Tesla wants to reach volume production of a self-driving robotaxi in 2024, according to Elon Musk. The CEO shared details of the car, which would have no steering wheel or pedals, during its Wednesday Q1 earnings call. More: - Musk first announced a "dedicated" self-driving taxi that he said would "look futuristic" during the Cyber Rodeo opening event of its Giga Texas factory earlier this month.
- On Wednesday, Musk provided more details. He said the car will be "highly optimized" for autonomous driving and will have other innovations. It will be designed to achieve the lowest cost per mile.
- Based on current projections, Musk said that a ride would be cheaper than "a bus ticket, discounted bus ticket, or subsidized subway ticket.”
- Tesla could reveal the vehicle in 2023 and aims to reach volume production in 2024, he said.
- Competitors in the autonomous robotaxi space include Alphabet's Waymo, GM subsidiary Cruise, Argo AI, Aurora, Motional, and Zoox.
ELECTREK 
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Big data firm Palantir has hired Indra Joshi, former director of the NHS AI Lab, as the AI company seeks to grow its footprint in the U.K. The hire does pose potential conflicts of interest. U.S.-based Palantir is currently competing for a $300M+ contract to manage datasets for the NHS, the U.K.'s public healthcare system, according to Bloomberg, though NHS rules bar former staff from lobbying or recruiting for six months after they move to the private sector. More: - Joshi was AI director of NHSX, the NHS' tech and data unit, where she oversaw and led the creation of the NHS AI Lab.
- She worked on a multimillion-dollar program to invest in private companies working on AI for diagnostics in healthcare.
- Palantir confirmed that it has hired Joshi but did not specify her new position.
- The news comes as Palantir is expanding rapidly in the U.K., where it processes data for the NHS and other government agencies.
- It's planning to add another 250 employees to its team of 600 in Britain this year, a spokesperson said.
- Palantir was co-founded by Peter Thiel, the first outside Facebook investor and a co-founder of PayPal. Thiel is an investor who has contributed money to AI lab DeepMind, facial recognition firm Clearview AI, and defense-tech and surveillance startup Anduril.
BLOOMBERG
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Gupshup, which offers conversational messaging services to businesses, has acquired conversational AI provider AskSid for an undisclosed amount. AskSid’s full-stack AI solution is geared toward e-commerce and retail brands. More: - Bengaluru-based AskSid provides a B2B tech solution that enables brands to add AI-enabled digital shopping assistants to their platforms.
- Its Retail AI Brain is a knowledge repository that "assimilates and formats raw brand data into tweet-sized Q&As, product tags, intents, and utterances," which are deployed via AI chatbots and other interfaces.
- AskSid's customers, including AkzoNobel, Danone, Wolford, Akris, and Himalaya Wellness, span 25 countries in 100 languages.
- The acquisition is expected to strengthen Gupshup's own customer service offerings and make the entire shopping process fully conversational, the firm said.
- Webaroo-operated Gupshup acquired Active.Ai, a conversational AI platform for digital financial services, earlier this month. That deal is expected to help Gupshup strengthen its AI-enabled customer service for banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) customers.
VENTUREBEAT
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Amazon on Thursday introduced a $1B venture investment program to back companies working on customer fulfillment, logistics, and supply chain technologies. The initial cohort includes five startups focused on industrial robotics and wearables. More: - The fund is focused on innovative technologies that would help speed up deliveries and improve the company's warehouses and logistics, according to Amazon VP Alex Ceballos Encarnacion.
- The fund will back companies at all growth stages. Amazon didn't reveal a target investment size or date by which it plans to deploy the $1B.
- The first startups to receive funding are computer vision AI-assisted inventory management startup Vimaan, autonomous robotic solution BionicHIVE, tactile robotic arm Mantis Robotics, bi-pedal walking robot Digit, and wearable safety technology company Modjoul.
- Amazon also has a $200M Alexa VC fund to support companies building speech-recognition technology and a $2B Climate Pledge Fund to invest in green companies.
BARRON'S
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Accenture announced its acquisition of Argentinian company Ergo, which provides tech expertise and consulting to help integrate data and AI across organizations. Accenture intends to expand its own AI and data capabilities and accelerate its transformation on the cloud. More: - Ergo said it helps companies build data solutions and form cultures based on data-driven decision-making using AI, analytics, and big data, according to a news release.
- The company, headquartered in Buenos Aires, was founded in 2004.
- Ergo's 200 data specialists will now join the data and AI team within Accenture Cloud First.
- Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Last year, Accenture acquired the cloud analytics service Core Compete to grow its analytics, data, and AI business functionalities.
SEEKING ALPHA
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🍋 FRESH FUNDING 🍋 - Mutiny (San Francisco, Calif.), no-code AI platform for marketers: $50M B led by Tiger Global, Insight Partners, participation from Sequoia Capital, Cowboy Ventures, et al.
- FundGuard (New York, N.Y.), AI-powered SaaS investment management and asset servicing enterprise platform: $40M B led by Citi, State Street Corp, participation from Blumberg Capital, LionBird Ventures, Team8 Capital.
- Noogata (Tel Aviv, Israel), no-code AI platform: $16M A led by Team8, Inference Partners, participation from Allon Ventures.
- Aleia (Paris, France), AI SaaS platform for data collaboration: $8.6M Seed from undisclosed sources.
- Nuclia (Barcelona, Spain), AI-powered search for humans to access and discover meaningful data: $5.4M from Crane Venture Partners, Ealai.
For the latest on AI startup funding and more in the VC community, subscribe to our newsletter, Inside Venture Capital.
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- Zoom introduced updates to its product, including AI technologies that recognize certain gestures.
- Prezent.ai, a provider of a presentation creation tool that makes AI-powered recommendations, raised a $20M Series A at a valuation above $100M, the company said.
- NextMind, a Malaysian AI startup, launched AI-powered content creation software for generating human-like SEO text.
- Neptune, a startup focused on producing robots that clean ship hulls, announced it has raised $17.25M.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and analyst at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily tech news. Since starting work at Inside, she has covered various topics including virtual reality, drones, and e-commerce. Prior to that she was a public policy and investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic, where she won a Pulitzer Prize nomination and First Amendment Award for reporting on the rising costs of pensions. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | 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. | |
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