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[1/2] Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoJuly 14 (Reuters) - Elon Musk on Friday said the purpose of his new artificial intelligence company, xAI, will be to "understand the universe." During the Spaces session, which had a delayed start as Twitter needed to "tweak the algorithm" to promote the chat to more users, Musk said xAI would work closely with his other companies, Twitter and Tesla (TSLA.O). The company will use public tweets to train its AI models and may also work with Tesla on AI software. He also accused all AI companies of training their models using Twitter data in what he characterized as an illegal manner.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Elon Musk, Musk, xAI, AGI, Tesla, Sheila Dang, Krystal Hu, Jonathan Oatis, Josie Kao, Diane Craft Organizations: Elon, Twitter, REUTERS, Google, Microsoft, White, Thomson Locations: xAI, China, Dallas, New York

☆ Open-source AI model creator Nomic raises $17 million led by Coatue
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 13 (Reuters) - AI startup Nomic has raised $17 million in a new funding round from investors led by Coatue, the companies told Reuters. The investment valued New York-based Nomic AI, a team of four at the time, at $100 million, showing continued interest from VCs to bet on small teams building popular AI products. Founded in 2022, Nomic has released two products to date, including an open-source AI model, GPT4ALL, which is free to download and could run on devices such as a laptop. Nomic said its goal is to boost the visibility of datasets in model training, and democratize access to AI models. Coatue has made a series investment in open-source AI startups, including Stability AI, Hugging Face and Replit.

Persons: Coatue, Nomic, Andriy Mulyar, GPT, Viswanath, Krystal Hu, Lincoln Organizations: Reuters, Betaworks Ventures, Google, Thomson Locations: York, New York

July 12 (Reuters) - Investment firm Wellington Management is in talks to lead a new funding round for Skims, which could value the underwear clothing company owned by Kim Kardashian at about $4 billion valuation, according to people familiar with the matter. Skims and Wellington did not respond to comment requests. Women's Wear Daily reported on the Skims funding round earlier on Wednesday without naming Wellington. Other investors included D1 Capital Partners, as well as existing investors Thrive Capital, Imaginary Ventures and Alliance Consumer Growth. Kardashian is also actively raising funds for her new private equity firm SKKY Partners, which focuses on consumer and media investments.

Persons: Kim Kardashian, Skims, Kardashian, Carlyle, Jay Sammons, Abigail Summerville, Krystal Hu, Diane Craft Organizations: Investment, Wellington Management, Wellington, Lone Pine Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Imaginary Ventures, Alliance Consumer, SKKY Partners, Thomson Locations: Wellington, Boston, Lone, New York, Austin

☆ Exclusive: TikTok parent ByteDance to allow US staff to cash out on shares-sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Echo Wang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ByteDance will now allow restricted shares held by U.S. employees to vest as long as sufficient time has passed, the sources said. Once vested, the shares can be exchanged by the employees for cash in one of ByteDance's stock buyback programs. A ByteDance spokesperson confirmed that the company has changed its share vesting rules but declined to comment on the details. The move applies to ByteDance's U.S. employees, which include about 7,000 TikTok employees. While it has so far been spared a contemplated federal ban, TikTok faces a block in Montana, which it is challenging.

Persons: Echo Wang, Krystal Hu, Greg Roumeliotis, Anna Driver Organizations: YORK, U.S, Employees, Thomson Locations: Montana, New York

July 11 (Reuters) - Sapphire Ventures plans to invest over $1 billion in AI enterprise startups, doubling down on the technology's adoption by companies across the world, its president Jai Das said at the Reuters MOMENTUM conference in Austin on Tuesday. The $1 billion in capital will come from Sapphire's existing funds, which have $10 billion under management and about $3 billion waiting to the deployed. The majority will be a direct investment in AI startups, while some capital will also go to early-stage AI-focused venture funds through its limited partner fund. Over $40 billion has been invested into AI startups in the past six months, accounting for nearly a quarter of overall startup funding, according to PitchBook data. With headquarters in Austin, Texas, Sapphire has invested in AI-powered enterprise startups including Clari and DataRobot.

Persons: Jai Das, it's, Sapphire, Das, Krystal Hu, David Evans, Deepa Babington Organizations: Sapphire Ventures, Thomson Locations: Austin, Austin , Texas

☆ China extends some policies to support its troubled property market
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —China has extended some policies to bolster its ailing property market, as the country struggles to reignite economic growth. Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie Group, wrote in a research note that the extension of policies on two types of loans were meant to encourage commercial banks to increase their exposure to the property sector. “[This] move will help restore confidence and bring much-needed liquidity into the property supply chain, with beneficial effects on short-term confidence,” he said. The property market is still in the midst of a historic downturn. To bolster growth, the People’s Bank of China cut its main benchmark lending rates in June for the first time in 10 months.

