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Everything else about AI startups came out of the blue this morning, when it was announced that Google will invest more than $300 million in AI lab Anthropic, one of the most high-profile AI startups in recent history (thanks in part to the massive early investment Sam Bankman Fried and FTX) and one of OpenAI’s biggest rivals for the LLM (Large Language Model) space.
But there were a few other startups that also made headlines — from those doing autonomous driving to retail self-checkout. These are the headlines:
Contents
- 1 1. Anthropic gets $300 million from Google for generative AI
- 2 2. Phantom AI raises $36 million for autonomous driving platform
- 3 3. Standard AI adopts Skip to combine retail self-checkout and autonomous checkout
- 4 5. Lavender raises $13 million for AI-powered sales email coaching
- 5 6. Instill AI raises $3.6 million to extract insights from unstructured data
1. Anthropic gets $300 million from Google for generative AI
According to new reporting from the Financial Times, Google has invested $300 million in one of OpenAI’s hottest rivals, AI lab startup Anthropicwhose recently introduced generative AI model Claude is considered competitive with ChatGPT.
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According to the report, Google will take a stake of about 10% and Anthropic will have to use the money to buy Google Cloud computing resources. The new financing will value the San Francisco-based company at approximately $5 billion.
2. Phantom AI raises $36 million for autonomous driving platform
Silicon Valley’s Phantom AI provides a comprehensive autonomous driving platform with computer vision, sensor fusion and control capabilities. Founders Hyunggi Cho and Chan Kyu Lee, formerly of Tesla and Hyundai, are seeking to democratize technologies such as automatic emergency braking and emergency lane assist as the better way to build autonomous vehicles and advance the future of smart cars.
The new round of the funding will be used to accelerate current series production development with major car manufacturers. The company has raised a total of $80.2 million since its inception in 2017.
3. Standard AI adopts Skip to combine retail self-checkout and autonomous checkout
San Francisco based Standard AI offers an AI-powered, cloud-based autonomous checkout solution that allows customers to shop and go without waiting in line or scanning and paying. It has announced that it will to skipwhich offers a self-checkout solution with a cloud-based point of sale, integrations and a kiosk.
With the acquisition, Standard AI says it will become “the only company connecting self-checkout with AI-powered autonomous checkout into one integrated experience.” It will also integrate Skips technology with Standard’s back-office ecosystem to “streamline operations and give greater control over prices, discounts, promotions and more.”
BridgeWise of Tel Aviv, formerly known as Deshe Analytics, announced a $13 million round to advance the company’s mission to make high-quality investment research tools accessible to global investors using generative AI.
Founded in 2019, fintech BridgeWise developed an AI-based equity research-as-a-service and insight platform. “We bridge the gap to enable every type of investor – institutional or private – to understand their position in the market, on every stock, in every language, in a professional yet simplified way,” Dor Eligula, co-founder and chief business officer at BridgeWise, told Magazine for Traders.
5. Lavender raises $13 million for AI-powered sales email coaching
Based in New York City Lavenderan AI-powered sales email coaching platform, announced it raised $13.2 million in funding. The tool integrates with email providers to provide context about sales prospects and suggest ways to optimize messages.
“Lavender’s platform goes beyond AI-generated writing to increase sales reach — rather than automate — and make every interaction more human. It gives sellers a boost by spending less time writing emails so they can focus on building relationships and selling products,” said Scott Beechuk, partner at Norwest Venture Partners, in a press release.
6. Instill AI raises $3.6 million to extract insights from unstructured data
Add AIa London-based startup that provides tools to tackle unstructured data has raised $3.6 million in a seed round led by venture capital firm RTP worldwide. The funding will help the startup build on its mission to help organizations extract untapped value from unstructured data — including text, images, and video — by making AI more accessible to businesses of all sizes.
Ping-Lin Chang, CEO and co-founder of Instill AI, said: “Unstructured data can be more analyzable if AI is more accessible. At Instill AI, we are committed to making this happen. We believe that machine learning and AI should be as easily accessible as other ready-to-use cloud services in today’s software industry. This seed investment helps us accelerate development and strengthen the readiness of the VDP, bringing us one step closer to solving this problem.”
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