This Week in NLP #306
Keep up with what happened in NLP in the week ending Friday 27th September 2024.
Above the Fold
Overwhelmed? Here’s our pick for five things to know about this week.
Anthropic is in early discussions to raise new funding at a potential valuation of up to US$40B, with significant contributions from Amazon. [siliconANGLE]
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicts superintelligence within eight years, advocating for widespread AI adoption despite controversies over technical feasibility, ethical concerns, and environmental impact. [ZDNet]
OpenAI is considering restructuring to become a for-profit business and granting Altman a 7% equity stake. [Yahoo Finance]
And OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati and two other research executives, Barret Zoph and Bob McGrew, have announced their departures amid the ongoing US$6.5B funding round. [Yahoo Finance]
Sam Altman, Jony Ive, and Laurene Powell Jobs are creating a new AI device company, potentially reaching US$1B in funding by year-end. [Yahoo]
Now read on for everything else that happened in NLP this week.
Making News:
What makes this newsletter different
This Week’s Topics:
The Generative AI Wars
Anthropic's Contextual Retrieval enriches text chunks with contextual information to enhance AI’s handling of large knowledge bases. [InfoQ]
Siri’s Apple Intelligence overhaul could arrive in iOS 18.3, sooner than the expected iOS 18.4 release in March 2025. [TechRadar]
Google has integrated the Gemini chatbot into Google Workspace, offering enterprise-grade AI assistance and security enhancements to boost productivity and compliance for Business, Enterprise, and Frontline plan users. [VentureBeat]
Google Photos’ Memories feature is expected to get an AI upgrade soon, adding narrated recaps powered by Google’s Gemini AI. [TechRadar]
And Google's NotebookLM AI tool now allows YouTube video and audio file uploads, facilitates easy sharing with public URLs, and has garnered widespread acclaim for realistic podcast creation. [TechRadar]
Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses combine chic design with enhanced AI features, offering voice commands, reminders, and real-time transcription services. [Wired]
Microsoft Copilot will show the underlying web search terms that contribute to AI chat responses. [GeekWire]
A Wall Street analyst downgraded Microsoft stock to neutral from buy, citing its diminished position in the AI market. [Investor’s Business Daily]
Nvidia is promoting the concept of sovereign AI by investing US$110m to help nations develop their own AI infrastructure for economic growth and data security. [VentureBeat]
OpenAI has made its latest AI models, o1-preview and o1-mini, available to all ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatGPT Edu customers, competing directly with Anthropic. [VentureBeat]
OpenAI is expanding Advanced Voice Mode for paying ChatGPT customers, adding new voices and features. [TechCrunch]
ChatGPT Advanced Voice mode is unavailable in the EU due to legal restrictions on AI systems that can infer emotions, as mandated by the EU AI Act. [TechRadar]
And OpenAI staffers were reportedly ‘taken aback’ by ‘ominous’ logo rebranding. [Engadget]
Perplexity plans to introduce a new advertising model featuring sponsored questions with AI-generated answers approved by advertisers to compete with Google. [PYMNTS]
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff criticizes Microsoft's new AI assistant, Copilot, comparing it to the unpopular Clippy, while promoting Salesforce’s own Agentforce program. [Yahoo Finance]
The AI Playbook for Small States, developed by Singapore and Rwanda, enables 108 small nations to share AI adoption lessons and resources. [ZDNet]
Hardware
Alibaba has introduced its modular CUBE DC 5.0 data center architecture to meet rising global AI infrastructure demands. [TechRadar]
Altera unveiled new Agilex 3 and 5 field programmable gate arrays featuring AI capabilities and enhanced security, aiming to establish itself as the top global FPGA provider. [VentureBeat]
South Korean startup DeepX is partnering with LG to integrate ultra-cheap, high-performance NPUs in various devices, targeting broader AI applications with upcoming customized chips. [TechRadar]
Gartner predicts AI-enabled PCs will dominate the market by 2025, despite current consumer skepticism about ROI and concerns over environmental impact. [TechRepublic]
