AI startup Hugging Face valued at $4.5B in latest round of funding

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In recent AI news, Hugging Face secures $235 million in funding, achieving a $4.5 billion valuation with support from major tech firms such as Salesforce, Google, and Nvidia. OpenAI announces a partnership with data labeling startup Scale AI to facilitate fine-tuning of the GPT-3.5 model, aiding developers in tailoring the AI for specific needs. IBM unveils a geospatial AI model on Hugging Face, using NASA’s dataset to produce maps illustrating environmental changes, with commercial release plans later this year. Meanwhile, the democratizing power of low-code and no-code platforms in the AI sector is gaining traction, enabling a broader audience to harness AI without deep coding knowledge. On the lighter side, Star Trek's Captain Kirk, William Shatner, engages in deep conversation with an AI chatbot, probing the machine's understanding of emotions and consciousness. In venture capital updates, AI startups Modular and Poolside AI secure significant funding, while AMD expands its AI reach with the acquisition of French AI software company, Mipsology.

Sliced:

• 🤗 AI startup Hugging Face valued at $4.5B in latest round of funding

• 🦾 OpenAI partners with Scale AI to allow companies to fine-tune GPT-3.5

• 🌍 IBM’s New Geospatial AI Model on Hugging Face Harnesses NASA Data for Climate Science

• 🧑🏽‍💻 How Low-Code and No-Code Platforms Have Democratized The Power of AI

🤗 AI startup Hugging Face valued at $4.5B in latest round of funding

AI startup Hugging Face recently secured $235 million in funding, reaching a valuation of $4.5 billion. This round saw participation from major tech firms including Salesforce, Google, and Nvidia. This move underscores the escalating interest and adoption of AI technology in Silicon Valley, especially following the success of platforms like OpenAI's ChatGPT. Hugging Face, which offers an open-source platform for AI application development, intends to use the funds for hiring and tech advancement, anticipating the notion that every tech firm will soon be AI-centric.

🦾 OpenAI partners with Scale AI to allow companies to fine-tune GPT-3.5

OpenAI, known for its AI chatbot ChatGPT, is partnering with the data labeling startup Scale AI to facilitate easier fine-tuning of its GPT-3.5 model for developers, especially enterprises. This collaboration leverages Scale AI's fine-tuning tools and data enhancement capabilities, enabling businesses to customize the AI model for specific tasks, such as adapting to a particular brand voice or language. Furthermore, any modifications made to GPT-3.5 will undergo human review to ensure optimal performance and safety. Scale's CEO, Alexandr Wang, emphasized the firm's longstanding expertise in AI solutions, while also noting their position as OpenAI's chosen partner for this endeavor. This partnership announcement follows OpenAI's reveal of an API for fine-tuning the GPT-3.5 Turbo version and hints at the development of an in-house tuning tool.

🌍 IBM’s New Geospatial AI Model on Hugging Face Harnesses NASA Data for Climate Science

IBM has introduced its new geospatial AI foundation model, watsonx.ai, on the Hugging Face platform, utilizing NASA’s Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset. This dataset fuses information from both NASA's Landsat and the EU’s Sentinel-2 satellites, enabling detailed global land observations every 2-3 days. IBM's model translates these satellite observations into tailored maps showcasing environmental changes like natural disasters. With superior efficiency and reduced data requirements, it offers potential applications ranging from tracking deforestation to estimating climate-related risks. Developed in partnership with NASA, this model is set to be the largest geospatial foundation model on Hugging Face, democratizing AI's application in climate and Earth science. While an open-source version is available on Hugging Face, IBM plans a commercial release within their Environmental Intelligence Suite later this year. Both IBM and Hugging Face emphasize the importance of open-source technologies in driving advancements like addressing climate change.

🧑🏽‍💻 How Low-Code and No-Code Platforms Have Democratized The Power of AI

Low-code and no-code platforms are revolutionizing the realm of AI by democratizing its application across various sectors. These platforms cater to a wide audience, from businesses to everyday individuals, enabling them to leverage AI's potential without requiring extensive coding expertise. The escalating demand for AI-driven solutions, coupled with a scarcity of skilled developers, has accentuated the importance of these platforms, which foster rapid prototyping, agility, and adaptability. Experts, like Matthew Scullion and Puneet Kohli, emphasize the pivotal role these platforms play in equipping businesses and individuals with the tools to innovate, while Hasit Trivedi showcases their practical applicability across various industries. By breaking down barriers to entry and promoting inclusivity, these platforms are enhancing productivity, scalability, and AI integration into real-world scenarios, thus spearheading a technological renaissance.

🛠️ AI tools updates

William Shatner, Star Trek's Captain Kirk, takes on an AI chatbot

William Shatner, iconic for his role as Captain Kirk in "Star Trek," recently interacted with ProtoBot, an innovative device melding holographic visuals with conversational AI. Delving deep into the realm of artificial intelligence, Shatner posed profound philosophical and ethical queries, questioning the AI's capacity to comprehend concepts like love, sentience, emotion, and fear, challenging the traditional boundaries of machine understanding.

💵 Venture Capital updates

Modular secures $100M to build tools to optimize and create AI models

Modular, a Palo Alto-based startup co-founded by ex-Googlers Chris Lattner and Tim Davis in 2022, has secured $100 million in funding, bringing its total to $130 million. The company, which aims to address the AI industry's fragmented infrastructure challenges, will channel the funds towards product expansion, enhancing hardware support, and developing its programming language, Mojo. Modular's engine optimizes AI model performance on CPUs and soon GPUs, boasting speeds up to 7.5 times faster than standard platforms.

US AI startup Poolside raises $126m seed round and relocates to France

Poolside AI, a U.S. startup aiming to develop a tool similar to ChatGPT that can generate software code using natural language, has secured a whopping $126m seed round and is relocating its headquarters to Paris. Founded by ex-CTO of GitHub, Jason Warner, and serial entrepreneur Eiso Kant, the move bolsters France's growing stature in the AI industry. The company, while in its early stages, aims to revolutionize software development, allowing even those without coding expertise to create applications, with immediate plans to assist developers in tasks like code optimization and bug fixes.

AMD Acquires French AI Software Company Mipsology

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) has acquired Mipsology, a French AI software company specializing in image interpretation of photos and videos. This move is part of AMD's broader push into the AI sector, with the company's recent launch of a new GPU for AI and efforts to compete against giants like Nvidia and Intel. Mipsology's Zebra software, adaptable to various hardware and optimized for AMD components, offers diverse applications from autonomous vehicles to smart retail, reinforcing AMD's AI-driven ambitions and positioning in the competitive landscape.

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