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Quick Hits
Ad-free chat: Skype kills ads.
Brain gains: AI detects early dementia.
Brazilian boon: Country invests $4B.
Chatbots for all: Meta launches AI Studio.
Dating downturn: Tinder slumps.
Future gains: IIMA launches investor accelerator.
Hollywood strike: Actors protest AI.
Lyric lift: Spotify eases limits.
Monopoly money: GO! passes $3B.
Search wars: OpenAI launches SearchGPT.
Rapido cash: Bike taxis take off in India.
Sharing spoils: Perplexity pays publishers.
Sick in Singapore: Food poisoning hits TikTok.
Southern tech: Atlanta builds innovation village.
Striped lemons: Stripe acquires Lemon Squeezy.
Voice of the people: Rep. uses AI to speak.
Video linguistics: Vimeo adds AI translation.
Trending Startups
Games feature first AI commentator
NBCUniversal dives into AI for its Olympics broadcast, re-creating the voice of a legendary sportscaster Al Michaels. But Europeans aren’t ready to test those waters. "In every part of their (demos), it feels like yes, you've translated the words correctly, but you haven't translated or narrated the feeling," one exec says.
French startups take center stage
French startups are taking advantage of the moment. Olympic organizers awarded contracts to over 1k local SMEs. Kinomap, a physical training platform, helps keep athletes on track; hospitality startups connect fans with rooms and travel; and several companies provide AI-powered video surveillance.
Para-athlete shows off local tech
A paralyzed tennis player helped kick off the Games carrying the Olympic using a robotic exoskeleton from Paris-based Wandercraft, which landed its first major investment earlier this year.
AI ad draws hate mail
Google’s “Dear Sydney” ad featuring a dad using Gemini to write a fan letter for his daughter is a gold-medal contender for most hated ad during this year’s Games, forcing Google to block comments on its YouTube version.
AI vs. your local weather desk
DeepMind's GraphCast outperformed traditional models, predicting Hurricane Beryl's landfall in Texas with gale-force-wind-like speed.
U.K. takes a quantum leap
Britain is investing $120M to create quantum technology hubs to transform healthcare diagnostics and infrastructure management. “We are at the foothills of where quantum technology is going to take us,” says one government official.
Recently Funded
- Estonia's Enty Secures $765k for Back Office Automation
- India's KheloMore Secures $2M for Sportstech Expansion
- India's Gnani.ai Raises $4M for Voice-First Generative AI
- India's ElectricPe Raises $3M for EV Charging Solutions
- India's Nasher Miles Raises $4M for Digital-first Luggage Expansion
- Chicago-based FranShares Secures $4.1M for Franchise Investment Platform
- Denver-based Matereal Secures $4.5M for Sustainable Plastic Alternatives
- San Francisco-based Noded AI Secures $4M for Note-Taking and Task Management
- Philippines' Hive Health Raises $6.5M for Digital Health Insurance
- Hong Kong's OpenSocial Protocol Secures $6M for Social Infrastructure Solutions
- San Francisco-based Montara Therapeutics Secures $8M for Brain-Targeting Drugs
- U.S.-based Zoe Raises $15M for Microbiome-Focused Nutrition Solutions
- India's Simple Energy Secures $20M for EV Manufacturing
Weekly Pulse
Post of the Week
What We’re Reading
Dear Google, who wants an AI-written fan letter? (TechCrunch)
How do I answer the interview question ‘Tell me about yourself?’ (Fast Company)
Reimagining cloud strategy for AI-first enterprises (MIT)
Rewriting the RFP for AI (Tomasz Tunguz)
Apple just reinvented P2P payments (Linas Beliūnas)
Poll of the Week
Podcasts of the Week
Tom Schaeppi: Distilling Years of Passion and Life Experiences into Whiskey (Pozcast)
Trust: A Secret Weapon in the War for Talent with Eric Termuende (HR Super Stars)
Anish Dhar, Cortex (Code Story)
Startups Hiring Now
Gametime: Our team is on a mission to connect people through incredible shared experiences | 9 open roles
Kero Sports: We help fans enjoy watching sports through in-game betting and social experiences | 3 open roles
The Athletic: Premium sports media coverage for local fans | 20 open roles
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