Intel launched Xeon 6 and Gaudi 3 AI chips aiming to rival AMD and Nvidia in the high-performance AI chip market. [TechRadar]
Microsoft's Brad Smith says the US ‘needs to get comfortable’ with exporting AI chips. [Semafor]
And Microsoft plans to invest US$1.3B in Mexico over three years to enhance cloud computing and AI infrastructure. [Yahoo Finance]
Nvidia's major customers, likely Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla, contributed nearly half of its US$30B Q2 revenue. [Yahoo]
OpenAI has pitched the Biden administration on the need for massive data centers that could each use as much power as entire cities. [Bloomberg]
Qualcomm is exploring an early-stage acquisition of Intel, amid Intel’s market challenges, prompting regulatory concerns. [Verdict]
Chip giants TSMC and Samsung are discussing building Middle Eastern megafactories, with projects in the United Arab Emirates potentially worth more than US$100B. [The Wall Street Journal]
And here’s a review of Plaud’s NotePin, a wearable AI transcription device. [TechCrunch]
It’s Only a Model
Alibaba has released over 100 new open-source models and a text-to-video AI. [Reuters]
The Allen Institute for AI launched Molmo, a highly efficient, open-source multimodal AI model family outperforming proprietary rivals, capable of sophisticated visual and textual tasks. [VentureBeat]
ARC Solutions has released mobile apps for its energy-efficient Reactor AI model, which uses significantly less energy and resources compared to other major AI models. [PRWeb]
Google has released updated and improved Gemini 1.5 Pro and Flash models, offering better performance, cost-efficiency, and new features accessible via Google AI Studio and Vertex AI. [Google]
Meta's new Llama 3.2 models, unveiled at Meta Connect, integrate image understanding with text, offer various parameters for different use cases, and feature voice responses in celebrity voices. [VentureBeat]
OpenAI is revamping its Sora video generation model. [The Information]
Whose Data?
Cloudflare introduced AI Audit tools to enable website owners to control, monitor, and potentially monetize data scraping by AI bots. [TechRadar]
Dataocean AI and various universities have developed GigaSpeech 2, a large multilingual speech recognition corpus, enhancing low-resource language speech recognition with 30,000 hours of transcribed audio. [Business Wire]
LinkedIn has paused processing UK user data for AI training following concerns raised by the Information Commissioner’s Office. [TechCrunch]
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggests most creators’ work isn’t valuable enough to impact AI training copyright issues, and Meta would rather avoid paying for content if challenged. [The Verge]
The LLM Ecosystem
Airbyte, an open data movement platform, launched Airbyte 1.0 with enhanced scalability, security, an AI Assistant, 300+ data connectors, and generative AI support. [Business Wire]
Airtable aims to help enterprises deploy AI at scale through new platform capabilities, balancing standardization with customization for workflows and massive datasets. [VentureBeat]
causaLens introduced an AI agent platform to enhance business decision-making by integrating causal AI, LLMs, and quantitative reasoning. [Business Wire]
Concentrix launched iX Hello, a generative AI-powered self-service application designed to enhance productivity, engage quality, and maintain high security for businesses. [CIO Influence]
Edge Impulse and STMicroelectronics are collaborating to develop innovative edge AI solutions. [Business Wire]
F5 and NetApp have expanded their collaboration to streamline enterprise AI capabilities by integrating secure multicloud networking with advanced data management solutions, enhancing performance, security, and utility of AI systems. [Business Wire]
At the UN Summit of the Future, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a US$120m fund for global AI education and training. [TechCrunch]
Harness's latest platform update incorporates generative AI agents to automate and enhance the entire enterprise software development lifecycle, aiming to boost developer productivity by up to 50%. [VentureBeat]
Hive announced its integration with Nvidia NIM to facilitate the deployment of its AI models in private clouds and on-premises data centers, starting with AI-generated content detection. [Business Wire]