Persons: Larry Hu, ”, ” Stephen Innes Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, National Financial Regulatory Administration, Macquarie Group, Management, Beijing, People’s Bank of China Locations: Hong Kong, China, China’s

☆ Yellen's latest trip helps set a new normal for the U.S.-China relationship
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Cabinet member to visit China in a month, setting the stage for more high-level communication between the two countries. In coming days, John Kerry, special presidential envoy for climate, also plans to visit China, he told the The New York Times. She said she told her Chinese counterparts that any curbs on U.S. outbound investments would be "very narrowly targeted." Yellen's visit this past Thursday to Sunday came about three weeks after Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. He also leads China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation efforts, according to a state media report that described his meeting with Yellen as "constructive."

Persons: Li Qiang, Janet Yellen, Mark Schiefelbein, John Kerry, Antony Blinken, Yifan Hu, Yellen, Blinken, Xi Jinping, Scott Kennedy Organizations: U.S, Treasury, of, People, Afp, Getty, U.S . Cabinet, New York Times, CNBC, Asia Pacific, UBS Global Wealth Management, Ministry of Finance, Commerce Ministry, CBS, Scott Kennedy Center for Strategic, International Locations: Beijing, BEIJING, U.S, China, Asia

☆ China's factory gate prices fall at fastest pace in 7 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING, July 10 (Reuters) - China's factory-gate prices fell at the fastest pace in seven-and-a-half years in June, while consumer inflation was at its slowest since 2021, adding to the case for policymakers to use more stimulus to revive sluggish demand. The consumer price index (CPI) was unchanged year-on-year, compared with the 0.2% gain seen in May, driven by a faster fall in pork prices. Beijing has set a target for average consumer inflation in 2023 of about 3%. China last month cut policy rates to boost liquidity and vowed to take measures to promote household consumption. Reuters GraphicsFor producer prices, the biggest year-on-year declines were seen in energy, metals and chemicals as domestic and foreign demand weakened.

Persons: Bruce Pang, Jones Lang Lasalle, Pang, Hu Yuexiao, COVID, Liangping Gao, Ella Cao, Ryan Woo, Sam Holmes Organizations: National Bureau of Statistics, Capital Economics, Reuters Graphics, PPI, Jones, Shanghai Securities, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Beijing, China

☆ The huge blob of seaweed headed for Florida has shrunk by 75%
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Florida vacations are back on, sans stinky seaweed. In April, the seaweed set a record, with scientists identifying 3 million tons of sargassum in the Caribbean Sea. The sargassum that lands on Florida beaches originates in the Gulf of Mexico and the western Caribbean, Hu went on. Small amounts of the seaweed may still land on Florida beaches, but not in large enough quantities to present a problem, according to Hu. But while Florida enjoys clean beaches, in the eastern Caribbean, “they’ll still see a lot of sargassum,” Hu noted.

Persons: Chuanmin Hu, ”, Hu, “ they’ll, ” Hu, Sargassum, sargassum Organizations: CNN, University of South, Oceanography, Florida beachgoers, Sunshine, Optical Oceanography, Central West Atlantic Locations: Florida, Gulf, Mexico, West Africa, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Straits, University of South Florida, of Mexico, Lesser, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico

SAN FRANCISCO, July 8 (Reuters) - Venture capital firm Headline used to be in one of San Francisco's most eye-catching skyscrapers: the pyramidal Transamerica building that has defined the skyline for decades. Venture capital firms are increasingly joining retailers and other businesses in finding homes outside downtown San Francisco. [1/5]People enjoy the afternoon in Presidio, a former military base-turned-national park in San Francisco California, U.S., July 7, 2023. They're actually really excited," said Eurie Kim, whose venture firm Forerunner left downtown for the Presidio in early 2022. "Mayor Breed continues to implement strategic initiatives to help stabilize existing businesses and recruit new ones as part of her Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco's Future plan.

