Perplexity is in talks to raise $500 million to $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation, following its previous funding round at a $9 billion valuation. The company's AI search capabilities are set to be integrated into Apple's Safari browser, potentially increasing visibility for Perplexity among a large user base.
https://channelnewsasia.com/business/ai-firm-perplexity-eyes-14-billion-valuation-fresh-funding-round-wsj-reports-5124811Scale AI, a startup backed by Amazon.com Inc., plans to open an office in Saudi Arabia by the end of the year as part of its broader regional expansion.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/artificial-intelligence/amazon-backed-scale-ai-plans-saudi-office-in-mideast-expansionPresident Donald Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who had appointed Shira Perlmutter to lead the Copyright Office in October 2020. Perlmutter's office recently released a report on using AI systems trained with copyrighted materials, which found that such works continue to enjoy copyright protection due to human creativity. Democrats criticized Trump's decision, calling it a "brazen, unprecedented power grab" with no legal basis.
https://www.khou.com/article/news/nation-world/trump-administration-fires-top-copyright-official/507-6a9c9d2b-0019-4fc5-8abb-4f5ae6c6274ePresident Donald Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, where he will attend a joint investment forum with the kingdom. The event will focus on AI technology and infrastructure, as part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 programme aimed at reducing its oil dependency. Chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the new company Humain will offer AI services and products, including data centres and cloud capabilities. Salesforce has also announced a $500 million investment in Saudi Arabia related to artificial intelligence.
https://channelnewsasia.com/business/saudi-crown-prince-launches-new-company-develop-ai-technologies-5124106Chegg is struggling due to increased competition from Google's AI Overviews and other language models offered by OpenAI and Anthropic, which are attracting college students with discounts and deals. In response, Chegg plans to slash its workforce by 22% (248 employees), close US and Canadian physical offices by the end of the year, reduce new product development, and cut administrative costs. These cost-cutting measures aim to save $45-55 million in 2025 and $100-110 million in 2026.
https://nypost.com/2025/05/12/business/chegg-to-slash-22-of-workforce-as-ai-bots-steal-students-from-homework-help-tools/Chegg plans to lay off 248 employees, approximately 22% of its workforce, due to declining web traffic as students increasingly use AI-powered tools like ChatGPT over traditional edtech platforms. The company is restructuring by shutting its US and Canada offices by the end of the year, reducing marketing and product development efforts, and cutting administrative expenses.
https://channelnewsasia.com/business/chegg-lay-22-workforce-ai-tools-shake-up-edtech-industry-5124291Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a new company under the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to develop and manage artificial intelligence technologies. The move aims to leverage AI for strategic development in various sectors, including healthcare, education, and finance.
https://channelnewsasia.com/business/saudi-arabia-launches-company-develop-artificial-intelligence-under-pif-5124106Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched "Humain", a new company under the Public Investment Fund (PIF), to develop and manage artificial intelligence technologies. Chaired by the crown prince, Humain will offer a range of AI services, including next-generation data centers, cloud capabilities, and advanced AI models. The company aims to establish Saudi Arabia as a global center for data and AI, with plans that include one of the world's most powerful multimodal Arabic large language models (LLMs).
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40362252/saudi-arabia-launches-company-to-develop-artificial-intelligence-under-pifUS President Donald Trump has terminated the director of the US Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, in a shake-up. The move comes after Perlmutter confirmed that an AI training report raised concerns about copyright infringement and licensing issues.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/artificial-intelligence/trump-terminates-us-copyright-office-director-in-latest-shakeup