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UCF Alum, Tech Entrepreneur’s New Venture Tackles Constraints in AI, Cloud Computing
Local innovator and entrepreneur Jason Eichenholz is back at it. The co-founder of Luminar Technologies and founder of the Jonathan’s Landing nonprofit teamed with University of Central Florida Professor Rodrigo Amezcua Correa to secure $4.6 million in pre-seed funding for their Relativity Networks stealth startup, the company announced Feb. 11. Relativity Networks, a next-generation fiber-optics company, uses patent-pending hollow core fiber (HCF) cables to “change the speed of light” and transform how and where data centers can grow in an emerging world of cloud computing and artificial intelligence. “We're solving for an existential threat in the AI and data center space, which is a lack of power,” Eichenholz told Orlando Business Journal. Relativity Networks was formed in late 2023 through funding from Eichenholz, who is a product of UCF’s College of Optics and Photonics. The technology is licensed exclusively through the UCF Research Foundation. Eichenholz was coaching and mentoring other startups at UCF when Amezcua Correa approached him about his hollow core fiber creation. Eichenholz realized it was similar to what he’d written about 20 years earlier, and once he truly understood the opportunity, he decided, “I can't sit this one out. This is too great.” Winston Schoenfeld, vice president for research and innovation at UCF, said in a prepared statement that the technology “represents the next revolution in optical networking” and the breakthrough “demonstrates a decade of dedicated research by our team.”
Orlando Business Journal
Too Much Focus On AI Has Taken The ‘Social’ Out Of Social Media
Last week, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti called out social media platforms TikTok and Facebook parent Meta in an open letter to their respective CEOs, Zhang Yiming and Mark Zuckerberg, writing that they no longer "care very much about content" and instead have become "much more interested in technology and AI." Though Peretti may have tried to blame the social media companies' increased focus on AI as being the problem, the real issue may simply be how on how the technology is being used. AI has the potential to improve social media, but that would require some key changes to be made. The social media platforms would have to fundamentally rethink how they're using AI, said Dr. Mel Stanfill, associate professor in the Texts and Technology Program and the Department of English at the University of Central Florida. "The recommendation algorithm would have to not just optimize for attention but also things like posts that result in productive, respectful conversation," noted Stanfill. "That's a thing that could be figured out and implemented, but it's contrary to the platforms' interests in attention above all else," added Stanfill. "Similarly, for moderation, it's a bit of a game of whack-a-mole whereas the tactics of platforms change to try to decrease harmful use, so do the tactics of people trying to be terrible to each other, but it's totally possible to use human judgment to understand those issues and change how content moderation algorithms respond based upon that understanding."
Forbes
Too Much Focus On AI Has Taken The ‘Social’ Out Of Social Media
Last week, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti called out social media platforms TikTok and Facebook parent Meta in an open letter to their respective CEOs, Zhang Yiming and Mark Zuckerberg, writing that they no longer "care very much about content" and instead have become "much more interested in technology and AI." Though Peretti may have tried to blame the social media companies' increased focus on AI as being the problem, the real issue may simply be how on how the technology is being used. AI has the potential to improve social media, but that would require some key changes to be made. The social media platforms would have to fundamentally rethink how they're using AI, said Dr. Mel Stanfill, associate professor in the Texts and Technology Program and the Department of English at the University of Central Florida. "The recommendation algorithm would have to not just optimize for attention but also things like posts that result in productive, respectful conversation," noted Stanfill. "That's a thing that could be figured out and implemented, but it's contrary to the platforms' interests in attention above all else," added Stanfill. "Similarly, for moderation, it's a bit of a game of whack-a-mole whereas the tactics of platforms change to try to decrease harmful use, so do the tactics of people trying to be terrible to each other, but it's totally possible to use human judgment to understand those issues and change how content moderation algorithms respond based upon that understanding."
Forbes