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☆ How an 'AI sabbatical' helped accounting startup Klarity turbocharge its business
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-25 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"We just gutted our product and rebuilt it using generative AI." 'The rules of physics have changed'Even before its sabbatical, Klarity was well-versed in natural language processing and computer vision. Nadhamuni gave a talk on generative AI, its history, and the latest breakthroughs in the technology. If the new tech could do those five things, they would rebuild the core of Klarity's platform using generative AI. Nadhamuni also wrote a playbook on how to run a generative AI sabbatical that's available on Tola Capital's blog.

Persons: —, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Nischal Nadhamuni, Nadhamuni, Klarity, Friedman, Gross, Aaron Fleishman, Fleishman, OpenAI, Miro, Tola Organizations: Service, Business, MIT, Venture Partners, Tola, Picus, Invus, Engineers

☆ 2 investment areas in AI that people will be 'very bullish' on in the future, according to a VC
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-26 | by ( Jaures Yip | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewWith the AI arms race underway and a host of industries investing in the technology, Lux Capital venture capitalist Josh Wolfe identified the areas he's particularly keen on. AI in biology"AI into biology is really interesting because most computer scientists underappreciate how hard biology is," he said. "Biology is really complex — it is not linear, it is not 'programmable biology' the way many people think." AI in roboticsWhile "robots" typically invoke images of futuristic humanoid tech like Elon Musk's Optimus, Wolfe said he thinks "humanoid robots are not going to be the way." Although Wolfe thinks humanoid robots will attract money for their intrigue, he said that robots mimicking human capabilities are "really inferior to what robots can do."

Persons: —, Josh Wolfe, Logan Bartlett, Wolfe, Meta, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, ESM3, Elon, Optimus Organizations: Service, Lux Capital, Business, Meta, Amazon Web Services, AWS

☆ The man who dared to revolt against Sam Altman at OpenAI just started a research lab promoting 'safe superintelligence'
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewOpenAI cofounder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever announced his new venture on Wednesday — a research lab committed to developing "safe superintelligence." "I am starting a new company," Sutskever said of his new project, Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI) in an X post. I am starting a new company: https://t.co/BG3K3SI3A1 — Ilya Sutskever (@ilyasut) June 19, 2024According to SSI's website, the lab has "one goal and one product: a safe superintelligence." AdvertisementRepresentatives for Safe Superintelligence and OpenAI didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours. Following Altman's return, Sutskever appeared to have been shut out of OpenAI, BI reported in December, citing people familiar with the situation.

Persons: —, Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, BG3K3SI3A1 — Ilya Sutskever, Daniel Gross, Daniel Levy, Ashlee Vance, Bloomberg's Vance, OpenAI didn't, Elon Musk, Sam Altman's, Altman, Altman's, OpenAI, splintering, Dario, Daniela Amodei Organizations: Service, Superintelligence Inc, Business, SSI, Apple, BI, OpenAI, Amazon, Google Locations: OpenAI

☆ He tried to oust OpenAI’s CEO. Now, he’s starting a ‘safe’ rival
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —The OpenAI co-founder who left the high-flying artificial intelligence startup last month has announced his next venture: a company dedicated to building safe, powerful artificial intelligence that could become a rival to his old employer. Ilya Sutskever announced plans for the new company, aptly named Safe Superintelligence Inc., in a post on X Wednesday. Sutskever then worked on Google’s AI research team, before helping to found what would become the maker of ChatGPT. It’s also not clear exactly what the new company thinks of as “safety” in the context of highly powerful artificial intelligence technology. “By safe, we mean safe like nuclear safety as opposed to safe as in ‘trust and safety,’” Sutskever told Bloomberg in an interview published Tuesday.

Persons: Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, Geoffrey Hinton, Sam Altman, Altman, Kara Swisher, ”, It’s, ” Sutskever, OpenAI, Jan Leike, Daniel Levy, Daniel Gross Organizations: New, New York CNN, Superintelligence Inc, SSI, Google, CNN, Bloomberg, Apple Locations: New York, OpenAI, “, Palo Alto , California, Tel Aviv, Israel

Ilya Sutskever, Russian Israeli-Canadian computer scientist and co-founder and chief scientist of OpenAI, speaks at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, June 5, 2023. OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who left the artificial intelligence startup last month, introduced his new AI company, which he's calling Safe Superintelligence, or SSI. "I am starting a new company," Sutskever wrote on X on Wednesday. Altman and Sutskever, along with other directors, clashed over the guardrails OpenAI had put in place in the pursuit of advanced AI. "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions," Sutskever wrote in a post on X on Nov. 20.

