DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Generative AI startups get 40% of all VC investment in cloud amid ChatGPT buzz
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Cloud startups raised $62.5 billion in Europe, Israel and the U.S. in 2023, the report found. Funding is up 65% from the $47.9 billion cloud firms raised four years ago, according to Accel. AI is eating softwareMuch of the growth of funding in cloud is being driven by excitement around AI. Globally, companies building so-called foundational models, which power much of today's generative AI tools, account for two thirds of overall funding for generative AI firms, Accel said. Big Tech's AI splurgeThe U.S. took the lead globally in terms of overall regional generative AI investment raised.

Persons: OpenAI, ChatGPT, Philippe Botteri, Botteri, Accel's, Anthropic, Elon Musk's xAI, Britain's, France's Mistral, Accel, Dev Ittycheria, Ittycheria Organizations: Accel, Venture, Microsoft, CNBC, Accel —, Nasdaq, Alpha, Google Locations: U.S, Europe, Israel, genAI

☆ Britain looks to upstage France with play for world's third major AI hub after U.S., China
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

But key challenges face the country as it looks to become the world's third-biggest AI hub. At the London Tech Week conference in the Olympia events venue earlier this month, tech executives from around the world touted London and the U.K. as a place to invest. London vs. FranceLondon is facing heated rivalry from France for the title of European AI leader. Can the UK keep its European AI crown? Seeking regulatory clarityAnother key source of uncertainty for tech leaders is the future of AI regulation in the U.K.

Persons: Mike Kemp, Alex Kendall, — Kendall, Wayve's, Brent Hoberman, Wayve, it's, Salesforce, Janet Coyle, Coyle, Arthur Mensch, Hanno Renner, that's, Europe's, CNBC's, Philip Belamant, Zilch, Matthew Holman, Cripps, Holman Organizations: Global, London Tech, Sage, Google, London, Partners, Viva Tech, Accel, CNBC, Mistral France Paris, Alpha, Alpha Germany Heidelberg, Face France Paris, France Paris, United, United Kingdom London, Kingdom London, Tech, European Union Locations: London, United Kingdom, China, Olympia, SoftBank, San Francisco, Vancouver . U.S, France London, France, Brazil, Silicon, Europe, Paris, Berlin, Alpha Germany, Germany, Brexit, Britain

☆ The best-funded generative AI startups in Europe have something in common: Big Tech experience
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

That figure rose to more than a third (38%) for the top 40 European and Israeli generative AI companies in terms of venture funding raised, and 60% for the top 10 generative AI companies for funding levels. Google bought British AI lab DeepMind in 2014, and the firm's tech is now key to AI products including its Gemini generative AI tools. Many AI founders are professors, tooAccel noted universities play a major role in the creation of generative AI startups. British universities are the most popular study destination for generative AI founders, Accel's research found. France's Ecole Polytechnique is the second-highest academic founder factory in Europe, with 7% of generative AI founders having studied there.

Persons: Arthur Mensch, Porte de Versailles, Dealroom, Harry Nelis, Europe's, Nelis, Timothee Lacroix, Guillaume Lample, Laurent Sifre, Karl Tuyls, Charles Kantor, Mistral, Accel, —, Lourdes Agapito, Agapito, Matthias Niessner, Victor Riparbelli, Steffen Tjerrild Organizations: Viva Technology, Parc, Chesnot, Getty, Accel, Apple, Google, Microsoft, CNBC, Mistral France Paris, Alpha, Alpha Germany Heidelberg, Face France Paris, France Paris, United, United Kingdom London, Kingdom London, Facebook, Research, Meta, Amazon, Stanford University, British, University College London, UCL, University of Cambridge, France's Ecole Polytechnique Locations: Paris, France, Europe, Israel, Israeli, Alpha Germany, United Kingdom, British, London, France's

☆ Natalie Portman’s birthday gave her the chance to thank friends for lifting her up ‘again and again’
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —For her birthday this year, Natalie Portman had a gift for some of her closest friends. The actress used her birthday post to thank them for their support. The appreciation comes months after Portman reportedly finalized her divorce from dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied. The pair married in 2012, two years after meeting on the set of her hit 2010 film “Black Swan” on which he served as choreographer. “He’s the best actor.

