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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Security and privacy is a growing concern as companies adopt AI.</li><li>Companies strive to protect against malicious attacks and follow strict data compliance standards.</li></ul><p><span>As more companies </span><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-ai-changing-business-telecommunications-giants-mwc-2024-10"><span>adopt using AI</span></a><span>, it has brought to light issues regarding security and privacy.</span></p><p>AI models get trained on massive datasets that can include <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-companies-can-respond-to-cybersecurity-risks-after-layoffs-2024-9">personal or sensitive information</a>, making it critical for companies — particularly those in highly regulated industries like finance and healthcare with strict data compliance rules — to ensure that AI systems are safe from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/data-breach">potential threats</a> like leaked or poisoned data.</p><p>The hazards against AI models and the data that train them are growing in the age of large language models. "It's so easy for an employee to take something that's confidential and share it with an LLM," said Ashish Kakran of Thomvest Ventures. "LLMs do not have, as of right now, a forget it kind of button…You need safeguards and controls around all of this in the way these LLMs are deployed in production."</p><p>What's emerged is a growing group of startups aimed at tackling security threats related to AI. "This is actually a gap," Kakran added. "But that's also an opportunity for startups."</p><p>Thomvest-backed Opaque Systems, for instance, enables companies to share private data through a confidential computing platform to accelerate AI adoption. Credo AI, which has raised $41.3 million in total funding, is an AI governance platform that helps companies adopt AI responsibly by measuring and monitoring its risks.</p><p>Another startup, Zendata, has raised over $3.5 million and focuses on preventing leakage of sensitive data when integrating AI into enterprise systems and workflows. Companies can be vulnerable to attacks through a compromised third-party AI vendor if attackers gain unauthorized access to confidential data. Companies "don't really know if some shadow AI applications are in place and a bunch of user information is being sent to that," said Zendata CEO Narayana Pappu.</p><p>Pappu added that customers may not be aware that the shared information may also be used to train broader AI models. "There's a cross-use of information. There's information leakage, all of that. And that's a huge concern with the foundation models or even copilots."</p><p>Startups like Glean, an enterprise AI startup valued at $4.6 billion, are incorporating security principles, such as strict permissioning control, into their core products. "Glean's AI assistant is fully permissions-aware and personalized, only sourcing information the user has explicit access to," said CEO Arvind Jain. This ensures that users only access the information they are authorized to see, preventing any unintended access or misuse of the data.</p><p>Adversarial attacks are also a growing concern when it comes to deploying AI. Attackers can exploit vulnerabilities in a system for malicious purposes, leading to harmful or flawed results.</p><p>Bessemer Venture Partners' Lauri Moore noted that when evaluating AI tools, many security leaders often ask whether it will introduce a critical vulnerability or trap door that a bad actor could use.</p><p>A nightmare scenario could be a coding agent introducing code with security vulnerabilities, Moore said. She highlighted an instance when a developer took control of an open-source project after gaining increasing credibility, only to hijack it.</p><p>Another threat known as prompt injections has become increasingly popular with the rise of prompt-based language models. These attacks trick a model into producing a harmful output based on harmful instructions. Haize Labs, which raised a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vc-clamor-invest-ai-safety-startup-haize-labs-2024-6">hot investment round</a> this summer, tackles this problem through AI red-teaming, which involves stress-testing large language models for any vulnerabilities based on system guardrails.</p><p>To address the growing number of security concerns in AI, startups are now applying continuous monitoring to the space. Continuous monitoring systems assess model behavior, monitor for security breaches, and score models based on their performance and safety, said Arvind Ayyala, partner at Geodesic Capital.</p><p>Protect AI, which raised a $60 million Series B from Evolution Equity in August, focuses on continuously monitoring and managing security across the AI supply chain to minimize the risk of attacks. Hidden Layer, which automatically detects and responds to threats, raised a $50 million Series A from M12 and Moore Strategic Ventures last year.</p><p>"This shift towards automated, continuous evaluation represents a significant evolution in AI safety practices, moving beyond periodic manual assessments to a more proactive and comprehensive approach," Ayyala said.</p>