Persons: Mathias Schilling, Schilling, Rex Salisbury, Carlos Barria, They're, Eurie Kim, CBRE, Lisa Petrie, Jon Rehagen, Molly Martell, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Breed, Colin Yasukochi, Krystal Hu, Peter Henderson, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: FRANCISCO, Venture, Employees, Presidio, Westfield, San, Felicis Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Letterman, Cambrian Venture, San Francisco Bay Area, REUTERS, Presidio Trust, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Family Museum, Catalyst, Brand, San Francisco Mayor London, Downtown San, CBRE's Tech, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, Presidio, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco's, There's, Sand, Silicon Valley, South, downtown San Francisco, San Francisco California, U.S, Marin, San Francisco ., South Park, Downtown

☆ Turning New York’s Stately Public Library Into a Place ‘to Hang Out In’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Winnie Hu | More About Winnie Hu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The palatial Beaux-Arts library on Fifth Avenue guarded by a pair of stone lions was not where Farrah Denson wanted to be when she was a teenager growing up on the Upper West Side. She felt like she had to be on her best behavior and not touch anything. And she dreaded climbing all the steps to the main entrance. “I felt like I was going to a courthouse,” said Ms. Denson, now 34, who lives in Jersey City. “It wasn’t a place you’d want to hang out in.”Today, the New York Public Library’s celebrated research library — officially known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman building — is still as imposing as ever, set in its elegant lot in the middle of the skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan, but it has become a far more welcoming place.

Persons: Farrah Denson, “, ”, Denson, Stephen A Organizations: New York Public Locations: Jersey City, ”, Midtown Manhattan

☆ Good News, Florida. The Giant Seaweed Blob Has Shrunk.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Livia Albeck-Ripka | More About Livia Albeck-Ripka | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For months, Florida’s usually picturesque coast was plagued by a rotting tangle of seaweed, known as sargassum. Scientists said they had expected the sargassum in the Gulf of Mexico to wane eventually — but not so fast, or by so much. “That is a surprise,” said Chuanmin Hu, a professor of oceanography at the University of South Florida, noting that there was still “a lot of sargassum” in the Tropical Atlantic. “The good news is the sargassum season for Florida is very likely over for this year. Last month, the amount of sargassum in the Gulf of Mexico dropped by a staggering 75 percent, Dr. Hu and colleagues at the University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Lab noted in a bulletin published last week.

Persons: Beachgoers, ”, Chuanmin Hu, it’s, . Hu Organizations: University of South, Oceanography Locations: Gulf, Mexico, University of South Florida, Florida, Eastern Caribbean

July 6 (Reuters) - Global tech investor Insight Partners has raised $118 million in its second 20/20 Vision Capital fund that aims to invest in venture capital funds led by diverse managers, the firm told Reuters. This new fund expands a strategy Insights first started in 2020, after its own employees pledged $15 million of their personal capital to diverse early-stage fund managers. The environment is especially challenging for first-time fund managers. Funds including Ansa Capital Management, Hannah Grey Ventures, and Wischoff Ventures have already received backing from the Vision Capital II. Richard Wells, Managing Director at Insight Partners, said it's too early to measure fund I returns, as seed investment is a long-term game.

Persons: Dionne Chingkoe, Hannah Grey, Richard Wells, it's, Wells, Krystal Hu, Chizu Organizations: Global, Partners, Vision Capital, Reuters, Vision, Insight Partners, Investment Management Board, Pennsylvania Public School, New, The, Ansa Capital Management, Hannah Grey Ventures, Wischoff Ventures, ”, Thomson Locations: Massachusetts, New York, The U.S

Investors poured more than $40 billion into AI startups in the past six months, the data showed. That includes a $10 billion investment by Microsoft (MSFT.O) in OpenAI and $1.3 billion in funding for rival Inflection AI. "I haven't written any checks in the past 18 months," said Kevin Colleran, a co-founder at early-stage firm Slow Ventures. PitchBook said large investors weren't actively participating in venture funding and outsized deals that had pushed deal values to records were no longer happening. Venture capital funding globally hit an annual record of $745.1 billion in 2021.

Persons: PitchBook, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Kevin Colleran, weren't, Mary D'Onofrio, Krystal Hu, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Venture, Investors, Microsoft, Slow Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Thomson Locations: OpenAI, America, U.S, Europe, New York

July 5 (Reuters) - ChatGPT, the wildly popular AI chatbot launched in November, saw monthly traffic to its website and unique visitors decline for the first time ever in June, according to analytics firm Similarweb. Worldwide desktop and mobile traffic to the ChatGPT website decreased by 9.7% in June from May, while unique visitors to ChatGPT’s website dropped 5.7%. ChatGPT set off a frenzied use of generative AI in daily tasks from writing to coding and reached 100 million monthly active users in January, two months after its launch. OpenAI also released the ChatGPT app on the iOS system in May, which could sap some traffic from its website. ChatGPT is free to use but also provides a premium subscription, where users can pay $20 a month to access OpenAI's more advanced model, GPT-4.

