What Are Foundation Models?
13/03/2023
When an engineer asked for the next song's title, Davis shot back, I'll play it, and tell you what it is later.
Like the prolific jazz trumpeter and composer, researchers have been generating AI models at a feverish pace, exploring new architectures and use cases. Focused on plowing new ground, they sometimes leave to others the job of categorizing their work.
A team of more than a hundred Stanford researchers collaborated to do just that in a 214-page paper released in the summer of 2021.
In a 2021 paper, researchers reported that foundation models are finding a wide array of uses. They said transformer models, large language models (LLMs) and other neural networks still being built are part of an important new category they dubbed foundation models.
Foundation Models Defined A foundation model is an AI neural network - trained on mountains of raw data, generally with unsupervised learning - that can be adapted to accomplish a broad range of tasks, the paper said.
The sheer scale and scope of foundation models from the last few years have stretched our imagination of what's possible, they wrote.
Two important concepts help define this umbrella category: Data gathering is easier, and opportunities are as wide as the horizon.
No Labels, Lots of Opportunity Foundation models generally learn from unlabeled datasets, saving the time and expense of manually describing each item in massive collections.
Earlier neural networks were narrowly tuned for specific tasks. With a little fine-tuning, foundation models can handle jobs from translating text to analyzing medical images.
Foundation models are demonstrating impressive behavior, and they're being deployed at scale, the group said on the website of its research center formed to study them. So far, they've posted more than 50 papers on foundation models from in-house researchers alone.
I think we've uncovered a very small fraction of the capabilities of existing foundation models, let alone future ones, said Percy Liang, the center's director, in the opening talk of the first workshop on foundation models.
AI's Emergence and Homogenization In that talk, Liang coined two terms to describe foundation models:
Emergence refers to AI features still being discovered, such as the many nascent skills in foundation models. He calls the blending of AI algorithms and model architectures homogenization, a trend that helped form foundation models. (See chart below.)
The field continues to move fast.
A year after the group defined foundation models, other tech watchers coined a related term - generative AI. It's an umbrella term for transformers, large language models, diffusion models and other neural networks capturing people's imaginations because they can create text, images, music, software and more.
Generative AI has the potential to yield trillions of dollars of economic value, said executives from the venture firm Sequoia Capital who shared their views in a recent AI Podcast.
A Brief History of Foundation Models We are in a time where simple methods like neural networks are giving us an explosion of new capabilities, said Ashish Vaswani, an entrepreneur and former senior staff research scientist at Google Brain who led work on the seminal 2017 paper on transformers.
That work inspired researchers who created BERT and other large language models, making 2018 a watershed moment for natural language processing, a report on AI said at the end of that year.
Google released BERT as open-source software, spawning a family of follow-ons and setting off a race to build ever larger, more powerful LLMs. Then it applied the technology to its search engine so users could ask questions in simple sentences.
In 2020, researchers at OpenAI announced another landmark transformer, GPT-3. Within weeks, people were using it to create poems, programs, songs, websites and more.
Language models have a wide range of beneficial applications for society, the researchers wrote.
Their work also showed how large and compute-intensive these models can be. GPT-3 was trained on a dataset with nearly a trillion words, and it sports a whopping 175 billion parameters, a key measure of the power and complexity of neural networks.
The growth in compute demands for foundation models. (Source: GPT-3 paper) I just remember being kind of blown away by the things that it could do, said Liang, speaking of GPT-3 in a podcast.
The latest iteration, ChatGPT - trained on 10,000 NVIDIA GPUs - is even more engaging, attracting over 100 million users in just two months. Its release has been called the iPhone moment for AI because it helped so many people see how they could use the technology.
One timeline describes the path from early AI research to ChatGPT. (Source: blog.bytebytego.com) From Text to Images About the same time ChatGPT debuted, another class of neural networks, called diffusion models, made a splash. Their ability to turn text descriptions into artistic images attracted casual users to create amazing images that went viral on social media.
