Author: Art Ryan

Meta approached artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI about a potential takeover bid before ultimately investing $14.3 billion into Scale AI, CNBC confirmed on Friday. The two companies did not finalize a deal, according to two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because of the confidential nature of the negotiations. One person familiar with the talks said it was “mutually dissolved,” while another person familiar with the matter said Perplexity walked away from a potential deal. Bloomberg earlier reported the talks between Meta and Perplexity. Perplexity declined to comment. Meta did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Meta’s attempt…

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV warned Friday that artificial intelligence could negatively impact the intellectual, neurological and spiritual development of young people as he pressed one of the priorities of his young pontificate. History’s first American pope sent a message to a conference of AI and ethics, part of which was taking place in the Vatican in a sign of the Holy See’s concern for the new technologies and what they mean for humanity. In the message, Leo said any further development of AI must be evaluated according to the “superior ethical criterion” of the need to safeguard the dignity of each human…

AI advancements will fundamentally change how enterprises use and manage data, making it essential to embrace and understand this transformation. For organizations looking to adopt AI at scale, the state of their databases is a critical success factor. Poor data quality, weak governance, or fragmented oversight can derail even the most ambitious AI initiatives. In this context, the role of the Database Administrator (DBA) is becoming more strategic and more central to enterprise AI readiness. Modern DBAs are no longer just guardians of performance and availability. They’re stewards of data ethics, security, and compliance. As that data is used in…

Cluely, a startup that claims to help users “cheat” on job interviews, exams, and sales calls, has raised a $15 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, the company announced on Friday with a video posted on X. Two investors who were not part of the deal tell TechCrunch they believe Cluely’s post-money valuation is around $120 million. Andreessen Horowitz declined to comment on that figure. Lee didn’t respond to a request for comment. Cluely’s new funding comes roughly two months after it raised $5.3 million in seed funding co-led by Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures. The startup was co-founded earlier this year by…

Character.AI, the Google-backed AI chatbot provider with tens of millions of monthly active users, announced on Friday that Karandeep Anand, the former VP of Business Products at Meta, is joining the company as CEO. Previously a board adviser to Character.AI, Anand is stepping into the CEO role at a pivotal moment for the chatbot provider, as the company tries to simultaneously grow its platform while combating child safety concerns. In recent months, Character.AI has added an array of new safety features in light of an active lawsuit, which alleges that one of the company’s chatbots played a role in the death of a…

Deezer announced on Friday that it will start labeling albums that include AI-generated tracks as part of its efforts to combat streaming fraud. The company reports that about 18% of the music uploaded each day — more than 20,000 tracks — is now fully AI-generated. Although most of these tracks don’t go viral, Deezer says around 70% of their streams are fake and that they are designed to earn royalties fraudulently. To combat this, AI-generated tracks on Deezer are now clearly tagged. These tracks also won’t appear in editorial playlists or algorithm-based recommendations, and fraudulent streams are being filtered out of royalty…

Cube says the deal for Acin, which is also based in London, expands its capabilities with a proven regulatory controls data network and full traceability. The combination is designed to help clients in the financial services sector and adjacent regulated industries to navigate increasingly complex compliance and risk environments – providing an industry-first data driven end-to-end regulatory compliance and risk management platform. Acin’s AI-based platform enables financial institutions to safely digitise their non-financial risk analysis, using data intelligence and analytic capabilities. The firm has built a network that calibrates control data and facilitates the appropriate sharing of best practice and standards…

In an era where professionals lose an average of 31 hours per week to ineffective meetings, Hedy AI today announced Automatic Suggestions, a breakthrough feature that transforms passive meeting participation into proactive excellence. The innovation represents a significant leap toward true ambient intelligence—AI that anticipates what you need before you realize you need it. Unlike traditional AI tools that wait for users to ask questions, Hedy’s Automatic Suggestions continuously analyzes conversation dynamics and proactively delivers strategic insights at precisely the right moments. When a potential partner mentions timeline concerns but avoids specifics, the system might recommend: ‘Consider asking what milestones are most critical to…

When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg poached Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang last week as part of a $14.3 billion investment in the artificial intelligence startup, he was apparently just getting started. Zuckerberg’s multibillion-dollar AI hiring spree has now turned to Daniel Gross, the CEO of Ilya Sutskever’s startup Safe Superintelligence, and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. It’s not how Zuckerberg planned for a deal to go down. Earlier this year, sources said, Meta tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence, which was reportedly valued at $32 billion in a fundraising round in April. Sutskever, who just launched the startup a year ago, shortly…

At Super AI, Asia’s largest AI event held in Singapore, GPTBots.ai emerged as a highlight among enterprise AI platforms. The event brought together global industry leaders, innovators, and decision-makers, all seeking practical, scalable AI solutions to accelerate digital transformation and maintain a competitive edge. Spotlighting Real Enterprise NeedsThroughout the exhibition, GPTBots engaged with top-tier clients whose needs reflected the region’s most urgent business trends: How GPTBots DeliversGPTBots’ enterprise-grade platform is designed for rapid, flexible deployment across industries: Driving the Future of Enterprise AI in AsiaSuper AI Singapore underscored the region’s growing demand for secure, adaptable, and industry-specific AI solutions. GPTBots is committed…

