| Here’s a look at today's AI briefing: - Nvidia reports record-high revenue.
- U.K. data watchdog investigating Microsoft's Recall AI feature.
- FCC could require disclosure of AI content in political ads.
- AI hardware startup Humane seeks a buyer.
- Amazon to charge for AI-upgraded Alexa.
- The latest AI VC funding.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Nvidia's fiscal Q1 earnings exceeded expectations, with revenue reaching $26.04B against estimates of $24.65B. The chipmaker projects Q2 revenue of $28B, continuing its AI dominance amid record sales of its advanced GPUs to AI companies. Nvidia also announced it's splitting its stock 10 to 1, making its shares more accessible to retail investors. 
What the numbers show: Nvidia's net income surged more than sevenfold to $14.88B in Q1, up from $2.04B a year earlier. The company also posted record quarterly data center revenue of $22.6B, a 23% increase from Q4 and a 427% rise from the previous year. The data center category, Nvidia's biggest business, includes sales of AI chips and components for large AI servers. What's next: Companies like Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and OpenAI continue to purchase billions of dollars worth of Nvidia’s costly GPUs for developing and running AI models. In March, Nvidia unveiled its latest and most advanced series of AI chips based on its new Blackwell architecture. The GPUs are expected to ship later this year, allowing companies to train bigger and more complex AI models. CEO Jensen Huang said today that Blackwell positions the company for further growth. |     | |
| 2 | | A U.K. data watchdog is investigating Microsoft's “Recall” feature coming to its AI-integrated PCs. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) contacted Microsoft for additional details on the safety of the feature, which is exclusive to the company's new AI Copilot+ PCs. More: - Microsoft just announced the Recall tool for the Windows AI PCs, describing it as a "photographic memory" that lets users bring up any content they've ever viewed on their screens.
- Recall captures and stores snapshots of the user's screen every few seconds.
- The tool encrypts the screenshots and saves them locally on the user's device, where AI processes the data to make it searchable.
Privacy concerns: - Microsoft says the Recall feature is optional, allowing users to select which snapshots are collected and stored.
- Only the person logged into the computer can access the snapshots.
- But Kris Shrishak, an adviser on AI and privacy, told the BBC it has the potential to "be a privacy nightmare."
- Elon Musk likened it to a "Black Mirror" episode and said he would be "turning this 'feature' off.'"
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| 3 | | FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed that political ads on radio and TV disclose any AI-generated content they use. Her fellow commissioners could vote to advance the proposal, which would force AI disclosure but not ban the use of AI-generated content. More: - The rule would apply to ads on cable, radio, and satellite but not internet or social media ads, where the FCC lacks authority.
- Rosenthal singled out the risk of deceptive "deepfakes," which she described as manipulated media showing events that didn't happen or people saying or doing things they didn't do.
- According to Rosenthal, AI likely will "play a substantial role" in political ads for the upcoming November elections.
Zoom out: - If the proposal is accepted, the five-person FCC would seek comment before debating the details and finalizing the rule.
- In February, the U.S. telecommunications regulator unanimously voted to ban the use of AI-generated voices in scam robocalls.
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| 4 | | AI wearable startup Humane is seeking a buyer, reportedly aiming for a sale price between $750M and $1B. The potential deal comes only weeks after Humane launched its "Ai Pin", its first-ever product that received generally weak reviews. More: - The wearable AI device clips onto clothing, allowing users to hold a button to communicate, similar to a Star Trek communicator.
- Users can engage with its AI assistant using voice and hand gestures. They can also place calls, send messages, play music, and project information onto their palms.
- Reviews described the potential smartphone replacement as a unique novelty, though they report it being slow, lacking features, and sometimes not functioning.
Potential sale: - In 2023, before launching the Ai Pin, Humane was valued at $850M by investors.
- Humane has engaged a financial adviser for potential sale discussions, though a deal may not materialize.
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| 5 | | Amazon plans to charge a monthly fee for an AI-upgraded version of Alexa. Generative AI technology will improve Alexa's conversational abilities to better compete with OpenAI's audible ChatGPT and Google's Gemini voice assistant. More: - The smarter and more interactive Alexa will launch later this year.
- Amazon hasn't announced a price for the service, but it won't be included in its $139 annual Prime offering.
- Amazon's own Titan large language model will power the new Alexa version.
Zoom out: - Since launching Alexa in 2014, Amazon has struggled to make it profitable.
- While Alexa was a passion project of former CEO Jeff Bezos, current CEO Andy Jassy has reportedly been privately disappointed with Alexa's current capabilities.
- Despite impressing consumers in 2014, critics say Alexa's abilities now appear dated compared to recent AI advances.
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| 6 | | Fresh funding: - AI cloud infrastructure startup CoreWeave secured a $7.5B debt facility to further fuel the growth of its cloud data centers. CoreWeave plans to double its global data centers from 14 to 28 by the end of 2024. The debt facility comes just weeks after it secured a $1.1B equity funding round led by Coatue, valuing the firm at $19B.
- AI data labeling, training, and evaluation startup Scale AI doubled its valuation to $13.8B while raising a $1B Series F funding round led by existing backer Accel. Investors participating in the round include Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, Y Combinator, Index Ventures, Founders Fund, Coatue, Thrive Capital, Spark Capital, Tiger Global, AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, Cisco Investments, and Wellington Management.
- Index Ventures led a $300M round in DeepL, which develops automated text translation and writing tools. The Germany-based startup, now valued at $2B post-fundraising, will use the funds for R&D, sales, and marketing.
- French AI foundation model startup H, formerly known as Holistic AI, raised seed funding of $220M from Accel, UiPath Inc., Bpifrance, Amazon, Elaia Partners, Eurazeo, Creandum, Motier Ventures, Samsung, and other investors.
- Data storage and management startup Weka cemented its unicorn status with a $140M Series E funding round that valued the firm at $1.6B. Weka will use the incoming funds to scale its business, increase investments in developing its data software platform, and hire new team members.
For the latest on AI startup funding and more in the VC community, subscribe to our Inside Venture Capital newsletter. | | | |
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- A federal grand jury charged a Wisconsin software engineer for allegedly generating and distributing AI-produced child sexual abuse material (CSAM), in what is likely the first federal charge involving CSAM created using AI.
- A German court ordered "Die Aktuelle" magazine to pay Michael Schumacher's family €200,000 for using AI to create fake quotes from the Formula 1 legend, who has been out of the public eye since a 2013 skiing accident left him with brain damage.
- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg created the Meta Advisory Group to guide the company on its AI and technology developments and products. The group includes Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, and former Microsoft exec Charlie Songhurst.
*This is sponsored content. | | | |
 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Beth Duckett | |
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