Persons: Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI, Sutskever, Jan Leike, OpenAI's, Leike, Daniel Gross, Daniel Levy, Sam Altman, Altman, we've Organizations: Tel Aviv University, SSI, Microsoft, Apple Locations: Russian Israeli, Canadian, Tel Aviv, Palo Alto , California

Analyst Ronald Epstein downgraded the electronics maker to underperform from neutral and slashed $15 off his price target to $150. Analyst Rupesh Parikh reiterated his outperform rating on the wholesaler, while lifting his price target by $45 to $850. Analyst Tal Liani reiterated his buy rating on the software stock and price target of $315. Analyst Gabriela Borges upgraded the retail software stock to buy from neutral and raised her price target by $7 to $74. He also slapped a $42 price target on the stock, implying upside of nearly 17%.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Piper Sandler, Kraft Heinz, Ronald Epstein, Epstein, — Alex Harring, Oppenheimer, Rupesh Parikh, Parikh, Alex Harring, Daniel Grosslight, Grosslight, HIMS, he's, Tal Liani, Liani, CORA, it's, Morgan Stanley, Josh Baer, Baer, Box's, there's, Goldman, Gabriela Borges, Borges, Shopify, Michael Lavery, Lavery, KHC, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Garmin Garmin, Bank of America, Garmin, Costco, Citi, Kraft, ~$ Locations: Tuesday's, Swiss, Shopify

☆ Supreme Court medication abortion case threatens ‘seismic shift’ in FDA drug approval process, experts warn
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Meg Tirrell | Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

If the Supreme Court agrees with the appeals court, the approval of mifepristone could be reset to where it stood before 2016, limiting telehealth access to medication abortion and reimplementing other restrictions. “Nevertheless, drug developers invest in new medicines because, if their investments succeed, FDA’s rigorous drug approvals and subsequent regulatory actions are sturdy enough to facilitate reliable returns. “And without necessary investment, drug development would freeze, stifling innovation and limiting treatment options for patients.”Of course, if the Supreme Court upholds the appeals court decision, the most immediate impact would be to mifepristone itself. “It is both my hope and my ‘bet’ that the court doesn’t uphold the 5th Circuit on the standing argument,” Cohen wrote. “But I have learned the Supreme Court is hard to predict much of the time.”

Persons: thalidomide, mifepristone that’s, ”, Daniel Grossman, ” Grossman, ” PhRMA, Glenn Cohen, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Cohen, ” Cohen Organizations: CNN, Food and Drug, Federal Food, FDA, US, University of California San, Reproductive, Guttmacher Institute, Circuit, Appeals, Pharmaceutical Research, Manufacturers of America, Harvard Law School, CNN Health Locations: Massengill, University of California San Francisco, Texas

☆ 3 students won $700,000 for using AI to translate 2 tweets worth of text from previously unreadable ancient scrolls
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Three students won the Vesuvius Challenge for uncovering text in the Herculaneum papyri. The students were awarded a $700,000 prize after using AI to uncover the passages. “This is the society from which the modern Western world is descended.”The Herculaneum papyri were buried thousands of years ago during the eruption of Mt. The Vesuvius Challenge hopes entrants will help uncover about 90% of the first four scrolls. AdvertisementThe founders of the Vesuvius Challenge hope they’ll be able to crack open and read the entirety of all 800 scrolls in the next few years.