Security threats to AI models are giving rise to a new crop of startups 

The Union Budget for 2024-25, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, places significant emphasis on <keyword id="19941381" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="energy-security" source="keywords">energy security</keyword> and sustainability. As per the government, the current strategy will focus on ensuring that energy resources are readily available, making energy affordable for all citizens and keeping energy costs low to prevent economic strain on consumers.<br /><br />Here's a breakdown of the key initiatives announced:<br /><h2>PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana</h2>One of the standout initiatives is the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. This program aims to install <keyword id="20366573" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rooftop-solar-plants" source="keywords">rooftop solar plants</keyword> across 1 crore households, providing up to 300 units of free electricity per month. As per the FM, the scheme has already seen significant interest, with over 1.28 crore registrations and 14 lakh applications.<br /><h2>Pumped Storage Policy</h2>To enhance electricity storage capabilities and integrate more <keyword id="19895602" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="renewable-energy" source="keywords">renewable energy</keyword> into the grid, the government will introduce a policy promoting pumped storage projects. These projects are crucial for balancing the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.<br />  <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111956035" title="Union Budget 2024: What FM Nirmala took from your pocket, what she gave you" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><br /><h2>Development of <keyword id="20876045" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nuclear-energy" source="keywords">Nuclear Energy</keyword></h2>Recognising the importance of nuclear energy in India's future energy mix, the government plans to invest in new nuclear technologies. The announcement also mentioned partnering with the private sector to develop and set up Bharat <keyword id="20260886" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Small-Modular-Reactors" source="keywords">Small Modular Reactors</keyword>.<br /><br />Boasting up to a 300 MW capacity, Small Modular Reactors are mobile, flexible in design and require a smaller footprint. Unlike conventional nuclear reactors that need to be built on-site, SMRs can be factory-built. These advantages can add up to significant savings in cost and construction time.<br /><h2>Advanced Ultra Super Critical Thermal Power Plants</h2>The Budget highlights the completion of indigenous technology development for Advanced Ultra Super Critical (AUSC) thermal power plants. These plants boast higher efficiency and will be established through a joint venture between the National Thermal Power Corporation and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited. The initiative includes government support for fiscal needs and aims to boost local production of high-grade steel and advanced metallurgical materials.<br /><h2>Roadmap for Hard-to-Abate Industries</h2>A significant shift is planned for industries that are difficult to decarbonise. The government will move these industries from energy efficiency targets to emission reduction targets. This transition will be regulated through the Indian Carbon Market, replacing the current '<em>Perform, Achieve and Trade</em>' mode.<br /><h2>Support for Traditional Micro and Small Industries</h2>To promote cleaner energy usage and efficiency, the government will conduct energy audits in 60 clusters of traditional micro and small industries, including brass and ceramics. Financial support will be provided to help these industries switch to cleaner energy forms and implement energy efficiency measures. This initiative will be expanded to 100 more clusters in the next phase.<br /><br />As per Sameer Jain, Managing Director at Primus Partners, MSMEs consume approximately 50% of the nation's power needs while generating over 75% of greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, additional support — such as climate financing — will be crucial to ensure that the MSME sector adapts well to the green revolution, especially with how the budget has committed support to MSMEs to grow and compete globally.<br />  <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111953230" title="Union Budget 2024-25: Mobile Phones to get cheaper, as FM Nirmala Sitharaman reduces basic customs duty to 15%" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><br /><h2><keyword id="22521154" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-resilient-crops" source="keywords">Climate-Resilient Crops</keyword></h2>The government will release 109 high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticultural crops for cultivation by farmers. With the provision of research funding, including for the private sector, this move is part of a broader strategy to enhance agricultural productivity while adapting to climate change.<br />  <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111957080" title="What does Union Budget 2024-2025 have in store for farmers and the agricultural sector?" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><br /><h2>Minerals for Green Technologies</h2>To support the growing demand for minerals used in green technologies, such as cobalt and lithium, the budget proposes exemptions from custom duties for 25 critical minerals and reduction on basic customs duty for two other essential metals. This move aims to bolster the domestic manufacturing of batteries and other components crucial for electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies.<br /><h2>Development of Climate Taxonomy</h2>A new climate taxonomy will be developed to guide the green transition, ensuring that investments and policies are aligned with the goal of reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainable practices. <br /><br />All in all, the Union Budget 2024-25 sets a promising course for India's energy and sustainability sector. With substantial investments and new initiatives, it aims to accelerate the transition to a greener future, and hopefully take us a step further towards India's net-zero emissions target by 2070.<br />

Free solar electricity to mobile nuclear plants — major sustainability initiatives announced in Budget 2024!