Integrail's AI Studio is a no-code platform that allows businesses to automate workflows using AI models, easily integrating with existing applications to boost efficiency. [Business Wire]
LangChain is launching LangGraph templates for Python and JS, enabling easy configuration and deployment of sophisticated agentic applications with fine-grained control. [LangChain]
Meibel launched a SaaS platform that helps businesses deploy reliable and transparent generative AI applications with features like data curation, confidence scoring, and governance tools. [Business Wire]
Meta's launch of Llama Stack simplifies AI deployment for businesses with standardized tools and cloud partnerships. [VentureBeat]
Microsoft signed a deal to buy Three Mile Island’s entire electric generating capacity to power its data centers, prompting the nuclear plant’s potential reopening. [MIT Technology Review]
Microsoft's Azure AI Inference SDK for .NET streamlines access to various generative AI models in the Azure AI Studio catalog for easier application integration and deployment. [InfoQ]
And Microsoft's new document parsing and chunking actions in Logic Apps Standard streamline RAG-based ingestion for generative AI, simplifying document processing and enhancing data integration in low-code environments. [InfoQ]
NetApp, an intelligent data infrastructure company, unveiled advanced AI data solutions integrating Nvidia's AI software and computing. [Business Wire]
OpenAI Academy is offering US$1m in API credits and additional support to empower developers in low- and middle-income countries. [VentureBeat]
Together announced the Together Enterprise Platform, enabling cost-efficient, private cloud AI deployment with enhanced performance, data privacy, and multi-model orchestration capabilities. [VentureBeat]
Vultr announced the integration of AMD Instinct MI300X accelerators and ROCm open software into its cloud platform, enabling advanced, efficient, and scalable AI development and deployment. [Business Wire]
AI infrastructure is evolving with specialized chips like ASICs, FPGAs, and NPUs, offering cost-effective alternatives to GPUs for diverse AI workloads. [VentureBeat]
Other LLM Sightings
AiPrise's new Compliance Copilot leverages AI to streamline and enhance compliance management with features like AML Insights and Document Insights. [FinTech Global]
Amazon's new AI feature aims to enhance your Prime Day shopping by providing personalized product recommendations based on individual preferences and search histories. [TechRadar]
Arrow Electronics, a technology solutions provider, launched the AI-powered ArrowSphere Assistant to help channel partners optimize cloud business, improve efficiencies, and uncover new opportunities on the ArrowSphere Cloud platform. [Business Wire]
Asymbl announced its integration into Salesforce's Agentforce Partner Network, offering an intelligent Recruiter Agent to automate and enhance staffing and recruitment workflows. [PR Newswire]
Box has launched Box Hubs, customizable portals that utilize AI to improve content curation, accessibility, and collaboration for enterprise users. [Business Wire]
Bridgewise’s AI chatbot, designed to provide stock-picking advice, will launch this month with regulatory approval despite concerns about AI impacting financial markets. [The Register]
ButterCMS has introduced Butter AI Assistant to enhance content creation with generative AI for improved SEO, A/B testing, brand consistency, and tailored mobile/web content. [PRWeb]
Callaia, an AI script editor, offers quick, analytical script feedback to democratize film selection. [MIT Technology Review]
ClearCompany’s ClearInsights is an AI-driven virtual data analyst that transforms HR data into actionable insights, enhancing HR processes through intuitive, real-time reporting and analysis. [PRWeb]
Hewlett Packard's Print AI features a ‘Perfect Output’ tool to enhance website printing by optimizing image sizes and removing ads. [Engadget]
HubSpot has integrated AI tools called Breeze into its CRM platform to boost productivity and efficiency for marketing, sales, and customer service teams. [TechRadar]
Hyperscience announced updates to its Hypercell platform, enhancing AI and ML capabilities to automate document processing, improve digital transformation, and strengthen compliance and security. [Business Wire]
Intuit announced enhancements to its GenOS platform, introducing agentic AI workflows for automating complex tasks, improving cash flow management, and offering dynamic business insights. [VentureBeat]
