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AI Funding Data, News, and Tools. Edition #03

$215M+ was raised last week across 16 funding rounds.

January 11, 2023

“I am telling you, the world’s first trillionaires are going to come from somebody who masters AI and all its derivatives and applies it in ways we never thought of.”

- Mark Cuban

Welcome to the third issue of the AI Track – your destination for the latest news, tools, and funding data in AI and ML.

So grab some 🍿 and let's go!

📰 STORYS OF THE WEEK

Microsoft in talks to invest $10 bln in ChatGPT-owner OpenAI, Semafor reports

Microsoft Corp is in talks to invest $10 billion in ChatGPT-owner OpenAI as part of funding that will value the firm at $29 billion, Semafor reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-talks-invest-10-bln-chatgpt-owner-semafor-2023-01-10/

Iran Says Face Recognition Will ID Women Breaking Hijab Laws

Iranian women are baring their heads to protest government controls. A top official said algorithms can identify anyone flouting dress codes.

https://www.wired.com/story/iran-says-face-recognition-will-id-women-breaking-hijab-laws/

Adobe may train its algorithms with your work unless you opt-out

Unless you specifically opt-out, Adobe may assume that it’s ok to use your work to train its algorithms.

https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/2023/01/09/adobe-train-algorithms-your-work-opt-out/

OpenAI begins piloting ChatGPT Professional, a premium version of its viral chatbot

OpenAI has begun testing a paid, enterprise-focused version of its viral ChatGPT bot -- and surveying users about their pricing preferences.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/11/openai-begins-piloting-chatgpt-professional-a-premium-version-of-its-viral-chatbot/

Australian universities to return to ‘pen and paper’ exams after students caught using AI to write essays

Australia’s leading universities say redesign of how students are assessed is ‘critical’ in the face of a revolution in computer-generated text

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/10/universities-to-return-to-pen-and-paper-exams-after-students-caught-using-ai-to-write-essays

Microsoft's new AI tool can copy any voice

San Francisco, Jan 10 (IANS): Tech giant Microsoft has released its new artificial intelligence (AI) tool, VALL-E, that can replicate any voice in just three seconds. The tool was trained on 60,000 hours of English speech data, reports Gizmochina. Moreover, it can replicate the emotions and tone of the speaker, which.....

https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=1038303

BioNTech acquires Tunisian-born and UK-based AI startup InstaDeep for £562M

Last January, InstaDeep raised $100 million from several investors including Germany’s largest vaccine maker BioNTech, which has now acquired it for £562 million.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/10/biontech-acquires-tunisian-born-and-u-k-based-ai-startup-instadeep-for-562m/

🛠️ TOOLS & TIPS

GFP-GAN is a New Free AI Tool That Can Fix Most Old Photos Instantly

A new AI tool called GFPGAN can instantly restore old damaged and faded photos in a surprisingly realistic way.

https://petapixel.com/2022/07/28/gfpgan-is-a-new-free-ai-tool-that-can-fix-most-old-photos-instantly/

Social video marketing made easy. A video maker that turns text into video marketing content in minutes.

Lumen5 is a video creation platform designed for brands and businesses to produce social video content for driving audience engagements online. The platform is powered by artificial intelligence and enables anyone without training or experience to easily create engaging video content within minutes.

https://lumen5.com/

Leonardo.ai

Generate production quality assets for your creative projects with AI-driven speed and style-consistency.

https://leonardo.ai/

Baseten | MLOps platform for startups

Baseten is a serverless backend for building ML-powered applications. Build apps with auto-scaling, GPU access, CRON jobs, and serverless functions.

https://app.baseten.co/apps/QPp4nPE/operator_views/RqgOnqV

Vocal Remover | Isolate Voice & Instrumental Online | LALAL.AI

Split vocal and instrumental tracks quickly and accurately with LALAL.AI. Upload any audio file and receive high-quality extracted tracks in a few seconds.

https://www.lalal.ai/

Merlin - OpenAI ChatGPT powered assistant

Open-AI ChatGPT powered tool to give you the AI magic on all websites with just a Cmd/Ctrl+M prompt!

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/merlin-openai-chatgpt-pow/camppjleccjaphfdbohjdohecfnoikec

Jump cut video app | Automatically Remove Silence

Automatically jump cut video to remove silence and awkward pauses from long video and podcasts. Rapidly edit any scene or word. World's fastest video timeline editor.

https://www.timebolt.io/

AI-Generated Podcast Summaries | Sumly.AI

SumlyAI is a revolutionary AI-powered platform that offers summaries of podcasts. Our cutting-edge technology enables us to provide fast and accurate summaries of your favorite podcasts, delivered straight to your inbox. With SumlyAI, you can stay up to date on the latest episodes of your favorite podcasts, without having to spend hours listening to them in full. Whether you're short on time or just want to get a quick overview of the key points, SumlyAI has you covered. Sign up today for free!

https://www.sumly.ai/

Tools To Grow Your SAAS Startup

Curated tools build in-house backed by my experience in the industry.

https://sid.black/tools/

Professional AI Voiceover and AI Video Generator | Synthesys Studio

AI Voiceover and AI Video Generator. Produce Your Next Professional audiovisual content without spending money on hiring actors, cameras, or audio equipment.

https://synthesys.io/

DeepBeat: Rap Lyrics Generating AI

DeepBeat is a program which uses machine learning techniques to generate rap lyrics by combining lines from existing rap songs.

https://deepbeat.org/

Face Photo Restorer

Restore your old face photos and keep the memories alive.

http://restorephotos.io

ContentIn – Write better LinkedIn content. Faster.

