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Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, aims to secure $1 billion in equity financing to compete with industry leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. The company, co-founded by Musk, has already garnered $135 million from investors, as revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Venture Capital: ffVC Steps In To Fill Funding Void, Launches Fund For Ukrainian Startups
ff Venture Capital, or ffVC, an early-stage venture firm focused on global opportunities, launched the ff Blue & Yellow Heritage Fund, the first US venture capital fund exclusively for Ukrainian founders and startups. Of the targeted amount of $50 million the new fund has already received commitments for $30mm from institutional, family offices and corporate investors.
Digital Assets: Nasdaq Launches Institutions-Focused Digital Assets Business
With a view to driving broader institutional adoption of digital assets, NASDAQ has launched a new digital assets business titled Nasdaq Digital Assets to provide a proprietary custody solution with liquidity and execution services for financial institutions.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Sprott Files For An Energy Transition Materials ETF
Sprott Funds filed Tuesday to launch the Sprott Energy Transition Materials ETF, an ETF that would invest in securities of companies engaged in activities relating to energy transition materials.
FinTech: Cannabis Wholesale Platform Leaflink Clocks Over $1B In Payments Transactions
Leaflink, a wholesale platform for the cannabis industry that offers payment solutions, announced Wednesday that it had processed over $1 billion in transactions since the company’s inception to date across 1700 active operators and 22 markets.
Artificial Intelligence: AI To Prevent Endangered Eagle Species From Flying Into German Wind Turbines
Only about 130 breeding pairs of the lesser spotted eagle are known to be surviving. This species of eagle is known to ride thermal currents that prevail over past German flatlands that will soon see vast wind farms in the country’s rush to replace increasingly doubtful supplies of Russian gas, coal-based power and nuclear energy.
Artificial Intelligence: BMW And Other Funding Rounds Of Note
Here are interesting funding rounds in the AI space, ranging from the BMW-led $10 million funding in an optical AI company, to the similar amount invested in a Slovenia-based insect monitoring, and forecasting platform.
Digital Assets: Lumos Digital Mining Flags Off Solar-Powered Mining Of Bitcoin Down Under
Lumos Digital Mining has inaugurated its solar powered 5 MW bitcoin data mining centre in the steel city of Whyalla, South Australia. It will be operated for the mining of bitcoins, a process which requires extensive competition of power to solve complex mathematics problems. Crypto mining has been roundly criticised in recent times for its rapacious use of energy, said to exceed annually the consumption of a medium-sized nation such as Argentina.
Artificial Intelligence: Rekor Debuts New Non-Intrusive AI-Driven Traffic Data Collection System
Rekor, (NASDAQ: REKR) which uses AI, machine learning and data to support roadway safety and smart mobility, unveiled its new edge-based, non-intrusive, AI-driven traffic data collection system designed and developed to collect and transform high-speed roadway data.
Venture Capital: SaaS Pricing And Financing Platform Ratio Raises $411M After Emerging From Stealth
Ratio, a fintech platform focused on management of SaaS subscriptions, emerged from stealth and secured $411 million in financing, comprising $11 million of venture funding and a $400 million credit facility for customer financing. Ratio’s investors include Streamlined Ventures, Cervin Ventures, 8-Bit Capital, HoneyStone Ventures, multi-billion-dollar asset managers and a range of tech CEOs from both large and small companies.
Venture Capital: Massive Payday For Figma Founders As Adobe Makes $20B Offer For The Design Startup
Adobe, (NASDAQ: ADBE) announced it will pay about $ 20 billion in cash and stock to acquire Figma, a collaborative design start-up that was valued at $ 10 billion in its last funding round in 2021. Figma creates cloud-based design software that is a competitor to Adobe’s XD program. The payment consideration of $ 20 billion comprises approximately half cash and half stock subject to usual adjustments.
FinTech: Walmart To Foray Into Banking Via Fintech Startup One
Walmart (NYSE: WMT) the retailer with 1.6 million employees at 5,335 store locations across the U.S. and 150 million weekly customers, is finally making serious inroads into banking. One, a fintech startup that is majority owned by the retail giant, will be the vehicle for the new venture, which envisages, in a beta phase, offering checking accounts to its employees and some of its online customers, says a report by Bloomberg.
Alternative Investments/Digital: New, Post-Hard-Fork Ethereum ETP Launched By ETC
ETC Group is launching a new physically backed Ethereum ETP, the ETHWetc–ETC Group Physical EthereumPoW (ZETW GY) on the Deutsche Börse Xetra on 16 September, shortly after the hard fork occurs.
After the fork, the PoS chain will continue with ether (ETH) as its native chain, while the PoW chain will have a new token titled ETHW.
