9/5/23

Author

Alpha
September 05, 2023

∆ Tech in the News

Russia Launches AI Supercomputer - A Moscow University launched the MSU-270 with a peak computational power of 400 'AI' PetaFLOPS to develop new AI tools, support research and train AI specialists.

Can Lab-Made Neurons Cure Parkinson's? - A Bayer subsidiary implanted lab-made neuron stem cells in 12 Parkinson's patients' brains with early success.

AI Frontier for Distinguishing Smells Compared to Humans - Scientists have developed the first olfactory map for olfactory perception in AI using neural networks accurately identifying 400 odors.

Wearable Devices To Detect Fentanyl - A wearable AI device is explored to end the opioid epidemic by monitoring relapse, overdose or hazardous contaminations.

Continental AI Drift - German automaker Continental joins GM, Renault, Nissan and Ford in using Google Cloud’s Automotive Services Package (GAS) to integrate an AI-powered hands-free dialogue system to assist drivers.

The Tech Buzz X Masterworks

Masterworks was selected as one of “the best, completely game-changing ideas” (the sole investment idea) on the ‘23 LinkedIn Top Startup list. Masterworks lets you invest in shares of investment-grade art, a $1.7T alternative asset. Investors cite inflation concerns, and volatile public markets, as top reasons they invest.

Goldman Sachs recently reported that real assets like fine art can help protect wealth during periods of historically high inflation. In fact, contemporary art has appreciated 13.5% annually on average, when inflation is above 3%.

So while everyone else was panic-selling at double-digit losses, Masterworks’ last 3 sales realized 10.4%, 35.0%, and 13.9%.

TechBuzz readers can skip the waitlist using the link below.

˚The hottest thing in tech this week

X recently updated their privacy policy to use the information it collects (and other publicly available information) to help train its machine learning and AI models.

Musk has made no secret of the fact he plans to use public tweets to train AI models. X has even sued unknown parties and threatened to sue Microsoft for illegally scraping their data for similar purposes.

The xAI homepage states that while separate companies, it “will work closely with X, Tesla, and other companies to make progress towards our mission.”

Other recent updates include adding video and audio calling, the approval for a money transfer license, biometric IDs, creating a LinkedIn rival, creator payouts, and a tweet encouraging journalists to write on X. This all further colors how X’s AI-enhanced integrated ‘everything app’ could become the best source of high-value, real-time data for xAI.

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We may use the information we collect and publicly available information to help train our ML or AI models for the purposes outlined in this policy.

Deals We’re Watching

Founders to Watch and Opportunities to Catch

Closed Deals:

AI-Powered Drug Discovery - Superliminal Medicines uses AI to design and develop novel drugs faster than traditional methods. A $33M seed round backed by RA Capital and NVIDIA will accelerate the drug pipeline.

Akur8 Disrupts InsurTech with AI - A $25M round will expand US and APAC operations for their ML tech which brings speed and accuracy to the insurance pricing process.

Self-Serve Infrastructure Mgmt - Facets.cloud secured a $4M seed round from 100+ Entrepreneurs and prominent angels to expand in the US market and enhance its product.

Highschoolers Raise $1.2M to Diagnose Through Biometrics - Vytal.ai, recently raised at a $12.5M valuation to enhance noninvasive measures for diagnoses in humans. We first debuted their open round on 8/15.

Companies to Watch:

World’s “Most Advanced” AI-Text Generator - This startup’s GenAI tech is gaining adoption for enterprise AI infrastructure and used by eBay, Monday.com, Carrefour and Ubisoft.

Ideogram Accelerating AI Images - The Midjourney rival founded by former Google devs is developing synthetic image AI with a typography focus and backed by a16z and Index Ventures.

$1T US Metal Upcycling Market - Sortera’s first full-scale AI-powered recycling facility expects to sort 220M lbs of mixed metals p/a. Their Series C attracted input from T. Rowe Price and Mitsubishi to expand capacity.

Open Deals:

Alibaba Cloud Raising Funds - The Chinese E-commerce giant is reportedly seeking up to $3B from state-owned firms to expand infrastructure and services in China.

Scooterson Plans to Raise $10M - The US semi-autonomous E-scooter startup with a Singapore factory aims to raise $10M growth funding to go global upping their unit output from 300 to 1,000 units.

Tools

Magic Loops - Create "loops" of code, LLM calls, and events to accomplish tasks — no coding experience required.

OnModel.ai - A Shopify-integrated AI fashion model app for apparel and fashion e-commerce stores.

What's your vibe on this week's deals?

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Thanks again for joining us for another impactful week. We are always ramping up our deal flow and will keep you informed of the latest updates in this space.

If you have a deal or company that you would like to host on our next issue, drop us a line at @ [email protected].

Thanks for connecting with us.

The Tech Buzz Team

*Returns quoted are the annualized internal rate of return net of all fees and costs, calculated from the offering closing date to the date the sale is consummated. IRR may not be indicative of Masterworks paintings not yet sold and past performance is not indicative of future results. See important Regulation A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.