Paris-based startup Poolside AI has raised $126 million in a seed round led by French billionaire Xavier Niel and US VC Felicis, to develop an AI model that can write software code and eventually enable users to create applications without coding experience, with the company also opening a French subsidiary and relocating its HQ to Paris in a boost to the country's AI ambitions.
Main topic: Aily Labs, an AI-for-enterprise startup, raises €19m in funding to expand its team and further develop its AI models for productivity and efficiency in various industries.
Key points:
1. Aily Labs uses AI models to create products that increase productivity, efficiency, and cost-savings for clients, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry.
2. The startup differentiates itself by leveraging existing open-source AI models and utilizing a combination of machine learning approaches, including classification and regression models.
3. With the funding, Aily Labs plans to expand its GenAI team, diversify its client base beyond pharmaceutical companies, and enhance its capabilities in text generation and competitive intelligence.
The most promising AI startups in 2023, according to top venture capitalists, include Adept, AlphaSense, Captions, CentML, Character.AI, Durable, Entos, Foundry, GPTZero, Hugging Face, LangChain, Leena AI, LlamaIndex, Luma AI, Lumachain, Magic, Mezli, Mindee, Next Insurance, Orby AI, Pinecone, Poly, Predibase, Replicant, Replicate, Run:ai, SaaS Labs, Secureframe, Treat, Twelve Labs.
ControlRooms.ai, an AI-powered analytics startup, has raised $10 million in a Series A round to automate the industrial troubleshooting process and minimize downtime for heavy industries like chemical and energy plants. The platform predicts manufacturing plant behavior and detects potential problems before they are noticed by engineers or operators.
Ernst & Young has invested $1.4 billion in AI technologies and launched a new AI-powered platform, EY.ai, to help organizations adopt AI and unlock economic value responsibly.
The UK government plans to build a powerful supercomputer named Isambard-AI at the University of Bristol to drive AI research and ensure the safe use of the technology.
European Union President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new initiative to provide expedited access to European supercomputers for AI startups, while also calling for the establishment of a global framework for AI governance during her State of the Union address.
Intel is integrating AI inferencing engines into its processors with the goal of shipping 100 million "AI PCs" by 2025, as part of its effort to establish local AI on the PC as a new market and eliminate the need for cloud-based AI applications.
Real estate developer Gary Dillabough is pursuing the creation of an artificial intelligence incubator in downtown San Jose, with potential plans to bring in 40 or 50 AI startups, which could significantly boost the city's economy and establish it as a hub for AI development.
French businessman Xavier Niel plans to invest €200 million in creating a "European champion" of artificial intelligence through the purchase of a supercomputer and the establishment of a dedicated research laboratory, aiming to compete with the US in the AI race.
Telecom company Iliad and its founder, Xavier Niel, are planning to make significant investments in artificial intelligence, including the opening of a research center, the acquisition of Nvidia GPUs, and the launch of a European AI conference, to signal Europe's serious commitment to AI.
The University at Albany and IBM are collaborating on a $20 million investment to establish the Center for Emerging Artificial Intelligence Systems (CEAIS) and advance AI research goals, while creating a SUNY AI Research Group to lead future strategies in AI research, education, policy, and workforce development.
San Jose is vying to become the top AI center in the U.S. by establishing an innovation lab on campus, offering incentives to AI firms, and partnering with universities, VCs, and Silicon Valley companies to create an AI incubator, potentially disrupting the dominance of the San Francisco Bay Area in AI development.