10.19.2023

Nvidia Embraces Generative AI to Transform Robotics

Generative AI has been making waves in the world of robotics, and it's no surprise that industry leaders like Nvidia are at the forefront of this exciting technology. During a recent visit to Nvidia's South Bay headquarters, Deepu Talla, the company's Vice President and General Manager of Embedded & Edge Computing, shared insights into how generative AI is reshaping the future of robotics.


Productivity Boost with Generative AI

According to Talla, the impact of generative AI is already visible in terms of productivity improvements. He mentioned, "You can already see the productivity improvement. It can compose an email for me. It’s not exactly right, but I don’t have to start from zero. It’s giving me 70%. There are obvious things you can already see that are definitely a step function better than how things were before."


These initial signs of productivity improvements hint at the transformative potential of generative AI in various applications within the robotics industry.


Nvidia's Upcoming Announcement

Nvidia was on the verge of unveiling some exciting news related to generative AI and robotics. Their announcement coincided with ROSCon, where they showcased their commitment to advancing robotics through technology. Alongside this announcement, Nvidia also introduced the general availability of the Nvidia Isaac ROS 2.0 and Nvidia Isaac Sim 2023 platforms.


Embracing Generative AI for Accelerated Adoption

Nvidia's robotics systems are now embracing generative AI, a move that is expected to accelerate its adoption among roboticists. With approximately 1.2 million developers interfacing with Nvidia AI and Jetson platforms, including prominent clients like AWS, Cisco, and John Deere, the impact of this technology is set to be far-reaching.


Jetson Generative AI Lab: Access to Large Language Models

Nvidia's Jetson Generative AI Lab is a noteworthy initiative that provides developers with access to open-source large language models (LLMs). This resource equips developers with optimized tools and tutorials for deploying LLMs, diffusion models for generating stunning images interactively, vision language models (VLMs), and vision transformers (ViTs).


Addressing Unpredictable Scenarios

One of the key advantages of generative AI in robotics is its ability to help systems make decisions in unforeseen circumstances. Even in structured environments like warehouses and factory floors, countless variables can pose challenges. Generative AI, combined with simulation, enables robots to adapt on the fly and offer more natural language interfaces.


Talla emphasized the significance of generative AI in addressing these challenges, stating, "Generative AI will significantly accelerate deployments of AI at the edge with better generalization, ease of use, and higher accuracy than previously possible."


Improved Perception and Simulation

In addition to generative AI, the latest versions of Nvidia's platforms also bring enhancements to perception and simulation capabilities. These improvements further solidify Nvidia's commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the field of robotics.


Conclusion

Nvidia's embrace of generative AI marks a significant step forward in the evolution of robotics technology. With the promise of improved productivity, adaptability in unpredictable scenarios, and enhanced perception capabilities, generative AI is poised to revolutionize the world of robotics. As the industry continues to advance, Nvidia's contributions are driving innovation and shaping the future of robotics.

10.12.2023

Clients and libraries that are known to support GGUF

  • llama.cpp. The source project for GGUF. Offers a CLI and a server option.
  • text-generation-webui, the most widely used web UI, with many features and powerful extensions. Supports GPU acceleration.
  • KoboldCpp, a fully featured web UI, with GPU accel across all platforms and GPU architectures. Especially good for story telling.
  • LM Studio, an easy-to-use and powerful local GUI for Windows and macOS (Silicon), with GPU acceleration.
  • LoLLMS Web UI, a great web UI with many interesting and unique features, including a full model library for easy model selection.
  • Faraday.dev, an attractive and easy to use character-based chat GUI for Windows and macOS (both Silicon and Intel), with GPU acceleration.
  • ctransformers, a Python library with GPU accel, LangChain support, and OpenAI-compatible AI server.
  • llama-cpp-python, a Python library with GPU accel, LangChain support, and OpenAI-compatible API server.
  • candle, a Rust ML framework with a focus on performance, including GPU support, and ease of use.

10.08.2023

OpenAI's Quest for AI Chip Sovereignty: A Strategic Move Amidst Tech Giants

In recent times, OpenAI, the organization famed for its creation ChatGPT, has delved into the domain of artificial intelligence hardware, eyeing the potential of crafting its unique AI chips. This bold step arises from a dire necessity: addressing the scarcity of high-grade AI chips, which form the cornerstone of OpenAI's ambitious projects. The journey encompasses evaluating potential acquisition targets, fostering alliances with established chipmakers like Nvidia, and pondering over the grand idea of building its bespoke AI chip.

