Nearly 88% of public- and private-sector leaders think AI will be a valuable asset to combat climate change, according to a report put out by the AI for the Planet Alliance, BCG, and BCG GAMMA. BCG polled 1,005 executives in 14 countries who make decisions regarding AI or climate-change initiatives at their organizations. The report, "How AI Can Be a Powerful Tool in the Fight Against Climate Change," says AI could help reduce up to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions Findings: - 40% of the organizations said they envision using AI technologies in their climate efforts, though there are significant obstacles to adoption.
- These included insufficient AI expertise, limited availability of AI solutions, and a lack of confidence in AI-driven data and analysis, according to the findings.
- While AI can interpret large datasets to fuel a more data-driven approach to fighting climate change, most of today's AI climate solutions are scattered, hard to access, and don't have the resources to scale, said report co-author Hamid Maher of BCG.
Recommendations: - BCG suggests using AI to help measure, reduce, and remove emissions and greenhouse gas effects. Its estimates find that AI could help reduce 5% to 10% GHG emissions, or 2.6 to 5.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent globally.
- AI can also project climate-related hazards, such as localized events involving sea-level rise or early warning systems for hurricanes or droughts.
- Finally, AI can bolster climate-change research and education efforts, according to BCG.
Quotable: - AI has a "strong promise to help solve the climate crisis, but AI alone is not enough," said co-author and AI for the Planet founder Damien Gromier.
- Decision-makers must act to make changes supported by AI and other emerging technologies, he said.
BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP 
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Self-driving startup Argo AI confirmed that it has laid off an undisclosed number of employees as it seeks to "continue on a path for success." At least a dozen employees have said they were laid off in Pittsburgh, Seattle, and California this week, according to LinkedIn posts. More: - Argo declined to give specifics, except to say it still has 800+ employees at its Pittsburgh headquarters and 1,600+ globally.
- The layoffs come shortly after Argo started testing self-driving vehicles in Miami and Austin without a backup driver, making it the first AV firm to go fully driverless in major cities during daytime hours.
- Ford- and Volkswagen-backed Argo has been testing autonomous vehicles in eight cities in the U.S. and Europe with a safety driver.
- The startup has raised more than $3.6B since its 2016 inception. It was co-founded by CEO Bryan Salesky, who worked at Google's self-driving car unit (which became Waymo), and Peter Rander, a former employee of Uber's autonomous vehicle unit.
- In 2020, the company was valued at $7.5B.
WESA
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AI drug discovery startup Insilico Medicine said its AI engine helped to uncover 28 genomic targets that could pave the way for new treatments for ALS. The effort involved central nervous system tissue samples and motor neurons collected by project partner Answer ALS, a research project creating a repository of patient and sample data. More: - Of the 28 targets, 18 blocked ones had "moderate to strong" effects on neurodegeneration in preclinical experiments with fruit fly models.
- In the study, 17 therapeutic targets were considered "high-confidence," and 11 were "novel approaches" that could potentially interrupt the progression of ALS.
- Eight genes were previously unreported.
- Hong Kong-based Insilico developed an AI-based drug discovery platform to identify new molecules and drug targets to fight cancer, fibrosis, and other diseases.
- In June, the startup announced $60M in Series D financing. Insilico previously raised $255M in Series C funding last year.
FIERCE BIOTECH
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The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced computer algorithms intended to protect sensitive data from quantum computing cyberattacks. The algorithms are for general encryption and identity verification during digital transactions or document signing. More: - It's likely that quantum computers, which can operate millions of times faster than even the fastest supercomputers, will soon be sophisticated enough to break the cryptography that secures online digital communications.
- NIST ran a competition for six years to assess quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms. On Tuesday, the agency said it selected four encryption algorithms — Crystals-Kyber, Crystals-Dilithium, Falcon, and SPHINCS+ — to protect data against post-quantum threats.
- In May, U.S. President Biden signed directives aimed at supporting quantum technologies and protecting IT systems from potential threats posed by quantum computing.
- According to NIST, the move to quantum-resistant cryptography could take two decades. Its newly chosen algorithms are the start of its post-quantum cryptography standardization project, which will see the new algorithms incorporated into public-key cryptography standards by 2024.
ZDNET
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Rebellions, a South Korean startup specializing in chips for AI applications, secured a $22.8M extension to its Series A financing led by South Korean telecom giant KT. The extension brings its total Series A funding to $72.8M following the $50M in funding announced last month. More: - The AI chipmaker said it plans to mass-produce ATOM, its second AI chip prototype for enterprise servers. Its first chip, ION, could come to market soon.
- It plans to develop neural processing AI chips for data centers, self-driving vehicles, and fintech platforms.
- Rebellions said it will open a U.S. office in 2022 and double its workforce to 100 employees.
- CEO Sunghyun Park founded the AI semiconductor startup with several others in 2020.
- The startup has raised $102.8M to date.
- The global AI chip market is forecasted to hit nearly $195B by 2030, an increase from $8B billion in 2021, according to an AI chip market outlook report.
TECHCRUNCH
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🍋 FRESH FUNDING 🍋 - Snowplow (London, U.K.), data creation platform: $40M Series B funding led by NEA.
- Modular (Los Altos, Calif.), next-gen AI developer platform: $30M seed round led by GV, participation from Greylock, The Factory, SV Angel.
- Celus (Munich, Germany), AI-based circuit board engineering: $25.5M A led by Earlybird Venture Capital, participation from DI Capital, Speedinvest, Plug and Play.
- Regard (Los Angeles, Calif.), AI co-pilot for physicians to help diagnose medical conditions: $15.3M A led by Calibrate Ventures, Foundry Group, participation from TenOneTen Ventures, Susa Ventures, et al.
- Compredict (Darmstadt, Germany), AI-enabled software solutions for predictive maintenance, vehicle health and usage monitoring: $5.8M A led by Vektor Partners, BlackBerry Limited.
For the latest on AI startup funding and more in the VC community, subscribe to our newsletter, Inside Venture Capital.
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- U.S. community colleges are underestimated in their potential to contribute to the nation's AI workforce and AI superiority, according to two researchers from Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET).
- Researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin developed an algorithm that accurately predicts the human gut microbe communities that influence human health.
- Meticulous Market Research forecasts that the AI in medical diagnostics market will grow at a 36.2% CAGR to reach $9.38B by 2029.
- The backup driver of a Waymo autonomous vehicle was injured after a pedestrian attacked the car's windshield in Tempe, Ariz.
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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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