Persons: Natalie Portman, ”, Portman, Benjamin Millepied, Mila Kunis, Golden, “ Benjamin, ‘, Pffsh, ” Portman, “, It’s, Millepied, Aleph, Amalia Organizations: CNN, Golden Globe

☆ This startup built AI that's actually licensed to practice law. We got an exclusive look at the pitch deck it used to raise $5 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The startup, Superlegal, just raised $5 million in seed funding in a round led by Israeli VC funds Aleph and Disruptive AI. The startup says it has the only AI licensed to practice law in the US. One such startup, Robin AI, raised a Series B funding round earlier this year for its gen AI-powered contract drafting and review technology. Here's a look at the 14-slide pitch deck Superlegal used to raise its $5 million seed round.

Persons: —, Tom Glover, Westlaw —, Superlegal, Noory, hasn't, AI, Bechor Organizations: Service, Israeli, Alicorn Venture Capital, Thomson Reuters, Business, Utah Locations: Israel

☆ Some hear echoes of the Web3 frenzy around generative AI. But its future is likely to play out very differently.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Mariam Pettit, partner at Global Founders Capital, said the rush toward AI was in part driven by investor FOMO. While investors and industry insiders don't anticipate the same fate for generative AI startups, many see the parallels between the two industries. Indeed, VCs are paying premiums and pre-empting rounds into hot AI startups in a bid to get a place on the cap table. AI founders are aware that they need to differentiate themselves in order to survive, at the very least. "And with vertical AI startups, it's much clearer that all the data we have is approved by the creator of that data."

Persons: Marc Andreessen, ChatGPT, Mariam Pettit, FOMO, Rainer Haeckl Web3, Sam Bankman Fried, Ash Arora, LocalGlobe, Arora, Sam Altman, Andreessen Horowitz, Ayman Fadil, Fadil, Pettit, Devang Agarwal Organizations: Business, Alpha, Global Founders Capital, Investors, Tech, Talis Locations: German, London, Web3, LocalGlobe, Jasper

☆ This is one of the greatest opportunities ever to invest in Israel, says Aleph's Eisenberg
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThis is one of the greatest opportunities ever to invest in Israel, says Aleph's EisenbergMichael Eisenberg, Aleph co-founder and general partner, joins 'Money Movers' to discuss what Eisenberg's been seeing from VC and tech activity since October 7, the employees of tech companies called to fight, and structural troubles in Israel's government.

Persons: Aleph's Eisenberg Michael Eisenberg Locations: Israel

☆ The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and the Long Shadow of 1948
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Emily Bazelon | A Discussion Moderated Emily Bazelon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +18 min

In 1948, Jews realized their wildly improbable dream of a state, and Palestinians experienced the mass flight and expulsion called the Nakba, or catastrophe. It’s only in 1948 that the Arabs become Palestinians and the Jews become Israelis. Many Jews became lower-level officers during World War II, and they brought their new military expertise to the 1948 war. Zoltan Kluger/GPO, via Getty Images Palestinian bombers destroyed buildings on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem in March 1948. Bettmann/Getty Images A Palestinian refugee cut off from her home by the border established after the 1948 war.

