Generative AI AI News & Updates

Cognichip Secures $33M to Build AI for Accelerating Semiconductor Development

Cognichip, a San Francisco-based startup founded by semiconductor veteran Faraj Aalaei, has emerged from stealth with $33 million in seed funding to develop a physics-informed foundational AI model for accelerating chip development. The company aims to create "artificial chip intelligence" that could potentially reduce chip production times by 50% and lower associated costs, with backing from Lux Capital, Mayfield, FPV, and Candou Ventures.

Google Releases Enhanced Gemini 2.5 Pro Model with Improved Coding Capabilities

Google has launched Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition), an updated AI model with significantly improved coding and web app development capabilities. The model tops several benchmarks including the WebDev Arena Leaderboard and achieves 84.8% on the VideoMME benchmark for video understanding.

OpenAI Expands Sora Video Generator to European Markets

OpenAI has made its video generation model Sora available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers in the European Union, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland. This release comes months after the model's initial unveiling in February 2024, when it was released to subscribers in other regions but notably excluded EU users.

Amazon Launches AI-Powered Alexa+ with Enhanced Personalization and Capabilities

Amazon has announced Alexa+, a comprehensively redesigned AI assistant powered by generative AI that offers enhanced personalization and contextual understanding. The upgraded assistant can access personal data like schedules and preferences, interpret visual information, understand tone, process documents, and integrate deeply with Amazon's smart home ecosystem.

YouTube Integrates Google's Veo 2 AI Video Generator into Shorts Platform

YouTube is integrating Google DeepMind's Veo 2 video generation model into its Shorts platform, allowing creators to generate AI video clips from text prompts. The feature includes SynthID watermarking to identify AI-generated content and will initially be available to creators in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

AI Investment Soars 62% to $110B in 2024 While Overall Tech Funding Declines

Venture capital funding for AI startups surged to $110 billion in 2024, representing a 62% increase compared to the previous year, even as overall technology funding declined by 12%. The US dominated AI investment with 42% of its venture capital ($80.7 billion) going to AI startups, compared to just 25% in Europe, with generative AI companies raising $47.4 billion and foundational AI technology overtaking applications in growth.