Wall Street backs CoreWeave with $650M, Alibaba launches AI translation model for global e-commerce, and AMD unveils chip to challenge Nvidia.
Wall Street backs CoreWeave with $650M, Alibaba launches AI translation model for global e-commerce, and AMD unveils chip to challenge Nvidia.
Artificial Intelligence news, week 42/2024
Happy Thursday everyone!
Welcome to AI Weekly Digest 📬 Your essential AI briefing, carefully curated by me, Rubén Colomer, AI Specialist and GP at Next Tier Ventures.
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News 🗞️📰
Wall Street Backs AI Growth with CoreWeave’s $650 Million Credit Facility
CoreWeave, a GPU-focused cloud computing platform, secured a $650 million credit facility led by major Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. This reflects Wall Street's growing interest in AI infrastructure, as the financial sector increasingly supports VC-backed companies in the AI space. The facility follows similar moves, like OpenAI's $4 billion credit line, highlighting the substantial investment flowing into AI technology development.
Alibaba Launches AI Translation Model for Multilingual E-Commerce. Alibaba’s Macro MT, a new AI language model, enables seamless translations across 15 languages for global e-commerce platforms like AliExpress. This AI initiative enhances Alibaba’s ability to operate in diverse markets by adapting product details and customer interactions to local languages and cultural nuances, aiming to reduce costs and expand language support further.
AMD launches new AI chip to compete with Nvidia's Blackwell AMD has unveiled the Instinct MI325X, an AI chip designed to directly compete with Nvidia's upcoming Blackwell chips, set to launch next year. The goal is to challenge Nvidia's dominance in the data center GPU market, which is crucial for processing generative AI like ChatGPT. A key difference is that AMD has improved its ROCm software, making it easier for developers to switch from Nvidia’s chips to theirs.
OpenAI Unveils 'Swarm': A Glimpse into the Future of AI-driven Automation OpenAI has launched Swarm, an experimental framework enabling the creation of interconnected AI agents that collaborate to complete complex tasks autonomously. While Swarm is not an official product, its release has sparked debates among AI experts and ethicists about automation's future.
Adobe Firefly Video Introduces Generative AI for Video Editing. Adobe's Firefly Video Model now supports beta features like Text-to-Video and Image-to-Video, allowing users to create detailed cinematic visuals using text prompts. The AI offers extensive camera controls and integrates seamlessly with Adobe’s tools like Premiere Pro, enhancing creativity while maintaining transparency through its Content Credentials system.
Microsoft Patents Audio-to-Image AI System. Microsoft's new patent details an AI system that converts live audio into images in real-time. The technology, potentially integrated into Microsoft Teams, would transcribe and summarize live speech using a large language model, then generate corresponding images through a text-to-image model. This development could enhance communication by providing visual aids, making information more engaging and easier to understand, especially in meetings or lectures.
Funding 💼💸
AcreShield Raises Over $2.5 Million in Series A for AI-Powered Yield Optimization. AcreShield, led by CEO Billy Rose, secured over $2.5 million in Series A funding to expand its AI-driven Yield Optimizer, which assists farmers in selecting seeds based on independent performance data to maximize yields. Investors like InnoVenture Iowa and Vertical Ventures led the round, emphasizing the technology's potential to transform agriculture by solving the 'Yield Gap' problem.
Scope3 Secures $25M to Expand Sustainable AI Solutions. Scope3, a sustainability platform based in New York, raised $25 million in a funding round led by GV. Existing investors like Venrock, Room40 Ventures, and Craft Ventures participated, alongside new investors Aperiam Ventures and Virgo Strategic Investments. CEO Brian O’Kelley aims to extend Scope3’s decarbonization efforts from media to the AI industry, addressing its significant carbon footprint while maintaining business efficiency.
MiLaboratories Secures $10M to Advance Genomic Research Platform San Francisco-based MiLaboratories, with an R&D facility in Bilbao, Spain, has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Madrid's Kfund. CEO Stan Poslavsky aims to expand their computational biology platform, which integrates data visualization and generative AI, making genomic data analysis accessible for biologists.
Strella Secures $4M Seed Funding to Revolutionize Market Research with AI Strella, based in San Francisco, has raised $4 million in seed funding led by Decibel, with participation from Unusual Ventures. Co-founded by Lydia Hylton (CEO) and Priya Krishnan, Strella uses AI to automate customer interviews, providing qualitative insights at the scale and speed of surveys.