Persons: Matson, —, Khalil Raad, Yaakov Ben Dov Delegates, Haj Amin al, Husseini, ”, It’s, Avraham Avinu, David, Fox, King David Hotel, David Ben, Gurion, “, Hitler, Hans Pinn, Abd al, Qadir al, Chalil, Zoltan Kluger, Ben Yehuda, Hugo H, Mendelsohn, John Phillips, Palestine ”, UNSCOP, Bettmann, Ruth Orkin, David Seymour, Jordan, Israel, Abdullah, Nadim, Leena Dallasheh, Abigail Jacobson, Moshe Naor, ” Derek Penslar, ” Itamar Rabinovich, Salim Tamari, Emily Bazelon, Herzl, Faisal Al, Hashemi, James Russell &, Bain, Jabotinsky, Abraham Pisarek, Weizmann, Heinrich Hoffmann Organizations: Congress, Institute for Palestine, Palestinian, . Institute for Palestine, Matson, Palestine, Getty, of Congress British, Peel, Zionist, Jewish, British Armed Forces, Allied, King, of Congress Women, Hulton, Biltmore, British, Agence France, Getty Images, Refugees, West Bank, Shutterstock, United Nations, League of Nations, United, United Nations Jewish, Madver, The, Palestine Studies, Columbia University, Columbia University , New York University, Rice University, Islamic, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University, Tel Aviv University, Birzeit University, Institute for Palestine Studies, The New York Times Magazine, James Russell & Sons, of Congress, Israel, Ben, General Photographic Agency, Society, International Affairs Locations: Palestine, City, Jerusalem, Canadian American, Israel, British, Jaffa, Damascus, Old City, Hebron, Safed, Europe, Arab, North Africa, New York City, Middle Eastern, Haifa, Cyprus, Jenin, U.S, United Nations, Iraq, Tel Aviv’s Lod, Lebanon, Eyal, el Bared, Egypt, Syria, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Ashdod, Palestinian, United States, Qatar, Iran, Columbia University ,, Nazareth, Israeli, Husseini

An Israeli company has received a preliminary green light from health officials to sell the world's first steaks made from cultivated beef cells, not the entire animal, officials said. Aleph Farms, of Rehovot, Israel, was granted the initial go-ahead by the Israeli Health Ministry in December, the company said in a news release. Aleph Farms joins Upside Foods and Good Meat, two California-based firms that got the go-ahead to sell cultivated chicken in the U.S. in June. Cultivated meat is grown in large steel tanks using cells that come from a living animal, a fertilized egg or a special bank of stored cells. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Black Angus, Lucy, Yoav Reisler Organizations: Israeli Health Ministry, Israeli, Aleph, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S, Rehovot, Israel, Black, California

☆ 2023 has been an AI feeding frenzy, here are the startups that attracted the most investment this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Despite an overall slump in startup funding, 2023 saw a scramble among investors to pour money into AI and machine learning startups. And the company's star still appears to be rising, despite a messy leadership struggle that recently spilled into public view. Meanwhile OpenAI's perennial rival Anthropic attracted multi-billion dollar investments from both Google and Amazon to fund a competing AI model known as Claude. At the same time legacy companies from John Deere to accounting firm PwC played up their AI bona fides to capitalize on the hype. The list doesn't include startups who have not publicly released the amount of their funding rounds.

Persons: OpenAI, Anthropic, Claude, Databricks, John Deere, PwC, Fresh Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Alpha, Technology, Monogram, Sigma, Lambda, Helsing, Metals, Eagle Eye, Amelia, Asimov, Farmers Business, Harbinger, Prins, Silo, Mistral, Alto, AMP, Management Software, Universal, Coro, Kodiak Robotics, Aerospace, Defense, Sana, Corti, Kyte, Mitra, Tech, Boss Digital Technology, Halcyon, & $ Locations: PitchBook

The proposal to classify AI systems by four levels of risk — from minimal to unacceptable — was essentially intended as product safety legislation. That changed with the boom in generative AI, which sparked wonder by composing music, creating images and writing essays resembling human work. Foundation models give generative AI systems such as ChatGPT the ability to create something new, unlike traditional AI, which processes data and completes tasks using predetermined rules. Resistance to government rules for these AI systems came from an unlikely place: France, Germany and Italy. “The race should be for the best AI regulations, not the first AI regulations."

Persons: —, Bard chatbot, “ Rather, won’t, ”, Nick Reiners, “ there’s, Reiners, Sam Altman, Thierry Breton, ” Reiners, Kent Walker, Iverna McGowan, McGowan, Altman, OpenAI, Alpha, it's, ” Dragos, “, “ We’re Organizations: European Union, Eurasia Group, European Commission, Microsoft, Mistral, Elon, Center for Democracy and Technology, EU Locations: European, U.S, China, Brussels, France, Germany, Italy, Europe, German, Romanian

Foundation models like the one built by Microsoft (MSFT.O)-backed OpenAI are AI systems trained on large sets of data, with the ability to learn from new data to perform various tasks. In a meeting of the countries' economy ministers on Oct. 30 in Rome, France persuaded Italy and Germany to support a proposal, sources told Reuters. Until then, negotiations had gone smoothly, with lawmakers making compromises across several other conflict areas such as regulating high-risk AI, sources said. France-based AI company Mistral and Germany's Aleph Alpha have criticised the tiered approach to regulating foundation models, winning support from their respective countries. Other pending issues in the talks include definition of AI, fundamental rights impact assessment, law enforcement exceptions and national security exceptions, sources told Reuters.

