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One of the most interesting stories on the internet site this calendar week — both to me personally as a computer hardware and AI nerd and according to our “ how many people learn this story ” tools — isBrian ’s gather with the Humane AI pin . The product is a matchbook - sized wonder crammed full of tech , including 32 GB storage , a multifunctional 12 - megapixel television camera . Its pièce de résistance , though , is a laser projection system capable of displaying data on any Earth’s surface , even your thenar . The machine is a interpreter - first machine , propose a seamless AI - driven experience with proprietary and OpenAI integrations , including GPT-4 . It ’s not just a gadget ; it ’s a glimpse into a futurity where AI is as wearable as a PIN number and as personal as your daily act .
The other part of AI I ’ve been think about is why we are collectively happy to let AI do some occupation but bristle at others . A pot of this shows up for me when I ’m thinking about pursuits that are fundamentally human in nature : Making prowess , worrying about stuff we should n’t be worrying about , and other such activities . What does it mean to be human , anyway ?
ultimately , Airbnb has acquired the AI startup GamePlanner . AI , which was co - founded by Adam Cheyer and Siamak Hodjat , in a secretive batch rumour to be around $ 200 million . The co - beginner are creditworthy for Siri and Samsung ’s Bixby assistants . GamePlanner is enshroud in mystery , but its accomplishment suggest that Airbnb may be working toward a travelling concierge religious service . GamePlanner is Airbnb ’s first accomplishment since 2019 and its first as a public company .
Let ’s see what else there is on the site this hebdomad . . .
Beep boop, I’m a robot
We are getting closer and tight to being able to get AI - powered golem capable of study to interact with the forcible earthly concern , enhance repetitive task across various sector . The challenge in robotics is create high - tone datasets for physical interactions , necessitate a fleet of robots for diverse data point appeal . mystifying reinforcement learning is crucial for success , argues Peter Chen , co - laminitis of Covariant . He claims that enabling robot to adapt and refine their strategies has set the groundwork for this translation , presage a upsurge in viable robotic applications by 2024 .
Meanwhile , in France , Romain is observing that a destiny of the startup ecosystem — including French AI startups like Dust , Finegrain , Gladia , Mistral AI , and Scenario — is indicate thatFrance is turning into a major AI hub . He says this is due to a strong natural endowment pool — and , of course , illustrious speculation capital activity , with firms like Index Ventures actively investing in AI startups .
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Moar AI nuggets :
Startup shrugged : Atlas , a 3D generative AI platform , haslaunched with $ 6 million in seed financial backing after two years of development in stealth modality . Its aim is to make world designing leisurely for game developing .
Like Flickr , but for Gen AI : Civitai , a generative AI subject marketplace , allow a program for exploiter to partake and discover AI - father icon modeling based on Stable Diffusion . The inauguration has experience significant growth , lead to a $ 5.1 million funding around from a16z , at a $ 20 million valuation .
ChatGPT , take the weel : Ghost Autonomy , a caller developing independent driving software , has partnered with OpenAI and landed a $ 5 million investment to research the use of multimodal big voice communication models ( LLMs ) in self - driving machine . speak about puddle the hallucinations high wager , y’ all .
The golem will see you now : Forward Health has launched the CarePod , a self - curb and stand - alone aesculapian post powered by AI , design to perform clinical tasks found in primary fear offices , such as stemma trial run and blood pressure reading , without the demand for a doctor or nurse on - site .
Helloooo, startup land
In the linguistic context of a backing wintertime where investment action is at a three - class low , founders , particularly those approaching Series A funding , are facing challenging times . I really enjoyed Katie Konyn and Daniela Restrepo ’s guest clause on TC+ , talking about how to leverage LinkedIn to raise backing . They recommend grow a connection , engaging with investor without immediately pitching , maintaining visibility through regular updates and accomplishments , and building reciprocal relationships . It ’s a long game , they resolve .
