Several Chinese AI technology companies are expected to be added to the U.S. government's investment blacklist today. The companies — which include image-recognition firm Megvii and AI specialist Yitu Technology — are accused of being involved in human rights abuses against minority Uyghur Muslims in China's autonomous Xinjiang region. More: - The other firms are facial recognition provider CloudWalk Technology; supercomputer manufacturer Dawning Information Industry; drone maker DJI; cyber security specialist Xiamen Meiya Pico; and cloud computing companies NetPosa Technologies and Leon Technology.
- The designation on the Treasury Department's "Chinese military-industrial complex companies" list bars U.S. citizens from investing in the firms.
- The U.S. says the companies supplied technology to Chinese security agencies involved in the surveillance and detention of Uyghurs and other minorities, who are being held in "re-education centers" that human rights groups say are akin to concentration camps.
- All of the companies are already on the U.S. Commerce Department's "entity list," limiting their access to U.S. exports without a license.
| |
SnapLogic, a self-service, AI-powered data integration platform, raised $165M in a round led by Sixth Street Growth. The company is now a unicorn with a post-money valuation of $1B+. More: - The company specializes in IPaaS, or integration platform-as-a-service, which enables organizations to more easily develop and deploy integrations between apps. Its customers include Adobe, Qualtrics, Schneider Electric, and Workday.
- SnapLogic said it expects the funding will go toward business development and expansion of the AI underpinning its platform. It may use the funding for acquisitions, international expansion, and enterprise automation.
- San Mateo-based SnapLogic previously raised $200M+, bringing its total funding to $370M+.
- Grand View Research predicts the IPaaS services market will reach $2.7B by 2025.
VENTUREBEAT 
| |
 A message from MALWAREBYTES Simplify your security with AI-powered protection. Did you know that ransomware attacks are surging - especially around the holiday season? Remote workforces have amplified security concerns for businesses. Remote workforces make easy targets for cybercriminals. - 1 out of 5 businesses experienced a remote-worker related security breach
- 28% of people admitted using their personal device for work more than their work-issued device
Secure success for the holidays Prepare your team—and all the devices they use—against ransomware, security breaches, and other cyberattacks with easy-to-use tools designed for small businesses. Get Malwarebytes Endpoint Detection and Response with 72-hour rollback to outsmart cyberattacks and prevent downtime. Get started today with a 25% off during our Black Friday Cyber Sale! Exclusive Inside Offer
| |
 AI in customer service startup Forethought announced a $65M Series C round to grow and scale its workforce and product. The round was led by Steadfast Capital and included participation from NEA, K9 Ventures, and Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary's Sound Ventures. High-profile individual investors Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr., and former NBA star Baron Davis were also among the participants. More: - Forethought sells AI-enabled products that assist customer service associates.
- Its Assist product helps agents find information in queries, while its Solve chatbot automatically answers customers' questions and routes those it can't answer to human agents. Its Triage product uses AI to route callers to the most appropriate associate.
- In the past year-and-a-half, the company has grown from 20 to 145 employees, added three new hubs, tripled its customer base, and grown its annual recurring revenue by 5x, according to CEO Deon Nicholas.
- Forethought landed on Forbes' "AI 50 2021: Companies to Watch" list and won 2018's TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield.
TECHCRUNCH
| |
Humans.ai's HEART token is now listed on major cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, topping $30M in volume on its first trading day. The Romanian deep tech startup is developing a blockchain platform for AI-powered creation and governance, starting with synthetic media. More: - Using its platform, data providers can train a neural network and turn it into human digital "DNA" for use by apps and service providers like Amazon and Netflix.
- The converted digital assets use blockchain tech to generate nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The company says it's building a "new AI allowing people to create anything they can imagine and scale human potential."
- Last week, Humans.ai launched its public token sale on the Polkastarter platform, raising $1.17M to further develop its framework for ethical AI and blockchain.
- In September, the startup announced it raised $9M through a private cryptocurrency sale from 60+ investors, including Elrond Research.
COIN TELEGRAPH
| |
 A message from UDEMY Don’t miss Udemy’s latest 2022 Learning Trends Report! This report focuses on the recent shifts in workplace trends over the past year and the in-demand job skills your team will need to thrive in today’s dynamic workforce. Get your copy to find out why "power skills" are the new go-to skills and take a look at other trending topics. You will also discover: - Top trending core and tech skills to shape your training program in 2022
- Latest in-demand skills across marketing, HR, sales, etc.