The decision is yet on the horizon, awaiting the green signal from the internal echelons of OpenAI. The clock has been ticking since last year when the discourse around mitigating the chip shortage commenced. The chip dilemma is a twofold challenge for OpenAI, tackling both the scarce supply of advanced processors and the exorbitant costs tethered to their procurement and operation.

OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, underscores the criticality of acquiring more AI chips, reflecting his concerns publicly regarding the scant availability of graphics processing units (GPUs), the lifeblood for running AI applications. The market, majorly under Nvidia's dominion, poses a tough landscape for OpenAI to navigate.

The path towards self-reliance in AI chip production is laden with high stakes, with a ticket price of hundreds of millions per annum, a venture demanding not just financial muscle but a steely resolve to venture into the uncharted. Taking a leaf from tech behemoths like Amazon and Google, who have ventured into custom chip design, OpenAI too contemplates this colossal stride.

The narrative takes an intriguing turn with the mention of a potential acquisition, reminiscent of Amazon's playbook with the acquisition of Annapurna Labs in 2015, a move that propelled its chip development endeavor.

The venture is a long-haul, with several years on the timeline before OpenAI can reap the fruits of its labor, or the acquisition, should it materialize. In the interim, commercial providers like Nvidia and AMD continue to be the torchbearers.

The race for AI chip supremacy is not devoid of hurdles, as evidenced by Meta's ordeal in custom chip development. Yet, the flame of innovation burns bright, with even Microsoft, OpenAI's substantial backer, joining the fray with its custom AI chip under development.

The narrative unfolds amidst a surging demand for specialized AI chips post the launch of ChatGPT. The road ahead is a blend of strategic alliances, potential acquisitions, and relentless innovation as OpenAI embarks on this monumental journey towards AI chip autonomy.

10.07.2023

Harnessing Collective AI Wisdom: A Dive into Microsoft's AutoGen Framework


In a world where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is swiftly evolving, the race for creating more intelligent and autonomous systems is intensifying. Microsoft, a formidable player in this domain, has recently unveiled its AutoGen Framework, a pioneering platform that orchestrates interaction among multiple AI agents, aiming to streamline task execution.

AutoGen, an open-source Python library, is Microsoft’s stride into the realm of large language model (LLM) application frameworks. This framework is engineered to simplify the orchestration, optimization, and automation of workflows centered around LLMs like GPT-4. The spotlight is on the creation of "agents", which are essentially programming modules empowered by LLMs, and are designed to communicate with each other through natural language messages to accomplish diverse tasks.

What makes AutoGen an enticing proposition is its modular architecture. Developers have the liberty to create an ecosystem of agents, each specializing in different tasks yet capable of cooperating seamlessly. Every agent is perceived as an individual ChatGPT session with its unique instruction set. For instance, one agent might take on the role of a programming assistant, generating Python code based on user requests, while another could act as a code reviewer, examining the code snippets and troubleshooting them. The response from the first agent can be seamlessly channeled as input to the second, creating a coherent workflow.


The framework also extends a layer of customization and augmentation through prompt engineering techniques and external tools. These augmentations enable agents to fetch information or execute code, broadening the spectrum of tasks they can handle.

A striking feature of AutoGen is the integration of “human proxy agents”, allowing users to dive into the conversation between AI agents. This feature morphs the human user into a team leader overseeing a group of AI agents, facilitating a higher degree of oversight and control especially in scenarios requiring sensitive decision-making.

Multi-agent collaborations under AutoGen can lead to substantial efficiency gains. As per Microsoft's claims, AutoGen has the potential to accelerate coding processes by up to four times, showcasing a promising avenue for reducing developmental timelines.

Furthermore, AutoGen supports more complex scenarios through hierarchical arrangements of LLM agents, bringing a new dimension to multi-agent interactions. For instance, a group chat manager agent could mediate discussions between multiple human users and LLM agents, ensuring effective communication according to predefined rules.