Meta's new AI features for Facebook and Instagram can answer questions about photos and edit them. [TechRadar]
Redbird has launched an AI agent-powered chat platform to streamline enterprise analytics tasks, enabling real-time insights from natural language prompts, complementing its existing no-code toolkit. [VentureBeat]
Snap is integrating Google’s generative AI model into its chatbot. [Bloomberg]
Tabnine has launched two new AI agents for seamless integration with Atlassian Jira, enabling automated code generation and validation. [GlobeNewswire]
YouTube is introducing an AI chatbot for Premium Android users to answer questions about videos, leveraging Google's Gemini AI models for enhanced engagement and assistance. [TechRadar]
ZoomInfo‘s AI-driven Copilot solution boosts sales teams’ efficiency by providing real-time insights, increasing meeting bookings by 60%, and accelerating deal closures. [Business Wire]
Risks
Former employees of OpenAI and tech giants criticized security practices before the US Senate, warning that current AI development poses significant unmitigated risks without stronger regulation and oversight. [The Decoder]
ChatGPT’s ability to remember past conversations and ask pertinent, seemingly personal questions demonstrates significant AI advancements but raises concerns about their increasing smartness and potential risks. [Inc.]
And security researchers found a vulnerability in the ChatGPT MacOS app that allowed hackers to store malicious instructions in its memory. [TechRadar]
YouTube creator ChromaLock modified a TI-84 graphing calculator to connect to the Internet and access ChatGPT, creating a potential cheating device for students. [Ars Technica]
A project analyzing human language usage is shutting down because generative AI has polluted the internet. [404 Media]
US officials report that Russia, leveraging AI to generate divisive content, is the leading foreign actor attempting to influence the 2024 presidential election. [NPR]
A study reveals that more advanced AI chatbots are increasingly likely to provide confident but incorrect answers, which users often mistakenly believe to be accurate. [Engadget]
And adversarial attacks on ML models are becoming more frequent and sophisticated, with nearly half of organizations experiencing AI-related security incidents. [VentureBeat]
Responses
Hundreds of companies, including tech giants, signed the EU’s voluntary AI Pact, committing to safe AI practices ahead of the legally binding AI Act in 2026. [TechRadar]
But Meta, Apple and Mistral AI have snubbed the AI Pact. [Politico]
China’s AI ecosystem has increasingly prioritized AI safety over the past two years, driven by elite scientific and policy circles’ growing concern over potential catastrophic risks. [Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]
Codeforces has banned AI entries in their coding competitions. [The Decoder]
The US FCC fined Steven Kramer US$6m for creating illegal deepfake robocalls impersonating President Biden during the New Hampshire primaries, with additional criminal charges pending. [Engadget]
Microsoft introduced a new tool in its Azure AI Safety API to detect and correct factually incorrect AI-generated content by cross-referencing it with user-provided documents. [TechRadar]
The UK will host an AI Safety Summit in San Francisco on 21-22 November to outline plans for preventing AI misuse and ensuring safety. [ITPro]
Regulation
Google and Meta criticized EU AI regulations for stifling innovation. [TechRepublic]
OpenAI is advocating for UK legislation to incentivize AI safety practices and seeking collaboration with the new Labour government for clearer regulatory guidelines. [UKTN]
Hollywood celebrities and SAG-AFTRA are urging Governor Newsom to sign California’s AI safety bill, SB 1047. [The Verge]
An AI advisory body at the UN proposed seven recommendations for AI governance, including establishing a knowledge panel, AI standards exchange, global AI fund, and a small AI coordination office. [Reuters]
Conversational AI
Amazon's Amelia is a generative AI personal assistant designed to help US sellers with personalized business advice, metrics, and problem-solving. [TechRadar]
Montreal-based Botzbrain launched Fiona, a customizable AI assistant that enhances productivity through natural interactions and integration with various software for both business and personal use. [AiThority]