Persons: Carlos Barria, Thierry Breton, Geoffrey Hinton, Alpha, Mistral, Mark Brakel, Supantha Mukherjee, Josephine Mason, Alexander Smith Organizations: Technology, Intelligence, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Foundation, Microsoft, European Commission, Mistral, Lawmakers, Life Institute, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, California, U.S, Rights STOCKHOLM, BRUSSELS, LONDON, France, Germany, Italy, Rome, Spain, Belgium, Stockholm

☆ 'The gorilla is gone for the moment': OpenAI's rivals see ways to profit from a Silicon Valley drama
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An in-demand talent pool"Many previously poorly understood secrets will be more widely disseminated across the ecosystem," one European AI founder who spoke on the condition of anonymity said. But European competitors can still benefit from OpenAI's implosion. The startup had been on an uninterrupted run for the past year, said EarlyBird VC partner and Aleph Alpha investor Andre Retterath. The turmoil at OpenAI has also galvanized both AI founders and investors in Europe. The company's top expenditure, besides employee salaries, is manually cleaning and sourcing the data they use to train their models, a European VC said.

Persons: Sam Altman, unseats, Nathan Benaich, Altman, Marc Benioff, Salesforce, Silvio Savarese, Einstein, 1RXoc9ekeo, Benaich, Alpha, EarlyBird, Andre Retterath, Retterath, Mariam Pettit, they've, OpenAI, Andrew Scott, 7percent, David Grimm, Grimm, Rebecca Gorman Organizations: Air Street Capital, Business, Aleph Alpha, Microsoft, Google, Alpha, Global Founders Capital, Albion Locations: Europe, OpenAI

☆ Argentina's presidential candidates face $12 bln energy subsidy conundrum
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Eliana Raszewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Milei has said he will cut all subsidies, but admitted it would have to be done slowly. He admitted hiking energy bills was tough medicine in a society already hurting, but argued it needed to be done. "If you increase energy prices today, there is an inflationary peak and it's over. Conservative leader Mauricio Macri (2015-19) cut energy subsidies back. "I don't think Milei will eliminate all subsidies," she said, adding she would likely vote for him for a "change".

Persons: Marcos Brindicci, Sergio Massa, Javier Milei, Milei, Massa, Emilio Apud, Daniel Dreizzen, Peronist Massa, Mauricio Macri, Vaca Muerta, Aleph's, Raquel Ramírez, Eliana Raszewski, Adam Jourdan, Marguerita Choy Organizations: REUTERS, International Monetary Fund, Aleph Energy, Reuters Graphics, Peronist, IMF, Conservative, Reuters, Massa, Thomson Locations: Buenos Aires, Argentina, BUENOS AIRES, China, America

☆ Bosch, SAP and others back Europe's answer to OpenAI with $500 million of fresh funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

GPT-4 sign on website displayed on a laptop screen and OpenAI logo displayed on a phone screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Poland on March 14, 2023. Aleph Alpha, a German startup taking on Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence firm OpenAI, said Monday it had raised $500 million in a funding round backed by the likes of Bosch, SAP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The company, which has built its own large language models, raised the fresh cash in a series B round, the company's second major funding round. It is an unusually large sum of cash for a series B investment round. Aleph Alpha will use the fresh funds to invest in research on foundation models, advanced product capabilities and commercialization of its software, the company said in a statement Monday.