As the arena of LLM application frameworks burgeons, AutoGen is squaring up against many contenders. However, what sets it apart is its emphasis on creating a collaborative environment where multiple AI agents, with a sprinkle of human intervention, can collectively drive task completion to new heights.

Despite the challenges such as hallucinations and unpredictable behaviors from LLM agents, the horizon looks promising. The evolution of LLM agents is poised to play a crucial role in the future of application development and operational systems. With AutoGen, Microsoft is not only embracing the competitive spirit of this fast-evolving field but is also laying down a robust foundation for the futuristic vision of harmonized AI-human interactions.

10.06.2023

LangChain Crash Course for Beginners


Dive into the world of large language models and application development with LangChain in this comprehensive crash course tailored for beginners! LangChain, a groundbreaking framework, significantly eases the process of crafting applications powered by extensive language models. This course is your stepping stone to seamlessly interfacing AI models with a diverse range of data sources, enabling you to build tailored NLP applications.

Embark on a learning adventure that introduces you to the core concepts of LangChain, elucidates the mechanism of integrating AI models with various data sources, and guides you through the process of developing customized NLP applications. With a blend of theoretical insights and practical demonstrations, this course ensures a hands-on learning experience.

Throughout this course, you'll engage in interactive tutorials, real-world examples, and hands-on exercises that not only equip you with the knowledge of how LangChain operates but also instills the confidence to apply these learnings in your projects. The curriculum is meticulously crafted to cater to beginners, ensuring a smooth learning curve, while also providing a solid foundation for diving into more advanced topics.

By the end of this crash course, you'll have a profound understanding of LangChain and its potential to revolutionize NLP application development. You'll be adept at leveraging LangChain for creating innovative, customized NLP applications, ready to take on more complex projects. So, seize this opportunity to learn, explore, and innovate with LangChain, and commence your journey in creating cutting-edge NLP applications!

10.05.2023

Introducing Stable LM 3B: Bridging Efficiency and Excellence in Generative AI


We're excited to introduce the experimental version of Stable LM 3B, a compact language model with 3 billion parameters, tailored for use on portable devices like handhelds and laptops. Unlike larger models with 7 to 70 billion parameters, Stable LM 3B is designed for efficiency, requiring fewer resources and operating at lower costs. This not only makes it more affordable but also environmentally friendly due to lesser power consumption.

Despite its smaller size, Stable LM 3B competes well, outperforming previous 3B parameter models and some 7B parameter open-source models. This development broadens the scope of applications on edge devices or home PCs, facilitating the creation of cutting-edge technologies with strong conversational abilities while keeping costs low.

Compared to earlier releases, Stable LM 3B is better at text generation and maintains fast execution speed. It has shown improved performance on common natural language processing benchmarks owing to extensive training on high-quality data. Moreover, it's versatile and can be fine-tuned for various uses like programming assistance, making it a cost-effective choice for companies looking to customize it for different applications.

Being a base model, Stable LM 3B requires adjustments for safe performance in specific use cases, urging developers to evaluate and fine-tune it before deployment. We are currently testing our instruction fine-tuned model for safety, with plans to release it soon.

We encourage the community to explore Stable LM 3B by downloading the model weights on the Hugging Face platform. This model is released under the open-source CC-By-SA 4.0 license, and we welcome feedback at research@stability.ai to enhance its capabilities ahead of our full release.

10.04.2023

Unveiling MistralOrca: A Leap Towards Open-Source AI Excellence


In recent times, the realm of open-source AI has seen a monumental stride towards excellence with the advent of MistralOrca. This innovative model emerged from a collaboration that aimed to push the boundaries of what moderate consumer GPUs can achieve.

The narrative began with the meticulous creation of the OpenOrca dataset, a notable endeavor to replicate the dataset heralded in Microsoft Research's Orca Paper. The Alignment Lab team, known for their avant-garde approach, fine-tuned Mistral 7B using this dataset, employing OpenChat packing and Axolotl for training. The result? A release that boasts of GPT-4 augmented data finesse, a trait shared with its sibling model, OpenOrcaxOpenChat-Preview2-13B.

As of its release, MistralOrca carved its niche as the second-best model among those with a size less than 30B on the HF Leaderboard, outclassing all but one 13B model. This wasn't just a release; it was a statement of capability, a fully open model showcasing class-breaking performance, all while being accessible on moderate consumer GPUs. A tip of the hat to the Mistral team for pioneering this trail.

