Gordon Moore: Intel Co-founder – A Visionary Who Transformed the Tech Industry Died At 94

Gordon Earle Moore was born on January 3, 1929, in San Francisco, California, USA. He attended San Jose State University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1950. He then went on to complete a PhD in chemistry and physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1954.

After completing his PhD, Moore joined the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. In 1956, he joined the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in California, where he co-invented the first commercially successful planar transistor.

In 1965, Moore co-founded Intel Corporation with Robert Noyce. At Intel, Moore oversaw the development of the company's first product, the 3101 Schottky TTL bipolar memory chip, which was a commercial success. He later became CEO of Intel in 1975, a position he held until 1987.

Moore is best known for his prediction, made in 1965, that the number of transistors on a microchip would double approximately every two years, a principle known as Moore's Law. This prediction has proven to be remarkably accurate and has become the driving force behind the exponential growth of computing power over the past few decades.

In addition to his work at Intel, Moore has been a philanthropist for many years. In 2000, he and his wife Betty established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which supports scientific research, environmental conservation, and patient care.

Moore has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to the field of technology, including the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1990 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.

Moore died at his home in Hawaii on March 24, 2023, at the age of 94.

Protesters demand INEC Chairman's arrest

On Thursday, a group of young demonstrators, under the banner of the National Youth League for Defense of Democracy, called for the arrest and prosecution of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, over the conduct of the 2023 general elections. The protesters also demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari set up an interim government before leaving office on May 29, and annul the recent elections. The group's convener, Dr. Moses Paul, stated that the polls were one of the worst in Nigeria's electoral history, citing human rights abuses in Lagos, Rivers, and Kano. The group further called on Buhari to appoint a new INEC chairman to conduct fresh polls. When asked what they would do if their demands were not met, the group's co-convener, Anngu Orngu, stated that they would continue to demonstrate and seek every civil and lawful means to ensure their message is heard.

The group accused Yakubu of committing the "greatest fraud in the history of humanity" and called on the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate him. They also called on the Nigerian judiciary to ensure that justice is done in the ongoing court cases concerning the presidential election held on February 25.

The protesters gathered at the Unity Fountain in Abuja to make their demands, and they addressed the media there. They argued that an interim government was necessary to ensure a credible and fair election, as they believed that Buhari's administration had failed in its duty to protect the interests of Nigerians.

The group's demands come at a time of heightened political tension in Nigeria, with many calling for electoral reform and greater accountability in the country's political system. Some observers fear that the protests could escalate into violence if their demands are not met, while others believe that the government may use force to suppress dissent.

As of now, it remains unclear how the government will respond to the protesters' demands, but the situation is being closely monitored by both domestic and international observers. Many are calling for calm and restraint on all sides, as the country navigates a challenging period in its history.

Microsoft's Office Suite to Get AI Upgrade with OpenAI's GPT-4

Microsoft is set to implement OpenAI technology into its Office apps, including Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Word. The apps will use OpenAI's latest GPT-4 artificial intelligence platform to generate whole documents, emails, and slide decks from knowledge the software has gained by scanning corporate files and listening to conference calls. The technology will launch in the coming months and is currently being tested with 20 companies, including eight in the Fortune 500, which have not been named. Microsoft's new technology will help people create “great content, great documents, great PowerPoints, art,” and do sophisticated analysis using natural language queries.

OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, has fueled the frenzy of companies adding AI chatbot features to their technology with its ChatGPT tool, which demonstrated the power and potential pitfalls of chatbot technology. Microsoft has already been using OpenAI's technology in its Bing search preview for several weeks, but after several reports that the chatbot was generating freewheeling conversations that some found strange or belligerent, the company began restricting its responses.

Microsoft has invested over $10 billion in OpenAI and has already released Copilot software for sales and customer applications, as well as a product from its GitHub unit for writing programming code. Meanwhile, Alphabet Inc.'s Google announced its own plans this week to use AI tools for creating presentations, taking notes during meetings, and drafting emails.

Microsoft has a long history of developing assistants for office work, but its latest technology's advantage is its ability to handle natural language requests. The software includes an app called Business Chat, which acts as a combination chatbot and personal assistant for office workers. Using plain English queries, it can summarize a recent meeting, find upcoming milestones for a project, list risks for a planned strategy, and suggest ways to mitigate those hazards.

The new technology is being demonstrated in a webcast event, and some customers will have access to Business Chat on Thursday inside of Microsoft's Teams conferencing software. The technology also provides transparency about where it found the information it uses, embedding links to relevant files so workers can see more clearly how the Copilot arrived at its conclusions. One criticism of AI chatbots has been that they serve up information that can't be easily verified.

Is Google's Bard the chatbot of the future? Early adopters weigh in

This week, Google is launching its AI platform Bard to the public, starting with tests in the U.S. and the U.K. While the company is warning users that the platform may make mistakes with some answers, it is officially allowing people to sign up for the generative AI product at bard.google.com. Google plans to expand availability over time to more countries and languages. In a blog post titled "Try Bard and share your feedback," Sissie Hsiao, product vice president, and Eli Collins, research vice president, encourage users to use Bard to boost their productivity, accelerate their ideas, and fuel their curiosity.

To ensure that conversations between users and the AI don't spin out of control, Google is putting in place some guardrails. The company said it would cap the number of exchanges in a dialogue "to try to keep interactions helpful and on topic." However, it won't limit the number of daily chats, a spokesperson said. Bard will display three different drafts to each response, according to the company.

Google has been testing its LaMDA technology in the Bard chatbot and on search pages since late 2022. In January, the company announced the product following the introduction of OpenAI's ChatGPT technology, which has since been integrated into a limited version of Microsoft's search engine Bing. Google was criticized by employees and investors after Bard's initial rollout, which appeared rushed to compete with Microsoft's Bing integration of ChatGPT.

Google warns users that Bard is an experimental product that may give "inaccurate or inappropriate responses." A pop-up display says, "Bard is an experiment," and users are directed to use the "Google It" feature to fact-check Bard's responses if they're in doubt. Text also appears alongside results indicating that the information "doesn't represent Google's views." Google executives have asked all employees to help fix Bard's wrong answers in a companywide effort. Bard queries will include a “thumbs up” and “thumbs down" option to solicit feedback