<ul class="summary-list"><li>PepsiCo says it's two-thirds of the way done with an overhaul of its supply chain.</li><li>It has invested in AI and automation to make its production and distribution more profitable.</li></ul><p>Gregg Roden, PepsiCo's chief operating officer, has spent his entire 34-year professional career working at the snacking giant. He said that in the past three years alone he'd witnessed more change than in the 31 years before that.</p><p>Over the past couple of decades, as consumers bought more goods online, grocery sales remained reliably stuck in the store. But the pandemic shifted grocery-shopping patterns, and now people are increasingly likely to buy food and beverages online too.</p><p>"When I started 34 years ago, everything was bought from a store, and we had a pretty narrow portfolio of options for the consumer," Roden told Business Insider. "Now, literally anyone can buy anything, anywhere." PepsiCo has also expanded its product line, offering new flavors and sizes of its snacks and drinks.</p><p>These changes mean demand for more brands is coming from more directions. PepsiCo says it is investing in digitization and automation — including robotics and predictive artificial intelligence — so it can better plan for demand and more quickly and precisely produce and deliver its products. And it says its supply-chain transformation is two-thirds complete.</p><h2 id="edb5b524-83f3-4f66-928d-fc4bdede46a4"><strong>Supporting agriculture with AI predictive insights and satellite imagery</strong></h2><p>PepsiCo generated more than $91 billion in 2023 from the sales of more than 500 brands worldwide, including its namesake soda, Lay's, Doritos, Gatorade, and Mountain Dew. The company's earnings for the first two quarters of 2024 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/11/pepsico-pep-earnings-q2-2024-earnings.html">exceeded Wall Street's expectations</a>, but volume in North America for the Frito-Lay and beverages businesses has been declining as consumers have pushed back against years of price hikes.</p><p>Athina Kanioura, PepsiCo's chief strategy and transformation officer, described investments in PepsiCo's seed-to-shelf supply chain as the "glue" in the company's future ability to deliver higher profits and revenue growth. And it all begins with the work done in the field.</p><p>The farmers PepsiCo works with own more than 4 million acres in North America alone, providing ingredients such as potatoes and corn for its chips and other snacks.</p><p>The thinking is that by using less water and fertilizer to produce those ingredients, the company can boost its profits in an industry that operates on thin margins. It says that it works with farmers to ensure they have the technology to harvest those ingredients efficiently and that it subsidizes some of the cost of that technology for smaller farms.</p><p>It also says it has partnered with companies including CropTrak, AgroScout, and Microsoft to monitor production, analyze crop health, track where crops go, and better understand where to plant crops so they can thrive.</p><h2 id="32588e1b-3851-4dba-89dd-e96f1f24974a"><strong>Distribution workers do fewer manual tasks</strong></h2><p>PepsiCo is also rethinking how it fulfills orders and distributes its products, which is changing the work of the company's many employees in manufacturing and distribution. With more automation, workers are doing fewer physical tasks, like driving a forklift, and far more oversight of the machines taking over those tasks.</p><p>Workers at manufacturing facilities and distribution centers and the unions that represent them often bristle at automation, which can lead to layoffs. Large food manufacturers that have announced closings and layoffs this year include PepsiCo, Tyson Foods, and Campbell Soup. Often those announcing layoffs don't directly attribute them to automation but to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/tyson-foods-close-iowa-pork-plant-with-1200-workers-2024-03-11/">soft sales</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fooddive.com/news/campbell-soup-closing-inefficient-sites-415-job-losses/717224/">older facilities that can't keep up with demand</a>, or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fooddive.com/news/pepsicos-quaker-plant-illinois-closing-layoffs/712954/">even product recalls</a>. PepsiCo declined to comment on the reason for its layoffs.</p><p>Food producers are also confronting a generational shift. Research from McKinsey suggests that while many Gen Zers express interest in working in manufacturing, not enough of them are taking jobs at factories to fill vacancies, and that they're <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/from-hire-to-inspire-getting-and-keeping-gen-z-in-manufacturing">more likely than older workers to leave those jobs</a>.</p><p>PepsiCo argues that it can't continue to have employees perform most tasks manually while cost-effectively churning out enough food and drinks to meet demand. So it trains workers to monitor autonomous machines and ensure they're working safely and efficiently. "You are taking an analog worker, and you are making them a digital worker," Kanioura said.</p><p>Its modernization efforts include how it puts together variety packs, such as those containing several small bags of Ruffles, Doritos, Cheetos, and Fritos: While workers used to assemble the packs, machines are increasingly taking over.</p><p>Even as it has invested in automation, PepsiCo's total workforce has swelled: It grew by 20%, to 318,000, over the five years that ended in 2023.</p><h2 id="49fb841a-5ce1-4f54-8631-44d495ffdaa5"><strong>Creating more intelligent warehouses</strong></h2><p>PepsiCo says it considers most of the company's warehouses "intelligent" facilities with tech that allows employees to track and control the movement of goods.</p><p>It uses sensors and AI to help with predictive maintenance checks and quality-control measures — for example, using patterns to identify a machine or vehicle that's likely to malfunction and cause problems later on. Rather than suffering a shutdown when a motor breaks on the tortilla-chip line, PepsiCo can preemptively replace the motor the next time the line is scheduled for downtime.</p><p>"Being able to turn that data into action is important," Roden said.</p>

