Napkin AI, a new visual AI platform that transforms text into customizable visuals using generative AI, has emerged from stealth with $10 million in funding from Accel and CRV, aiming to revolutionize corporate communication and content creation.
Mechanical Orchard, an AI-powered legacy software modernization startup, has secured $50 million in Series B funding led by GV to scale its innovative approach to transitioning large organizations from outdated IT systems to modern, cloud-based applications.
Audible is testing Maven, an AI-powered search feature that uses natural language processing to provide personalized audiobook recommendations, enhancing user discovery across its vast catalog.
Ireland's Data Protection Commission launched High Court proceedings against X (formerly Twitter) for collecting European users' data for AI training without proper notification or consent, leading X to halt processing of harvested data pending a compliance review.
Amazon has updated the Titan Image Generator v2 by introducing new features like image conditioning, color conditioning, background removal, and subject consistency to streamline visual content creation and enable greater precision and brand consistency.
Cala Systems, a Boston startup, raised $5.6M for AI-powered heat pump water heaters. Their system predicts hot water demand and optimizes energy use. Their 65-gallon model, costing $2,850, will be available in 2025. The funding will support US-based production.
Amazon Music has launched "Topics," an AI-powered feature that uses AWS technology and human curation to enable users to discover episodes based on specific discussed themes. The Topics feature is rolling out for Amazon Music's top podcasts and is available to US-based mobile device users.
Five US State Secretaries have written an open letter to Elon Musk, urging X to address election misinformation spread by its AI assistant Grok. The chatbot falsely claimed ballot deadlines had passed in several states, casting doubts on the legitimacy of Vice President Kamala Harris' candidacy.
KNIME, a leading open-source data science and AI platform, recently secured a $30M investment from Invus to meet growing customer demand and incorporate the latest data science and AI advancements into its platform.
Groq, a leader in AI inference technology, has secured $640 million in Series D funding at a $2.8 billion valuation. The company aims to scale its GroqCloud platform by deploying over 108,000 LPUs by Q1 2025 to accelerate innovation in AI inference computing.
The AI Act is officially active, starting the clock to apply its obligations; Meta released the SAM 2; Runway announced Gen-3 Alpha Turbo; Black Forest Labs launched the FLUX.1 suite of models; Google finally released Lens for desktop; Canva acquired Leonardo AI; and more
Google has introduced three new AI-powered features for Chrome desktop: Lens for visual search, Tab Compare for easier content comparison, and a conversational browsing history recall function. The new features enhance user experience and search capabilities within the browser.