The first paper to describe a diffusion model arrived with little fanfare in 2015. But like transformers, the new technique soon caught fire.
Researchers posted more than 200 papers on diffusion models last year, according to a list maintained by James Thornton, an AI researcher at the University of Oxford.
In a tweet, Midjourney CEO David Holz revealed that his diffusion-based, text-to-image service has more than 4.4 million users. Serving them requires more than 10,000 NVIDIA GPUs mainly for AI inference, he said in an interview (subscription required).
Dozens of Models in Use Hundreds of foundation models are now available
LINK: | https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/03/13/what-are-foundation-models/... |
See more stories from nvidia |
More from Nvidia
28/03/2024
Greater Scope: Doctors Get Inside Look at Gut Health With AI-Powered Endoscopy
From humble beginnings as a university spinoff to an acquisition by the leading global medtech company in its field, Odin Vision has been on an accelerated jour...
28/03/2024
Get Cozy With Palia' on GeForce NOW
Ease into spring with the warm, cozy vibes of Palia, coming to the cloud this GFN Thursday. It's part of six new titles joining the GeForce NOW library of ...
27/03/2024
Software Developers Launch OpenUSD and Generative AI-Powered Product Configurators Built on NVIDIA Omniverse
From designing dream cars to customizing clothing, 3D product configurators are ...
27/03/2024
NVIDIA Hopper Leaps Ahead in Generative AI at MLPerf
It's official: NVIDIA delivered the world's fastest platform in industry-standard tests for inference on generative AI. In the latest MLPerf benchmarks...
27/03/2024
Viome's Guru Banavar Discusses AI for Personalized Health
In the latest episode of NVIDIA's AI Podcast, Viome Chief Technology Officer Guru Banavar spoke with host Noah Kravitz about how AI and RNA sequencing are r...
27/03/2024
Unlocking Peak Generations: TensorRT Accelerates AI on RTX PCs and Workstations
Editor's note: This post is part of the AI Decoded series, which demystifies AI by making the technology more accessible, and which showcases new hardware, ...
26/03/2024
Boom in AI-Enabled Medical Devices Transforms Healthcare
The future of healthcare is software-defined and AI-enabled. Around 700 FDA-cleared, AI-enabled medical devices are now on the market - more than 10x the number...
26/03/2024
Model Innovators: How Digital Twins Are Making Industries More Efficient
A manufacturing plant near Hsinchu, Taiwan's Silicon Valley, is among facilities worldwide boosting energy efficiency with AI-enabled digital twins. A virt...
26/03/2024
Into the Omniverse: Groundbreaking OpenUSD Advancements Put NVIDIA GTC Spotlight on Developers
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
25/03/2024
NVIDIA Blackwell and Automotive Industry Innovators Dazzle at NVIDIA GTC
Generative AI, in the data center and in the car, is making vehicle experiences safer and more enjoyable. The latest advancements in automotive technology were...
21/03/2024
AI's New Frontier: From Daydreams to Digital Deeds
Imagine a world where you can whisper your digital wishes into your device, and poof, it happens. That world may be coming sooner than you think. But if you...
21/03/2024
You Transformed the World,' NVIDIA CEO Tells Researchers Behind Landmark AI Paper
Of GTC's 900+ sessions, the most wildly popular was a conversation hosted by...
21/03/2024
Instant Latte: NVIDIA Gen AI Research Brews 3D Shapes in Under a Second
NVIDIA researchers have pumped a double shot of acceleration into their latest text-to-3D generative AI model, dubbed LATTE3D. Like a virtual 3D printer, LATTE...
21/03/2024
Here Be Dragons: Dragon's Dogma 2' Comes to GeForce NOW
Arise for a new adventure with Dragon's Dogma 2, leading two new titles joining the GeForce NOW library this week. Set Forth, Arisen Fulfill a forgotten de...
