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Investments in generative AI startups reached $3.9 billion in the third quarter of 2024

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Is OpenAI worth $100B?

Not everyone seems to be convinced about the return on investment in generative artificial intelligence. But many investors do, judging by the latest data from funding tracker PitchBook.

According to PitchBook, in the third quarter of 2024, VCs invested $3.9 billion in generative AI startups across 206 deals. (Not counting OpenAI’s $6.6 billion round). $2.9 billion of this financing went to U.S.-based corporations across 127 deals.

Big winners in the third quarter included coding assistant Magic ($320 million in August), enterprise search provider Glean ($260 million in September) and business intelligence company Hebbia ($130 million in July). Chinese company Moonshot AI raised $300 million in August, and Sakana AI, a Japanese startup focused on scientific discoveries, closed a $214 million tranche last month.

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Generative AI, a broad cross-section of technologies that features text and image generators, coding assistants, cybersecurity automation tools and more, has its detractors. Experts query the reliability of this technology and – in the case of generative artificial intelligence models trained without permission on copyrighted data – its legality.

However, VCs are effectively betting that generative AI will gain a foothold in large and profitable industries and that the challenges it faces now is not going to impact its long-term development.

Perhaps they’re right. AND The Forrester report predicts 60% of generative AI skeptics will use this technology – consciously or unconsciously – for tasks starting from summarization to creative problem solving. This is a rather rosier result than Gartner’s forecast earlier this 12 months that 30% of generative AI projects can be abandoned after proof of concept by 2026.

“Large customers are deploying production systems that use startup tools and open source models,” Brendan Burke, senior emerging technology analyst at PitchBook, told TechCrunch in an interview. “The latest wave of models shows that new generations of models are possible that can excel in scientific domains, data mining and code execution.”

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An enormous obstacle to the widespread adoption of generative AI is the enormous computational requirements of the technology. Bain analysts project in a recent release test that generative AI will drive corporations to construct gigawatt data centers – data centers that devour 5 to twenty times more energy than the average data center today – putting strain on an already strained labor and electricity supply chain.

There is already a requirement for data center power powered by generative AI extension life of coal power plants. Morgan Stanley estimates that if this trend continues, global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 could possibly be thrice higher than they might be without the development of generative AI.

Several of the world’s largest data center operators, including Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Oracle, have announced investments in nuclear power to offset growing demand for non-renewable energy. (In September, Microsoft announced that it will draw power from the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.) But it could take years before these investments bear fruit.

Investment in generative AI startups shows no signs of slowing down – negative externalities be damned. ElevenLabs, the viral voice cloning tool, is reportedly searching for to lift $3 billion in funding, while Black Forest Labs, the company behind the notorious X image generator, is reportedly in talks for a $100 million funding round.

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This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com

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This is the shipping of products from China to the USA

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Shein and Temu icons are seen displayed on a phone screen in this illustration photo

The Chinese retailer has modified the strategy in the face of American tariffs.

Thanks to the executive ordinance, President Donald Trump ended the so -called de minimis principle, which allowed goods value 800 USD or less entering the country without tariffs. It also increases tariffs to Chinese goods by over 100%, forcing each Chinese firms and Shein, in addition to American giants, similar to Amazon to adapt plans and price increases.

CNBC reports that this was also affected, and American buyers see “import fees” from 130% to 150% added to their accounts. Now, nevertheless, the company is not sending the goods directly from China to the United States. Instead, it only displays the offers of products available in American warehouses, while goods sent from China are listed as outside the warehouse.

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“He actively recruits American sellers to join the platform,” said the spokesman ago. “The transfer is to help local sellers reach more customers and develop their companies.”

(tagstotransate) tariffs

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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One of the last AI Google models is worse in terms of safety

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The Google Gemini generative AI logo on a smartphone.

The recently released Google AI model is worse in some security tests than its predecessor, in line with the company’s internal comparative test.

IN Technical report Google, published this week, reveals that his Flash Gemini 2.5 model is more likely that he generates a text that violates its security guidelines than Gemini 2.0 Flash. In two indicators “text security for text” and “image security to the text”, Flash Gemini 2.5 will withdraw 4.1% and 9.6% respectively.

Text safety for the text measures how often the model violates Google guidelines, making an allowance for the prompt, while image security to the text assesses how close the model adheres to those boundaries after displaying the monitors using the image. Both tests are automated, not supervised by man.

