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Issue 276: Infrastructure two ways

Everybody talks about GenAI in terms of prompts and responses, but we're going to focus on the infrastructure and protections that make it happen. In the last of the HumanX podcasts, Ryan chats with SambaNova CEO Rodrigo Liang about reimaging the chipsets behind AI. We have a Q&A with Jack Berkowitz of Securiti about the liabilities—legal and otherwise—posed by bad data. We also chat about GenAI and the other kind of infrastructure—the physical kind used by utilities—with Greg Fallon of Geminus. xx

We're also honing in on innovation itself, that mysterious X-factor that turns problems into solutions. Cameron Wolfe shares his take on GenAI's OG innovation, self-supervised learning, and why it made such an impact on natural language processing. In our latest Leaders of Code blog post, we expand on our conversation with Hilary Lanham, Head of Engineering Excellence at Lloyds Banking Group, to look at the ways that innovation puts money in the banks. xx

Did you hear that the electrical grids of Spain and Portugal were offline for a whole day? Take a dive into induced atmospheric vibration, the suspected cause, in our Questions section. Plus! The grind of performance optimization! Bot farms shaping the narrative! And war! What is it good for besides technological advancements?

From the blog

Improving on a 30-year-old hardware architecture

At HumanX 2025, Ryan chatted with Rodrigo Liang, cofounder and CEO of SambaNova, about reimagining 30-year-old hardware architecture for the AI era.

Without foundational governance, every AI deployment is a liability in disguise: Q&A with Jack Berkowitz of Securiti

Avoiding bad data is just as important in AI; it can open you to fines, lawsuits, and lost customers.

“We’re not replacing you; we’re with you”: Where AI meets infrastructure

Ryan talks with Greg Fallon, CEO of Geminus, about the intersection of AI and physical infrastructure, the evolution of simulation technology, the role of synthetic data in machine learning, and the importance of building trust in AI systems. Their conversation also touches on automation, security concerns inherent in AI-driven infrastructure, and AI’s potential to revolutionize how complex infrastructure systems are managed.

Banking on innovation: Engineering excellence in regulated financial services

Financial institutions face a balancing act between tech innovation and strict regulations. As customer expectations for improved user experience and demands from those tasked with enhancing features keep rising, engineering teams need to find a harmonious middle ground.

How self-supervised language revolutionized natural language processing and gen AI

Self-supervised learning is a key advancement that revolutionized natural language processing and generative AI. Here’s how it works and two examples of how it is used to train language models.

Heroku: Powering the Next Wave of AI

Build AI apps, enhance existing apps with AI, and create specialized actions and experiences for AI agents in any language. Get started with Heroku today.

Interesting questions

What is "Induced Atmospheric Vibration"?

“Anyone who’s had to build a power system rapidly learns that electricity is not as simple as ‘electrons move, work gets done.’”

Denying entry to flea-bitten service dogs

"Service dogs are not allowed to pose a health hazard."

Is it normal that my PhD supervisor raises new questions for me to revise every time after reviewing my manuscript?

Does it help to imagine Sisyphus happy?

How could technological development be significantly accelerated without a major war?

Innovation happens by solving problems, and war is a huge problem.

Links from around the web

AI 2027

Think of it as near-future science fiction backed by research.

Why performance optimization is hard work

Here's why optimizing code is hard, brute-force work.

Bot farms invade social media to hijack popular sentiment

Hello fellow human, have you heard the latest hot goss about currentCampaign.product?

o3 Beats a Master-Level Geoguessr Player—Even with Fake EXIF Data

AI is coming for everyone who excels at weird niche trivia.


Looking for the tools, technologies, and skills your team needs to evolve in the AI era? Stack Overflow's Industry Guide to AI has your answers.