MistralOrca is not just a name; it's a testament to the seamless meld between robust technology and the open-source ethos. Want to give it a whirl? It's running on fast GPUs unquantized for an unparalleled user experience. You can find it [here](https://huggingface.co/spaces/Open-Orca/Mistral-7B-OpenOrca).

Beyond just a model, the team has provided a visual feast for data enthusiasts. Explore the full (pre-filtering) dataset on their Nomic Atlas Map, an endeavor to offer transparency and insights into the data that powers MistralOrca.

Now, for those who are on the lookout for quantized models, TheBloke has generously facilitated quantized versions of MistralOrca. Whether it's AWQ, GPTQ, or GGUF, a new horizon of exploration awaits [here](https://huggingface.co/TheBloke/Mistral-7B-OpenOrca-AWQ).

The tale doesn't end here; the ongoing journey sees the Alignment Lab in the throes of training more models, with the promise of exciting partnerships on the horizon. Stay tuned for sneak-peak announcements on their [Discord](https://AlignmentLab.ai), or delve deeper into the Axolotl trainer on the [OpenAccess AI Collective Discord](https://discord.gg/5y8STgB3P3).

The performance metrics of MistralOrca are nothing short of stellar. With a 105% performance of the base model on HF Leaderboard evaluations, it transcends the performance of all 7B models and all but one 13B model, averaging a score of 65.33. These evaluations were meticulously carried out using the Language Model Evaluation Harness, mirroring the HuggingFace LLM Leaderboard version.

The comparative analysis with the base Mistral-7B model unveils a 129% performance on AGI Eval, averaging 0.397, and a 119% performance on BigBench-Hard, averaging 0.416. These figures aren’t just digits; they are a testament to the colossal strides MistralOrca has made in the field.

The training regime was no less rigorous. Utilizing 8x A6000 GPUs for a marathon 62-hour training run, the team completed 4 epochs of full fine-tuning on their dataset. The commodity cost stood at a modest ~$400, a small price for a giant leap in open-source AI excellence.

In conclusion, MistralOrca isn’t merely a model; it’s a milestone in the open-source AI narrative. It epitomizes what collaborative effort, coupled with cutting-edge technology, can achieve. As the AI community waits with bated breath for what's next from Alignment Lab, MistralOrca stands as a beacon of what’s possible in the ever-evolving world of Artificial Intelligence.

10.03.2023

Mistral 7B: The Game-Changing Open Language Model Taking The AI World By Storm

In recent years, we've seen a remarkable surge in the accessibility of AI language models. While the giants of the industry have been leveraging API-accessible models, the arena of "open models" is witnessing a significant rise. And with Mistral, a budding French AI startup, it seems the landscape is about to transform even further.



Mistral’s Grand Unveiling

After successfully raising an impressive seed round in June, Mistral has unveiled its debut model, boasting performance that surpasses other models of its caliber. What sets this model apart from the rest? It's not only remarkable in terms of performance, but it's also absolutely free to use.

Available for download right now, the Mistral 7B model offers several avenues of access, including a sizable 13.4-gigabyte torrent. The budding community support is evident, with hundreds already seeding the torrent. Mistral isn't stopping there; they've initiated a GitHub repository and a Discord channel, aimed at fostering collaboration and aiding with troubleshooting.


Embracing Open Source with Apache 2.0 License

What truly makes the Mistral 7B model a gem in the AI landscape is its release under the Apache 2.0 license. This license is renowned for its permissiveness, imposing no constraints on the use or reproduction of the model – the only requirement being attribution. This democratizes access, making it viable for anyone, from individual hobbyists to colossal corporations or even government entities like the Pentagon, to utilize it, provided they have the infrastructure or are ready to bear the cloud expenses.


Mistral 7B vs. Other Models

Positioning itself as a refined iteration of other "small" large language models like Llama 2, Mistral 7B promises comparable abilities but with a substantially lower computational cost. While foundation models such as GPT-4 have their strengths, their high running costs and complexity limit their availability, typically confining them to API or remote access.

In their own words, Mistral’s vision is clear: “Our ambition is to become the leading supporter of the open generative AI community, and bring open models to state-of-the-art performance.” The release of Mistral 7B is a testament to their commitment, reflecting the culmination of three months of fervent work. From assembling the Mistral AI team and overhauling an MLops stack to crafting a top-tier data processing pipeline, the team has achieved what many might believe takes far longer.

