AI News

Sword Health, an innovative AI-driven virtual physical therapy startup, has successfully raised $30 million while enabling employees to sell $100 million worth of equity to both new and existing investors, including Khosla Ventures. This funding round elevates the nine-year-old company's valuation to $3 billion, marking a 50% increase from the $2 billion valuation it achieved during its Series D funding in November 2021.

The implications of AI are crucial for merger control enforcement, emphasized Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s antitrust chief and digital EVP, during a recent seminar. She cautioned that “wide-reaching” digital markets could result in unforeseen economic consequences. Her comments were directed at preventing tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Meta from establishing monopolies in the AI space, signaling an intent for more rigorous scrutiny over their operations.

Artificial intelligence (AI) poses both significant threats and exciting opportunities in cybersecurity. One startup seizing this dual challenge is Cyera, which has just announced a substantial funding round. Cyera's innovative AI-driven platform empowers organizations to track the location and movement of their data across networks—essential for implementing effective strategies to safeguard that data against cyberattacks and preventing unintended exposure to large language models. The company has successfully raised $300 million in Series C funding, bringing its valuation to $1.4 billion.

Microsoft envisions 2024 as the “year of the AI PC,” and to reinforce this vision, the company has announced a groundbreaking addition to the PC keyboard: a new Copilot key. This physical key will soon join the ranks of familiar buttons like the Windows key, Control key, Alt key, and the often-overlooked Insert key. According to the image provided by Microsoft, the Copilot key will replace the right Control key on a standard keyboard, nestled between the Alt key and the left arrow key.

California's Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) Sets the Stage for AI Regulation

Quora is making headlines again, raising funding for the first time in nearly seven years. The popular question-and-answer platform secured $75 million from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) to accelerate the growth of Poe, Quora’s innovative AI chat platform.

On Thursday, Spotify unveiled its new in-house creative agency, Creative Lab, marking a significant step into the advertising realm. This initiative is designed to assist brands in developing tailored marketing campaigns. Additionally, Spotify announced that it will begin experimenting with generative AI ads.

Following objections raised by German competition authorities this summer regarding the bundling of services like Google Maps in its Android-based car infotainment system, Google has proposed a significant shift. The company aims to unbundle certain services and remove restrictive contracts imposed on vehicle manufacturers to settle the regulator’s concerns.

When you think of the term “creator,” you likely picture someone producing content for social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram. However, Quora's AI chatbot platform, Poe, is now rewarding bot creators financially for their contributions. This includes those developing “prompt bots” directly on Poe, as well as server bots created by developers who harness Poe's AI capabilities. Launched just last week, this initiative stands out as one of the first programs to monetize the efforts of AI bot builders.

Worldcoin Faces Temporary Ban in Portugal, Limiting Crypto Biometric Operations in Europe

Apple unveiled an exciting array of new AI features branded as Apple Intelligence during WWDC 2024. While these innovative tools will be available at no cost, access will be limited to select devices.

Recent years have seen remarkable advancements in both the artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain industries. While these two sectors are on different paths toward mainstream adoption, they face distinct challenges that the other could help address, according to a new report shared exclusively by TenSquared Capital (10SQ).

Pharmaceutical company Servier has chosen Kinaxis, a leading developer of AI-powered supply chain management software, to enhance transparency and visibility throughout its supply chain. This strategic partnership aims to accelerate the time to market for Servier's diverse portfolio of drugs.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman lauded Apple's Vision Pro as the "second most impressive tech since the iPhone," placing ChatGPT first. He humorously noted the device's name flaws while OpenAI recently launched a visionOS version of its app. The Vision Pro, priced at $3,500, has sold over 200,000 units since launch.

Meta Connect unveiled significant hardware and AI advancements, including the Quest 3S VR headset, Orion AR glasses, and updates to Ray-Ban smart glasses. Innovations like live translation and AI-generated content show Meta's focus on integrating AI and augmented reality into everyday experiences.