US Senate met with Elon, Zuck, Gates, Altman + more

Today’s Highlights:

📰 Top Stories: What Musk, Altman, Gates, and Zuckerberg discussed at the Private Congressional Meeting on AI

👀 Content: A fireside chat w/ Mustafa Suleyman and Yuval Noah Hariri

💰 Funding: Databricks raises $500M Series I at $43Bn valuation as they prepare for eventual IPO

⚡️ Quick News Hits

• Stability AI, known for its text-to-image generative AI tool Stable Diffusion, releases its first text-to-audio generation model, Stable Audio.

• Chip designer, Arm, has the most successful IPO in two years thanks to AI excitement.

• Amazon debuts new generative AI tools to help sellers write product descriptions

• AI unicorn, Anthropic, announces huge partnership with Boston Consulting Group to bring AI to more enterprises

• Apple announces new iPhone, with subtle AI features that are under-the-hood

• IRS and SEC both confirm use of AI for financial surveillance

• Department of Homeland Security unveils new guidelines on how it will use AI

• California introduces bill to regulate AI at state level

• The EU will grant AI startups access to its high-performance supercomputers for training AI models, provided they adhere to the EU's AI governance standards.

• Entertainment executives urge striking Guilds to negotiate solution to AI, while A-List stars (Anne Hathaway, Tom Hanks) work with startups to protect their likeness

📰 Top Stories

Inside the Senate’s Private AI Meeting With Tech’s Billionaire Elites

(15 min read) (Source: WIRED)

TLDR: Over 60 U.S. senators attended a closed-door briefing led by Silicon Valley CEOs, academics, and other experts to discuss the regulatory landscape of generative AI. High-profile figures such as Elon Musk and Sam Altman stressed the "civilizational risks" and the need for government leadership in AI regulation.

• Although attendees had varied views, there was a unanimous agreement on the necessity of government involvement in AI regulation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer highlighted this as a call to action for the government.

• Bill Gates talked about using AI for global food security, and some speakers warned against creating a Section 230-like protection for AI technologies. Janet Murguía, president of the Hispanic civil rights organization UnidosUS, emphasized the need to close the existing infrastructure gaps.

• There were debates over whether to create new agencies for AI regulation or to adapt existing ones like NIST. While there was a general sense that bipartisan legislation is possible, political resistance still exists.

• Despite the sense of urgency, lawmakers acknowledged their collective understanding of AI is still insufficient for drafting effective legislation. Future bipartisan forums focusing on AI innovation are planned.

The Big Picture: This briefing marks a watershed moment for the U.S. government's approach to AI regulation, emphasizing the gravity of the technology's impact on society and the economy. As Silicon Valley pushes the boundaries of AI, the race is on for the government to catch up and implement comprehensive and effective regulation.

Salesforce Launches Next Generation of Einstein

(16 min read) (Source: Salesforce)

TLDR: Salesforce's Dreamforce conference, the world's largest AI event, focused on the convergence of AI and Data Cloud. The event's highlights included the introduction of Einstein 1, an AI platform with a conversational AI assistant called Copilot, which empowered users with natural language interactions and action plans.

• Copilot Studio, consisting of Prompt Builder, Skills Builder, and Model Builder, provided administrators control over implementing generative AI to enhance user productivity. It enabled customized AI skills, incorporating Salesforce's proprietary models or preferred partners.

• Salesforce offered free Data Cloud and Tableau licenses, introduced AI capabilities to Marketing Cloud and Commerce Cloud, empowered automation with Data Cloud, presented Slack AI innovations, introduced Data Graphs for visualizing data relationships, and forecasted AI-powered job creation and revenue impact.

EY Unveils Fruits of $1.4 Billion Artificial-Intelligence Investment

(4 min read) (Source: The Wall Street Journal)

TLDR: EY has invested $1.4 billion in AI and introduced its large language model, EY.ai EYQ, to its portfolio. The firm will train its 400,000 employees in AI and provide guidance on AI adoption, aiming to assist companies in deploying AI effectively.

• EY's initiative addresses the challenge many companies face in starting their AI journey, with CEO and board pressure to implement AI technologies. EY's AI platform offers guidelines, best practices for risk and governance, and data management, streamlining AI strategy development.

• This move reflects the growing importance of AI in business strategies and the role of consulting firms in helping companies navigate AI adoption, emphasizing the need for clarity in AI implementation.