The UAE is considered among the first few countries to implement a national artificial intelligence strategy. This was amply demonstrated by its appointment of the world’s first AI minister, Omar Al-Olama, back in 2017. The following year, the strategic plan for AI implementation was laid out in the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031. Figuring out the right policies to guide innovation is a significant global challenge due to the diversity in cultural, legal, and economic contexts in different countries. To address this challenge, a multitude of initiatives and events have been launched in the UAE to foster AI…

Ataccama announced the release of a report by Business Application Research Center (BARC), “The Rising Imperative for Data Observability,” which examines how enterprises are building – or struggling to build – trust into modern data systems. Based on a survey of more than 220 data and analytics leaders across North America and Europe, the report finds that while 58% of organizations have implemented or optimized data observability programs – systems that monitor detect, and resolve data quality and pipeline issues in real-time – 42% still say they do not trust the outputs of their AI/ML models. The findings reflect a…

While AI might be all the rage in Australian classrooms, China’s Ministry of Education has just announced a ban on primary school students from independently using artificial intelligence tools to complete their homework, stressing that AI should serve only as a supportive tool in education. Indeed, the potential negative impacts of AI are not lost on Australian education bureaucrats either, with the Federal Government convening panels to ensure this technology is used safely and responsibly in classrooms. However, Michael Black, founder and CEO of Success Tutoring, says limiting AI tools in schools is “a reactionary measure” that overlooks the core…

BEIJING — Avatars generated by artificial intelligence are now able to sell more than real people can, according to a collaboration between Chinese tech company Baidu and a popular livestreamer. Luo Yonghao, one of China’s earliest and most popular livestreamers, and his co-host Xiao Mu both used digital versions of themselves to interact with viewers in real time for well over six hours on Sunday on Baidu’s e-commerce livestreaming platform “Youxuan”, the Chinese tech company said. The session raked in 55 million yuan ($7.65 million). In comparison, Luo’s first livestream attempt on Youxuan last month, which lasted just over four hours, saw fewer…

Apple is beginning to use generative artificial intelligence to help design the chips that power its devices. The company’s hardware chief, Johny Srouji, made that clear during a speech last month in Belgium. He said Apple is exploring AI as a way to save time and reduce complexity in chip design, especially as chips grow more advanced. “Generative AI techniques have a high potential in getting more design work in less time, and it can be a huge productivity boost,” Srouji said. He was speaking while receiving an award from Imec, a semiconductor research group that works with major chipmakers around the…

Klarna’s CEO is so bullish about artificial intelligence that he sees it changing the way the fintech’s 100 million users bank every day. On Wednesday, Klarna — a pioneer of the popular “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) payment method — is announcing the launch of mobile phone plans in the U.S. via a partnership with telecom services startup Gigs. The move follows in the footsteps of rival fintechs Revolut and N26, which have launched similar offerings. Klarna’s plans come with unlimited data, calls and texts and will cost $40 a month. The new telco offering aligns with CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski’s…

GSI, a leading provider of ERP, CRM, and ITSM consulting services, is excited to announce the launch of ElevateAI, a new suite of purpose-built artificial intelligence services designed to help organizations accelerate innovation, improve productivity, and drive data-backed decision-making across the enterprise. ElevateAI combines the strategic use of advanced AI technologies with GSI’s deep industry expertise to solve real-world business problems. From sales and customer service automation to smart ERP/CRM insights, ElevateAI empowers companies to unlock new efficiencies, gain competitive advantage, and identify insights that most other BI (business intelligence) tools miss. The offering includes: “With ElevateAI, we’re making AI tangible…

Weka is revamping its parallel file system storage software for AI workloads used by its most demanding customers. NeuralMesh, the latest update to Weka’s Data Platform offering, rearchitects Weka’s parallel file system into containerized microservices for a software-defined storage system that can run on-premises, in cloud environments and within hyperconverged infrastructure. “If your design patterns change tomorrow, we can handle it,” said Ajay Singh, chief product officer at Weka. “We’re not selling big iron or big boxes.” The NeuralMesh update is available in limited release for customers upon request, but it specifically targets cloud providers and AI services. The software has specific…

Meta Platforms tried to poach OpenAI employees by offering signing bonuses as high as $100 million, with even larger annual compensation packages, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said. While Meta had sought to hire “a lot of people” from OpenAI, “so far none of our best people have decided to take them up on that,” Altman said, speaking on the “Uncapped” podcast, which is hosted by his brother. “I’ve heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor,” he said. “Their current AI efforts have not worked as well as they have hoped and I respect being aggressive and continuing…

Last year was monumental for the AI industry in the U.S. and beyond. There were 49 startups that raised funding rounds worth $100 million or more in 2024, per our count at TechCrunch; three companies raised more than one “mega-round,” and seven companies raised rounds that were $1 billion in size or larger. How will 2025 compare? It’s still the first half of the year, but so far it looks like 2024’s momentum will continue this year. There have already been multiple billion-dollar rounds this year, and more AI mega-rounds closed in the U.S. in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024. Here…