U.S. stocks lost steam in the final hour of trading Thursday but still finished with modest gains, snapping a three- day slump that was driven by plunging oil prices, according to NASDAQ
Technology:
Facebook is releasing for free the designs of a powerful new computer server it crafted to put more power behind artificial-intelligence software. Serkan Piantino, an engineering director in Facebook’s AI Research group, says the new servers are twice as fast as those Facebook used before. “We will discover more things in machine learning and AI as a result,” he says, according to technologyreview
The social network’s giveaway is the latest in a recent flurry of announcements by tech giants that are open-sourcing artificial-intelligence technology, which is becoming vital to consumer and business-computing services. Opening up the technology is seen as a way to accelerate progress in the broader field, while also helping tech companies to boost their reputations and make key hires.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)
Facebook, Inc. is a social networking company. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), gain 0.78% to $105.42. The world’s largest social network has also been vocal on its contributions to the open source community, according to Zdnet. Facebook engineers Kevin Lee and Serkan Piantino stressed in a blog post on Thursday that the open sourced AI hardware built from scratch is both more efficient and versatile than off-the-shelf options because the servers can be operated within data centers based on Open Compute Project standards. “While many high-performance computing systems require special cooling and other unique infrastructure to operate, we have optimized these new servers for thermal and power efficiency, allowing us to operate them even in our own free-air cooled, Open Compute standard data centers,” Lee and Piantino explained. Facebook is being touted as the first company to adopt Nvidia’s Tesla M40 GPU accelerator that debuted last month. The high-powered M40 GPU, intended for deploying deep neural networks, is being framed as the linchpin for powering the Big Sur platform and Open Rack-compatible hardware.
On the other news report, Facebook is giving away the design of this piece of hardware, called Big Sur, that assists computers think and learn, according to Business Insider
On Thursday, Facebook’s industry-changing Open Compute Project (OCP) took on one of the biggest, most important new fields in tech: machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Facebook is giving away for free some hardware designs that make computers smarter and able to learn.
The Company is engaged in developing products that enables users to connect and share through mobile devices and personal computers. It offers various services focused on people, marketers and developers. It offers various platforms for people to share their opinions, ideas, photos and videos, and to engage in other activities.
Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE)
SunEdison, Inc. (SUNE) is a developer and seller of photovoltaic energy solutions, an owner and operator of clean power generation assets, and a developer and manufacturer of silicon wafers. Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE), inclined 3.28% to $4.09, during its last trading session. SunEdison Inc. agreed to sell two Maine wind-power plants for $209 million, as the renewable energy-development company continues to free up cash to shore up its stock, according to WSJ
The announcement—a day after SunEdison secured a $250 million credit infusion by amending its Vivint Solar Inc. buyout proposal—sent shares 8% higher to $4.43 in late trading. The stock, which set a high of $33.45 in July, is down 79% this year.
The big solar-power developer is selling the 185-megawatt Bingham wind farm and 148-megawatt Oakfile wind farm to Terra Nova Renewable Partners, a strategic equity partnership that SunEdison formed in September with institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
Under the terms of the deal, the first of the partnership, SunEdison could buy back the plants within five years. WSJ Report