Photonic Startup Lightmatter Raises $400 Million, Achieving a $4.4 Billion Valuation! 💡

📖 TODAY’S ISSUE

🧵 Here are some insightful AI updates and tools we’ve curated for you today:

🚀 Latest in AI and Tech Discover cutting-edge AI advancements and transformative technologies.

🛠️ Cool AI Tools Explore innovative tools that are revolutionizing the AI landscape.

💡 AI Tips and Best Practices: Get actionable insights to enhance your AI projects and productivity.

🚀 Emerging Innovators: Spotlight on the Latest AI and Tech Startups

🗞️ HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY

3 Reasons Why Bitcoin Miners Are Embracing AI

Bitcoin miners play a key role in the Web 3.0 ecosystem by ensuring the supply of BTC, but as network dynamics change—particularly with halving cycles—their profitability is affected. Following the most recent halving in April, where many expected sustained bullish trends, Bitcoin's price steadied above $60,000. However, miners have seen reduced profitability, prompting many to explore other ventures, especially AI-related opportunities.

Companies like CleanSpark, Marathon Digital, and Riot Platforms are turning toward AI data centers and artificial intelligence ventures. Here are three key reasons why:

1. Increased Mining Difficulty and Decreasing Rewards

With each halving, Bitcoin mining rewards are cut by 50%, decreasing the incentive to mine. Conversely, AI is seen as the future, offering a promising opportunity to repurpose existing infrastructure into AI-powered data centers.

2. AI Sector Profitability

AI has proven incredibly lucrative, with companies like NVIDIA reaching a market cap of $3.39 trillion and OpenAI securing a $157 billion valuation. Miners hope to tap into this profitability by redirecting their efforts into the rapidly growing AI industry.

3. Regulatory Clarity Around AI

Unlike Bitcoin, which still faces uncertain regulations, AI is attracting more attention from U.S. and EU regulators. The cleaner regulatory environment in AI is seen as a more stable and sustainable business opportunity for miners.

What We Think

As the landscape for Bitcoin mining becomes more challenging, the pivot to AI offers miners a way to sustain their business operations. The AI sector provides profitability and a clearer regulatory future, making it an attractive option for miners looking to diversify and stay ahead. The future of mining might very well lie in the intersection of blockchain and AI innovation.

⚡ LATEST IN TECH AND AI

AI Medical Imagery Model Revolutionizes Disease Analysis with Expert Precision 🏥

Researchers at UCLA have introduced SLIViT, an AI model capable of swiftly analyzing 3D medical images, drastically reducing the time patients wait for a diagnosis. The deep-learning model expertly evaluates data from various imaging modalities, such as MRIs, CT scans, and retinal images, to identify disease-risk biomarkers. Led by Dr. Eran Halperin, the AI outperforms many existing models, using public datasets for cost-efficient, scalable deployment.

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How AI is Fueling a Surge in Nuclear Energy Investments

As AI technologies expand, the demand for energy is skyrocketing, driven largely by the growth of energy-intensive data centers. To meet this need, tech companies are increasingly investing in nuclear power due to its reliability and carbon-neutral nature. Nuclear energy offers a sustainable solution to support AI's development while reducing environmental impact, making it a key part of future energy strategies.

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10 AI Prompts to Supercharge Your Job Search

ChatGPT can be your ultimate job-search assistant, guiding you through the key stages of finding a new role. From exploring career paths based on your skills and interests to testing job fit, building new skills, and generating employer lists—AI can streamline every step. It can also help review your resume and cover letter, prep you for interviews, craft thank-you notes, assist in salary negotiations, and even outline a 90-day success plan. With AI by your side, navigating the job market becomes easier and more efficient.

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💡 Prompt of the Day

AI in Creative Fields: Enhancing Artistic Expression or Limiting Human Imagination?

Prompt: How is AI influencing creative industries like art, music, and writing, and what are the potential benefits and drawbacks for human creativity?

💻 COOL AI TOOLS

Segment

Segment is a customer data platform that helps SaaS companies unify and streamline data collection from various touchpoints. It enables businesses to integrate data across apps, websites, and tools, ensuring consistent user insights and allowing for more personalized customer experiences through powerful data-driven decisions.

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Quip

A collaboration tool that combines documents, spreadsheets, and chat in one platform. Quip enhances teamwork for SaaS companies by allowing real-time collaboration on projects, eliminating email back-and-forth, and improving the productivity of remote or distributed teams through its simple and intuitive interface.

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Chargify

A billing platform designed specifically for subscription-based SaaS businesses. Chargify helps companies manage complex billing scenarios, from metered and flat-rate billing to per-seat pricing, all while automating invoicing and revenue recognition. Its detailed reporting capabilities provide insights that help optimize recurring revenue.

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💸 WHO RAISED?

Discover startups who just raised funds.

Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati Seeks Capital for New AI Startup

Mira Murati, former chief technology officer at OpenAI, is making headlines as she looks to raise over $100 million for her new AI startup. Known for her leadership on projects like ChatGPT and DALL-E, Murati’s next venture will focus on developing innovative AI products with proprietary models. Though still in discussions, her extensive experience and partnerships, such as with Microsoft, position her as a key player in AI’s future. Investors are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to back this pioneering initiative.

Photonic startup Lightmatter Secures $400M Funding, Valuation Soars to $4.4B

Lightmatter, a supercomputing photonic startup, has raised $400 million in a Series D funding round led by T. Rowe Price Associates, boosting its valuation to $4.4 billion—four times its previous valuation of $1.2 billion. Founded in 2017, Lightmatter uses photonic technology to enhance AI data centers' energy efficiency and scalability. Co-founder and CEO Nicholas Harris highlighted that their “Passage” technology sets a new performance standard for AI computing. The new funding will accelerate the deployment of Passage in partner data centers, addressing the increasing demand for high-bandwidth, low-latency data movement essential for AI workloads.

Univ. of Washington’s OctoML Raises $3.9M for ML Deployment Startup

OctoML, a machine learning startup from the University of Washington, has raised $3.9 million in seed funding led by Madrona Venture Group. The company, co-founded by Luis Ceze and a team of computer science experts, is behind Apache TVM, an open-source deep-learning compiler stack. OctoML aims to help companies easily deploy machine learning models across different hardware, optimizing performance for IoT, edge, and cloud platforms. The startup aims to provide a SaaS-based service that reduces development costs and time for companies needing optimized ML solutions.