How do you manage your AI?

How do you manage your AI?

As companies expand their use of AI beyond running just a few machine learning models, and as larger enterprises go from deploying hundreds of models to millions of models, many machine learning practitioners say that they have yet to find what they need from prepackaged machine learning operations systems, Protocol’s Kate Kaye reports .

Currently, MLops require compromise from companies that are looking to find ways to manage all their machine learning models.

• Some MLops platforms are not well-suited for maintaining even more than 10 machine learning models when it comes to keeping track of data, navigating their user interfaces, or reporting capabilities, Matthew Nokleby, machine learning manager for Lily AI’s product intelligence team, told Protocol.
• But some MLops systems that can manage a larger number of models might not have desired features such as robust data visualization capabilities or the ability to work on premises rather than in cloud environments, Nokleby added.

“That is the biggest gap in the tech industry right now,” said Nicola Morini Bianzino, global chief client technology officer at EY. The auditing firm has thousands of models in deployment that are used for its customers’ tax returns and other purposes, but has not come across a suitable system for managing various MLops modules, he said.

• “I’m actually surprised that none of the big companies have jumped in this space because the opportunity is massive,” Morini Bianzino said.

So what are companies doing? Many are going in-house, building tools for themselves, often using open-source tools.

• “A vendor may not have all the capabilities [we] need. Looking at an open-source solution and extending an open-source solution might be a better way of approaching that particular component versus going with a vendor,” said Brett Hollman, Intuit’s director of engineering and product development in machine learning.
• Still, even that can be tough, because many companies do not have software engineers on staff with the level of expertise necessary to design and build systems that can handle large numbers of models.

FTX’s bookkeeping backdoor?

The FTX saga continues to roll on, but perhaps the juiciest detail to emerge over the past 24 hours is from a report by Reuters that includes details about some of the practices at the company.

FTX’s bookkeeping comes under the spotlight in the report, and sources describe how Sam Bankman-Fried may have attempted to obfuscate what was happening between FTX and Alameda Research.

• “[Gary] Wang, [FTX co-founder and] a former Google software developer, built a backdoor in FTX's book-keeping software,” Reuters reports, citing anonymous sources. That backdoor apparently “enabled Bankman-Fried to hide the transfer of customer money from FTX to Alameda.”
• SBF apparently told employees that this accounting software was "the ultimate source of truth" about FTX’s accounts.
• When it came to light in early November that Alameda held as much as $6 billion worth of FTX’s digital token, FTT, there was a rush on withdrawals from FTX, at a rate of up to $100 million per hour, according to Reuters.
• “Staff initially remained calm,” Reuters explains. “The finance team could still see ample assets on the book-keeping portal as of last week. About $10 billion in client deposits remained, with a $1.5 billion surplus to cover any further withdrawals, according to a screenshot of the database seen by Reuters. In reality, those funds were gone.”

• "In presentations to investors, some of the same assets appeared simultaneously on the balance sheets of FTX and of Bankman-Fried's trading firm, Alameda Research – despite claims by FTX that Alameda operated independently."

But SBF is still trying to fill the void in funds that has been left at FTX. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that he continued to attempt to raise funds this past weekend in order for the company to repay its users.

• It’s not clear what he’s offering in return for capital, though, or how the bankruptcy courts would allow him to use it.
• Meanwhile, FTX’s Bahamas unit, FTX Digital Markets, sought Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection overnight, which helps foreign companies seek relief under U.S. bankruptcy law.

A MESSAGE FROM THE FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION

Hear some of the biggest players in fintech discuss the industry’s most pressing issues at the Financial Technology Association’s inaugural Fintech Summit: Shaping the Future of Finance. Produced in partnership with Protocol, all sessions of the event are now available to live-stream.

Watch here

People are talking

Sounds like FBI Director Christopher Wray probably isn’t on TikTok :

• “We do have national security concerns at least from the FBI’s end about TikTok.”

But TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the company is working on a project to isolate U.S. user data so only U.S. staff can access it:

• “It’s unprecedented … we will come up with a solution that will reasonably address the national security concerns.”

Jenny Lee, a managing partner at GGV Capital, says that the tech industry is in the midst of a fundamental change :

• “The reset has arrived.”

Can Twitter comply with European regulation now its compliance teams have been hollowed out? One anonymous insider told the FT that they doubt it :

• “It seems they are on a collision course with Brussels.”

Making moves

Amazon started making layoffs in its Alexa and cloud gaming units. It’s expected to cut somewhere in the region of 10,000 jobs in total.

Meanwhile, AWS plans to invest $2.6 billion in Spain over the next 10 years, adding 1,300 jobs in the country.

Neill Occhiogrosso is the first COO at AppOmni, a SaaS security client. He previously held leadership roles at Johns Hopkins University, Costanoa Ventures, and Highland Capital Partners.

In other news

Elon Musk issued Twitter staff with an ultimatum , according to The Washington Post: work "long hours at high intensity" or leave the company with three months of severance pay.

Twitter Blue will relaunch Nov. 29 , according to Musk, who said the date was being pushed back to “make sure that it is rock solid." Sounds a lot like a Tesla launch.

And Musk will take the stand in a Delaware court today to defend his Tesla compensation package .

Apple hopes to source chips from the U.S. by 2024. They will come from a plant in Arizona, Tim Cook said. He added that he hoped to source chips from Europe, too.

YouTube is doubling down on shopping , allowing users to make purchases through its short-form video offering, Shorts.

Nvidia is working with Microsoft to build a powerful cloud-based AI computer .

Activist investor TCI wants Alphabet to cut costs by reducing staff count and cost, and reducing losses on its longer-term bets such as autonomous vehicles.

A MESSAGE FROM THE FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION

Hear some of the biggest players in fintech discuss the industry’s most pressing issues at the Financial Technology Association’s inaugural Fintech Summit: Shaping the Future of Finance. Produced in partnership with Protocol, all sessions of the event are now available to live-stream.

Watch here