DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

April 26 (Reuters) - With more and more lawyers at major law firms using fast-advancing generative artificial intelligence tools, legal AI startup Harvey said Wednesday that it raised $21 million in fresh investor cash. Sequoia Capital, which is leading the Series A fundraising round, said more than 15,000 law firms are on a waiting list to start using Harvey. The company says it builds custom large language models for law firms. Technology companies and investors have rushed to embrace large language model-based generative AI since Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT debuted in November. Casetext in March released its AI legal assistant product, CoCounsel, which uses GPT-4 to speed up tasks like legal research, contract analysis and document review.

☆ 'AI All-Star' Microsoft's rosy earnings spark rally in tech stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Redmond, Washington-based tech giant was set to add nearly $160 billion to its market value and replace Saudi Aramco (2223.SE) as the world's second-most valuable company, if premarket gains hold. Microsoft's results bode well for an industry that has laid off tens of thousands of workers recently as demand fades in the face of a sagging economy. The Windows maker's earnings call on Wednesday underscored the growing importance of AI, with CEO Satya Nadella referring to 50 times in a 60-minute event. "Given the significant head start OpenAI has over other generative AI engines and Microsoft has over its hyperscaler (large-scale data center) competitors, we believe that Azure may gain share as generative AI continues to proliferate into many more corners of software and the economy," D A Davidson analyst Gil Luria said. Reporting by Nivedita Balu and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/5] Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva attend an international conference on the political crisis in Venezuela, at Palacio de San Carlos in Bogota, Colombia April 25, 2023. The meeting in Bogota, hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro with support from the United States, included Spain, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil and others. The meeting was meant to help Maduro and the opposition restart stalled talks in Mexico focused on free elections and the possible lifting of sanctions against the government. Attendees found common ground over the need for free elections and lifting of sanctions parallel to agreements between the two sides, he said. The Mexico talks, held briefly last year and in 2021, are supposed to provide a roadmap out of the long-running crisis.

☆ VCs are scrambling to invest in AI startups in Y Combinator's latest class: 'There's hysteria for a reason'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

VCs are scrambling to back the AI startups in Y Combinator's latest batch. Several generative AI startups have already secured funding from top firms, sources say. And while valuations are down across the board, YC AI startups are still hot. Startups focused on AI, and generative AI specifically, which saw a substantial jump in the latest batch, were some of the most highly sought after by investors. An AI feeding frenzyVC buzz was common across generative AI startups both in the application and infrastructure layers.

☆ Moderna teams up with IBM to put AI, quantum computing to work on mRNA technology used in vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Moderna and IBM are teaming up to use generative artificial intelligence and quantum computing to advance mRNA technology, the development at the core of the company's blockbuster Covid vaccine, the companies announced Thursday. The companies said they signed an agreement for Moderna to access IBM's quantum computing systems. IBM will also provide experts who can help Moderna scientists explore the use of quantum technologies, the companies added. Unlike traditional computers, which store information as either zeroes or ones, Quantum computing hinges on quantum physics. The companies said Moderna will use IBM's model to understand "the characteristics of potential mRNA medicines" and design a new class of vaccines and therapies.

☆ Developer tool startups in Y Combinator's latest class are grabbing the attention of investors like Elad Gil and Google's Gradient Ventures. Here are 4 that have already landed funding.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Developer tool startups that were part of Y Combinator's latest class are drawing strong interest from several high-profile venture capitalists. Sequoia partner Lauren Reeder personally participated in the code review startup's recent funding round, according to a Sequoia spokesperson. That fundraising was at a $30 million post-money valuation, one person familiar with the deal said. Developer tool startups accounted for 26% of the companies in YC's winter 2023 batch, up from 16% of the summer 2022 class, according to the accelerator's startup directory. Have a tip on a startup funding round?

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Questions being asked over Ukraine's much-awaited counteroffensive; Russia's top diplomat is in Cuba
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that "the United States can cheat at any moment," claiming Russia had experienced this when the Western military alliance NATO expanded eastward. Lavrov claimed this deception was seen when former Soviet and Russian Federation Presidents Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin "were assured that NATO would not expand," he added. Russia has long complained that it was deceived by Western nations at the end of the Cold War and into the 1990s into believing that NATO would not expand eastward toward its territory. Analysts say, however, that the USSR was never offered any formal guarantee on limits to NATO expansion and that the "betrayal narrative" is designed to provoke anti-Western sentiment. So we will share it with our Venezuelan colleagues," Lavrov said.

☆ Former Apple Computer CEO Lists Reno Mansion for $10.75 Million
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Libertina Brandt | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Be the first to know about the biggest and best luxury home sales and listings by signing up for our Mansion Deals email alert. Gil Amelio, an entrepreneur who briefly served as the CEO of Apple Computer in the 1990s, is listing his home in Reno, Nev., for $10.75 million.