Beat the blank page every time and build your personal brand with ease to finally become the thought leader in your niche.

https://contentin.io/

PromptExtend - Extend/Generate Ai Art Prompts for MidJourney.

PromptExtend is a AI Art Prompt generator tool that extends/expand the input seed prompt into more detailed one to generate better AI arts. It can also generate random art prompts.

https://www.promptextend.com/

Make your image 3D

Convert your image to 3D

https://make3d.app/

AI Powered Search for Youtube Videos.

Create your own videos from text.

Turn your playlist to Art with SongSketch.

📺 MEDIA OF THE WEEK

🧑‍💻 WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?

I'd love to hear about how you utilize AI in your business or projects! Please respond to this email or reach out through DM. It might be featured in this newsletter.

💰 FUNDING $215M+ was raised last week across 16 funding rounds.

👉 Beetested - Pre-Seed (€150k) | analyzes human emotions in real-time and merges them together with what's happening in-game. Funded by Demium Capital.

👉 Worlds - Series A1 ($21M) | offers an AI platform for real-world automation.

👉 Live Circle - Seed ($50k) | develops a collaborative network designed to help users live their possible stories.

👉 Metagenomi - Series B ($100M) | uses metagenomics and machine learning to discover novel genome editing systems for therapeutics development. The Series B extension financing was co-led by Novo Holdings A/S, Catalio Capital Management, and SymBiosis, with participation from new and existing investors, including Leaps by Bayer and Moderna, as well as the initial Series B leads PFM Health Sciences, Farallon Capital Management, and a leading global investment firm.

👉 Redigo - Seed (PLN1.2M) | allows companies to track, analyze and act on their carbon footprint. The investment came from Invento VC's Bridge Alfa program.

👉 Attention - Seed ($3.1M) | AI sales assistant helping businesses achieve their full potential. The round was led by Eniac Ventures, with participation from institutional investors Frst, Liquid2 Ventures, Maschmeyer Group Ventures, and Ride Ventures. The round also included the founders of Ramp, Pawp, Truework, and CB Insights.

👉 Qritive - Series A ($7.5M) | makes cancer diagnosis fast, cheap, and accurate. The funding round was led by MassMutual Ventures, supported by SEEDS Capital and Exfinty Venture Partners.

👉 Profet AI - Series A ($5.6M) | AI and machine learning automation solutions designed for manufacturing companies. Darwin Ventures led the round, with participation from Hive Ventures, AUO, SVTI, Harbinger VC, and Jensen Capital Management.

👉Tribaja - Seed | AI-powered career coach and pipeline management software.

👉 actyv.ai- Series A (₹560M) | AI-powered enterprise SaaS platform with embedded B2B BNPL and insurance, transforming the global B2B supply chain eco system.

👉 Stardust AI - Series A (CN¥50M) | one-stop training data solutions for AI modeling and applications.

👉 Product Science Inc. - Seed ($18M) | performance management platform that helps improve mobile performance of apps. The funding came from Slow Ventures, Coatue, K5 Global, Mantis Ventures, Benchmark’s Peter Fenton, Insight Partners co-founder Jerry Murdock, and unnamed Snap VPs.

👉 Volta Medical - Series B (€36M) | developing intelligent software solutions to guide cardiologists during interventional procedures. The funding round was led by U.S.-based Vensana Capital with co-investment from Lightstone Ventures and existing investor Gilde Healthcare.

👉 Wisdo Health - Series A ($11M) | Social Health platform harnessing the power of data and meaningful connections to improve health. Wisdo's lead investor Marius Nacht led this additional funding with Alive Israel Healthtech Fund L.P. and Bridge Builders Collaborative. Additional investors include the founder of 23andme, Anne Wojcicki, the Founder of Intel Capital, Avram Miller, and investors from the Bridge Builders Collaborative, whose portfolios include Headspace Health, Insight Timer, and Pear Therapeutics.

👉 Nanoprecise Sci Corp - Series B (CA$13.4M) | AI & IoT company that is revolutionizing the field of predictive maintenance by accurately diagnosing faults in machines. The round was led by Export Development Canada (EDC), with participation from several players in the manufacturing and industrial technology space, including Honeywell Ventures, NSK Ltd., and EC Mergers & Acquisitions.

👉 RoEx - Seed | AI-powered web platform and API that provides mixing services to musicians, producers, and content creators. The Investors include Haatch and the Queen Mary University of London.

Thank you for reading the third issue of the AI Track. Please reply to this email or contact us on social media if you have any thoughts or suggestions for future editions. Remember to share and subscribe.

See you next week, and let's keep researching!