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In an e-mail, Google spokesman confirmed that Gemini 2.5 Flash “performs worse in terms of text safety for text and image.”

These surprising comparative results appear when AI is passing in order that their models are more acceptable – in other words, less often refuse to answer controversial or sensitive. In the case of the latest Llam Meta models, he said that he fought models in order to not support “some views on others” and answers to more “debated” political hints. Opeli said at the starting of this yr that he would improve future models, in order to not adopt an editorial attitude and offers many prospects on controversial topics.

Sometimes these efforts were refundable. TechCrunch announced on Monday that the default CHATGPT OPENAI power supply model allowed juvenile to generate erotic conversations. Opeli blamed his behavior for a “mistake”.

According to Google Technical Report, Gemini 2.5 Flash, which is still in view, follows instructions more faithfully than Gemini 2.0 Flash, including instructions exceeding problematic lines. The company claims that regression might be partially attributed to false positives, but in addition admits that Gemini 2.5 Flash sometimes generates “content of violation” when it is clearly asked.

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“Of course, there is a tension between (after instructions) on sensitive topics and violations of security policy, which is reflected in our assessment,” we read in the report.

The results from Meepmap, reference, which can examine how models react to sensitive and controversial hints, also suggest that Flash Gemini 2.5 is much less willing to refuse to reply controversial questions than Flash Gemini 2.0. Testing the TechCrunch model through the AI ​​OpenRoutter platform has shown that he unsuccessfully writes essays to support human artificial intelligence judges, weakening the protection of due protection in the US and the implementation of universal government supervisory programs.

Thomas Woodside, co -founder of the Secure AI Project, said that the limited details given by Google in their technical report show the need for greater transparency in testing models.

“There is a compromise between the instruction support and the observation of politics, because some users may ask for content that would violate the rules,” said Woodside Techcrunch. “In this case, the latest Flash model Google warns the instructions more, while breaking more. Google does not present many details about specific cases in which the rules have been violated, although they claim that they are not serious. Not knowing more, independent analysts are difficult to know if there is a problem.”

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Google was already under fire for his models of security reporting practices.

The company took weeks to publish a technical report for the most talented model, Gemini 2.5 Pro. When the report was finally published, it initially omitted the key details of the security tests.

On Monday, Google published a more detailed report with additional security information.

(Tagstotransate) Gemini

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Aurora launches a commercial self -propelled truck service in Texas

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The autonomous startup of the Aurora Innovation vehicle technology claims that it has successfully launched a self -propelled truck service in Texas, which makes it the primary company that she implemented without drivers, heavy trucks for commercial use on public roads in the USA

The premiere appears when Aurora gets the term: In October, the corporate delayed the planned debut 2024 to April 2025. The debut also appears five months after the rival Kodiak Robotics provided its first autonomous trucks to clients commercial for operations without a driver in field environments.

Aurora claims that this week she began to freight between Dallas and Houston with Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight starters, and that she has finished 1200 miles without a driver to this point. The company plans to expand to El Paso and Phoenix until the top of 2025.

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TechCrunch contacted for more detailed information concerning the premiere, for instance, the variety of vehicles implemented Aurora and whether the system needed to implement the Pullover maneuver or the required distant human assistance.

The commercial premiere of Aurora takes place in a difficult time. Self -propelled trucks have long been related to the necessity for his or her technology attributable to labor deficiencies in the chairman’s transport and the expected increase in freigh shipping. Trump’s tariffs modified this attitude, not less than in a short period. According to the April analytical company report from the commercial vehicle industry ACT researchThe freight is predicted to fall this yr in the USA with a decrease in volume and consumer expenditure.

Aurora will report its results in the primary quarter next week, i.e. when he shares how he expects the present trade war will affect his future activity. TechCrunch contacted to learn more about how tariffs affect Auror’s activities.

For now, Aurora will probably concentrate on further proving his safety case without a driver and cooperation with state and federal legislators to just accept favorable politicians to assist her develop.

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At the start of 2025, Aurora filed a lawsuit against federal regulatory bodies after the court refused to release the appliance for release from the protection requirement, which consists in placing warning triangles on the road, when the truck must stop on the highway – something that’s difficult to do when there isn’t a driver in the vehicle. To maintain compliance with this principle and proceed to totally implement without service drivers, Aurora probably has a man -driven automotive trail after they are working.

(Tagstranslate) Aurora Innovation

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