Gladia Raises $16M Series A to Advance Real-Time Audio Transcription. French startup Gladia, led by CEO Jean-Louis Quéguiner and CTO Jonathan Soto, has secured $16 million in Series A funding, led by XAnge with participation from several investors, including Illuminate Financial and Soma Capital. Based in France, Gladia offers an API for speech recognition, allowing accurate and fast transcription across 100 languages and accents.
Neuron7.ai Raises $44M Series B to Enhance AI-Powered Service Resolution for Enterprises. Neuron7.ai, based in San Jose, California, secured $44 million in Series B funding led by Smith Point Capital, founded by former Salesforce Co-CEO Keith Block. The funding round, which also saw participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Battery Ventures, will accelerate Neuron7’s AI-driven Service Resolution Intelligence platform aimed at Fortune 1000 companies. Co-Founded by Niken Patel and Vinay Saini, Neuron7 reports a 300% increase in annual recurring revenue (ARR) over the past year.
LOUHE.ai Secures Over €3M in Funding to Drive International Expansion LOUHE.ai, a Finnish startup specializing in cyber-physical security, has raised over €3 million in its latest funding round, led by Lifeline Ventures. The round also saw participation from previous investors and technology industry experts. CEO Janne Pirttilahti highlighted that the new funds will accelerate LOUHE.ai’s international growth efforts. The company focuses on explainable AI solutions for security and has formed partnerships with key organizations like Securitas Technologies and the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
M&A 💰
DataSnipper Acquires UpLink to Enhance AI-Driven Audit Capabilities DataSnipper, an Amsterdam-based company, has acquired UpLink, a US provider of secure document request portals. The acquisition amount remains undisclosed. This move aligns with DataSnipper’s strategy to build a comprehensive AI-powered audit ecosystem. DataSnipper, led by CEO Vidya Peters, supports over 500,000 professionals globally, including all Big Four firms. This acquisition follows their recent $100M Series B funding round led by Index Ventures, which valued the company at $1 billion.
Turing AI Corporation acquires SpaceAge Labs. Turing AI Corporation, a subsidiary of US-based water treatment solutions unicorn Gradiant, has acquired all shares in Singapore’s SpaceAge Labs, which specializes in IoT technology for water distribution systems.
ConnectM Technology Solutions, has acquired Green Energy Gains. This acquisition supports ConnectM's strategic focus on electrification and integrating AI technology within its Energy Intelligence Network platform, aimed at optimizing home energy solutions, including electric heat pumps. CEO Bhaskar Panigrahi emphasized the role of Green Energy Gains in expanding their customer base and distribution network. Green Energy Gains’ CEO Greg Kendall highlighted the growth potential with ConnectM's resources. The deal aligns with ConnectM’s vision to leverage AI for efficient energy management and electrification.
Interesting Reads 💡🤔
25 Things You Didn’t Know ChatGPT Could Do. ChatGPT extends far beyond basic chat functions, revolutionizing digital productivity and creativity. It can automate tasks through platforms like make.com, support voice interactions, and generate custom diagrams, images, and even code. The AI adapts to user preferences, offering diverse formatting options such as JSON, lists, and tables. With advanced features for idea generation, language translation, research assistance, and personal assistant tasks like meal planning and scheduling, ChatGPT is a versatile tool transforming both personal and professional domains.
How to Implement AI to Transform Your Business: A Step-by-Step Guide. This guide outlines a five-step approach to implementing AI effectively in organizations. It emphasizes understanding AI's capabilities, setting clear business goals, evaluating readiness, integrating AI gradually, and aiming for excellence through continuous improvement. The focus is on achieving tangible ROI and scalability by combining AI technology with expert guidance and structured planning.
Automate Your Workflows Using AI and Make. Make, a no-code automation platform, integrates with AI to streamline repetitive tasks, enhancing business efficiency. Users can automate workflows, such as customer service routing or inventory management, by connecting apps and setting triggers without coding. The platform’s AI capabilities analyze data, optimize processes, and reduce errors, allowing businesses to focus on high-value activities.
Using AI to Automate and Accelerate Invention Discovery. Swiss firm Iprova uses artificial intelligence to analyze global patent databases and technical literature, suggesting new, patentable ideas for clients like Procter & Gamble and Panasonic. The system connects unrelated fields to create novel solutions, combining AI-generated insights with human expertise. This approach aims to deliver consistent innovation and navigate intellectual property challenges in rapidly evolving industries.
