending upwards after the drop, and briefly moved back above US$63,000 Friday afternoon.