Google is partnering with Volkswagen to provide AI-driven smartphone assistance for vehicle maintenance through a tool utilizing Google’s Gemini language models. [Yahoo Finance]
And Google Cloud has rebranded its Contact Center AI to Customer Engagement Suite with Google AI, integrating advanced generative AI capabilities to enhance customer care and agent efficiency. [VentureBeat]
Klarna has introduced an OpenAI-powered chatbot to enhance personalized and conversational online shopping experiences, streamlining product searches and making tailored recommendations. [TechRadar]
Kong.ai has launched its Super AI Agent for Salesforce, enabling businesses to automate tasks and manage Salesforce data via WhatsApp, web, and voice. [PRWeb]
Kyutai has released two versions of its AI assistant Moshi, featuring natural conversational capabilities, open-source models, and a unique Audio Language Model architecture. [The Decoder]
MavenAGI launched an AI customer service agent using GPT-4 to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction, with positive results from companies like Tripadvisor and HubSpot. [Maven AGI]
MindsDB launched Minds, a turnkey conversational AI that processes natural language to retrieve real-time and historical enterprise data for AI applications and agents. [PR Newswire]
One Model's new AI software, One AI Assistant, generates trustworthy and precise workforce insights using natural language interaction, integrated with customized data models and strict governance. [PRWeb]
PolyAI is partnering with OpenTable to integrate voice assistants into restaurants, enhancing reservation management, customer interaction, and operational efficiency. [Speech Technology Magazine]
Slang.ai and OpenTable's AI integration will enhance restaurant reservations by automating phone bookings. [PRWeb]
Slara has launched an AI platform that simulates real-life conversations, enabling users to explore ideas. [MarTech Series]
Verint announced expanded contact center business analytics solutions, including new AI tools like the Verint Genie Bot and Data Insight Bot, to enhance enterprise insights and efficiency. [Business Wire]
Be Real
Google Maps will now warn users about businesses with suspected fake reviews. [TechRadar]
HitPaw Edimakor Mac 3.2.4 enhances video editing with advanced AI Avatar, Vocal Remover, and other new features for creating professional videos effortlessly. [PR Newswire]
Meta showcased AI tools at its Connect event, including realistic creator-based AI personas and automatic Reel dubbing with voice and mouth movements. [The Verge]
Skail.ai's AI Digital Clone technology transforms business communication by creating personalized, human-like messages. [PRWeb]
US Senator Ben Cardin was targeted by a deepfake posing as Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba, leading to increased Senate security warnings about sophisticated politically motivated AI threats. [The Verge]
Game studios are leveraging generative AI to create dynamic and immersive experiences by enhancing NPC interactions. [Yahoo Finance]
Voice News
Kia's vehicle telematics updates include 153 improvements including new voice commands. [Speech Technology Magazine]
Meta is introducing celebrity voices to its AI chatbot on Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook for US users. [The Verge]
As major competitors exit, Veridas is redefining voice biometrics with rapid, multi-platform solutions. [EIN Presswire]
Warner Bros. Discovery and Google are partnering to introduce AI-generated closed captioning for unscripted US programming using Google’s Vertex AI platform. [Yahoo]
Zoom’s AI Companion can summarize meetings, create action items, and evaluate tones. [Wired]
Other Tongues
Clevercast's newest version achieves over 99% accuracy in real-time closed captioning and audio translations for live streams. [EIN Presswire]
The Economist’s ‘snack-sized’ app Espresso and its social videos now feature AI-translated content in multiple languages. [Press Gazette]
Meta announced an AI translation tool that automatically dubs and lip syncs Reels, enabling cross-language content consumption on Instagram and Facebook. [TechRadar]
And the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are getting new AI features including live language translation. [TechRadar]