20/03/2024
AI Decoded From GTC: The Latest Developer Tools and Apps Accelerating AI on PC and Workstation
Editor's note: This post is part of the AI Decoded series, which demystifies...
19/03/2024
NVIDIA Celebrates Americas Partners Driving AI-Powered Transformation
NVIDIA recognized 14 partners in the Americas for their achievements in transforming businesses with AI, this week at GTC. The winners of the NVIDIA Partner Ne...
19/03/2024
Climate Pioneers: 3 Startups Harnessing NVIDIA's AI and Earth-2 Platforms
To help mitigate climate change - one of humanity's greatest challenges - researchers are turning to AI and sustainable computing to accelerate and operatio...
19/03/2024
Secure by Design: NVIDIA AIOps Partner Ecosystem Blends AI for Businesses
In today's complex business environments, IT teams face a constant flow of challenges, from simple issues like employee account lockouts to critical securit...
19/03/2024
Generation Sensation: New Generative AI and RTX Tools Boost Content Creation
Editor's note: This post is part of our In the NVIDIA Studio series, which celebrates featured artists, offers creative tips and tricks, and demonstrates ho...
19/03/2024
NVIDIA, Huang Win Top Honors in Innovation, Engineering
NVIDIA today was named the world's most innovative company by Fast Company magazine. The accolade comes on the heels of company founder and CEO Jensen Huan...
18/03/2024
NVIDIA Edify Unlocks 3D Generative AI, New Image Controls for Visual Content Providers
NVIDIA Edify, a multimodal architecture for visual generative AI, is entering a ...
18/03/2024
From Atoms to Supercomputers: NVIDIA, Partners Scale Quantum Computing
The latest advances in quantum computing include investigating molecules, deploying giant supercomputers and building the quantum workforce with a new academic ...
18/03/2024
New NVIDIA Storage Partner Validation Program Streamlines Enterprise AI Deployments
A sharp increase in generative AI deployments is driving business innovation for...
18/03/2024
NVIDIA Unveils Digital Blueprint for Building Next-Gen Data Centers
Designing, simulating and bringing up modern data centers is incredibly complex, involving multiple considerations like performance, energy efficiency and scala...
18/03/2024
Generative AI Developers Harness NVIDIA Technologies to Transform In-Vehicle Experiences
Cars of the future will be more than just modes of transportation; they'll b...
18/03/2024
All Eyes on AI: Automotive Tech on Full Display at GTC 2024
All eyes across the auto industry are on GTC - the global AI conference running in San Jose, Calif., and online through Thursday, March 21 - as the world's ...
18/03/2024
All Aboard: NVIDIA Scores 23 World Records for Route Optimization
With nearly two dozen world records to its name, NVIDIA cuOpt now holds the top spot for 100% of the largest routing benchmarks in the last three years. And thi...
18/03/2024
We Created a Processor for the Generative AI Era,' NVIDIA CEO Says
Generative AI promises to revolutionize every industry it touches - all that's been needed is the technology to meet the challenge. NVIDIA founder and CEO ...
14/03/2024
NVIDIA GTC 2024: A Glimpse Into the Future of AI With Jensen Huang
NVIDIA's GTC 2024 AI conference will set the stage for another leap forward in AI. At the heart of this highly anticipated event: the opening keynote by Je...
14/03/2024
Reach for the Stars: Eight Out-of-This-World Games Join the Cloud
The stars align this GFN Thursday as more top titles from Ubisoft and Square Enix join the cloud. Star Wars Outlaws will be coming to the GeForce NOW library a...
13/03/2024
Currents of Change: ITIF President Daniel Castro on Energy-Efficient AI and Climate Change
AI-driven change is in the air, as are concerns about the technology's envir...
13/03/2024
AI Decoded: Demystifying Large Language Models, the Brains Behind Chatbots
Editor's note: This post is part of our AI Decoded series, which aims to demystify AI by making the technology more accessible, while showcasing new hardwar...