Persons: chatbot, OpenAI, ChatGPT, Bing, Bard chatbot, Sam Altman, Krystal Hu, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Microsoft, Thomson Locations: OpenAI, YipitData, New York

July 5 (Reuters) - ChatGPT, the wildly popular AI chatbot launched in November, saw monthly traffic to its website and unique visitors decline for the first time ever in June, according to analytics firm Similarweb. Worldwide desktop and mobile traffic to the ChatGPT website decreased by 9.7% in June from May, while unique visitors to ChatGPT’s website dropped 5.7%. The amount of time visitors spent on the website was also down 8.5%, Similarweb data shows. "I think there are growing pains when you go from zero to 100 million users that quickly. OpenAI also released the ChatGPT app on the iOS system in May, which could sap some traffic from its website.

Persons: chatbot, OpenAI, ChatGPT, Bing, Bard chatbot, Sarah Hindlian, Bowler, Sam Altman, Krystal Hu, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Microsoft, Technology Research, Macquarie, Thomson Locations: OpenAI, YipitData, New York

☆ Exclusive: Video-sharing website BitChute seeks to raise $10 million in new funding round
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Helen Coster | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I’m not really raising the money just because we need the money," Wernick said in an interview. Wernick said BitChute was pursuing a combination of high net-worth individuals and venture capital funds. He has an equity stake in BitChute and is also an investor in Parler, Gab, Airbnb (ABNB.O) and Uber (UBER.N). Its investor presentation said BitChute had 218 million unique visitors in 2022, down 15.8% from 2021, with a projection of 247 million unique visitors this year. Their longer-term goal is to “decentralize” BitChute, so that it is blockchain-based and users can decide whether to have content moderation.

Persons: Jeffrey Wernick, I’m, Wernick, BitChute, Patrick Dai, Matthew Branton, cofounders Ray Vahey, Rich Jones, ’, Helen Coster, Krystal Hu, Jane Merriman Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Inc, YouTube, Thomson Locations: BitChute, Parler, New York

Paris, France CNN —Fires raged across protest sites in France and nearly 1,000 people were detained as violent demonstrations over the killing of a 17-year-old shot by police entered a fourth night. France’s Interior Ministry said Saturday 994 people had been detained following the fourth night of violence. Seventy-nine police and gendarmes were injured over Friday night and there had been 58 attacks on police and gendarme stations, it added. It also shared video showing damage to the Alcazar library in Marseille which it said had been vandalized during the night. “The situation is worrisome with the violent riots that have been ongoing in mainland France for several days.

Persons: geolocated, Gerald Darmanin, BFMTV, Darmanin, Benoit Payan, ”, Pascal Prache, Alexis Jumeau, Nahel, Éric Dupond, Moretti, Elysée Organizations: France CNN —, CNN, BFMTV, Marseille, TF1, French Locations: Paris, France, Lyon, Old, Marseille, Alcazar, “, Nanterre, Cayenne, French Guiana, ”

☆ Public Package Lockers Are Coming to New York City’s Sidewalks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Winnie Hu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

New Yorkers who do not have a doorman or friendly neighbor to sign for their package deliveries will soon have a new option: sidewalk lockers for the public. The electronic lockers, which city officials announced on Friday, will be free to use 24 hours a day. The lockers will be monitored by surveillance cameras to deter theft. Starting this summer, the so-called smart lockers will be placed at 15 sites around the city that have not been finalized. GoLocker, a New York City company, will install and operate the units under a one-year pilot program overseen by the Department of Transportation.

Organizations: Department of Transportation Locations: New York City

☆ AI company Runway valued at $1.5 bln in latest funding -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 29 (Reuters) - AI company Runway has been valued at $1.5 billion in its latest round of funding, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday, after it raised $141 million from investors, including Alphabet-owned Google (GOOGL.O) and Nvidia (NVDA.O). The extension to the Series C funding round was also led by Salesforce Ventures and existing investors, the company said in a statement. Runway's software allows users to transform or tweak existing videos or create new videos by using text prompts or images. The company also launched a mobile app earlier this year, giving its users access to its generative AI tools. Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu in Toronto; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Jaiveer Singh, Krystal Hu, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Runway, Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, Toronto