Persons: —, Youssef Nader, Luke Farritor, Julian Schilliger, ” Nader, Julius Caesar’s, ” Robert Fowler, Salvatore Laporta, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Brent Seales —, Seales, uncracked, Philodemus, Friedman, …, fihs9ADb48 — Nat Friedman, they’ll Organizations: Service, Freie University, Wall Street, University of Nebraska, ETH Zurich, Villa, Herculaneum Society, Bloomberg Locations: Berlin, Switzerland, Vesuvius, Italian, Herculaneum

☆ AI voice cloning startup ElevenLabs confirms $1.1 billion valuation after it closes third funding round in year
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewElevenLabs, an early-stage AI startup that has captured the attention of some of the world's biggest investors, has raised its third funding round in a year. The Series B round values the business at over $1 billion, confirming Business Insider's earlier reporting from November. ElevenLabs last raised a funding round in June, when it tapped up investors for $19 million at a $100 million valuation. It has also released a new AI Speech Classifier tool, which lets anyone detect if an uploaded sample contains AI-generated audio from ElevenLabs. ElevenLabs now aims to expand its Classifier tool to other AI voice models in the coming year.

Persons: —, ElevenLabs, Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman, Uber, Daniel Gross, Piotr Dabkowski, Mati Staniszewski Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Github Locations: London, New York, Sequoia

☆ OpenAI is paying out $51 million to a chip startup that Sam Altman personally invested in, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

OpenAI agreed to pay startup company Rain AI $51 million for when its chips are released, per Wired. OpenAI chief Sam Altman reportedly invested $1 million of his own money in the company. Saudi Aramco's VC firm Prosperity7 also invested but sold its sell shares, Bloomberg reported. AdvertisementOpenAI signed a letter of intent to spend $51 million on chip startup Rain AI, Wired reported. Saudi Aramco's investment vehicle Prosperity7 led a funding round last year that saw Rain raise $25 million , Bloomberg recently reported.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Prosperity7, —, Gordon Wilson, Wilson, Daniel Gross, Altman, Joe Biden's, didn't Organizations: OpenAI, Saudi Aramco's VC, Bloomberg, Service, Wired, Foreign Investment, Business Locations: San Francisco, Saudi, United States

"It is hard to understand how the ECB ended up buying the bonds of property companies, while at the same time warning of the risks of property price inflation," former ECB chief economist Otmar Issing told Reuters. But data this week shows the central bank still owned the two bonds issued by SBB as of Nov. 24. While Sweden is not in the euro zone, SBB issued the debt bought by the ECB in neighbouring Finland, which is. Alongside the SBB bonds, the ECB also hoovered up the debt of other property companies which have since hit problems, including Sweden's Heimstaden. The ECB also gobbled up many German real estate bonds, including 39 issued by Vonovia, which has been selling property to cut debt.

Persons: Otmar Issing, Daniel Gros, Gros, Sweden's, Heimstaden, it's, Alexander Smith Organizations: SBB, European Central Bank, ECB, Reuters, Research, Institute, European, Bocconi University, Fitch, Vonovia, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Europe, Germany, Sweden, Milan, Swedish, Finland

☆ Voice cloning AI startup ElevenLabs was worth $100 million five months ago. Now, sources say it's about to hit $1 billion.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

ElevenLabs, a generative AI startup focused on voice, is in talks to raise capital in a deal that would catapult its valuation to $1 billion. It is unclear as yet whether Sequoia would invest alongside Andreessen Horowitz or if they are competing with one another. Five months on, the prospective new round will increase that valuation 10 times over to $1 billion, three sources said. ElevenLabs and Andreessen Horowitz did not respond to a request for comment. Bruce Reed, President Biden's AI chief, said that voice cloning "keeps me up at night," in an interview with Politico.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Joe Rogan, Emma Watson, Gizmodo, ElevenLabs, Sequoia, OpenAI's ChatGPT, FOMO, Mati Staniszewski, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Eric Adams, Adams, Bruce Reed, Biden's, Meta Organizations: Google, VC, Sequoia, Meta, Britain's Companies, Concept Ventures, New York City, White, Politico Locations: London, New York

casey newton[CHUCKLES]:: And it would be so funny if the AI actually already was deceptive and was just like, oh, yeah, Kevin, you’ve already figured us out. But I also think it’s part of this sort of undercurrent of the conversation, especially around AI right now. Marc Andreessen — he is clearly so angry at all of the people who criticize technology, technology companies, tech investors. And he is just really, really going after that crowd with this piece. brent sealesYou know I don’t really know.

