Google Paid Search, VC Dips
04 April 2024: Google's AI search fees, FDA authorizes AI for sepsis, venture capital funding down, financial sector combats AI fraud, AI in business schools
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Latest in AI,
1. 1-Minute Roundup
2. Headlines
3. AI Investment Deals
4. Other AI News
1 Minute Roundup
Google ponders premium AI search, potentially ending the era of free access.
FDA approves groundbreaking AI sepsis tool, aiming to save thousands of lives annually.
Venture capital funding hits a five-year low, signalling cautious times ahead despite AI's promise.
TukToro's edtech innovation secures €500k for AI-driven learning.
Higgsfield AI's $8M seed fuels the democratisation of AI video creation.
Raiinmaker's web3 venture garners $7.5M, blending AI and blockchain.
Allure Security's AI brand protection gets a $10M boost amid cyber threats.
SiftHub's $5.5M seed promises an AI revolution in enterprise sales.
TrojAI's funding round aims to fortify AI security landscapes.
Hapax's financial AI platform secures $2.6M, backed by a decade of data.
Vodex's voice calling AI attracts $2M for global expansion.
HD's Series A round fuels healthcare AI development in Southeast Asia.
The financial sector tightens defenses against AI-driven deepfake fraud.
Business schools adapt curricula to include AI, reflecting its growing business influence.
Meta's AI struggles with racial diversity in image generation.
Elon Musk counters OpenAI's allure with higher pay for AI talent.
Amazon dangles $500K AWS credits to court AI startups, sparking regulatory eyebrows.
Headlines
Google Weighs Charging for AI-Powered Search Features
Google is considering introducing a paid "premium" AI-powered search feature, diverging from its traditionally free, ad-supported model.
Why it Matters: This move could reshape Google's revenue strategy and the tech industry's approach to AI integration.
Zoom In: Faced with AI's high computational costs, Google is considering paywalling-specific search enhancements, a direct response to ChatGPT's challenge since November 2022.
The Big Picture: Google's AI monetisation move reflects an industry trend and may impact the free-access internet model amidst its $175bn ad revenue. Also, according to Raptive, the internet publishers' organic traffic due to Google SGE will be slashed by 20% to 60%.
FDA Authorises First AI-Powered Sepsis Risk Diagnostic Tool
The FDA has authorised the first AI-driven diagnostic test to predict the risk of sepsis in hospitals, developed by the company Prenosis.
Why it Matters: Sepsis is a severe and potentially deadly condition that contributes to at least 350K deaths annually in the U.S. This AI tool could provide significant benefits in helping prevent and manage sepsis, which is a priority for federal health agencies.
Zoom In: Prenosis' AI, trained on over 100K blood samples, offers a nuanced, 22-parameter sepsis risk assessment. The test classifies a patient's risk into four categories: low to very high.
The Big Picture: As sepsis accounts for 1 in 3 U.S. hospital deaths, this AI tool underscores the critical shift towards personalised, tech-driven healthcare.
Venture Capital's Funding Dips to 5-Year Low
Despite challenging high interest rates, global VC investments plummeted to $75.9 billion in Q1 2024, the lowest since Q2 2019.
Why it Matters: This significant downturn, with deal numbers at a near four-year low of 10,222, highlights the impact of stringent monetary policies on the startup ecosystem and venture capital liquidity.
Zoom In: The U.S. venture capital scene struggles with its lowest exit deal value of $234.3 billion since 2016, intensifying the pressure on investment strategies and startup longevity.
The Big Picture: Despite the overall downturn, AI startups buck the trend with $42.5 billion raised last year, a hopeful sign amidst expectations of easing interest rates and a potential uptick in IPO activities.
AI Deals
TukToro, an Edtech, raised €500k for the market launch of TukToro, an AI-driven math learning toy for children, and plans to expand further.
Higgsfield AI secured $8M in seed funding, launched the Diffuse app in select markets, and planned a global rollout to democratise AI video creation.
Raiinmaker, a web3 AI firm, secured a $7.5M seed round co-led by Jump Capital and Cypher Capital, bringing its total funding to $10M.
Allure Security completed a $10M Series A funding round led by Curql. The company aims to enhance its AI-powered online brand protection services amid rising cyber threats.
SiftHub, a SaaS startup, raised $5.5M in seed funding, led by Matrix Partners India and Blume Ventures, to develop an AI-enabled enterprise sales platform.
TrojAI raises $5.75M in seed funding to enhance AI security solutions for enterprises and appoints Lee Weiner as CEO, with plans to expand operations into the U.S.
Hapax launches with a $2.6M funding round. It offers an AI platform for financial services, already used by over 20 banks and built on 13 years of proprietary data.
Vodex secured $2M in seed funding from Unicorn India Ventures and Pentathlon Ventures for global expansion and aims to quadruple its business size, leveraging GenAI technology for outbound voice calling.
HD raised $5.6M in a Series A round to develop a specialised AI for healthcare in Southeast Asia, enhancing chatbot capabilities for customer engagement in the healthcare sector.
Others
Financial Sector Ramps Up Defenses Against Deepfake and AI Threats
The financial industry faces a surge in AI-driven fraud, with deepfake incidents in fintech rising by 700% in 2023.
In response to the growing threat, companies are exploring AI defences and modifying identity verification methods, such as requiring live selfies instead of static photos for account setups, to combat the potential misuse of AI in creating realistic voice and image forgeries.
Business Schools Integrate AI into Curricula Amid Growing Demand
Leading business schools, such as Wharton, are incorporating AI-focused content into their programs, emphasising the technology's critical role in modern business practices and preparing students for an AI-savvy workforce.
Meta's AI Image Tool Falls Short on Racial Diversity
Meta's AI struggles to create accurate images of diverse racial pairings, notably between Asian and Caucasian individuals.
It stereotypes South Asian figures with bindis and saris, underscoring the AI's deep-rooted biases and limitations.
Musk Raises Pay for Tesla AI Engineers to Counter OpenAI
In response to OpenAI's recruitment push, Elon Musk boosts salaries for Tesla's AI engineers, underscoring a fierce battle for AI talent in the tech industry.
Amazon Boosts Support for AI Startups with $500K AWS Credits
Amazon offers $500K AWS credits for Y Combinator-backed AI startups to access third-party AI models like Anthropic and Mistral AI, beating Microsoft and Google's cloud service offers.
The initiative raises anti-competitive concerns with regulatory bodies like the FTC, given Amazon's history and ongoing scrutiny of its e-commerce operations.
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