☆ Y Combinator's latest class is a feeding frenzy for VCs looking to back AI startups: 'There's hysteria for a reason'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

☆ Matthew Tuttle got the financial world buzzing with ETFs that short everything Cathie Wood's ARK and Jim Cramer buy. He told us the next big ideas on his radar.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Marley Jay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In late 2021 Matthew Tuttle launched a fund that bets against the ARK Innovation ETF. A month ago he started a new ETF that shorts stocks picked by Jim Cramer of "Mad Money." Tuttle, the CEO and investment chief of Tuttle Capital Management, is starting to get a lot of requests for "anti"-ETFs. When shorting big name investors makes senseIt's easy to assume Tuttle is motivated by personal or professional dislike for Wood and Cramer. While he's considered creating an anti-fintwit ETF, Tuttle is still positive on Fintwit itself.

☆ Exclusive: Buzzy legal generative AI startup Harvey taps Sequoia to lead funding round at a $150 million valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Legal generative AI startup Harvey has raised a funding round from Sequoia, Insider has learned. This funding round landed the startup a $150 million post-money valuation. Industry-specific generative AI startups have emerged in nearly every industry, from healthcare to gaming, to offer specialized services beyond the capabilities of general models like OpenAI's GPT-4. Legal generative AI startup Harvey has raised a Series A round of funding at a $150 million post-money valuation from Sequoia Capital, according to three people with knowledge of the financing who were not authorized to speak publicly. The relatively few customers makes Harvey's valuation seem rich in comparison, the source said, pointing to a broader trend of elevated valuations and round sizes in the hyped-up generative AI space.

☆ Two Israeli sisters killed in West Bank shooting attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Israeli medics and policemen check a damaged car at the scene of a shooting attack, in the Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2023. REUTERS/Gil EliyahuJERUSALEM, April 7 (Reuters) - Two Israeli sisters were killed on Friday in a shooting attack on their car in the occupied West Bank, Israeli authorities said. The attack took place with Israel on high alert in Jerusalem after a day of violence along the Lebanese and Gaza borders. Israel's military said soldiers had arrived at the scene of a reported collision between Israeli and Palestinian vehicles near the Jewish settlement of Hamra and saw the Israeli car, with three people in it, had been shot up. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting the scene, said: "Vile and heartless terrorists murdered two young sisters."

☆ Accusations against C3.ai: Baker Hughes pays it 'very large amounts' of money annually, says analyst
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAccusations against C3.ai: Baker Hughes pays it 'very large amounts' of money annually, says analystGil Luria of D.A. Davidson discusses a short seller's allegations against C3.ai and says C3.ai has a "multi-hundred million dollar" relationship with Baker Hughes.

☆ Former Greylock VC Sarah Guo is betting her career on the AI boom with new fund Conviction. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Ex-Greylock GP Sarah Guo surprised the tech world when she launched her AI fund Conviction last year. In addition to her fund, Guo has gained prominence in SF's AI scene through her podcast and events. Kovalsky knew of only one person who could be behind this — Sarah Guo, then a general partner at VC firm Greylock. Within the tech community, Guo has differentiated herself from other VCs through her honesty, business savvy, and grit, they added. Although Guo launched Conviction, a $100 million fund investing up to Series A, in late 2022, her interest in artificial intelligence has been long in the making.

☆ WSJ editor tells staff she is ‘very concerned’ for safety of reporter arrested in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker told staff in a memo Thursday that she was “very concerned” for the safety of Russia-based reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested Wednesday by security forces in the city of Yekaterinburg. “We are very concerned for the safety of Evan and will keep you informed of the situation,” Tucker continued. “Evan Gershkovich is a journalist. He should be released immediately and unharmed and allowed to return to his important work,” said Eileen O’Reilly, president of the National Press Club, and Gil Klein, journalism president of the National Press Club, in a statement. The US government was informed of the arrest of Gershkovich by the Wall Street Journal, according to a US official.

☆ Venezuela's Maduro will not attend Ibero-American summit, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CARACAS, March 25 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will not attend an Ibero-American summit this weekend hosted by the Dominican Republic, a Venezuelan official said on Saturday, a day after a summit organizer said he was en route. Foreign Minister Yvan Gil will attend the Saturday and Sunday conference instead, Venezuela's Information Minister Freddy Nanez told Reuters. The confirmation Maduro will not attend came a day after a summit official said Maduro was on his way to the event, which provides a forum for leaders from across Latin America as well as Spain and Portugal. Maduro is shunned by many governments due in part to his 2018 re-election derided as a sham by international observers. Reporting by Leonardo Fernandez Viloria in Caracas; Writing by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Venezuela's Maduro skips Ibero-American summit after positive COVID test
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CARACAS, March 25 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro canceled his attendance at the Ibero-American summit after receiving a positive COVID-19 test result, though he has since tested negative twice, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Saturday. Rodriguez said Maduro was informed by his doctors on Friday of a positive PCR test, leading him to cancel his appearance at the event, which provides a forum for leaders from across Latin America as well as Spain and Portugal. Everything indicates that it was a false positive," Rodriguez said on Twitter. Venezuela's information minister, Freddy Nanez, told Reuters earlier on Saturday that Maduro will not attend the event a day after a summit official said Maduro was on his way to the Dominican Republic. Maduro is shunned by many governments due in part to his 2018 re-election derided as a sham by international observers.