The accelerated success might surprise some, but the founders' prior experiences working on analogous models at industry behemoths like Meta and Google DeepMind provided them with an edge.


Conclusion

Mistral is clearly not just another player in the AI field. With their focus on open models and commitment to superior performance, they are paving the way for a new era in AI technology. Only time will tell how Mistral’s models will reshape the future, but one thing is certain: they've already made a lasting impression.

10.02.2023

EfficientML.ai Lecture, Fall 2023, MIT 6.5940


Large generative models (e.g., large language models, diffusion models) have shown remarkable performances, but their enormous scale demands significant computation and memory resources. To make them more accessible, it is crucial to improve their efficiency. This course will introduce efficient deep learning computing techniques that enable powerful deep learning applications on resource-constrained devices. Topics include model compression, pruning, quantization, neural architecture search, distributed training, data/model parallelism, gradient compression, and on-device fine-tuning. It also introduces application-specific acceleration techniques for large language models, diffusion models, video recognition, and point cloud. This course will also cover topics about quantum machine learning. Students will get hands-on experience deploying large language models (e.g., LLaMA 2) on the laptop.

10.01.2023

The Rise and Impact of Llama: An AI Revolution

It's been an exciting journey ever since we embarked on the Llama project. Llama 1 was a breakthrough, Llama 2 added more spice, and with the release of Code Llama, the momentum has been nothing short of astonishing.


A Recap of Llama's Journey

Within just a span of seven months since the introduction of Llama 1 and the subsequent unveiling of Llama 2 and Code Llama, the community's response has been overwhelming. To put it into perspective:


Llama-based models have been downloaded over 30 million times through Hugging Face.

A staggering 10 million of these downloads occurred in the last 30 days.

Drawing parallels with PyTorch, Llama is quickly evolving as a robust platform for global AI innovation.

The Llama Community's Exponential Growth

To say Llama has impacted the AI landscape would be an understatement. The growth has been characterized by:


Cloud Adoption: Giants like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure are hosting Llama models. Particularly, AWS's recent collaboration as the managed API partner for Llama 2 has been a game-changer in terms of accessibility.

Innovators' Choice: Startups and innovators like Anyscale, Replicate, and DoorDash are rooting for Llama as their foundational AI tool.

Open-Source Embrace: With over 7,000 derivatives on Hugging Face, the open-source community has enhanced model performance exponentially.

Booming Developer Community: Over 7,000 Llama-related projects are currently hosted on GitHub. From new tools to 'tiny' Llama versions for mobile platforms, the creativity knows no bounds.

Hardware Integration: Top-tier hardware platforms are optimizing for Llama, further enhancing its performance.

The release of Code Llama only solidified its presence, with rapid integration on many platforms, marking a pivotal moment for AI enthusiasts.


From Research to Global Phenomenon

Llama's origin was rooted in the power of large language models (LLMs). Initially developed by a team at FAIR, it sought to harness the prowess of LLMs for various innovative applications. The results? Groundbreaking improvements and diversifications by academic researchers and the wider community.


But Llama 1 was just the beginning. The need for broader accessibility brought Llama 2 to the forefront.


Our Philosophy Behind Releasing Llama Models

At Meta, we firmly believe in open source. The logic is simple:


Research: Harnessing collective wisdom to enhance AI capabilities.

Enterprise and Commercialization: Learning through startups and enterprises to uncover AI's vast potential.

Developer Ecosystem: Utilizing new tools and strategies emerging daily in the AI domain.

Meta has always been at the forefront of advocating for an open approach, and Llama is no exception.


Future Projections

With the AI realm advancing rapidly, here are our core focal points:


Multimodal Experiences: Beyond just text, AI can integrate various modes for richer experiences.

Safety and Responsibility: With AI's potential comes the imperative need for responsible development and application.

Community Emphasis: Like PyTorch, we visualize a developer community with a voice and agency, driving the future of AI innovation.

At AILab, we consistently utilize Llama2 for our daily operations. A significant portion of our projects are predicated on various Llama2 models. We would like to extend our gratitude to Meta for this invaluable opportunity.