Zoom's AI Companion at Zero Extra Cost!

Today:

Zoom makes its 'AI Companion' available to paid customers at no additional cost

Zoom's rolling out its new "AI Companion" feature for folks who fork out cash for their accounts – and it won't cost them an extra dime. This fancy helper helps craft Zoom Chat messages and even gives the lowdown on meetings you might've missed.

Now, there was some fuss about Zoom maybe peeking into our calls to make its tech smarter. But, Zoom cleared the air: they ain't peeking without asking. And if you're worried about this AI buddy being too nosy? It's off by default, and you'll know when it's on. It can even help you play catch-up in meetings or draft messages for you. Think of it like Slack's own smarty-pants AI tool. So, chill, Zoom's keeping your secrets, and this AI Companion is just there if you want it.

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ThetaRay nabs $57M for AI tools to fight money laundering

ThetaRay, an Israeli startup, just scored $57 million to ramp up its fight against money laundering using AI tech. Money laundering's a big issue, with crooks moving up to $2 trillion around the globe each year. ThetaRay’s platform scans for shady transactions in banks and other financial spots. This new cash brings the company’s total fundraising to around $160 million. Investors include big names like Portage, Alibaba, and General Electric.

They've already got some heavyweight customers, like Santander Bank, which got slapped with a fat $135 million fine last year for not being on the up-and-up with its own anti-money laundering efforts. ThetaRay’s business has been booming, with its customer base growing tenfold and its yearly income going up five times. With the anti-money laundering market estimated to be worth $9 billion, there's plenty of room for them to grow. CEO Peter Reynolds hints that going public might be in the cards down the line. So, they’re using AI to make it harder for the bad guys to clean their dirty money.

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Artisse can generate AI photos of you from prompts, templates or even a reference pic

Artisse is a new photo app that's like an upgraded version of its competitor Remini. It lets you make AI-generated pics of yourself that look super real, even if you wanna be in some fantasy world. You upload 15 selfies, and the app learns your looks. Then you can either type in what you want or upload a pic to base it on. You can even tweak the style by hitting some buttons.

It takes longer than other apps—like 30 to 40 minutes—to get your AI self right, but the wait's worth it for the quality, says the founder William Wu. He wants to make pro-level photos accessible to everyone, not just folks who know all the tricks or have the money to pay for a shoot.

The app’s also working on being more inclusive about body types and skin tones. Right now, the first 25 pics are free, but after that it's 20 cents a photo. They're also planning to add a subscription model and some B2B services. It's on iOS and Android, and they're planning a web version soon. Oh, and they might be getting some investment cash soon too.

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Baidu launches a slew of AI applications after its Ernie chatbot gets public approval

Baidu, China's tech bigwig, is riding the wave after its chatbot Ernie got the green light from the public. Just days after Ernie hit the market, Baidu rolled out over 10 new tools juiced up with AI. One cool gadget is a word processor that writes like a pro, thanks to Ernie's brainpower and Baidu's cloud tech. Nearly 10,000 businesses are already hooked on Baidu's cloud each month.

The company also flaunted an AI tool for their cloud storage that can do stuff like search and summarize docs. They even teased AI gear that could help with things from managing traffic to running coal mines. All this comes after new rules in China eased up on AI development, basically giving Baidu and others the thumbs up to innovate without too many headaches.

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Vytal.ai: Teens Launch $12.5M Startup To Monitor Brain Health

Two high school whiz kids, Rohan Kalahasty and Sai Mattapalli, skipped the beach to launch Vytal, a $12.5M startup that could change how doctors spot early signs of Alzheimer's. Forget the clunky, pricey eye-tracking machines; Vytal uses your everyday laptop or smartphone camera to monitor eye movements, offering clues to your brain's health right from your living room. These teens are part of a growing trend of high schoolers diving into AI-powered ventures.

They got the skills by rubbing elbows with big names like Harvard and MIT and leading projects at billion-dollar companies. Their focus? Helping the elderly, who usually get the short end of the stick in tech. In just a week, their beta testing list raked in over 1000 sign-ups, and they're gearing up to test their tech on seniors at a local retirement home.

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ATOMICWORK RAISES $11 MILLION TO ADD AI TO THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

Atomicwork, a San Francisco startup, just snagged $11 million to make employees' lives easier. The deal? They've developed a software that brings together all the apps employees use daily, working within platforms like Slack or email. Instead of juggling multiple tools, employees will use just one. Their secret sauce? An AI assistant named Atom that's smart enough to answer work-related questions without a human helping out.

While tons of cash are being spent on improving the employee experience, Atomicwork sees a gap. Too many apps, too little communication between them, leading to major headaches and potentially losing top talent. But there's a catch. Atomicwork's solution isn't tested in the real world yet and big players like ServiceNow are also eyeing the prize. Still, big-shot investors think Atomicwork has what it takes to make a splash in the game.

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Gleen AI arrives with $4.9M in funding to stop AI hallucinations using enterprises’ own data

Gleen AI, a new startup, just landed $4.9 million in funding to help businesses make their chatbots smarter and more reliable. The company aims to fix a big problem with AI chatbots—they sometimes spit out wrong or irrelevant info, a.k.a. "hallucinations."

Gleen's software adds a kind of "quality check" layer to any chatbot, making sure it only gives answers based on actual facts from the company's own data. If the chatbot isn't sure about something, it'll simply say "I don't know" instead of making stuff up. Businesses in fields where getting facts straight is super important, like healthcare or heavy industry, are especially interested. Early reviews are good, and the company is letting potential clients test it out for free. Gleen hopes its tool will become as essential for companies as their websites.

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Harmonya raises $20 million Series A to assist retailers with AI-powered product data

Harmonya, the AI whiz kid on the block, has bagged $20 million in Series A funding, pushing their piggy bank to a cool $25 million. Bright Pixel Capital spearheaded the round, with some old pals like Team8 and new friends like Arc Investors and J Ventures tossing in their coins too.

Founded by Cem Kent, Ram Etzion, and Dima Machlin in 2021, Harmonya's got about 30 team members split between Israel and New York. Their trick? An AI platform that makes product data smarter for retailers. It sniffs out product features from various sources using some hefty AI tech. The big win? Retailers can spot what products are hot in the market, get insights on categories, tweak their offerings, and even automate some boring tasks.

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AI Decodes Brain Activity Into Speech With High Accuracy

Researchers at Radboud University and UMC Utrecht Brain Centre have developed a brain-computer system that uses AI to turn brain activity into speech, hitting the mark up to 100% of the time.

The study took data from folks with brain-recording gear speaking 12 words 10 times each. Turns out, the fancier the AI model, the better it was at figuring out the speech. This tech could be a game-changer for people who can't speak or move, letting them communicate or operate devices using just their brain activity. Cool, right?

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Sam Altman-backed Mentra aims to match neurodivergent jobseekers with ideal jobs

Mentra, a North Carolina startup, is stepping up to help folks with cognitive differences like autism and ADHD find jobs that really suit them. Backed by big names like OpenAI's Sam Altman, the company uses AI to match potential employees with companies. Unlike regular job platforms, Mentra digs deep into things like someone's unique brain make-up and skills to find the right fit.

The startup's already making waves, growing its talent pool from 300 to over 33,000 in just a year and a half, and it's boasting a whopping 97.5% one-year job retention rate. Bottom line: Mentra's not just about filling quotas for diversity—it's about helping companies and workers find their perfect match, and it's doing good business while it's at it.

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