OpenAI has released the MMMLU dataset to set a global benchmark for multilingual AI performance, aiming to improve accessibility and accuracy across 14 diverse languages. [VentureBeat]
Reddit is introducing an AI-powered translation feature to automatically translate posts and comments in over 35 countries. [Engadget]
RWS has announced a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS to develop generative AI solutions for content creation, translation, and delivery. [Business Wire]
Smartling's 2024 State of Translation Report highlights a 30% rise in translation volumes, increasing AI adoption, and significant cost reductions in translation services. [PRWeb]
YouTube announced the rollout of automatic dubbing for creators to enhance multi-language accessibility and broaden audience reach. [Slator]
Health Tech
Atropos Health has introduced Data Quality ScoreCards for members of the Atropos Evidence Network, facilitating confidential data quality assessment and improvement using advanced AI tools and federated healthcare data. [Business Wire]
US-based Cybernet has launched CyberMed Ai3, an AI-powered PC using Nvidia GPUs to provide accurate diagnoses, predictive analytics, and streamline healthcare workflows. [Medical Device Network]
mPulse announced enhancements to its HXI platform’s Activate layer, enabling healthcare organizations to deploy AI-driven, personalized omnichannel engagement programs for improved health outcomes. [Business Wire]
Some doctors in the US are using an AI tool in MyChart, a popular patient portal used by many medical offices and hospitals, to generate responses to patient messages. [ZDNet]
SPRY Therapeutics announced the introduction of SPRY BI and Fax AI, designed to streamline clinic operations and enhance efficiency. [Business Wire]
Talkdesk launched the Healthcare Experience Cloud for Payers, an AI-powered CX solution enhancing customer service and reducing operational costs for healthcare insurers. [Business Wire]
The Texas Attorney General reached a settlement with Pieces Technologies for making false claims about the accuracy and safety of its AI healthcare products used in major Texas hospitals. [The Texas Attorney General]
Wellsheet and UpToDate are collaborating to integrate evidence-based content into Wellsheet’s AI-powered EHR application to streamline clinical workflows and enhance patient care. [Business Wire]
XpertDox has partnered with Blue Fish Pediatrics to enhance medical coding efficiency, documentation, and reimbursement using AI-powered software. [PR Newswire]
You.com and Wort & Bild Verlag will integrate AI to enhance health information access and streamline editorial processes for millions of readers of Germany’s Apotheken Umschau. [Business Wire]
A survey published in BMJ Health and Care Informatics reveals one-fifth of GPs use AI tools like ChatGPT for tasks, raising concerns about accuracy and patient confidentiality. [The Guardian]
Legal Tech
CobbleStone Software has released VISDOM+, a generative AI engine designed to enhance contract management efficiency and accuracy for legal and procurement professionals. [PRWeb]
Contract Logix has enhanced its AI toolkit to improve contract analysis, data extraction, and risk mitigation. [PRWeb]
The Karnov Group has launched KAILA, an LLM-based AI legal assistant, enhancing legal research and workflows by transforming its extensive legal data collections into actionable intelligence. [Artificial Lawyer]
A LexisNexis report reveals a rapid increase in AI adoption among UK legal professionals. [Legal IT Insider]
A mock trial at SXSW Sydney will test whether NexLaw's AI can effectively represent a defendant against a human lawyer. [Artificial Lawyer]
Wolters Kluwer has launched VitalLaw AI, adding generative AI features to their legal research platform for improved legal query handling and user productivity. [Artificial Lawyer]
Zeal has introduced an AI assistant for contract management that uses local learning models to ensure data privacy. [EIN Presswire]
Funding
AxonJay raised €1.5m to expand its AI assistants, utilizing a self-machine-learning platform that reduces energy use and enhances real-time decision-making for businesses. [Tech.eu]
London-based Convergence raised US$12m in pre-seed funding to develop AI agents with long-term memory. [The Next Web]
Datamaran raised US$33m in Series C financing to accelerate U.S. and European growth and advance generative AI in its software analytics platform for monitoring external risks. [FinSMEs]