☆ Israel ratifies law limiting conditions for a Netanyahu ouster
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Dan Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] People demonstrate as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist coalition government presses on with its contentious judicial overhaul, outside a museum in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 22, 2023. REUTERS/Nir EliasJERUSALEM, March 23 (Reuters) - Israel ratified a law on Thursday limiting the circumstances in which a prime minister can be removed, despite worries voiced by a government jurist that it may be meant to shield the incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu from any fallout from his corruption trials. The coalition says the overhaul is aimed at pushing back against Supreme Court over-reach and restoring balance among branches of government. Netanyahu denies all charges against him, and has cast the trials as a politicised bid to force him from office. "They have the potential to serve the personal interests of a man regarding the outcomes of legal proceedings he is facing."

☆ Ex-Google employees' A.I. chatbot startup valued at $1 billion after Andreessen Horowitz funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Character.AI, an artificial intelligence start-up founded by two former Google employees, is capitalizing on venture capitalists' unquenchable thirst for deals in technology's hottest space. The two-year-old company said on Thursday that it raised $150 million at a $1 billion valuation in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Andreessen Horowitz has been a significant player in driving up prices in both markets. The firm announced a $4.5 billion crypto fund in mid-2022 as the digital currency market was in freefall. A year earlier, it added to its investment in audio app Clubhouse, valuing the early-stage startup at $4 billion.

[1/2] Microsoft Corp's Bing search engine is seen on a computer in this illustration picture taken January 24, 2019. While Bing AI has been available to most users around the world since February, Google began the public release of its chatbot Bard only on Tuesday. "Bing has less than a tenth of Google's market share, so even if it converts 1% or 2% of users it will be materially beneficial to Bing and Microsoft," Luria said. App downloads for Bing have also jumped eight times globally after AI integration, according to app research firm Data.ai. Downloads for the Google search app fell 2% in the same period, the data showed.

[1/6] Migrants, transferred from Plattsburgh, New York to El Paso, Texas, disembark from a plane at the airport, in El Paso, Texas, U.S. March 21, 2023. U.S. Border Patrol has quietly transported about 100 migrants this month on two charter flights from Plattsburgh, New York, near the border with Canada, to the Texas cities of Harlingen and El Paso. At the same time, asylum seekers have been crossing from the United States into Canada in record numbers, straining resources. Gil Kerlikowske, a former commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Border Patrol's parent agency, said he could not recall the agency using charter flights for migrants caught crossing from Canada. "That's what caused more and more people to go to the northern border to cross into the United States," he said.

☆ A look inside a $22.5 million Miami condo with insane luxury amenities
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Ray Parisi | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Turnberry Ocean Club ResidencesInside the Sky Club's fitness center where the treadmills come with impressive views. Turnberry Ocean Club ResidencesOutdoor sunset lounge Turnberry Ocean Club ResidencesAlso up on 32nd floor is a so-called dog retreat where lucky pooches can take in the ocean views and relieve themselves. Turnberry Ocean Club Residences / Leo DiazThe kitchen includes three islands and comes equipped with custom Italian-made cabinetry and high-end German appliances. A rendering of one of the Turnberry Ocean Club Residences' beach front cabanas. Turnberry Ocean Club Residences

☆ GM's Cruise to focus on cost cuts as it ramps up robotaxis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Abhirup Roy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) last fall announced they would shutter their Argo AI self-driving unit and focus on driver-assistance technology that provided more immediate returns. Cruise's rival and Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) self-driving technology unit, Waymo, has this year laid off over 8% of its workforce. The company is also developing a fully autonomous vehicle called Origin from scratch without a steering wheel and with subway-like doors for rideshare and deliveries. "This is a really pivotal year for us that will really transform not just Cruise but the whole perception of autonomous vehicles." Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The Huwara Riot Was No ‘Pogrom’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Gil Troy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The riots against Palestinians on Sunday night were appalling—but they weren’t “pogroms.” Hundreds of Israeli settlers vandalized the West Bank town of Huwara, enraged that a Palestinian terrorist murdered two Jewish brothers driving through there earlier that day. The rioters killed one Palestinian, 37-year-old Sameh Aqtash , and wounded dozens, while torching houses and cars. For decades “pogrom” was the most chilling word in the Jewish vocabulary until the Nazi mass murder generated a new lexicon of horrors. After the czarist government orchestrated anti-Jewish violence in 1881, the word pogrom—from the Russian grom, meaning thunder—terrified Jews. “Perhaps most shocking of all, many supposedly decent people appeared among the makers of the pogroms.”

☆ Exclusive: Buzzy generative AI-powered search engine Perplexity AI taps NEA to lead funding round at a $150 million valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AI search engine startup Perplexity AI is raising a funding round led by NEA, Insider has learned. The deal aims to raise between $20 and $25 million at a $150 million post-money valuation, according to sources. The fundraise continues the trend of large rounds and valuations in the buzzy generative AI space. AI search engine startup Perplexity AI is in talks to raise a funding round led by NEA, according to three people with knowledge of the financing who were not authorized to speak publicly. Perplexity AI cofounder and CEO Aravind Srinivas declined to comment.

Search resuls for: "gil"

25 mentions found