OpenAI may officially become a for-profit
Plus TikTok launches AI Avatars
Today’s Highlights:
📰 News: Sam Altman may convert OpenAI from a non-profit to a for-profit company
💰 Funding: Canary Technologies raises $50M Series C to automate hotel operations w/ AI
⚡️ Top News Stories:
1. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is considering converting OpenAI from its current non-profit overseen structure to a fully for-profit entity.
The for-profit subsidiary pays a share of its profits to the non-profit parent, with caps on investor earnings.
Transitioning to a for-profit model would remove profit caps, potentially increase investor control, and could lead to an IPO. It also raises ethical and tax concerns.
2. TikTok has launched generative AI avatars of creators and stock actors for use in branded content and ads, aiming to enhance engagement and expand reach.
Custom Avatars allow creators and brands to create multilingual avatars, while Stock Avatars offer pre-built options using paid actors from diverse backgrounds.
3. Samsung Electronics is accelerating its AI chip production by integrating its memory chip, foundry, and chip packaging services, reducing production time by 20%.
4. NVIDIA has released the Nemotron-4 340B model family for generating synthetic data to train LLMs.
5. McDonald’s is ending its AI drive-thru ordering partnership with IBM by July 26th, 2024, after testing the system in over 100 restaurants.
6. Mustafa Suleyman, the DeepMind founder and now leading AI efforts at Microsoft, is scrutinizing OpenAI's secret algorithms, highlighting the complex and competitive dynamic between the two companies.
💰 Top Funding News:
1. Tempus AI, a healthcare AI tech company specializing in "intelligent diagnostics" for precision medicine, debuted on the stock market with shares initially jumping 19% before stabilizing at $38.71, giving it a market value of about $6.4Bn.
2. Canary Technologies, which leverages AI to enhance hotel guest management by automating operations, raised a $50M in Series C led by Insight Partners, w/ F-Prime Capital, Thayer Ventures, Y Combinator, and Commerce Ventures.
3. Sakana AI, a Japanese startup founded by former Google researchers, is planning to raise $125M from New Enterprise Associates, Khosla Ventures, and Lux Capital, pushing its valuation to more than $1.1Bn and becoming Japan's fastest unicorn.
4. Enveda Biosciences, which uses AI to analyze plant chemistry and identify potential medicinal compounds, raised a $55M Series B2, that included Microsoft, The Nature Conservancy, Premji Invest, Lingotto Investment Fund, Kinnevik, True Ventures, FPV, Level Ventures, and Jazz Venture Partners.