PepsiCo is using robotics and AI-powered crop planning to transform its supply chain

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Valeria Kogan is the CEO of Fermata, a software-development company specializing in agriculture.</li><li>Her team develops AI tools to reduce crop loss that causes food waste and greenhouse gas emissions.</li></ul><p><em>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Valeria Kogan, the founder and CEO of Fermata. The company develops software for monitoring plants and crops. The following has been edited for length and clarity.</em></p><p>When we think about food waste, we usually think on the scale of not finishing our lunch. In reality, agricultural waste is a much bigger problem. An estimated <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cabi.org/projects/global-burden-of-crop-loss/">20% to 40%</a> of crops are lost to pests and diseases, which affects our food systems and the planet; greenhouse-gas emissions from food that is never eaten account for <a target="_blank" href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-waste-emissions">6% of total emissions</a>.</p><p>I knew none of this about five years ago. I was working in bioinformatics, developing an AI-based platform that assists oncologists in diagnosing cancer, and I knew so little about agriculture that I couldn't even keep a houseplant alive.</p><p>But someone who ran a commercial greenhouse reached out to discuss how <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-iot-technology-make-wine-sustainable-vineyard-practices-2024-3">AI could solve those crop-loss challenges</a>. I quickly saw the opportunity to translate my work in caring for human health into caring for plant health, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fermata.tech/">Fermata</a> was born.</p><h2 id="f06a4c78-ade3-45c1-bad9-cba49e234347">Using AI and computer vision where humans fail</h2><p>Right now, many farmers try to detect pests and diseases early by sending workers into the fields daily to look at every leaf on every plant for early signs of issues. But people get tired, get distracted, and overlook the tiny changes that suggest an issue.</p><p>It reminded me of the specialists who review X-rays all day and miss early signs of cancer. We were using AI analysis of imagery to solve that problem, and I felt the same solution could apply here.</p><p>Initially, we thought about building a robot that would move through the fields but realized we didn't have the expertise to achieve that — and that a simpler solution existed.</p><p>We developed the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://croptimus.fermata.tech/">Croptimus platform</a>, which uses standard security cameras in greenhouses and fields to take pictures of every single plant several times a day.</p><p>Our artificial intelligence processes these images to detect any abnormalities. If it does, it notifies farmers via our app and suggests what it thinks the issue is. Using data science, we can also provide an overview of what's going on in a facility at large, whether problems are increasing or decreasing, and whether treatments are working.</p><p>With this technology, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/agtech-agriculture-industry-farming-methods-climate-change-labor-solutions-2023-9">farmers need less labor</a> and can identify issues sooner than they would with humans, meaning they can apply fewer pesticides. This saves a lot of money and helps produce more sustainable and healthy food.</p><div type="image" title="An interface shows Fermata software analyzing a leaf miner plant" height="785" width="1079" msid="113040962" hostid="261" sizebytes="54586"></div><h2 id="3d6dbcc8-bb64-4c3b-9ee3-7cb9fd45055b">Doing things manually while we build the dataset</h2><p>One of the biggest challenges we had to overcome was establishing ground truth to build a reliable dataset to train our models. Every agronomist, or crop scientist, has their own opinion and will make mistakes as well. We needed to not only compile a decent dataset from the ground up but also build machine-learning models that could adapt to mistakes.</p><p>We did a few things to help. First, we built a research lab, where we grow plants, infest them with different things, and record them on videos. We also hired an in-house team of agronomists to help us label these images.</p><p>Additionally, we launched our product to the public before it was automated, doing identifications manually and encouraging farmers on the app to give us feedback. This helps us better understand the problem and gives us a more robust dataset. Even as we've shifted to relying on AI for identification, this feedback loop helps us continually improve our models.</p><h2 id="3352e758-ad33-4e8b-830a-d008ed99432c">Building relationships to find future possibilities for the technology</h2><p>It's so important that any technologist trying to solve a problem in a new-to-them industry — especially more conservative fields like agriculture — stay humble and develop real relationships with the people they're hoping to help. If I marched in as a tech-industry outsider and told these farmers who have been doing this for decades that I could teach them how to operate and be more efficient, it wouldn't work.</p><p>Instead, I work on building relationships and trust within the industry. I approach it from the perspective of wanting to learn from my customers and understand how my tech knowledge can help them.</p><p>Ultimately, this has helped me see even more potential in what we're doing. I've learned that there's so much visual data in farming, from understanding whether bees are pollinating to seeing how employees are treating plants. The vision that Fermata has is to build a new visual-data layer in the agricultural industry that helps all stakeholders — from farmers to people who sell fertilizer to pesticide companies — be more efficient.</p>

