Technology
AI Stability CEO resigns because ‘you can’t beat centralized AI with more centralized AI’
Stability AI founder and CEO Emad Mostaque has stepped down from the unicorn startup’s top job and board, the buzzy company announced Friday evening, making it the second hot AI startup to undergo major changes this week.
Stability AI, backed by investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Coatue Management, has no immediate everlasting successor as CEO, but has named its chief operating officer Shan Shan Wong and chief technology officer Christian Laforte as interim co-CEOs. – wrote within the blog post.
Stable AI, which has lost more than half a dozen key talents in recent quarters, said Mostaque was stepping right down to pursue decentralized AI. In a series of posts on X, Mostaque expressed his opinion that “centralized AI” can’t be beaten by more “centralized AI,” referring to the ownership structure of leading AI startups corresponding to OpenAI and Anthropic.
He moreover he stated that it was his decision to step down from the highest position because he had the most important variety of controlling stakes. “We should have more transparent and distributed management of artificial intelligence as it becomes more and more important. It’s (sic) a difficult problem, but I think we can solve it…” he added. “Concentration of power in artificial intelligence is bad for all of us. I have decided to step down to resolve this issue at Stability & Elsewhere.”
Mostaque’s departure from Stability AI, a startup known for its popular Stable Diffusion image generation tool, comes amid ongoing struggles on the startup that was spending an estimated 8 million dollars as of October 2023, based on Bloomberg, which also noted that the startup had unsuccessfully tried to boost $4 billion in latest funding.
It seems that a few 12 months ago, Mostaque wasn’t making revenue growth a priority. Last 12 months, in a post on X, he expressed amusement at “generative AI companies’ strange focus on revenue,” regardless that “the technology is useful but far from mature, with new breakthroughs happening almost daily.” He gave several examples, including MagicLeap, which spent billions before generating revenue.
“The benefits of proper research and development in generative AI are clearer and faster to market than anything we have seen. “It will create much greater economic value than, for example, autonomous cars, and the total investment in it was $100 billion and has not returned any revenue,” he wrote.
His comments last month, Reddit offered insight into the shift in focus. “We are already doing well this year and ahead of forecasts. Our goal this year is positive cash flow and I think we will achieve this sooner rather than later,” he wrote.
“The market is huge and open models will be needed for edge sectors and all regulated industries. That’s why we are one of the few companies that provide data, code, training details and more. Custom models, consulting and more are huge markets and very sensible business models around this as we move into enterprise adoption over the next year, last year it was just testing.”
The announcement of Stability AI caps off a remarkable week for the AI industry. Inflection AI, a startup that has raised about $1.5 billion, announced Monday that two of its co-founders and a number of other other employees have joined Microsoft, which led the startup’s latest round of funding.
Technology
Revolut will introduce mortgage loans, smart ATMs and business lending products
Revolutthe London-based fintech unicorn shared several elements of the corporate’s 2025 roadmap at a company event in London on Friday. One of the corporate’s important goals for next yr will be to introduce an AI-enabled assistant that will help its 50 million customers navigate financial apps, manage money and customize software.
Considering that artificial intelligence is at the middle of everyone’s attention, this move shouldn’t be surprising. But an AI assistant could actually help differentiate Revolut from traditional banking services, which have been slower to adapt to latest technologies.
When Revolut launched its app almost 10 years ago, many individuals discovered the concept of debit cards with real-time payment notifications. Users may lock the cardboard from the app.
Many banks now can help you control your card using your phone. However, they’re unlikely to supply AI features that might be useful yet.
In addition to the AI assistant, Revolut announced that it will introduce branded ATMs to the market. These will end in money being spent (obviously), but in addition cards – which could encourage latest sign-ups.
Revolut said it plans so as to add facial recognition features to its ATMs in the longer term, which could help with authentication without using the same old card and PIN protocol. It will be interesting to see the way it implements this technology in a way that complies with European Union data protection regulations, which require explicit consent to make use of biometric data for identification purposes.
According to the corporate, Revolut ATMs will start appearing in Spain in early 2025.
Revolut has had a banking license in Europe for a while, which implies it may offer lending products to its retail customers. It already offers bank cards and personal loans in some countries.
Now the corporate plans to expand into mortgage loans – some of the popular lending products in Europe – with an emphasis on speed. If it’s an easy request, customers should generally expect immediate approval and a final offer inside one business day. However, mortgages are rarely easy, so it will be interesting to see if Revolut overpromises.
It appears that the mortgage market rollout will be slow. Revolut said it was starting in Lithuania, with Ireland and France expected to follow suit. Although all these premieres are scheduled for 2025.
Finally, Revolut intends to expand its business offering in Europe with its first loan products and savings accounts. In the payments space, it will enable business customers to supply “buy now, pay later” payment options.
Revolut will introduce Revolut kiosks with biometric payments especially for restaurants and stores.
If all these features seem overwhelming, it’s because Revolut is consistently committed to product development, rolling out latest features quickly. And 2025 looks no different.
Technology
Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is leaving PhonePe’s board
Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has stepped down three-quarters from PhonePe’s board after making an identical move on the e-commerce giant.
Bengaluru-based PhonePe said it has appointed Manish Sabharwal, executive director at recruitment and human resources firm Teamlease, as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee.
Bansal played a key role in Flipkart’s acquisition of PhonePe in 2016 and has since served on the fintech’s board. The Walmart-backed startup, which operates India’s hottest mobile payment app, spun off from Flipkart in 2022 and was valued at $12 billion in funding rounds that raised about $850 million last 12 months.
Bansal still holds about 1% of PhonePe. Neither party explained why they were leaving the board.
“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Binny Bansal for being one of the first and staunchest supporters of PhonePe,” Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, said in a press release. His lively involvement, strategic advice and private mentoring have profoundly enriched our discussions. We will miss Binny!”
Technology
The company is currently developing washing machines for humans
Forget about cold baths. Washing machines for people may soon be a brand new solution.
According to at least one Japanese the oldest newspapersOsaka-based shower head maker Science has developed a cockpit-shaped device that fills with water when a bather sits on a seat in the center and measures an individual’s heart rate and other biological data using sensors to make sure the temperature is good. “It also projects images onto the inside of the transparent cover to make the person feel refreshed,” the power says.
The device, dubbed “Mirai Ningen Sentakuki” (the human washing machine of the longer term), may never go on sale. Indeed, for now the company’s plans are limited to the Osaka trade fair in April, where as much as eight people will have the option to experience a 15-minute “wash and dry” every day after first booking.
Apparently a version for home use is within the works.
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