Meta launches Gen 2 AI Smart Glasses
Plus Moderna partners w/ OpenAI
Today’s Highlights:
📰 News: Meta launches Gen 2 Smart Glasses + Moderna partners w/ OpenAI
💰 Funding: NVIDIA acquires Run.ai for $700M and Cognition Labs raises $175M from Founders Fund.
⚡️ Top News Stories:
1. Meta has launched the 2nd-gen of the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, introducing new styles and updated features including a new multimodal AI update that allows the glasses to provide smart responses based on visual inputs.
2. Moderna and OpenAI announce their ongoing partnership, whereby Moderna aims to revolutionizing mRNA medicine development with AI-driven initiatives and extensive employee training.
3. Adobe announces new generative AI tools, notably the Firefly Image 3 foundation model - which enhances user control over design elements, and VideoGigaGAN - a generative AI model that can upscale videos up to eight times their original resolution.
4. Apple introduces OpenELM, a series of small AI language models designed to run on local devices like smartphones, hinting at future on-device AI capabilities for Apple's consumer devices.
5. Microsoft introduces Phi-3, a new series of small language models (SLMs), offering improved capability and cost-effectiveness.
6. AI deep fake videos of Bollywood stars endorsing political parties in India’s election are raising concerns over digital misinformation.
💰 Top Funding News:
1. Nvidia, has agreed to acquire Run:ai, which specializes in AI computing resource management software, for $700M.
2. Perplexity AI is in the process of raising over $250M in a new funding round, targeting a valuation between $2.5-$3 Bn
3. Cognition Labs, which developed the AI-powered coding assistant named Devin that can autonomously handle entire software development projects, raised $175M from Founders Fund, valuing the company at $2Bn, just 6 months into its existence.
4. Augment Inc., which specializes in AI coding assistance, raised a $227M Series B from Sutter Hill Ventures, Index Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Meritech Capital.
5. Parloa, which enhances customer service operations through AI-powered automation, raised a $66M Series B, led by Altimeter Capital, w/ EQT Ventures, Newion, Senovo, Mosaic Ventures, and La Famiglia Growth.
6. Tines, which uses AI to manage mission-critical workflows such as security monitoring, compliance alerts, and IT management, raised a $50M Series B extension, co-led by Accel and Felicis Ventures.
7. Nooks, which uses AI to automate manual sales tasks such as call logging, note-taking, and identifying high-intent leads, raised a $22M Series A, led by Lachy Groom with additional investments from Tola Capital and Stifel Venture Banking.
8. FlexAI, which aims to simplify AI compute infrastructure by providing a cloud service that allows developers to manage and deploy AI models more easily, exited stealth mode with a $30M Seed round.