Inversion Art aims to be the Y Combinator for artists , I write on TC+ this week . The company is offering an accelerator program to help artists find success . carbon monoxide - founders Joey Flores and Jonathan Neil provide artist with financial support through purchase allegiance , a share in sale , and hard-nosed inspection and repair for five age . This approach admit a semiannual , three - month program in Los Angeles for selected artists , culminate in an exhibition . Their example blends direct financial investment with comprehensive back - office management service , target okay artist and potentially extending to other creative pro . It ’s a cool estimation — god knows if it ’ll testify to be speculation - graduated table , but I like the approach of empowering creative person to define and achieve success on their own term .
More startup tale :
Well that ’s one direction to make a market : Samara , a company spun out of Airbnb , has recentlyobtained fresh funding , positioning itself as a potential result to the U.S. trapping crisis . I have interracial feelings about this one , especially given that Airbnb may itself have some province in causing the caparison crisis in the first place .
Revolving doors : Zeus Living , a proptech startup reportedly back by Airbnb , is shutting down its operation . Founded in 2015 , the company initially focused on redecorate landlord ’ dwelling house and rent them to relocated workers for lengthy stays , by and by expanding to offer more pliable living pick to a broader hearing . That did n’t quite wreak out as planned .
Here ’s a internet browser for you , my AI protagonist : When OpenAI connected ChatGPT to the internet , it supercharged the AI chatbot ’s potentiality . Nowthe search engine You.com wants to do the same for every prominent terminology modelout there .
Let’s go on an adventure!
jumpy piddle at GM at the moment , asthe mothership intensified its superintendence over Cruise , its ego - driving auto subsidiary company , following incident that run to the abatement of Cruise ’s commercial procedure permit in California . GM administrator Craig Glidden , who is also a Cruise plug-in member , has been appointed as chief administrative officer to head the company ’s legal , policy , communications , and finance teams . Cruise has paused all supervised and manual self-reliant vehicle operations in the U.S. , affecting about 70 vehicle . A survey found that half of Cruise employees surveyed have low trust in the caller ’s safe culture .
More known for haul fossil fuels out of the solid ground , Exxon is planning to tap into the U.S. ’s vast lithium modesty to power electric vehicle . The U.S. holds enceinte quantity of recoverable lithium , critical for EV batteries . The scale is pretty beefy : The amount of lithium the company wants to drill would provide more than a million vehicles per yr .
More transportation news :
Okay , fine , you could repel : Uber is put through new mensuration toaddress the issue of unfair driver deactivations , a significant concern for drive - hail and deliverance machine driver . The measures include secure revaluation , recording feature , and voluntary drug examination .
Is it a bird ? A plane?:Joby Aviation and Volocopter performedbrief demonstration flight of steps of their electric aircraft over New York City , showcasing a coup d’oeil of the futurity of air travel .
Let ’s see other multitude : Rivian ’s galvanising caravan are no longer exclusive to Amazon , as the automaker has announced it will now sell its commercial galvanizing avant-garde to other companies . This decision end the exclusive deal made with Amazon in 2019 .
Who needs music anyway?:A recent software update intended to fix microbe and improve proximity locking in Rivian ’s vehiclesinadvertently bricked some of their infotainment scheme . It is n’t clear-cut whether this can be dissolve with an OTA update . Luckily , Rivian says only about 3 % of vehicles were affected — but they may ask to be serviced by a technician . Whoops .
Top reads on TechCrunch this week
Alpha and Omegle : Omegle , a popular online chat service known for connect strangers for conversations , has been shut down after more than 14 yearsdue to the farm abuse of the platform , which included involvement in “ unspeakably heinous offence ” — including an alleged 600,000 instances of child abuse .
Ahh , in conclusion some peace and Dimmu Borgir : The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones deliver surpassing comfort , sound tone , and top - nick noise cancellation , Brian reviews . The headphone justify their $ 429 monetary value tag asone of the good dissonance - cancel Bluetooth headphone available .
We have trustfulness progeny : Epic and Google clashed in a tourist court , with a trial focusing on Google ’s alleged anticompetitive practices in its sport Store . The essence challenge is Google ’s commission on in - app purchases and extra deals with developers . Here ’s 5 thing we learned this week
Mary Leontyne Price listing at dawning : Lyft ’s fast-growing pricing scheme to compete with Uberhas lead to gradual growth for the companionship , although the competition in the drive - hail market remains intense .