This Week I Learned - Week 42 2025

This Week I Learned - 

* Google published the "Attention Is All You Need" paper in 2017 and immediately began using ‘Transformers’ in products like Search & Photos. When OpenAI's ChatGPT shook up the global tech scene in late 2022, Google's leadership sounded a 'Code Red' alert. Google had prototypes similar to ChatGPT months before its release but chose a slower rollout to carefully balance innovation with reputational risk. Google accelerated the development of the Gemini series of models and merged Google Brain and DeepMind.

* Munjal Shah started Hippocratic AI in 2022, not long after OpenAI’s GPT-3 gained popularity with the public. Hippocratic AI focuses on creating a safety-first large language model (LLM) tailored for the healthcare industry.

* Rishi Sunak has taken up advisory roles at tech giant Microsoft and artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic. His part-time role at Microsoft was described as providing "high- level strategic perspectives" on geopolitical trends. In addition to the two tech roles, Sunak will act as a paid advisor to the bank Goldman Sachs, where he previously worked between 2001 and 2004. He previously lived in California, where he still has a home, and held a US visa until 2021. All proceeds from the new roles will be donated to The Richmond Project, a charity Sunak founded with his wife to tackle numeracy problems in the UK, another area he was vocal about while in Downing Street.

* Automatic dubbing generates translated audio tracks in different languages to make YouTube videos more accessible to viewers around the world. Currently, the tone and emotion of the original audio are not transferred to the dubs; therefore, this feature works better on content that does not rely on expressiveness. This feature is also for some videos in Facebook.

* Two decades ago, a typical IT project required 70% of the work to be done onsite in the US with only 30% offshored to India. Today, almost 90% of the work has already been offshored.  - Swaminomics

* The US produces 820,000 STEM graduates annually, while China produces 3.5 million and India produces 2.5 million each year.

* The surge in stock price following its IPO boosted LG Electronics India's market capitalization to nearly $13 billion, a remarkable 40% higher than its parent company's $7.8 billion valuation. This positions LG Electronics India among the select few companies with a market valuation exceeding that of their overseas parent.

* "I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes." - Joanna Maciejewska nails it

* "I have seen deepfake videos of myself circulated online — a reminder of how AI can be weaponised for deception. Fraud is no longer about breaching firewalls, it is about hacking trust" - Nirmala Sitaraman, Finance Minister