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AI-driven investment startup Delphia acquires Fathom Privacy to increase transparency with user data (BETAKIT)
On Thursday, Delphia announced that it had completed its acquisition of New York-headquartered Fathom Privacy, a data rights company that packages data collected from consenting user.
Apple Scales Back Self-Driving Car and Delays Debut Till ’26 (BNN BLOOMBERG)
The car project, dubbed Titan inside the company, has been in limbo for the past several months as Apple executives grappled with the reality that its vision for a fully autonomous vehicle — without a steering wheel or pedals — isn’t feasible with current technology.
Perceiv AI raises $1.5 million to better predict the progression of diseases (BETAKIT)
Investors in the round included the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation, Plug and Play Ventures, Boreal Ventures, IKJ Capital, Red Abbey Labs, Investissement Quebec, and a number of undisclosed angel investors. The closing date of the round was also not disclosed.
ChatGPT’s most charming trick is also its biggest flaw (WIRED)
Bindu Reddy, CEO of Abacus.AI, which develops tools for coders who use artificial intelligence, was charmed by ChatGPT’s ability to answer requests for definitions of love or creative new cocktail recipes. Her company is already exploring how to use ChatGPT to help write technical documents. “We have tested it, and it works great,” she says.
Yet the AI at the core of ChatGPT is not, in fact, very new.
Companies located in Western Canada are invited to apply for the 5th annual OKGN Angel Summit.
This 10-week program is designed to train entrepreneurs and newly accredited angel investors on the capital-raising process through active participation. It all culminates in a public finale on March 16, 2023 where one company will be awarded the fund of up to $250K.
Applications close December 16, 2022.
Sanctuary secures $30 million from Canada’s SIF to build robots with human-like intelligence (BETAKIT)
The investment is aimed at supporting Sanctuary’s $120.8 million project to develop what the startup claims to be the “world’s
Autonomous and electric truck company Einride raises $500M in equity and debt (TECHCRUNCH)
The cash injection constitutes an equity-based $200 million Series C portion from backers including Northzone, EQT Ventures, Temasek, Swedish pension fund AMF, Polar Structure and Norrsken VC. Additionally, the Swedish company said that it has secured $300 million in debt funding led by Barclays Europe, which will be used substantively to bolster its fleet of vehicles as it extends further into new and existing markets across Europe and North America.
Private AI secures $10.7 million CAD to protect personal data from privacy breaches (BETAKIT)
“Private AI exists in a data-driven world where information is the most valuable currency,” said Michelle Scarborough, managing partner, Thrive Venture Fund at BDC Capital. “We are excited to support Private AI’s mission to empower businesses to harness the full value of their data – creating the highly personalized experiences customers expect – while respecting their privacy.”
Runway raises $50 million at $500 million valuation as generative AI craze continues (FORBES)
Runway quickly emerged as one of the buzziest startups in the mix with its video editing software, for which the company has been releasing a bevy of generative AI features. For example, from a photo of a forest, a user can type a short text phrase into Runway’s software and instantly conjure a lake or a castle among the trees.
Durable aims to help solo entrepreneurs launch service-based businesses with AI (BETAKIT)
“The bottom line is it’s still way too hard to start a business, specifically a service-based company,” said Durable founder and CEO James Clift.
Kodiak gets $50 million to develop self-driving reconnaissance vehicles for the US Army (THE VERGE)
The California-based startup will work with the army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle program over the next 24 months.
RailVision Analytics closes $5.5 million CAD to cut train emissions by curbing fuel consumption (BETAKIT)
Despite the rail industry’s importance, RailVision founder and CEO Dev Jain believes many people have a “weak perception” of how it works given that so much of its operations take place “at night and out of sight.” Jain told BetaKit in an interview, “it’s an industry that things just show up on their doorstep and they have no clue how it got there, but it’s responsible for moving more or less everything around.”
Food delivery robots hit Canadian sidewalks, but many challenges delay mass adoption (BNN BLOOMBERG)
The value proposition for Serve Robotics — a spinoff of Uber's 2020 food delivery acquisition Postmates that created the trio and a fleet of zero-emission robots — is simple: with slim restaurant margins, a labour crunch and climate change worries '"why move a two-pound burrito in a two-ton car?"