12/03/2024
Head of the Class: Explore AI's Potential in Higher Education and Research at GTC
For students, researchers and educators eager to delve into AI, GTC - NVIDIA'...
11/03/2024
Eco-System Upgrade: AI Plants a Digital Forest at NVIDIA GTC
The ecosystem around NVIDIA's technologies has always been verdant - but this is absurd. After a stunning premiere at the World Economic Forum in Davos, im...
11/03/2024
AI Getting Green Light: City of Raleigh Taps NVIDIA Metropolis to Improve Traffic
You might say that James Alberque has a bird's-eye view of the road congesti...
07/03/2024
First Class: NVIDIA Introduces Generative AI Professional Certification
NVIDIA is offering a new professional certification in generative AI to enable developers to establish technical credibility in this important domain. Generati...
07/03/2024
LLMs Land on Laptops: NVIDIA, HP CEOs Celebrate AI PCs
2024 will be the year generative AI gets personal, the CEOs of NVIDIA and HP said today in a fireside chat, unveiling new laptops that can build, test and run l...
07/03/2024
Don't Pass This Up: Day Passes Now Available on GeForce NOW
Gamers can now seize the day with Day Passes, available to purchase for 24-hour continuous access to powerful cloud gaming with all the benefits of a GeForce NO...
06/03/2024
AI Decoded: Demystifying AI and the Hardware, Software and Tools That Power It
With the 2018 launch of RTX technologies and the first consumer GPU built for AI - GeForce RTX - NVIDIA accelerated the shift to AI computing. Since then, AI on...
06/03/2024
Bria Builds Responsible Generative AI for Enterprises Using NVIDIA NeMo, Picasso
As visual generative AI matures from research to the enterprise domain, businesses are seeking responsible ways to integrate the technology into their products....
05/03/2024
The Magic Behind the Screen: Celebrating the 96th Academy Awards Nominees for Best Visual Effects
The 96th Academy Awards nominees for Best Visual Effects are a testament to the ...
04/03/2024
Robo Rendezvous: Robotics Innovators and AI Leaders to Converge at NVIDIA GTC
Bringing together pioneers in robotics and AI, NVIDIA GTC will be a state-of-the-art showcase of applied AI for autonomous machines. The conference, running Ma...
01/03/2024
No Noobs Here: Top Pro Gamers Bolster Software Quality Assurance Testing
For some NVIDIANs, it's always game day. Our Santa Clara-based software quality assurance team boasts some of the world's top gamers, whose search for ...
01/03/2024
Automakers Electrify Geneva International Motor Show
The Geneva International Motor Show, one of the most important and long-standing global auto exhibitions, opened this week, with the spotlight on several China ...
01/03/2024
Live at GTC: Hear From Industry Leaders Using AI to Drive Innovation and Agility
Interest in new AI applications reached a fever pitch last year as business leaders began exploring AI pilot programs. This year, they're focused on strateg...
01/03/2024
What Is Trustworthy AI?
Artificial intelligence, like any transformative technology, is a work in progress - continually growing in its capabilities and its societal impact. Trustworth...
29/02/2024
Battle.net Leaps Into the Cloud With GeForce NOW
GFN Thursday celebrates this leap day with the addition of a popular game store to the cloud. Stream the first titles from Blizzard Entertainment's Battle....
28/02/2024
What Is Sovereign AI?
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, control their own data and take advantage of technology opportunities in areas...
28/02/2024
Time to Skill Up: Game Reviewer Ralph Panebianco Wields NVIDIA RTX for the Win
Editor's note: This post is part of our weekly In the NVIDIA Studio series, which celebrates featured artists, offers creative tips and tricks, and demonstr...
28/02/2024
And Action! Cuebric CEO Provides Insights Into Filmmaking Using AI
These days, just about everyone is a content creator. But can generative AI help make people create high-quality films and other content affordably? Find out fr...