- Why business strategy can only succeed if you have a solid technical strategy
For this report, the Udemy Business team analyzed trends based on what employees are learning across our thousands of customers around the world. Download Now
| |
 The U.K. ranks first among European countries in AI technology development, reporting £9B (~$12B) in investment growth from 2019 to 2021, a new report shows. The U.K. is the third AI leader among countries globally, trailing the U.S. and China, according to the overview from Deep Knowledge Analytics, Big Innovation Center, and Innovation Eye. More: - London, where 65%+ of the U.K.'s AI companies are based, remains the most attractive city for AI talent and investment, followed by Cambridge and Edinburgh, according to the report.
- The largest funding sectors over the past three years were AI in fintech, healthcare, and marketing and advertisement.
- The agencies produced an industry mapping that categorizes and profiles 3,600+ U.K.-based private and public sector entities across 20 sectors and 50 locations.
- The overview breaks down £13B (~$17.2B) worth of investments from 1,500 investors.
- The 90-page report is backed by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence, which produced the first edition of the report in 2018.
INNOVATION EYE
| |
🍋 FRESH FUNDING 🍋 - Robotic Research (Clarksburg, Md.), on and off-road autonomous vehicles for the Department of Defense: $228M A led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Enlightenment Capital.
- Apex.ai (Munich, Germany), mobility and autonomous applications: $56.5M B led by Orillion, participation from ZF, Continental AG, AGCO, Canaan, Lightspeed Venture Partners, et al.
- Enquire AI (Washington, D.C.), AI-powered platform leveraging global subject-matter expertise in real-time: $5.5M A led by Uzabase, participation from Teneo Ventures, Blu Ventures, et al.
- Edge Impulse (San Francisco, Calif.), machine learning project development platform: $34M B led by Coatue, participation from Canaan Partners, Acrew Capital, Fika Ventures, Momenta Ventures, Knollwood Investment Advisory.
- Robust Intelligence (San Francisco, Calif.), stress testing platform for AI models: $30M B led by Tiger Global, participation from Sequoia, participation from Harpoon Venture Capital, Engineering Capital.
- Posh Technologies (Boston, Mass.), conversational AI and natural language processing technology: $27.5M A led by Canapi Ventures.
- Wonder Dynamics (Los Angeles, Calif.), AI-powered production tools: $9M A led by Horizons Ventures, participation from Epic Games, Samsung Next, Founders Fund, MaC Venture Capital.
- Cube RM (Zurich, Switzerland), AI tender management platform: $8M A led by Runa Capital, participation from Marathon Venture Capital.
- Unique (Zürich, Switzerland), video calls platform that uses AI to teach sales teams how to improve their pitches: $6M Angel from Philipp Stauffer, Daniel Gutenberg, et al.
Note: For the latest on AI startup funding and more in the VC community, subscribe to our newsletter Inside Venture Capital.
| |
QUICK HITS - Forbes is now accepting nominations for its annual Forbes AI 50 list of most promising AI startups. The deadline to apply is Friday, Jan. 21.
- More than 70% of healthcare executives polled said they trust AI in non-clinical, health administrative processes, according to an Optum survey.
- AI can write better stories when it's prompted to start from the end rather than the beginning, New Scientist reports.
- NYU researchers received a $200,000 grant to bring an AI language-professing tool to underserved newsrooms. The tool will help journalists better sift through FOIA requests.
- MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset achieved an AI Score in the AI Benchmark of 692.5, 2.7x higher than Google's Tensor.
- Amazon introduced a Santa Claus voice for Alexa.
| |
Upcoming Events: - December 21 - Growth in Crypto Security with AJ Yawn (ByteChek) (Register Here)
- January 04 - Venturing in VC with Landon Campbell (Episode #1) (Register Here)
- January 06 - Augmented and Virtual Reality with Timoni West (VP of AR/VR at Unity) (Register Here)
- January 25 - Need To Know NoCoder - Leon Young (Cogniss) (Register Here)
- January 27 - Understanding the Metaverse (Register Here)
- February 03 - Blockchain Gaming & Play-to-Earn Economies (Register Here)
- February 10 - The Business of Wellness (Register Here)
- February 17 - Customer Acquisition in a post iOS 14 world (Register Here)
- February 24 - Alternative Investments (Register Here)
- March 03 - The $12B Appetite for Amazon Aggregators (Register Here)
| |
 |  | Beth is an Inside Analyst and a former public policy/investigative reporter. She has covered AI, VR, technology, and e-commerce for Inside. When she's not busy writing, she's hiking in Arizona's desert, playing pickleball, or trying out new Mexican food recipes. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
| |
| |
Comments
Post a Comment