☆ AI company Runway valued at $1.5 billion in latest funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 29 (Reuters) - AI company Runway has been valued at $1.5 billion in its latest round of funding, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday, after it raised $141 million from investors, including Alphabet-owned Google (GOOGL.O) and Nvidia (NVDA.O). The extension to the Series C funding round also included Salesforce Ventures and Runway's existing investors, the company said in a statement. Runway's software allows users to transform or tweak existing videos or create new videos by using text prompts or images. The company also launched a mobile app earlier this year, giving its users access to its generative AI tools. Earlier in the day, another AI startup Inflection raised $1.3 billion from Microsoft at a valuation of $4 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Jaiveer Singh, Krystal Hu, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Runway, Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, Microsoft, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, Toronto

June 29 (Reuters) - Typeface, a generative AI platform for enterprise content creation, said on Thursday that it was valued at $1 billion after an oversubscribed Series B funding round led by Salesforce's (CRM.N) global investment arm, bringing the total capital raised to $165 million. The $100 million round also saw participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Madrona, GV (Google Ventures), Menlo Ventures, and M12, Microsoft's Venture Fund, the company said. In February, Lightspeed Venture Partners, GV, Menlo Ventures, and M12 invested $65 million when Typeface emerged from stealth and launched publicly. AI startups have emerged as a bright spot for investments this year amid a wider slowdown in funding caused by rising interest rates and high inflation. Editing by Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Salesforce's, Gokul, Krystal Hu, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Lightspeed Venture Partners, GV, Google Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Microsoft's Venture Fund, Google, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, Toronto

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoJune 29 (Reuters) - Inflection AI, a startup backed by several Silicon Valley heavyweights, said on Thursday it had raised $1.3 billion from investors including Microsoft and Nvidia, amid a boom in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. Inflection released its chatbot Pi last month. Pi uses generative AI technology, similar to ChatGPT, to interact with users through dialogues, allowing people to ask questions and share feedback. Palo Alto, California-based Inflection AI has about 35 employees. Nvidia (NVDA.O), which has stepped up its AI investments recently, Hoffman, Bill Gates and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt also participated in the latest round, Inflection said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Google DeepMind, Mustafa Suleyman, Reid Hoffman, Pi, Suleyman, OpenAI, Hoffman, Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, Niket, Krystal Hu, Vinay Dwivedi, Conor Humphries Organizations: REUTERS, Microsoft, Nvidia, Google, LinkedIn, Collision, Thomson Locations: Alto , California, Greylock, Bengaluru, Toronto

June 27 (Reuters) - Reka, an AI model startup founded by former researchers from Alphabet's DeepMind (GOOGL.O), has raised $50 million in a fresh round of funding from investors including Yuri Milner's DST Global Partners and Snowflake (SNOW.N), the companies told Reuters. Reka focuses on building large and specialized AI models for enterprise customers. Snowflake, which invested in the company, also announced a partnership to allow users to run third-party model providers like Reka within their Snowflake account. The partnerships came as Snowflake competitor Databricks acquired AI model training company MosacicML in a $1.3 billion deal on Monday. Yogatama said Reka has built both large models and proprietary model distillation technology to personalize models for specific use cases.

Persons: Alphabet's, Yuri Milner's, Christian Kleinerman, Databricks, Dani Yogatama, Yogatama, Rob Toews, Krystal Hu, Mark Potter, Anna Driver Organizations: Global Partners, Reuters, Nvidia, Radical Ventures, Thomson Locations: Snowflake, Reka, Toronto

June 27 (Reuters) - Reka, an AI model startup founded by former researchers from Alphabet's DeepMind (GOOGL.O), has raised $50 million in a fresh round of funding from investors including Yuri Milner's DST Global and Snowflake (SNOW.N), the companies told Reuters. Reka focuses on building large and specialized AI models for enterprise customers. Snowflake, which invested in the company, also announced a partnership to allow users to run third-party model providers like Reka within their Snowflake account. The partnerships came as Snowflake competitor Databricks acquired AI model training company MosacicML in a $1.3 billion deal on Monday. Yogatama said Reka differentiated by building both large models and proprietary model distillation technology to downsize models for specific use cases.

Persons: Alphabet's, Yuri Milner's, Christian Kleinerman, Databricks, Dani Yogatama, Yogatama, Rob Toews, Krystal Hu, Mark Potter Organizations: Yuri Milner's DST, Reuters, Nvidia, Radical Ventures, Thomson Locations: Reka, Toronto

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