Persons: kevin roose Casey, casey newton What’s, kevin roose, casey newton, hasn’t, kevin roose I’m, I’m, KEVIN, casey newton Yes, Kevin Roose, ” casey newton, Casey Newton, Marc Andreessen, Casey, we’ve, kevin roose Totally, Claude chatbot, Claude, Anthropic’s, chatbot, Anthropic hadn’t, Anthropic, Kevin, — they’re, roose, Meta, it’s, I’ve, Bard, casey newton It’s, there’s, you’ve, casey newton Yeah, didn’t, Kevin — I’m, it’ll, Kevin —, Andreessen Horowitz, Uncle Marc, ”, “ you’re, Tucker Carlson, Jesus Christ, casey newton Well, kevin roose Oh, he’s, McCarthy, —, Nick Land, casey newton Totally, You’re, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, It’s, Marc Andreessen —, they’re, Nietzschean supermen, Nietzschean, Marc, casey newton Heck, Andreessen, Marc Andreessen decries, Marc Andreessen’s, CASEY, kevin roose That’s, you’re, Nat Friedman, who’s, Daniel Gross, John, Patrick Collison, Toby Lutke, Shopify, Aaron Levie, Brent Seales, — casey newton, There’s, Luke Farritor, ” brent seales, brent seales, that’s, Seales, haters, brent seales That’s, you’ll, casey newton Yep, brent seales —, brent seales We’d, brent seales They’re, They’re, Luke, Brent, brent seales Pliny, Elder, Jesus, brent seales What’s, casey newton Right, we’re Organizations: YouTube, The New York Times, Facebook, Google, Intelligence, America, AIs, Stanford, Communist, Netscape, Fox News, Communist Party, Technology, Venture, Twitter, acc, kevin roose Venture, Companies, Meta, University of Kentucky, British Locations: ”, Anthropic, China, Florida, California, United States, Europe, Romanian, interpretability, Valley, America, Silicon, Silicon Valley, Vesuvius, Rome, Greece, Herculaneum, Venice, Roman

☆ A company that counts billionaires Marc Andreessen and Laurene Powell Jobs as investors says it's bought 50,000 acres of land to build a new 'walkable' city in northern California. Here's everything w
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

California Forever says it wants to build a "walkable" city with new jobs, surrounded by an agricultural greenbelt. The company, Flannery Associates, has been quiet until now, but its parent company California Forever just launched a new website detailing its master plan. Solano County sits between Sacramento, San Francisco, and Napa Valley, and has a population of around 450,000 across just over 900 square miles. Sramek founded California Forever in 2017 and recently bought a family home there. "Now that we're no longer limited by confidentiality, we are eager to begin a conversation about the future of Solano County," it says.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell Jobs, Flannery, Jan Sramek, he'd, Jan, Sramek, it's, Who's, Chris Dixon, John Doerr, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Reid Hoffman, Michael Moritz, Andreessen Horowitz, Patrick, John Collison Organizations: Goldman, Service, Flannery Associates, California Forever, Travis Air Force Base, California Forever's, California Delta, California Locations: San Francisco, California, Wall, Silicon, Solano County, Sacramento, Napa Valley, Solano, Fairfield, Rio Vista, walkable

☆ Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pills Are Coming. What Next? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Daniel Grossman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Like many of my colleagues, I’ve been holding my breath for the last year, since HRA Pharma, which manufactures Opill, submitted its application to the F.D.A. We now have hope that other advances could be coming to help offset restrictions on minors’ access to contraception and state-level abortion bans. under President George W. Bush approved Plan B for over-the-counter sale, but only for people 18 or older. Because of the age restriction, the product was shunted behind the pharmacy counter, where the consumer’s age could be confirmed. asked Plan B’s sponsor for additional data on people 17 and younger to show the product could be used safely and effectively by adolescents.