DeepOpinion raised €11m in Series A funding to expand globally and advance its AI platform, which automates complex business processes including insurance claims and banking tasks. [Tech Funding News]
Desia, an AI-driven productivity system for investment professionals, secured US$3.3m pre-seed funding to automate data analysis and enhance efficiency in the financial industry. [Tech Funding News]
Dotfile, a French RegTech company, raised €6M to enhance its AI-powered compliance automation platform. [Tech Funding News]
Engaige, an AI-powered customer service automation platform, secured €1M in seed funding. [Silicon Canals]
Machine learning startup Ensemble has raised US$3.3m in seed funding to enhance AI model performance through innovative data quality technology. [VentureBeat]
Fathom, an AI-powered meeting intelligence platform, raised US$17m in Series A funding to further develop its Team Edition product, enhancing customer conversation visibility and coaching capabilities. [FinSMEs]
Findable, an Oslo-based AI startup automating building documentation, raised €9M to expand and support growth. [FinSMEs]
Hippocratic AI secured US$17m from Nvidia's venture arm in an extended Series A, bringing total investments to US$137m, focusing on developing advanced AI for healthcare. [Hospital Management]
Intezer has raised US$33m for its AI tools that efficiently triage and investigate security alerts, quickly identifying major threats. [TechCrunch]
San Francisco-based AI startup Letta emerged from stealth with US$10m seed funding to build Letta Cloud, a hosted product for deploying AI agents with memory systems. [FinSMEs]
AI legal tech startup Mary Technology has raised US$1.35m to automate chronology drafting. [Startup Daily]
San Francisco’s Mercor secured US$30m Series A funding to revolutionize recruitment with its AI-driven platform, focused on skills and potential over traditional resumes. [DHRmap]
Polish startup Pergamin, which automates contract management, raised US$3m to expand globally and improve handling of employee contracts. [Tech.eu]
Prepared secured US$27m in series B funding to enhance 911 call handling with AI-powered technology, improving emergency response efficiency and safety. [PRWeb]
Legal tech startup Qura raised €2.1m in a Seed round to develop an AI-driven search engine for lawyers, leveraging natural language queries to efficiently explore legal databases. [Artificial Lawyer]
Sandgarden secured US$4.5m in funding to streamline AI deployment and integration for enterprises. [PRWeb]
Scribenote, an AI-powered medical scribe for veterinarians, secured US$8m in Seed funding. [FinSMEs]
Smartcat raised US$43m in Series C funding to enhance AI translation and content generation. [Slator]
Statt Inc, an AI-driven public policy information tool, secured US$2.8m in funding to expand its data analysis services. [Semafor]
Ujet secured US$76m in Series D funding to advance its AI-powered contact center solutions. [FinSMEs]
Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, mainly from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar, are increasing their AI investments as part of an economic diversification strategy. [CNBC]
Acquisitions
Law company Elevate announced the acquisition of Redgrave Data to enhance its capabilities in eDiscovery and legal AI. [Artificial Lawyer]
Google acquired Character.ai for US$2.7B, reuniting with AI ‘genius’ Noam Shazeer and gaining a chatbot that imitates celebrity voices. [Yahoo]
Nvidia has acquired OctoAI, a Seattle startup that helps companies run AI models. [GeekWire]
Salesforce is acquiring Israeli data management firm Zoomin for US$450m following its recent US$1.9 billion purchase of Own, marking its second major Israel-based acquisition this month. [CTech]
There’s More
Poe the AI Story Bear, developed by Skyrocket, uses OpenAI and ElevenLabs technologies to create and narrate customizable bedtime stories for children. [TechRadar]
Only 5,000 of the 100,000 Rabbit R1 AI gadget users still use it daily five months post-launch. [The Verge]
The University of Washington has landed a US$10m grant to launch a new center developing generative AI teaching tools. [GeekWire]
The US Secret Service spent $50,000 on Microsoft Azure and OpenAI cloud services to enhance their operations, reflecting federal law enforcement’s growing use of AI tools. [404 Media]
The Back Cover
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