Persons: Alpha, Jonas Andrulis Organizations: Microsoft, Bosch, SAP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Schwarz Group, Christ & Company Consulting, Artificial Intelligence, Investments, Aleph, Alpha Locations: Poland

☆ German antitrust head warns AI may boost Big Tech's dominance
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Hakan Ersen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and Microsoft (MSFT.O) have recently become rivals in artificial intelligence (AI), with the latter investing heavily in OpenAI and the former building the Bard AI chatbot among other investments. The surge in AI popularity has prompted governments around the world to try to impose rules on the use of the technology, with the European Union in a race to adopt its landmark AI rules by the end of the year. "The danger is very great because you need two things above all for AI, powerful servers and vast amounts of data. Mundt said the field was still open to competition but regulators need to ensure it remains so. "Both developments are possible, and as an authority we have to be careful that any competitive potential is not buried from the outset."

Persons: Andreas Mundt, Wolfgang Rattay, Mundt, Foo Yun, Mark Potter Organizations: Federal, Office, REUTERS, Alpha, Big, Google, Microsoft, European Union, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bonn, Germany, FRANKFURT, OpenAI

☆ Adtech firm Aleph withdraws IPO filing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 18 (Reuters) - Aleph Group Inc said on Tuesday it had filed to withdraw its IPO plans, citing "public interest and the protection of investors," more than a year after the digital advertising firm submitted paperwork to go public. Emerging markets-focused Aleph, which helps large digital platforms connect with advertisers and customers, counts Meta Platforms (META.O), Spotify Technology (SPOT.N) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O)-owned LinkedIn among its customers. Founded in 2005 as IMS Internet Media Services, Aleph was valued at $2 billion in 2021 after private equity firm CVC Capital Partners bought a stake worth $470 million. U.S. initial public offerings have seen a recent spurt after more than a year of lull as hefty interest rate hikes and worries of a recession dented investor appetite for new listings. Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Mehnaz Yasmin, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Spotify Technology, Microsoft Corp, IMS Internet Media, Capital Partners, U.S, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Is lab-grown meat kosher or halal? Can religious vegetarians eat it? It’s complicated
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

But first, the practical perspective: Neither company has yet had its US-approved cultivated chicken product certified as halal or kosher. Religious and ethical vegetariansBecause cell-cultured meat is developed from animal cells, it’s not considered vegetarian by Upside Foods or Good Meat. But people who don’t eat meat for animal welfare or environmental reasons may want to give cultivated meat a try. In this case, the question of whether cultivated meat is considered meat, from a religious perspective, is significant. For cultivated meat to be considered kosher, it “would require that it came from a kosher slaughtered animal.” Chicken that is grown from cells taken from a kosher, unfertilized egg would be considered kosher, he said.

Persons: it’s, Mat McDermott, ”, McDermott, Hare Krishnas, Lord Krishna, Anuttama Dasa, Mohammad Hussaini, Hussaini, kashrut, Menachem Genack, ” Genack, David Lau, Didier Toubia, Toubia, “, There’s Organizations: New, New York CNN, USDA, Inc, Foods, Hindu American Foundation, ISKCON, International Society, Krishna, American Halal Foundation, OU, CNN Locations: New York, United States, Israel, Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia

☆ Aleph Alpha CEO on AI regulation, competition, and investments
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAleph Alpha CEO on AI regulation, competition, and investmentsJonas Andrulis, Aleph Alpha Founder and CEO, discusses the outlook for artificial intelligence amid ongoing calls for regulation.

Persons: Jonas Andrulis Organizations: Aleph Alpha, Alpha

☆ 'Real' meat maker Cargill may emerge big winner in plant-based food as buzzy startup boom fades
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Bob Woods | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Additionally, Cargill began marketing several plant-based protein ingredients, made from soy, pea and wheat, to food and beverage manufacturers worldwide. What to expect for plant-based meat in next decade Cargill's calculated approach to plant-based meats coincides with the nascent industry's trajectory. And then there's the consumer's appetite to pay a premium price for plant-based meat. So Cargill's biggest competition will be the established plant-based meat companies, like Beyond and Impossible, he said. The future of plant-based meat might be analogous to the ongoing transition to electric vehicles.

