Perplexity is finalizing a new funding round that will push the AI search startup to a $1 billion valuation, according to The Wall Street Journal. That nearly doubles its $520 million valuation from just two months ago, alongside topping $10 million in annual revenue. Investors are clearly eager to back a challenger to Google's search empire.
DeepMind alumni Yishu Miao and Ziyu Wang just launched Haiper, a fresh AI video platform backed by $13.8M in seed funding. Users can currently generate 2- to 4-second video clips or animate still images for free on its site. Haiper plans to build out a core model for developers and even explore open sourcing, taking directly on OpenAI's Sora.
AI chipmaker Groq just acquired analytics startup Definitive Intelligence for an undisclosed sum to scale its on-demand platform, GroqCloud. Definitive Intelligence previously helped build the cloud infrastructure, which lets developers access Groq's ultrafast LPUs on demand. Its CEO Sunny Madra will now take charge of GroqCloud, alongside a new Groq Systems division targeting government and enterprise deployments.
Humanoid robot maker Figure AI just raised $675 million at a $2.6 billion valuation from Big Tech heavyweights, including Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, Microsoft, and OpenAI. Along with the cash, Figure signed a deal with OpenAI to develop next-generation multimodal models for its robots. Why it matters: the tech giants are officially racing to put frontier AI into physical bodies.
AI marketing copilot Jasper just acquired image platform Clipdrop from Stability AI, closing the deal on February 20. The Paris-based team joins Jasper immediately to spearhead multimodal research. Enterprise clients get instant access via the Jasper API, while the standalone consumer app stays live.
Tech giants are cutting jobs, and everyone is blaming AI — but experts say that's mostly a cover story. Oxford researchers and analysts point out there's little evidence of robots directly replacing workers at scale; instead, companies are just cutting standard costs or slashing other budgets to fund expensive AI pivots.
Reddit just inked a $60 million content licensing deal with an unnamed major tech company to train AI models, according to Bloomberg. Ahead of its planned $5 billion IPO in March, the platform is turning its vast forum discussions into cash, though the move risks reigniting fury among users already frustrated by recent API price hikes.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is reportedly in talks to raise an eye-popping $5 trillion to $7 trillion to overhaul the global semiconductor industry and expand AI infrastructure. Altman has long warned that chip shortages are throttling AI growth, and he's now pitching sovereign wealth funds like the UAE to help challenge Nvidia's dominance. Why it matters: If realized, it is an unprecedented moonshot that would fundamentally reshape global supply chains.
Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly in discussions to invest up to $500 million in humanoid robot startup Figure AI. Under the proposed deal, Microsoft would put in around $95 million and OpenAI $5 million, valuing the startup at $1.9 billion before funding. The round is meant to fuel its general-purpose Figure 01 robot, though final terms could still change.
Tencent is shifting its strategic focus toward artificial intelligence as its core gaming revenue faces growing pressure. CEO Pony Ma acknowledged at an annual meeting that the tech giant felt behind competitors in gaming, but claimed its Hunyuan large language model has finally caught up to the first-tier AI race.
ElevenLabs just secured an $80M Series B round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, officially crossing into unicorn territory. Alongside the cash infusion, the voice AI leader unveiled Dubbing Studio for full-length films, a marketplace that lets creators monetize their verified AI voices, and an upcoming mobile reader app.
Sam Altman is reportedly in talks with SoftBank and Abu Dhabi's G42 to raise roughly $100 billion to fund a global network of semiconductor fabrication plants. Codenamed Project Tigris, the venture aims to take OpenAI beyond chip design into direct manufacturing, taking on Nvidia's monopoly and easing the AI hardware crunch.
Vay just launched its commercial teledriving service in Las Vegas, taking an alternative route to autonomous transportation. Instead of an AI driver, remote human operators steer an electric car directly to your curb, you hop in and drive yourself, and they remotely park it when you are done for $0.30 a minute. It is a pragmatic, low-cost fix while self-driving tech works through its growing pains.
Intel just spun out a new enterprise generative AI company called Articul8 AI with backing from data center investor DigitalBridge. Originating from an internal project with Boston Consulting Group, the platform lets clients run multimodal AI within their own security perimeters. Why it matters: It gives Intel a dedicated software wedge to drive enterprise hardware sales against Nvidia.
AI art platform Leonardo.Ai just raised $31M to scale its generative creative suite for enterprise and pro creators. With 7 million users generating over 700 million images, the platform stands out by prioritizing granular creative control, custom model training, and a real-time sketching canvas.
Sam Altman just won TIME’s 2023 CEO of the Year after surviving a wild boardroom coup that nearly tore OpenAI apart. Just a year after launching ChatGPT, Altman transformed OpenAI into an $80 billion juggernaut and the face of the AI boom. Why it matters: The reinstatement cements Altman's unchecked influence over the frontier AI race, even as lingering questions remain about safety and internal governance.
Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, just filed with the SEC to raise up to $1 billion in an equity offering, having already locked in $134.6 million from four investors. The company recently rolled out its cheeky chatbot Grok, and the massive cash infusion aims to secure the compute power needed to take on OpenAI.
Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque just pushed back against acquisition rumors, stating the company has never reached out to anyone to be acquired. Mostaque highlighted that the startup maintains simple governance, works with multiple strategic partners with more announcements ahead, and gave shoutouts to Jasper and Cohere.
Stability AI is reportedly shopping itself to buyers as pressure mounts from major investors. Coatue Management recently demanded CEO Emad Mostaque step down, pointing to burn rates around $8M a month against minimal revenue. The startup has approached firms like Cohere and Jasper, though company spokespeople deny an active sale process.
AI video startup HeyGen just raised $5.6 million at a $75 million valuation and launched a near-instant custom avatar generator. Users can now generate a realistic digital twin from smartphone footage in five minutes instead of waiting days for studio production. HeyGen's annual recurring revenue has already jumped to $18 million.
