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## Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc is at the initial stage of reviewing whether to split itself in two or spin off a business, seeking to reverse its fortunes and take on rival Intel Corp, according to three people familiar with the matter// 

## The deliberations are preliminary and no decision has been made, the people said// The review highlights Chief Executive Lisa Su-s determination to consider every possible option to turn the company around// 

## AMD, based in Sunnyvale, California, has asked a consulting firm to help it review its options and draw up scenarios on how a breakup or spinoff would work, the people said this week, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential// 

## One option under consideration is separating AMD-s graphics and licensing business from its server business, which sells processors that power data centers, one of the people said// 

## AMD had explored such a move in the past and decided against it, the people said// Su, however, who took over as CEO last October, judged that there is merit for the company to at least consider such a possibility again, the people added// There is no certainty that a split or spin off will occur, the people cautioned// 

## An AMD spokeswoman said no such project was in the works at this time and reiterated the company-s commitment to the longterm strategy it laid out in May at its analyst meeting// 

## AMD, which has a market capitalization of around $2 billion, has competed with much larger Intel since the 1980s, and at times has made inroads with its PC and server chips// AMD has an extensive crosslicensing agreement with Intel, an issue AMD would have to study carefully in the case of a breakup// 

## In the last few years, AMD has been caught somewhat flatfooted by new competitors designing lowcost and powerefficient chips// AMD shares have fallen 40 percent over the last 12 months// 

## The company, which said in October it would cut 7 percent of its workforce, is now shifting its focus to gaming consoles and lowpower servers to combat falling laptop sales 

## While large rivals such as Intel have deeper pockets to fund research on new products, AMD faces declining cash flows and has a more modest balance sheet// 

## AMD-s net loss widened to $180 million, or 23 cents per share, in the quarter that ended March 28, from $20 million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier// It also missed on revenue expectations// It is forecasting a return to profitability in the second half of the year//

## For Facebook and Google, it-s not enough for computers to recognize images… they should create images, too// Both tech firms have just shown off neural networks that automatically generate pictures based on their understanding of what objects look like// Facebook-s approach uses two of these networks to produce tiny thumbnail images// The technique is much like what you-d experience if you learned painting from a harsh [if not especially daring] critic// The first algorithm creates pictures based on a random vector, while the second checks them for realistic objects and rejects the fake looking shots; over time, you-re left with the most convincing results// The current output is good enough that 40 percent of pictures fooled human viewers, and there-s a chance that they-ll become more realistic with further refinements//

 ## Google-s take heads in the opposite direction// Instead of striving for realism, it-s producing art by letting the neural network run wild and decide on the visual elements that it wants to emphasize// If you give the machine a photo of the sky and it thinks there are birds in the scene, it-ll keep amplifying those avian traits until they-re impossible to miss// The finished work is more than a little trippy, especially if you give it random noise as its source material as you can see above, the results give impressionist and surrealist painters a run for their money// You-re not likely to see these Facebook and Google programs replacing human artists and photographers, but they-re skilled enough to draw images you might enjoy//