AI Breakthrough Unveils Secrets of the Fruit Fly Brain—Human Brain Mapping Next? Scientists, with the help of AI, have produced the most detailed brain map ever, charting 140,000 neurons in a fruit fly. This monumental leap uncovers thousands of new neuron types and paves the way for mapping the human brain, unlocking unprecedented insights into neural connections and brain function.
Finding Transformation Opportunities With Generative AI. YouTube webinar hosted by MIT Sloan’s George Westerman, featuring Noémie Ellezam from Société Générale, where experts discuss how generative AI can transform businesses both radically and incrementally. The session covers strategies for developing AI visions, prioritizing investments, managing risks, and measuring the value AI brings to companies.
AI Startups Revolutionizing Mental Health Care. AI-driven startups are transforming mental health care by providing scalable and personalized solutions worldwide. In Google’s Growth Academy: AI for Health program, companies like O7 Therapy (Egypt) use AI to match patients with suitable therapists, Callyope (France) develops speech-based models to monitor patient symptoms, HearMe (Poland) offers 24/7 AI-powered chatbot support, and Thalia Psychotherapy (Kenya) assists therapists with AI tools for personalized care.
Tools 🧰🛠️
Voiceclone is a simple tool on Hugging Face, where you upload an audio file, and it can clone the voice with very high quality. Currently, it only works with English audio files.
Clipdrop is an AI-powered tool that quickly enhances and edits images and videos. It offers features like background removal, object deletion, image restoration, and text-to-image generation, making it ideal for designers and photographers
Illuminate by Google: Transform research papers into AI-generated audio summaries with Illuminate, your Gen AI tool for understanding complex content faster.
Handinger is an API designed for developers needing efficient and cost-effective web scraping. It simplifies data extraction by fetching HTML, converting pages to markdown, extracting metadata, and capturing screenshots. Originally built to support the development of fika.bar, Handinger now offers a versatile solution to help developers avoid complex scraping setups and focus on their products.
Brainner: AI-powered resume screening software that helps organizations save up to 90% of time on screening tasks while hiring top talent in record time. Brainner seamlessly integrates with your ATS and processes each candidate’s resume based on your specific hiring criteria (e.g., work experience, education, skills). It analyzes which requirements are met by each candidate, calculates a candidate score, and presents this data in a dynamic visual dashboard to support informed human decision-making.
Dezbor is a no-code platform for creating dashboards and admin panels with AI assistance. It features a drag-and-drop interface, integration with databases like MySQL and Google Sheets, and customizable logic. Dezbor’s AI helps with queries, flaw detection, and optimization suggestions, making it accessible without coding skills. Ideal for data management, it offers a streamlined solution for building internal tools and actionable insights.
AI Jobs 👩💻👨💻
Senior Machine Learning Engineer (Wave) - Toronto, Ontario - Full-time - Remote
Staff ML Software Engineer, Perception (Cruise) - US, Remote - The salary range for this position is $175,100 - $257,500
Machine Learning Engineer (Reddit) - Ads Retrieval Remote - United States - The base pay range for this position is: $185,800 - $260,100 USD
Sr. Software Engineer, Infrastructure (Anthropic) Remote-Friendly (Travel-Required) Annual Salary: $280,000—$485,000 USD
Performance Engineer (Anthropic) - Annual Salary: $315,000—$625,000 USD
NTV Highlights 🪩🎉
Next Tier Ventures is organizing a special panel titled "Shaping a Robust Investment Ecosystem" at the Valencia Digital Summit 2024. The panel will feature Marta Cruz (NXTP Ventures), Andrea Martinelli (Diversity VC), Yolanda Tomás (WA4STEAM), Javier Villamizar (SoftBank), and Azahara García Espejo (Hearts Lab), moderated by Patricia Pastor (GP at Next Tier Ventures). Luis Tatay (Across Legal) will open the session with a presentation.
WeInvest is a community of women investors across Venture Capital, Private Equity, Family Offices, Accelerators, and Angel Investments, aiming to empower women to drive innovation while fostering growth, connection, and inspiration.
Register if you want to attend the session (limited spots available).
In a few days, October 23rd and 24th, we will participate in the VDS, one of the leading tech events in Southern Europe, where Next Tier Ventures is part of the organizing team. This year, the event will be heavily focused on Artificial Intelligence, featuring a stellar lineup of international speakers.
The VDS will host around 15,000 attendees at an unparalleled venue, the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, where nearly 600 speakers and over 700 investors with more than $1 billion in assets under management will participate.