OpenAI shares first Sora video collaborations
Plus Amazon invests $2Bn+ in Anthropic
Today’s Highlights:
📰 News: OpenAI shares first Sora video collaborations
💰 Funding: Amazon invests $2.75Bn in Anthropic and Hume launches its flagship product and raised $50M
⚡️ Top News Stories:
1. OpenAI shares results of some of their first Sora collaborations with visual artists, designers, creative directors and filmmakers.
2. Amazon plans to invest nearly $150Bn over the next 15 years in data centers to support the growing demand for AI applications and other digital services.
3. Apple Inc. is set to reveal its AI strategy at the WWDC starting on June 10.
4. The Biden administration announced new policies to guide the federal government's use of AI including; (1) requiring federal agencies to ensure AI use does not endanger Americans' rights and safety, (2) improving transparency by publishing online lists and risk assessments of AI systems, and (3) appointing a chief AI officer in each agency.
5. Mitre, a government-backed nonprofit organization, has launched a lab to evaluate AI systems used by federal agencies, focusing on identifying and addressing security vulnerabilities and other risks.
6. Microsoft introduces new safety features for Azure AI customers to detect vulnerabilities, monitor for AI "hallucinations," and block malicious prompts in real-time, enhancing the security of AI applications.
7. Google reverses course, deciding to enable on-device AI features powered by Gemini Nano on the Pixel 8, after community feedback and pressure.
8. Databricks introduces DBRX, a new open, general-purpose LLM that sets a new state-of-the-art among established open LLMs, surpassing GPT-3.5 and competitive with Gemini 1.0 Pro.
9. Rabbit enhances its r1 device with an ElevenLabs partnership to integrate voice command capabilities into its devices.
10. EU officials have observed the emergence of deepfakes in elections across several member states, and have issued guidelines for major tech platforms to combat online election risks or face hefty fines.
11. Google's new AI-powered 'Search Generative Experience' (SGE) feature is mistakenly recommending scam and spam sites, exposing users to potential cyber threats.
💰 Top Funding News:
1. Amazon announces a $2.75Bn investment in Anthropic, w/ Anthropic using AWS as its primary cloud provider, utilizing Amazon's custom chips for training and deploying AI models, and a commitment to provide AWS customers worldwide with access to future generations of its foundation models on Amazon Bedrock
2. Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, has initiated a $20M accelerator program, Google.org Accelerator: Generative AI, to support nonprofits leveraging generative AI tech.
3. Celestial AI, which has developed the Photonic Fabric™, an optical interconnect technology that addresses the critical challenges of low bandwidth and high latency in advanced AI models, raised a $175M Series C led by U.S. Innovative Technology Fund (USIT) w/ AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), Temasek, Xora Innovation, IAG Capital Partners, Samsung Catalyst, Smart Global Holdings (SGH), Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Engine Ventures, M-Ventures, and Tyche Partners.
4. Hume introduces its flagship product, the Empathic Voice Interface (EVI), a conversational AI that utilizes an empathic LLM to generate vocal responses optimized for user satisfaction, and announces a $50M Series B led by EQT Ventures, w/ Union Square Ventures, Nat Friedman & Daniel Gross, Metaplanet, Northwell Holdings, Comcast Ventures, and LG Technology Ventures.
5. Qoala, an omnichannel InsurTech company integrating AI across all channels to enhance the customer, agent, and partner experience, raised a $47M Series C co-led by PayPal Ventures and MassMutual Ventures.
6. Skyflow, a data privacy business expanding to support new AI technologies, particularly LLMs, raised a $30M Series B extension led by Khosla Ventures.
7. Vizcom, an AI-powered industrial design tool enabling designers and artists to bring their ideas to life through photorealistic renderings in real-time, raised a $20M Series A led by Index Ventures, w/ notable angel investors.
8. TurbineOne, a leader in government Machine Learning solutions that are simple-to-use and prioritize edge-first technology, raised a $15M Series A, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, w/ The General Partnership, XYZ Ventures, and Pallas Ventures.