A Shanghai-backed investment firm, Fortera Capital, has led a funding round for AI start-up Stepfun, raising hundreds of millions of dollars. The funding was also supported by Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings and Qiming Venture Partners, an early investor in several prominent Chinese companies including ByteDance and Xiaomi. Stepfun, founded in April last year, plans to use the funds to develop advanced AI models with multimodal capabilities and complex reasoning, as well as expand its consumer-oriented product portfolio. This investment reflects Shanghai's efforts to support technological innovation in key industries, led by the municipal government.
https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3292348/shanghai-backed-firm-helps-ai-start-stepfun-raise-hundreds-millions-dollars?module=top_story&pgtype=sectionHyperscale Data has received an investment to support its expansion plans, including infrastructure upgrades for its MI data center to meet growing demands for high-performance computing services in artificial intelligence solutions. The funds will also be used to repay outstanding debt and cover general working capital needs.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/12/26/tmt-newswire/globenewswire/hyperscale-data-completes-50-million-of-the-aggregate-75-million-preferred-equity-investment-from-ault-company/2027535xAI, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, has rapidly gained traction in the AI sector since its launch in July 2023, achieving a valuation of $50 billion and raising over $12 billion in funding. The company aims to "understand the universe" through its chatbot Grok, which features capabilities such as web search results, PDF uploads, and image understanding, trained on user data from X (formerly Twitter). xAI's founding team includes experts from Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Tesla, including Igor Babuschkin, Manuel Kroiss, Yuhuai Wu, Christian Szegedy, Jimmy Ba, Toby Pohlen, Ross Nordeen, Greg Yang, Guodong Zhang, and Zihang Dai. The company plans to enhance its supercomputer Colossus to support AI models and compete with OpenAI and Google, following a recent $6 billion funding round that will accelerate the development of its technology and products.
https://www.businesstelegraph.co.uk/10-power-players-from-elon-musks-xai-who-are-giving-openai-a-run-for-its-money-with-grok-chatbot/OpenAI is planning to develop advanced humanoid robots, following significant investments in various startups.
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/openai-eyes-advanced-humanoid-robotsBillionaire tech mogul Elon Musk's startup xAI has raised US$6 billion from investors in its latest funding round, bringing the company's valuation to an estimated US$50 billion. The firm, which is developing the Grok chatbot, received support from investors including NVIDIA, AMD, and investment funds from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Despite concerns about AI firms burning through cash without a clear path to profitability, xAI plans to use the funding to develop new products and accelerate research into future technologies. This move comes as Musk continues to push for more investment in the sector, despite warning that AI poses a risk to human civilization.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/money/2024/12/25/elon-musks-artificial-intelligence-startup-xai-says-raised-rm27b-more-in-latest-funding-round/161014Apple is nearing a historic $4 trillion valuation due to its progress in artificial intelligence enhancements. The company's shares have surged by 16% since early November, adding $500 billion to its market capitalization. This has propelled Apple ahead of Nvidia and Microsoft in the race to reach this milestone. Analysts believe that investor enthusiasm for AI is driving the surge, as they expect it to lead to a "supercycle" of iPhone upgrades.
https://indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/apple-approaches-historic-4-trillion-valuation-it-is-now-also-ahead-of-nvidia-and-microsoft-2654469-2024-12-24Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk's startup xAI has raised $6 billion from investors in its latest funding round, bringing the company's valuation to an estimated $50 billion. The firm, which is developing the Grok chatbot, received support from US venture capitalists, chipmakers NVIDIA and AMD, as well as investment funds from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Despite concerns about AI firms burning through cash without a clear path to profitability, xAI plans to use the funding to develop new products and accelerate research into future technologies. Musk has repeatedly warned about the risks of AI, but is pushing for more investment in the sector, including taking legal action against rival OpenAI, which he co-founded before leaving in 2018.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40339355/musks-ai-startup-raises-further-6bnNovautek, a Hong Kong-based innovation technology company specializing in artificial intelligence and autonomous driving technology, has received the "Outstanding SME ESG and Business Performance Award 2024" from The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong's Start-up and SME Resource Centre. The award recognizes Novautek's outstanding performance in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and its achievements in promoting sustainable development. Mr. Wang Chunsheng, the Chief Executive Officer of Novautek, received the award on behalf of the company. Novautek is a subsidiary of Applied Development Holdings Limited and focuses on building an ecosystem across AI robotics, autonomous driving, and large AI models. The company has introduced five core applications of autonomous driving robots, including cleaning and sanitation, security patrol, transportation, delivery, and smart warehousing, which have been deployed in local housing estates to alleviate social challenges such as aging populations and labor shortages.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/12/23/tmt-newswire/media-outreach-newswire/novautek-honored-with-the-outstanding-sme-esg-and-business-performance-award/2026715Novautek Autonomous Driving Limited, a Hong Kong-based innovation technology company specializing in artificial intelligence and autonomous driving technology, has been awarded the "Outstanding SME ESG and Business Performance Award 2024" by The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. The award recognizes Novautek's outstanding performance in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices and its achievements in promoting sustainable development. Novautek's CEO, Mr. Wang Chunsheng, received the award, which aims to encourage small and medium enterprises to invest in ESG upgrades and transformation. Novautek is a subsidiary of Applied Development Holdings Limited and focuses on building a complete ecosystem across key areas like AI robotics, autonomous driving, and large AI models. The company has introduced five core applications of autonomous driving robots, including cleaning and sanitation, security patrol, transportation, delivery, and smart warehousing, which have been deployed in local housing estates to alleviate social challenges such as aging populations and labor shortages.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/money/mediaoutreach/2024/12/23/novautek-honored-with-the-outstanding-sme-esg-and-business-performance-award/352131