AI Research

mk2 unveils second annual AI film festival to highlight ethical use of artificial intelligence | News

Published

15 hours ago

July 10, 2025

French film powerhouse mk2 is teaming up with leading data and AI firm Artefact for the second annual Artefact AI Film Festival designed to bridge innovations in artificial intelligence with the creative filmmaking process.

Director Cedric Klapisch has been named jury president for the event that spotlights an international competition for short films made with AI.

“For AI to become a new creative tool, it is absolutely essential to ensure this artificial intelligence is not guided by the natural stupidity of certain human beings,” Klapisch said of his participation.

The competition is open to both experienced and first-time filmmakers who are tasked with making a short film of no more than 314 seconds using at least one generative AI tool at each production phase: pre-production, production and post-production.

There are four prizes on offer: the Grand Prix worth €10,000 for best film, a €1,000 Jury Prize and a €1,000 audience award for the film that receives the most online votes, plus an Artefact “Best Use of AI” prize that gives support in the form of an incubator for the production of a future film.

The theme of the festival’s second edition of the AI Film Festival is “(Dis)play” that pays homage to the world of gaming from children’s pastimes to role-playing and word games.

The festival was launched based on widespread industry concern about respect for copyright and the need for ethical use of AI. Each participant must provide a production log detailing his or her use of generative AI tools to guarantee transparency and respect for intellectual property.

Karmitz-Philippe Quaisse-5229

The event may come as a surprise since mk2 is known for being a hub for the production, distribution and international sales of auteur-driven cinema, but Elisha Karmitz, mk2’s co-CEO explained: “We’re reaffirming our vision. AI becomes a relevant tool when it’s placed at the service of storytelling. At mk2, we support innovations that open up new fields of expression for auteurs.”

mk2 is producing the feature film from Raphael Frydman whose short “La vie quand t’ai mort” won last year’s inaugural AI Film Festival event’s top prize.

Karmitz called the upcoming project “an extension of the festival’s vocation: to reveal new talent, push back the boundaries of creation, and maintain high standards for the quality of storytelling.”

Artefact co-founder and CEO Vincent Luciani added: “In a world where AI is sometimes perceived with trepidation, we wanted to open up another space: a place for reflection, imagination and celebration of the augmented act of creativity.”

Source link

AI Research

Indonesia on Track to Achieve Sovereign AI Goals With NVIDIA, Cisco and IOH

Published

1 hour ago

July 11, 2025

Soma Velayutham

As one of the world’s largest emerging markets, Indonesia is making strides toward its “Golden 2045 Vision” — an initiative tapping digital technologies and bringing together government, enterprises, startups and higher education to enhance productivity, efficiency and innovation across industries.

Building out the nation’s AI infrastructure is a crucial part of this plan.

That’s why Indonesian telecommunications leader Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, aka Indosat or IOH, has partnered with Cisco and NVIDIA to support the establishment of Indonesia’s AI Center of Excellence (CoE). Led by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs, called Komdigi, the CoE aims to advance secure technologies, cultivate local talent and foster innovation through collaboration with startups.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison President Director and CEO Vikram Sinha, Cisco Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins and NVIDIA Senior Vice President of Telecom Ronnie Vasishta today detailed the purpose and potential of the CoE during a fireside chat at Indonesia AI Day, a conference focused on how artificial intelligence can fuel the nation’s digital independence and economic growth.

As part of the CoE, a new NVIDIA AI Technology Center will offer research support, NVIDIA Inception program benefits for eligible startups, and NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute training and certification to upskill local talent.

“With the support of global partners, we’re accelerating Indonesia’s path to economic growth by ensuring Indonesians are not just users of AI, but creators and innovators,” Sinha added.

“The AI era demands fundamental architectural shifts and a workforce with digital skills to thrive,” Robbins said. “Together with Indosat, NVIDIA and Komdigi, Cisco will securely power the AI Center of Excellence — enabling innovation and skills development, and accelerating Indonesia’s growth.”

“Democratizing AI is more important than ever,” Vasishta added. “Through the new NVIDIA AI Technology Center, we’re helping Indonesia build a sustainable AI ecosystem that can serve as a model for nations looking to harness AI for innovation and economic growth.”

Making AI More Accessible

The Indonesia AI CoE will comprise an AI factory that features full-stack NVIDIA AI infrastructure — including NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, NVIDIA Cloud Partner reference architectures and NVIDIA AI Enterprise software — as well as an intelligent security system powered by Cisco.

Called the Sovereign Security Operations Center Cloud Platform, the Cisco-powered system combines AI-based threat detection, localized data control and managed security services for the AI factory.

Building on the sovereign AI initiatives Indonesia’s technology leaders announced with NVIDIA last year, the CoE will bolster the nation’s AI strategy through four core pillars:

Some 28 independent software vendors and startups are already using IOH’s NVIDIA-powered AI infrastructure to develop cutting-edge technologies that can speed and ease workflows across higher education and research, food security, bureaucratic reform, smart cities and mobility, and healthcare.

With Indosat’s coverage across the archipelago, the company can reach hundreds of millions of Bahasa Indonesian speakers with its large language model (LLM)-powered applications.

For example, using Indosat’s Sahabat-AI collection of Bahasa Indonesian LLMs, the Indonesia government and Hippocratic AI are collaborating to develop an AI agent system that provides preventative outreach capabilities, such as helping women subscribers over the age of 50 schedule a mammogram. This can help prevent or combat breast cancer and other health complications across the population.

Separately, Sahabat-AI also enables Indosat’s AI chatbot to answer queries in the Indonesian language for various citizen and resident services. A person could ask about processes for updating their national identification card, as well as about tax rates, payment procedures, deductions and more.

In addition, a government-led forum is developing trustworthy AI frameworks tailored to Indonesian values for the safe, responsible development of artificial intelligence and related policies.

Looking forward, Indosat and NVIDIA plan to deploy AI-RAN technologies that can reach even broader audiences using AI over wireless networks.

Learn more about NVIDIA-powered AI infrastructure for telcos.

Source link