Crop loss is a huge problem for sustainability and food security. I'm using AI and computer vision to help fix it. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The emergence of new regional payment systems likely won't spur de-dollarization, OMFIF said.</li><li>So far, their infrastructure is weak and they are plagued by implementation challenges.</li></ul><p>De-dollarization risks are on the rise, but rising alternative transaction networks won't be the basis of a major decline in the use of the US currency, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum said.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.omfif.org/2024/05/will-growth-in-regional-payment-systems-spur-de-dollarisation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commentary</a> published Thursday, obstacles are already afflicting new regional payment systems, even as de-dollarization rhetoric creeps up.</p><p>"For instance, regional payments continue to suffer from weak implementation, infrastructure and complex geopolitical obstacles among participatory economies," senior economist Julian Jacobs wrote. "This is why the emergence of the technological capacity to drive de-dollarisation does not necessarily mean de-dollarisation will occur."</p><p>Such systems include tech initiatives such as mBridge, a cross-border platform built around emerging central bank digital currencies. Backing it are monetary authorities in China, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand.</p><p>Meanwhile, efforts to assemble regional financial systems have delivered the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, OMFIF cited as one example. This infrastructure delivers payments in local currencies, in a step away from the greenback.</p><p>Still, none of these have been enough to shake how entrenched the dollar remains in world finance, OMFIF said. Not only does it account for 58% of global reserves, it tops all other currencies for its share of global payments. </p><p>As of April, it accounted for 47.31%, according to the latest data from the <a href="https://www.swift.com/our-solutions/compliance-and-shared-services/business-intelligence/renminbi/rmb-tracker/rmb-tracker-document-centre" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SWIFT financial system</a>. </p><p>While countries may want to wean off of the dollar — especially in light of how the greenback was used to punish Russia over its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — a major migration to regional payment systems would require economies to tackle a whole new set of issues, OMFIF said. </p><p>If de-dollarization is a rising threat, it's instead coming from Western competition, the think tank said. That's as the euro has come to serve as the world's second top reserve currency and offers high liquidity and quality infrastructure.</p><p>To be sure, those worried over the greenback's status have chiefly focused on China's yuan, as Beijing pursues policies to bolster its international standing. For instance, it's even launched its own payments infrastructure, the Cross-border Interbank Payment System.</p><p>But China's efforts to create an alternative system are a defensive ploy for now, OMFIF wrote in a separate <a href="https://www.omfif.org/2024/05/china-is-defending-against-the-dollars-dominance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">note</a> from May. </p><p>"The goal is to minimise the negative consequences of the West's comprehensive sanctions against China in extreme geopolitical scenarios such as a military conflict over Taiwan," Council on Foreign Relations fellow Zongyuan Zoe Liu wrote. "Expanding the use of the renminbi in trade is less challenging than increasing its status as an international reserve currency."</p>

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Security threats to AI models are giving rise to a new crop of startups

Sri Muppidi

Free solar electricity to mobile nuclear plants — major sustainability initiatives announced in Budget 2024!

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PepsiCo is using robotics and AI-powered crop planning to transform its supply chain

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Crop loss is a huge problem for sustainability and food security. I'm using AI and computer vision to help fix it.

Erin Greenawald

De-dollarized payment systems are cropping up. Here's why they're unlikely to dent greenback dominance.

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