8/15/23

∆ Tech in the News

Netflix Has Entered The Game - A limited beta test of cloud-streamed games in Canada and the UK is Netflix’s first foray into the lucrative gaming sector.

Health Data of Millions Stolen - The hack of IBM's MOVEit file transfer service resulted in the theft of millions of Americans' health data.

Apple’s ‘Watch X’ Leaks - the upcoming watch is rumored to be the first ever to monitor wearers’ blood pressure. They also just filed a patent for a system to interact with virtual objects using hand gestures, which could be implemented in watches, TVs, laptops, tablets and Head displays.

CAPTCHAs No Match for AI Bots - A 1,400-person study showed that AI bots are now better than humans at solving CAPTCHA puzzles.

Intel Supports Chipmakers - The PC giant is opening up access to their IP to chip design companies in partnership with electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor firm Synopsys to foster a vibrant foundry ecosystem.

˚The hottest thing in tech this week

AI’s Energy Problem - A Greener Solution with a Human Touch

Imagine the energy it takes to power 100 US homes for an entire year. That's the staggering amount of power it can take to train just one AI model.

Intel is stepping up to tackle this mammoth problem, crafting a patented system that’s all about selective learning. Think of it like a vigilant librarian, only pulling the necessary books off the shelf, which means a significant cut on the electricity bill.

Over in Zurich, IBM is on a similar mission but with a different approach – a ‘brain-like’ chip. It's all about memristors - analog components that act like a human brain's neurons - promising smarter and vastly more energy-efficient AI. The dream? Your smartphone or car runs advanced AI applications without the constant battery drain. It's a path that feels a little more thoughtful, a little more human, but with all the genius of AI.

Deals We’re Watching

Founders to Watch and Opportunities to Catch

Closed Deals:

Anthropic Takes $100M to bring AI to 5G - The new funds from Korea's SK Telecom will strengthen its telecom AI-powered products and services using Anthropic’s cutting-edge AI technologies, including a multilingual LLM.

Mastercard Expands African Reach - The credit card giant has agreed to purchase a minority stake in MTN Group's $5.2B fintech division. This partnership will offer new payments and remittances products to the African customer base.

11xAI Aims to Build AI Workforce - The UK startup, closed a $2M pre-seed round to launch its service to build AI-powered automated workers to replace humans in sales, HR and talent acquisition and expand into the U.S.

Binance Labs Backs Helio Protocol - The $10M injection makes Helio one of the first liquid staking platforms to get major investment from a leading VC firm.

Grocery-to-You Startup Closes Seed - Robomart closed $2M led by W Ventures giving grocery stores the ability to expand at a fraction of the cost through autonomous vehicles.

Companies to Watch:

Humane Ai Pin to Replace Smartphones - The startup plans to reveal more about its AI-powered wearable on Oct 14th. The device - touted as a smartphone killer - was recently demonstrated on the TED stage.

Chai Valuation Hits $205M - The leading AI chat entertainment platform with over 5m users just closed a rapid round of $20M from undisclosed high-powered angel investors.

Moonbox’s AI Moonshot - The AI and Web3 startup has raised $2.5M in a strategic round led by OKX Ventures, bringing its valuation to around $50M. The investment will accelerate their tech for building GenAI apps for Web3 and NFTs.

Futureverse launches JEN 1 - a text-to-music AI generator that can create music that sounds human-made. The launch follows a recent raise of $54M in a series A round led by 10T Holdings including Ripple Labs.

Open Deals:

Non-Invasive Retinal Scans to Detect Brain Diseases - [Vytal] a startup founded by high school students is raising a follow-up seed round for early detection of brain diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Modular Takes Shot at Nvidia Chip Market - The AI software startup, is seeking a large round to challenge Nvidia's in-demand GPUs. Modular previously raised $30M in a 2022 seed round led by GV.

IPO Watch

SoftBank to Acquire Arm - The bank seeks to buy a further 25% stake in Arm from Vision Fund in a $60B to $70B deal giving them a majority stake. This is seen as a major windfall to VF1 investors ahead of the Arm IPO next month.

$50M To Streamline Carbon Accounting - Startup Persefoni’s Series C led by TPG Rise with input from Clearvision and Bain will advance their AI tech to automate and streamline carbon accounting and see them eye an IPO by 2026.

Know of a tech startup on the rise or leading the way? Clue us in and we'll spotlight them in our next issue.

Thanks for tuning in.

The Tech Buzz Team