Kwame Som-Pimpong

  • No. 215: Congressional vs. Asia Pacific AI Investment | AI with a Memory

    Heinrich, Portman, Schatz Propose National Strategy For Artificial Intelligence; Call For $2.2 Billion Investment In Education, Research & Development (Martin Heinrich) I wrote here about Congressional efforts to figure out the U.S. artificial intelligence direction. That effort plus this bill by a group of senators helps move us closer to the U.S. having an AI…

  • No. 214: Monday/Tuesday Reads

    Physics-based AI software company joins Cottonwood Venture Partners’ leading digital oilfield portfolio (Tachyus) Sam Altman’s leap of faith (TechCrunch) Sorenson Seeds $150 Million Fund to Invest in Overlooked America (Bloomberg)

  • No. 213: Is That the Whole Story?

    I’m working through The Quest for Artificial Intelligence by the late Nils Nilsson, a pioneer in the development of the field. He charts out the foundation for artificial intelligence beginning with Aristotle’s syllogisms and makes his way through various European mathematicians who made various contributions to mechanizing logic. A couple of years ago, Chris Dixon,…

  • No. 212: Track Saturday

    The Shanghai Diamond League meet is this weekend, and the 100m dash was electric. Christian Coleman is an incredible sprinter. He holds the world record in the 60m dash. Over the first 50m of this race, you see how. He’s like a loaded spring out of the blocks. He loses this race in similar fashion…

  • No. 211: Exposing disadvantaged folks to AI

    One of the things that keeps me up at night is the thought of underrepresented minorities and poor people not being at the table as the latest AI developments emerge. So, I was through the moon when I listened to this interview with Tara Chklovski, founder of Iridescent, a nonprofit committed to exposing disadvantaged families…

  • No. 210: Conversational AI | Number Sense | Walking

    Speech and language: the crown jewel of AI with Dr. Xuedong Huang (Microsoft Research) This interview and the next one are examples of this shift picking up speed in the development of artificial intelligence where we’re not just feeding data to computers as part of training it for one task. The computers are drawing insights…

  • No. 209: The Rihanna Force | Brain Imaging AI | Space AI

    Why Rihanna Broke Barriers That Others Couldn’t (Trapital) I’m looking forward to seeing what becomes of this joining of forces with LVMH. Dan Runcie, as usual, does a real nice job breaking things down. Brain imaging AI leader icometrix raises $18 million in new funding (icometrix) This is a very interesting company. My grandmother has…

  • No. 208: AI Drives News and Music | Alibaba’s Global Ambitions | 2019 Fundraising Environment

    TikTok Is the New Music Kingmaker, and Labels Want to Get Paid (Bloomberg) I wonder what it is about the music industry that has it looking at itself on the wrong side of a deal once again. Decades ago, Napster and file sharing put a massive dent in the industry, then Apple came along and…

  • No. 207: China’s AI Exports| A Historian Bot | Trustworthy AI Framework

    AI, Foreign Policy, and National Governance Impact: Focus on China (Modern Diplomacy) Arthur Gwagwa outlines the potential bad effects of China’s inroads throughout the Global South and export of its AI technology particularly to African countries. I share his concern that these technologies could help bad leaders on the continent dig their heels in through…

  • No. 206: Congressional AI Task Force | NYC AI Center | Microsoft Opens AI Playbook

    Waters Announces Committee Task Forces on Financial Technology and Artificial Intelligence (US House Committee on Financial Services) I’m glad to see Rep. Alma Adams on the artificial intelligence committee. My hope is that she asks those questions that get at the unintended consequences around the meshing of AI technology and financial services and those impacts…

  • No. 205: Jumia a Fraud? | Black VCs Get That Princeton Bag | Uber Creator Secures $3.7B

    Not All IPOs are Created Equal. Jumia is a Fraud. (Citron Research) This tea is hot, but I’m not sure there’s enough honey in this report. Jumia has earned most of the side-eyes it gets but I don’t think this report hits the bar for a fraud claim. Princeton Looks to Break Up the White…

  • No. 204: Morning Reads

    Creative Stock: Why Intellectual Property is Africa’s Most Valuable Resource (Medium) Losing $2m in Nigeria’s music industry (Medium) The failure of Reconstruction was a ruthless act of sabotage (Washington Post) Nipsey Hussle had a plan to beat gentrification — in South L.A. and across the U.S. (LA Times) Why Ramaphosa is probably not in a…

  • No. 203: Tackling Gentrification | Fourth Industrial Revolution and Africa | Kathryn Gould – OG VC

    Chris Tyson Is Smart About Cities (Protege Podcasts) Protege Podcasts host Rory Verrett and East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority CEO Chris Tyson had a fantastic conversation that eventually moved to focus on gentrification and what to do about it. Tyson argued that the “buy the block” efforts pushed by the late Nipsey Hussle, Jay-Z and…

  • No. 202: Rebecca Enonchong is a Rockstar | Nigeria Pushes Business Environment | Ghana’s Mobile Money Regulatory Environment Matures

    Founder, Investor, Activist: Rebecca Enonchong’s Multi-Lane Road as a Tech Powerhouse (techcabal) Nigeria Extends 50% Discount For Business Name Registration (The Will) NCA drafts Mobile Money quality of service regulations for Ghana (Ghana Business News)

  • No. 201: Edouardo Jordan Remembers Black Food | Ghana at Venice Biennale | Satya Levels Up Microsoft

    Showing Up at Your Dream Job Uninvited (Without Fail Podcast) Ghana arrives at the Venice Biennale, bringing new narratives with it (Financial Times) The Most Valuable Company (for Now) Is Having a Nadellaissance (Bloomberg)