Elon Musk files injunction to block OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit structure

Today’s Highlights:

📰 News: Elon Musk files injunction to block OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit structure + A new AI-powered browser from The Browser Company

💰 Funding: Databricks is looking to raise $5-$8 Billion

⚡️ Top News Stories:

1. Elon Musk has filed a court injunction to block OpenAI’s transition to a fully for-profit structure, citing alleged violations of antitrust and RICO laws and aiming to preserve the organization’s original nonprofit mission.

• Musk’s injunction accuses OpenAI of improper asset transfers, self-dealing through financial dealings like using Stripe (where Altman holds investments), and anticompetitive practices, including imposing investment terms with Microsoft that allegedly blocked funding for competitors like xAI.

• Musk’s legal filing targets OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft, and former board members, accusing them of improperly sharing competitive information, misusing sensitive data through Microsoft ties, and engaging in financially conflicted deals.

• This marks Musk’s fourth legal action against OpenAI, as the company pushes to finalize investments and solidify its $150Bn valuation.

• OpenAI dismissed Musk’s legal claims as “recycled and baseless,” asserting that the allegations lack merit and defending the legality of its planned restructuring.

2. The Browser Company teased its new AI-powered web browser, Dia, set to launch in early 2025, it integrates AI directly into the browsing environment to simplify tasks like summarizing tabs, writing, managing emails, and automating multi-step actions such as finding documents, emailing them, and adding items to Amazon carts based on user prompts.

3. Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot, now equipped with an upgraded hand-forearm system featuring 22 degrees of freedom in the hand and 3 in the wrist, demonstrated real-time tennis ball catching in a recent demo, showcasing improved precision and tendon control, with plans to reduce forearm weight and integrate extended tactile sensing for more human-like task performance.

4. Google DeepMind has introduced the Boundless Socratic Learning framework, enabling AI systems to self-improve through structured language-based interactions and self-generated training scenarios, using "language games" with performance assessments and game-based rewards to refine their abilities without external data or human feedback.

5. Adobe has unveiled MultiFoley, an AI system that generates synchronized post-production sound effects for videos from text prompts, reference audio, or sound clips, allowing users to transform sounds—like a cat’s meow into a lion’s roar—while preserving timing with on-screen action, revolutionizing sound design by making custom, synchronized soundtracks as simple as interacting with a chatbot.

6. Five major Canadian news organizations, including the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and CBC, are suing OpenAI for billions, alleging copyright infringement for scraping journalism to train ChatGPT, seeking damages of 20,000 Canadian dollars per article, a share of OpenAI's profits, and a court order to halt unauthorized content use.

7. The AI-powered Death Clock app predicts life expectancy using data from 1,200 studies and 53M participants, factoring in diet, stress, and sleep, offering personalized estimates that outperform traditional actuarial averages, with implications for financial planning and retirement strategies while addressing societal challenges of policies that overlook physiological diversity.

8. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired after leading the company since 2021, as Intel faces challenges competing in the AI-driven tech landscape, falling behind rivals like Nvidia, whose GPUs dominate AI computing with optimized parallel processing capabilities.

💰 Top Funding News:

1. Databricks is raising $5–8 Bn at a $55 Bn valuation, one of 2024's largest private funding rounds, allowing employees to sell shares and easing pressure for an IPO.

2. Black Forest Labs, the AI startup behind Elon Musk’s Grok image generator, is in talks for a $200M funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz at a potential valuation exceeding $1Bn, while adopting a cautious approach to avoid overvaluation and unsustainable scaling pressures.

3. Tenstorrent, which develops AI chips based on the open-source RISC-V architecture, offering more affordable, interoperable, and customizable solutions for AI training and inference to compete with Nvidia’s products, raised a $693M Series D, led by Samsung, LG Electronics, Bezos Expeditions, Hyundai Motor Group, and Fidelity, among others.

4. Nebius, which focuses on AI infrastructure, developing advanced GPU clusters, cloud platforms, and tools tailored for AI developers, raised $700M from Nvidia, Accel, and Orbis Investments. 

5. Range’s Rai platform, which employs AI to revolutionize wealth management, providing personalized financial advice 10–20x faster than traditional advisors, raised a $28M Series B, led by Cathay Innovation with participation from Gradient Ventures and other investors.

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