Persons: Roe, — Opill, I’ve, Opill, George W, Bush Organizations: Food and Drug Administration, HRA Pharma

☆ Hot AI startup ElevenLabs confirms it's raised $19 million from Andreessen Horowitz and GitHub's former CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AI company ElevenLabs has raised $19 million in fresh funding, confirming earlier Insider reporting. Year-old AI voice startup ElevenLabs has raised $19 million in early-stage funding, as venture capital investors rush to back firms in generative AI. Cofounder and CEO Mati Staniszewski previously told Insider that the startup saw huge potential in the publishing and audiobooks sector. Since launching its beta platform in January 2023, the startup says it has hit 1 million users and generated over 10 years of audio content. Credo Ventures and Concept Ventures, which backed the startup's $2 million pre-seed round, also joined the new round.

Persons: ElevenLabs, Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Mike Krieger, Mustafa Suleyman, Brendan Iribe, Mati Staniszewski, Staniszewski Organizations: Venture, Ventures, Concept Ventures Locations: London, New York

☆ Nvidia GPUs are so hard to get that rich venture capitalists are buying them for the startups they invest in
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Nvidia GPUs are essential for training the big models behind ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. That gives big tech companies an advantage over smaller startups. Nvidia GPUs are the water that feeds today's flourishing AI ecosystem. This is giving Big Tech companies another huge advantage over smaller upstarts. Many startups can't afford that, or they just can't get hold of the chips.

Persons: TSMC, OpenAI, Bing, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, That's, Friedman, Gross, Jack Clark Organizations: Nvidia, Big Tech, Microsoft, Google

☆ Texas judge's ruling to ban mifepristone nationwide cites Wikipedia, contains pro-life talking points, and gets basic facts about abortion wrong: Experts say it's 'completely flawed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"So many of the things in this ruling I would say are completely flawed," a researcher told Insider. But an OB-GYN told Insider the judge's interpretation of what the drug does is medically inaccurate. Mifepristone and misoprostol are used before we can even see an embryo on ultrasound," Grossman told Insider. Spreading such misinformation through an official judicial ruling, Biggs said, is "inappropriate, unethical, and jarring." It's definitely not going to help or prevent mental health harm or physical harm as it claims – it's going to do the opposite."

☆ Investor Brianne Kimmel is doubling down on AI with a new bootcamp and $20 million pledge to back hot, new startups in the space
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Worklife Ventures founder Brianne Kimmel is launching a bootcamp for AI startups. Her firm has pledged $20 million to invest in those AI companies that complete the bootcamp. As part of the AI bootcamp, her firm is committing $20 million to invest into companies that complete the program. "I grew up in northeast Ohio, and a lot of friends from my high school are using this technology," Kimmel said. Formerly a grant program, AI Grant now makes $250,000 investments in AI companies.

☆ Inside digital health's reckoning, where once-hot startups are suddenly scrambling for cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Blake Dodge | Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Analysts and CEOs told Insider more than half of healthcare startups will shut down by 2024. Healthcare startups looking to stay afloat have been laying off employees left and right. The online pharmacy Truepill burned through its cash as it struggled to fill prescriptions efficiently, two former employees told Insider. A spokesperson for Truepill told Insider in an email that the company's burn rate was in line with its projections. Courtesy NOCDWhile the broader economic pressures will hurt many startups that can't raise, it may help others, experts told Insider.

☆ 2 coders made a teleprompter AI that suggests smart things to say during your work meetings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two coders shared a demo of Tele-Prompt, an AI that generates things to say during work meetings. Tele-Prompt uses natural language processing to suggest sales advice and slogans meant to inspire. The company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI, announced the AI had attracted 1 million users five days after its launch. Coder Georgi Gerganov, for instance, revamped the Tele-Prompt so that the bot can run on an iPhone, according to a demo he tweeted. As technology continues to advance, Gross tweeted that AI language models are "a really interesting area of exploration."

☆ GoodRx is a buy that can surge 60% from here, Citi says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The sell-off in telemedicine name GoodRx is overdone, and now is a good time to buy the stock, according to Citi. "In our view, GDRX will continue to serve a vital role in bringing transparency/consumerism to a historically unshopable market," Grosslight wrote in a Wednesday note. In addition to its focus on generic retail prescription drugs, GoodRx has recently expanded into branded Rx spending as well. the recently announced ESI partnership for commercial members)," Grosslight wrote. "In our view, the market has been too punitive, effectively pricing in no terminal value," he added.

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