Venture Capital: TeraWatt Raises Over $1B To Scale Charging Networks For Electrified Fleets
TeraWatt Infrastructure has raised over $ 1 billion of institutional funds scale up its network of fleet-focused charging centres and operations. The company’s mission is to accelerate the decarbonisation of transport with a proprietary platform that combines an EV charging-focused property portfolio, asset financing capabilities, project development, and charging and energy management expertise.
Digital Assets: South Korean Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Terraform Founder Do Kwon
A Reuters report said a South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, which promoted the UST stablecoin. A text message from the Financial Crimes Unit of the Supreme Prosecutors Office (cited by Bloomberg) said the warrant included five additional persons. The accused allegedly violated the Capital Markets Act.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Invesco Launches ETFs For Exposure To Wind Energy And Hydrogen
Invesco has launched the Invesco Wind Energy UCITS ETF and Invesco Hydrogen Economy UCITS ETF in advancement of the thesis that the sharp rise in fossil-sourced energy costs adds to the rationale for renewable energy, even beyond environmental concerns.
Digital Assets: Starbucks Unveils ‘Odyssey,’ A New Web3 Application, With Polygon
Starbucks Odyssey is a rewards program that will combine the digital technologies of the blockchain, NFTs, and Web3. Global coffee chain Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Polygon “will offer Starbucks Rewards members and Starbucks partners (employees) in the United States the opportunity to earn and purchase digital collectible assets that will unlock access to new benefits and immersive coffee experiences,” said an announcement.
FinTech: JPMorgan Acquires Payments Fintech Renovite
J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) has taken another step towards further enhancing its payments technology and to build out its next-generation merchant acquiring platform. The banking giant announced the acquisition of Renovite, a payments fintech offering a high-tech suite of payment solutions, for an undisclosed amount.
Venture Capital: Blockchain And Web3 Infrastructure Developer Mysten Labs Nabs $300M Series B
Mysten Labs, a developer of the Sui blockchain network and creator of infrastructure for Web3, announced an initial close of $300 million series B funding round led by FTX Ventures. The round valued the startup at more than $2 billion.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Emerge Canada Launches Five Sustainable ETFs Under Its EMPWR Program For Women-Led Managers
Emerge Canada launched a new, proprietary EMPWR program that includes separate account strategies, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds available to investors in both Canada and the US. The program promotes sustainable investing while supporting women-led investment managers.
Alternative Investments/ESG: DWS Expands ESG Range With Three Paris-Aligned ETFs
DWS has launched three new ETFs as an extension of its existing suite of climate-focused ETFs. To be listed in Europe, the three new Paris-aligned equity ETFs provide large and mid-cap exposure to stocks from the US, Europe, and Japan. The new ETFs are the Xtrackers USA Net Zero Pathway Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (XNUS GY), which comes with an expense ratio of 0.10%, and the Xtrackers Europe Net Zero Pathway Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (XEPA GY) and Xtrackers Japan Net Zero Pathway Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (XNJP GY), both of which are priced at 0.15%.
Artificial Intelligence: Why An Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) Could Destroy Mankind
We’ve been pretty wrong about some historic events that eventually did come to pass. Example: The great physicist Ernest Rutherford had famously proclaimed in 1933 that anyone who propounded atomic power was “talking moonshine.” As recently as 1977, a computer industry pioneer supposedly said computers would not reach our homes. Yet those computers are here and in fact everywhere in various forms and power configurations. In fact, Torres is now worried about the “ever-growing computing power” that is touted as a boon for humanity. Could these rapidly evolving computers and advances in AI technology create an Artficial Superintelligence (ASI) that could then turn upon us – it’s creator?
Artificial Intelligence: Rockefeller Foundation Partners With Atlas AI And e-GUIDE To Boost Economic Development In Africa
The Rockefeller Foundation will leverage machine learning technology and satellite data in a new $ 5.5 million collaboration with e-GUIDE and Atlas AI to boost economic development and build climate resilient infrastructure across sub- Saharan Africa. An innovative digital platform will make available valuable insight into agriculture, energy, and transportation sector development conditions, initially in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda. The information (“dynamic situational awareness of local conditions”) will enable policymakers to prioritise infrastructure development, promote economic opportunities, and mitigate community vulnerabilities in these sectors.
FinTech: Klarna’s First Half Result Sees Losses Triple From Last Year
Higher employee costs, an increase in credit losses, and investments in growth pushed Klarna to a loss of 6.17 billion Swedish crowns ($578.52 million) in the first half of the year, more than 3X of its loss of 1.76 billion crowns in the corresponding period last year.
Artificial Intelligence: An AI Pilot Can Navigate An Autonomous Aircraft Through Congested Airspace
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an AI-powered system that pilots an autonomous aircraft through crowded airspace. This first-ever “AI pilot” guides the aircraft well enough to avoid collisions, anticipates the likely flight path of other planes in the vicinity and takes actions accordingly, and maintains radio communications with pilots and air traffic controllers (ATCs).