Persons: Florian Schattenmann, Cargill Cargill, Cargill, Schattenmann, it's, John Baumgartner, Baumgartner, Caroline Bushnell, Bushnell, that's, Seth Goldstein, Goldstein, Tyson's Organizations: Cargill, Foods, Tyson Foods, Hormel Foods, Smithfield Foods, Cargill Inc, The, Bloomberg, Getty, Foods Cargill, Mizuho Securities USA, Good Food Institute, Cubiq Foods, FDA, North, Food and Drug Administration, Morningstar Research Services, Nielsen, annualized Nielsen, Nestle, Tesla, tiptoed, Ford, GM, Hyundai, Volkswagen Locations: U.S, Minneapolis, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Spanish, Berkeley , California, Puris, North American, Netherlands, Bflike, Belgian, North America

☆ The FOMO is real for venture capitalists paying big premiums to invest in AI startups right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Investors plowed about $25 billion into AI companies in the first three months of 2023. Other US generative AI startups including Adept, Inflection AI, Pinecone and Runway have all raised major rounds in the last few months. AI is minting unicorn-valued companies even in the tech downturnFunding into AI startups was down slightly for the full-year in 2022, matching a broader downturn in tech funding. And VC funding to generative AI startups specifically, many of which are very early-stage businesses, topped $1.7 billion in Q1 2023, per Pitchbook. "No one wants to invest in AI that's going to wipe out humanity," said AlbionVC's Grimm.

Persons: Warren Buffett, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Imran Ghory, Meta, Little, ChatGPT, David Grimm, Nathan Benaich, Benaich, VCs, Geoffrey Hinton, AlbionVC's Grimm Organizations: Blossom, Google, Facebook, Air Street Capital, Investors, EU, Stanford University, Venture Locations: OpenAI, London, Europe, French

An official in Netanyahu's office played down concerns, saying: "The prime minister along with the finance minister intend to pass a responsible budget in the coming weeks that will serve all Israelis. "The finance clerks don't understand Haredim," ultra-Orthodox lawmaker Yizhak Pindrus told Kan radio. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the funds would fix years of injustice toward the Haredim, whose children often are packed into derelict classrooms. Government figures already forecast Israel's economic growth will ease in 2023 from 6.5% in 2022 to about 2.7% and down from the 3% forecast in January. "Netanyahu has sold Israel's economy and our children's future in order to stay in power," said opposition leader Yair Lapid.

☆ Our team lip-synced Frozen's 'Let It Go' during a Zoom offsite. It was incredibly awkward but became our best team-building moment.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Robin Madell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

CMO Elyse Estrada organized a virtual offsite to help her team build camaraderie and have fun. Their best team-building moment was a group lip-sync performance to "Let It Go" from the movie "Frozen." Estrada says it started off awkward, but the activity helped bring more clarity to the team. In the fourth quarter of 2022, I worked with a small group from my team to organize a two-day virtual offsite team-building experience. One experience in team-building was surprisingly the highlightWe selected four people from the team to organize the event.

☆ Microsoft's $13 billion bet on OpenAI carries huge potential along with plenty of uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Microsoft's cumulative investment in OpenAI has reportedly swelled to $13 billion and the startup's valuation has hit roughly $29 billion. What does that mean for Microsoft's investment and broader arrangement? The structure changed in 2019, when two top executives published a blog post announcing the formation of a "capped-profit" entity called OpenAI LP. Microsoft has an exclusive license on GPT-4 and all other OpenAI models, the OpenAI spokesperson said. When considering potential exits for OpenAI, Microsoft — which does not hold an OpenAI board seat — would be the natural acquirer given its close entanglement.

☆ AI is so hot that top-tier funds are fighting to back tiny seed-stage startup ElevenLabs at valuation of around $100 million, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A16z is among a raft of top-tier funds battling to invest in a tiny British AI startup, sources say. London-based ElevenLabs closed a $2 million pre-seed round two months ago but is set to raise again. The deal is testament to the hype that surrounds AI startups following the release of ChatGPT last year. Andreessen Horowitz is among a raft of top-tier investors fighting to lead a round into a tiny AI startup that will value it at around $100 million as investor hype around the technology intensifies, sources say. Now, the startup is set to raise new funds again, in part due to its rapid growth in revenue, three London-based investors said.

Search resuls for: "Aleph"

25 mentions found