PitchBook: US startups raised $209B in 2024, up ~33% from 2023; AI startups raised $97B, the largest portion on record; VCs raised $76.1B, the lowest since 2019 — VC investors piled into AI megarounds in the US last year. — Venture capitalists put $97 billion into artificial intelligence startups …
Satya Nadella says Microsoft will invest about $3B to expand its Azure cloud and AI capacity in India and train 10 million people in AI in the country by 2030 — Microsoft (MSFT.O) will invest about $3 billion to expand capacity for artificial intelligence and its Azure cloud-computing services in India …
Avataar debuts Velocity, an AI tool that generates product videos based on a product link, and says HP, Victoria's Secret, Lowe's, and others are using the tool — Generative AI models have reached a baseline capability of producing at least a passable video from a single image or short sentence.
Sam Altman says “we are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it” and that OpenAI is turning its focus to superintelligence — The second birthday of ChatGPT was only a little over a month ago, and now we have transitioned into the next paradigm of models that can do complex reasoning.
Uber and Lyft are embracing autonomous vehicle operators like Waymo, May Mobility, and others, after abandoning their own self-driving car programs — After ending their own driverless plans, the ride-sharing companies are embracing autonomous-vehicle operators and offering new app features
Sources: India plans $2.7B in fresh subsidies and import tariff cuts to boost local manufacturing, especially of smartphones made by companies like Apple — - Proposed incentives will help smartphone makers like Apple — Final decision to be made by cabinet; details likely in budget
A look at Chinese hackers' attacks on US infrastructure and telecoms; sources: Charter, Consolidated Communications, and Windstream networks were also breached — Massive ‘Typhoon’ cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure and telecoms sought to lay groundwork for potential conflict with Beijing …
Foxconn reports Q4 revenue of ~$64.6B, up 15% YoY and exceeding analyst expectations for a 13% rise, with December 2024 bringing in ~$19.8B, up 42% YoY — - Company sees significant sales growth for the first quarter — December sales NT$655 billion up 42% on strong AI server sales
PitchBook: AI startups developing medical note-taking apps raised $800M in 2024, compared to $390M in 2023, as Microsoft and others compete for market share — Investment in the apps has doubled as Big Tech and start-ups compete to grab share of market — Investment in artificial …
The UK CMA is testing an AI tool to help catch companies that collude when bidding for public contracts, amid a “significant risk of bid-rigging” by contractors — Agency is trialling an AI-backed programme that scrapes data to identify bid-rigging
A look at India's draft DPDP rules, which require platforms to verify the age and identity of a parent when obtaining consent to process data of users under 18 — The newly released draft Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025 say that online platforms must check the age …
Industry insiders hope the success of Black Myth: Wukong, which has earned an estimated $1.1B from ~25M copies sold, will boost Chinese gaming sector investment — As Beijing eases regulations, developers are tooling up to produce big-budget titles with international appeal
Inside the fall and last-minute revival of accounting startup Bench, which struggled with implementing automation tools and faced tumult in its executive suite — Friday, December 27, was supposed to be the start of a relaxing holiday weekend. — But it was chaos for thousands …
Religious leaders are experimenting with AI, spurring an industry of faith-based tech companies that offer AI tools to do theological research and write sermons — Rabbi Josh Fixler at Congregation Emanu El in Houston worked with a data scientist to create his experimental “Rabbi Bot.”
Apple and Strava partner to feature Strava athletes in Fitness+ programming, add more detailed Fitness+ workout summaries in the Strava app, and more — Apple Fitness Plus is getting a fresh makeover in the Strava app. The two companies just announced they're collaborating to revamp …
Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal : Chinese video game giant NetEase reports Q4 revenue up 3% YoY to ~$4B and net profit down 29% to ~$903...
