On the heels of its earlier $12 million fundraise, subscription management platform RevenueCat has made its first acquisition — and it’s an unusual one. Instead of acquiring a company to add more tools to its platform, it’s buying an app offering subscriptions to “spicy” audiobooks, Dipsea. No, this isn’t a massive pivot for the popular … Read more
AI video generators need to believe that filmmakers will use their models in the production process. Otherwise why exist? To jump start the new AI film ecosystem, Runway has set aside $5 million in cash and more in service credits to fund up to 100 original films. If you’re an AI-curious director, now’s your chance … Read more
EVA, the platform that connects event bookers with local performers, has secured $2 million in funding as the popularity of in-person events comes back in full force. The round, which the Nashville-based startup says was more than double the target amount, values EVA at $15 million. The recent round is timely as event organizers are … Read more
Lending startup Figure announced today a rollout of AI tooling to make the home lending process more efficient. The company will be launching an AI tool powered by GPT-4 to help catch errors in lending documents. Figure, founded in 2018, specializes in helping consumers secure home equity lines of credit. The company touts that its … Read more
Departures might be dominating the week’s OpenAI-related headlines. But comments on AI bias from Anna Makanju, the company’s VP of global affairs, also grabbed our attention. Makanju, speaking on a panel at the UN’s Summit of the Future event on Tuesday, suggested that emerging “reasoning” models such as OpenAI’s o1 have the potential to make … Read more
Google on Thursday announced new updates to its AI note-taking and research assistant, NotebookLM, allowing users to get summaries of YouTube videos and audio files and even create sharable AI-generated audio discussions, as the search giant aims to broaden the use cases and reach of the tool, which was originally launched as a project at … Read more
Drata, a security compliance automation platform that helps companies adhere to frameworks such as SOC 2 and GDPR, has laid off 9% of its workforce, amounting to 40 people. Founded in 2020, Drata integrates with dozens of clouds, SaaS apps, developer tools, security systems, and more, helping businesses collate the necessary evidence to prove that their data privacy and security … Read more
As OpenAI boasts about its o1 model’s increased thoughtfulness, a small, self-funded startup Nomi AI is building the same kind of technology. Unlike the broad generalist ChatGPT, which slows down to think through anything from math problems or historical research, Nomi niches down on a specific use-case: AI companions. Now, Nomi’s already-sophisticated chatbots take additional … Read more
Funding for green hydrogen startups — particularly at the growth stage — has dipped. Hydrogen plants and fueling stations across the U.S. have shut down. And automakers and governments seem to be on the battery electric vehicle (BEV) buzz. And yet, BMW recently announced plans to work with Toyota to develop a hydrogen fuel-cell consumer … Read more
Eighteen months ago, Ford triggered a transformation when the U.S. automaker locked in a deal to give owners of its EVs access to the Tesla Supercharger network. In a stunning shift, automaker after automaker — from GM and Hyundai to Rivian and Mercedes — followed suit. By the end of 2023, nearly every major automaker … Read more