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AI-Powered Recycling: AMP Raises $91 Million
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
AI is stepping up to address human laziness and stagnant recycling rates in the U.S., as reported on Sunday by The Register . The company recently secured $91 million in Series D funding to expand its deployment of AI-equipped AMP ONE systems.
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- AMP’s AI uses deep learning to identify recyclables and contaminants in real time.
- AMP ONE systems maintained 90% uptime, enabling over 60% diversion of landfill-bound materials.
- AI automation reduces manual sorting, improving efficiency and reducing labor costs in recycling.
These systems are designed to assist municipal solid waste (MSW) and recycling operators in improving efficiency and reducing labor-intensive tasks. “All sorts of things… come across the conveyor belt—diapers, bowling bowls, dead animals and more,” AMP spokesperson Carling Spelhaug told The Register.
This AI identifies and sorts through this diverse waste stream , a task that has become increasingly necessary as U.S. recycling rates stagnate. AMP’s AI employs deep learning to refine its capabilities by analyzing millions of material images.
Using pattern recognition to detect colors, textures, shapes, sizes, and logos, the system identifies recyclables and contaminants in real time, enabling advanced material processing and new recycling opportunities.
The company initially introduced sorting robots designed for seamless integration into existing recycling facilities. Building on this, AMP developed next-generation recycling facilities that revolutionized the industry.
These facilities operate with minimal manual sorting, exceptional reliability, and extensive data insights, making material recovery safer and more cost-efficient.
This innovation has even extended to municipal solid waste (MSW) sorting, a milestone previously unattainable in the recycling sector before AMP’s technological advancements. This innovation comes at a time where recycling is becoming more pressing.
Indeed, data from the EPA shows that in 2018, only about 32% of recyclable and compostable materials were processed. More recent figures from The Recycling Partnership reveal even lower participation, with just 21% of residential recyclables being properly sorted in early 2024, reported The Register.
Recycling is not only underutilized but also expensive, requiring specialized equipment, facilities, and human labor.
Sorting lines often depend on workers to remove hazardous and non-recyclable items, a job that is both unpleasant and dangerous. High turnover and chronic understaffing further exacerbate these challenges, as noted by The Register.
AI systems like AMP ONE are designed to address this by automating much of the sorting process.At a Recycling and Disposal Solutions (RDS) facility in Virginia, AMP ONE maintained over 90% uptime, avoiding frequent shutdowns for manual intervention, reported The Register.
The system enabled the facility to divert over 60% of landfill-bound materials when combined with organics management and mixed recyclables sorting, reported The Register.
“With near-zero manual sorting, unprecedented reliability, and pervasive data, these facilities make the recovery of commodities safer and more cost-effective,” AMP stated.
Photo by Joy Armani on Unsplash
UCLA Introduces Literature Course Designed by AI
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) announced last week the first AI course in humanities, a new AI-designed Comparative Literature class that will be taught next winter 2025.
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- Professor Zrinka Stahuljak will teach a new Comparative Literature course designed by AI next winter 2025
- UCLA and Stahuljak are using the AI Platform Kudu to generate the textbook, assignments, and teaching resources
- It’s the first AI course launched in Humanities, but not the first AI class in the institution
According to the official information shared by the university, the course—coded Comp Lit 2BW by the institution—will be taught by professor Zrinka Stahuljak as she had done in previous years, but the textbook, the assignments, and the teaching resources will all be generated by AI.
Professor Stahuljak—who teaches European languages and transcultural studies, and comparative literature—is using Kudu, an AI platform developed by UCLA professor Alexander Kusenko that generates textbooks, animations, tests, and more based on the material provided for the training.
The institution clarified that AI will focus on acting as an educational assistant, allowing the professor more time to focus on lectures and reviewing and editing the content provided by Kudu.
“Because the course is a survey of literature and culture, there’s an arc to what I want students to understand,” said Professor Stahuljak in the document shared by UCLA. “Normally, I would spend lectures contextualizing the material and using visuals to demonstrate the content. But now all of that is in the textbook we generated, and I can actually work with students to read the primary sources and walk them through what it means to analyze and think critically.”
To design the course and generate the material, the professor provided Power Point presentations, videos—including those recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic for remote teaching—and other material she had previously used for the compared literature class. Kudu used the information to design the course and saved Stahuljak around three months of work, and required instead only 20 hours of her time to revise the content generated.
AI is also being used to generate textbooks in South Korea and Google recently launched a new AI tool for learning called Learn About.