Adobe’s Firefly generative AI tools are now widely available

(4 min read) (Source: The Verge)

TLDR: Adobe has commercially launched its Firefly generative AI model, offering AI-powered workflows across Adobe Creative Cloud and Experience Cloud with digital "nutrition labels" for AI-generated content.

• To address copyright concerns, Adobe introduced a bonus scheme for Adobe Stock contributors who allow their submissions to train AI models, promoting responsible AI use and creator compensation.

👀 Interesting Reads and Content

Deep Dives

• The AI Detection Arms Race Is On (WIRED)

• AI just beat a human test for creativity. What does that even mean? (MIT Technology Review)

• Scientists are still struggling to effectively assess machine intelligence (Nature)

• The AI Hype Train Has Stalled in China (WIRED)

Insightful Information

• Here’s how we raised a Series B for our AI startup during a downturn (TechCrunch)

• Ranked: Artificial Intelligence Startups, by Country (Visual Capitalist)

• The global race to set the rules for AI (Financial Times)

• How scientists are using artificial intelligence (The Economist)

• Machine Learning Aids Classical Modeling of Quantum Systems (Quanta Magazine)

• Artificial intelligence for natural product drug discovery (Nature)

Analysis and Critiques

• Artificial Intelligence May Be Humanity’s Most Ingenious Invention—And Its Last? (Vanity Fair)

• AI Adoption in U.S. Health Care Won’t Be Easy (Harvard Business Review)

• Bizarre AI-generated products are in stores. Here’s how to avoid them. (The Washington Post)

💰 Funding News

1. Databricks, the AI + analytics firm specializing in cloud-based data storage and processing software, raised a $500M Series I, led by T. Rowe Price, valuing the company at $43Bn.

• Notable investors include new strategic investor Nvidia, w/ Capital One, Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, and existing backers

• Funding is for further expanding their partnership with NVIDIA and enhancing its generative AI capabilities.

• Databricks still plans to go public amid a resurgent IPO market, keeping an eye on market dynamics but not rushing to be among the first movers. Databricks is now the eighth-most valuable private company globally.

2. Biomedicines, a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company pioneering an ML-powered generative biology platform, raised a $273M Series C. Notable investors include Amgen and NVentures-NVIDIA’s VC arm.

3. Helsing, a defense AI company specializing in AI-based solutions to protect democracies, raised a €209M Series B, led by General Catalyst (Paul Kwan, Managing Partner) and Saab.

• They’ve gained rapid market adoption across Europe, leading to significant government contracts.

4. Enfabrica is a startup specializing in converged networking and memory fabric silicon + software designed for AI and accelerated computing workloads. They raised a $125M Series B, led by Atreides Management w/ support from Sutter Hill Ventures and NVIDIA, Liberty Global Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, and others.

5. Pixis, a platform designed for brands to oversee and optimize their marketing campaigns w/ AI, raised a $85M Series C1, led by Touring Capital.

6. DRUID, an end-to-end platform for building, deploying, and scaling AI-driven Conversational Business Applications, raised a $30M Series B, led by TQ Ventures.

7. ELSA, an AI-powered English language learning platform, raised a $23M Series C, led by UOB Venture Management w/ other notable international investors participating.

8. Glass Health, an AI-powered clinical decision support platform, raised $5M led by Initialized Capital, w/ Breyer Capital, Y Combinator, and prominent founders from the health tech space.

9. ReSeed, an AI-powered regenerative nature-based services provider, raised a $4.6M Seed round, led by One Small Planet.

10. Treefera, an AI-powered forest data and conservation platform aimed at enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of the carbon offset industry, raised a $2.2M Pre-Seed round, led by Concept Ventures.

That's all for today's email! If you want more please follow us at the social channels linked below, or check out our website!

Share our newsletter: If you like our work please share/forward this email with your friends, colleagues, and family. It's the best way to support us!

If this email was forwarded to you please sign up here to continue receiving them.

Want your content, product, jobs, or event featured in our newsletter? Reply to this email with the details, and our team will reach out to you.

Do you use AI for work? Tell us how, and you could be featured in our newsletter!

Check out our website for more resources, including a list of AI investors, products, events, and twitter follows.

For an archive of all our posts, click here.

We'd love to hear from you! You can always leave us comments or feedback by replying to this email!

Powered by AI. Curated and edited by Humans.