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Ryan Daws@AI News //

OpenAI's Funding, Open Models, and Copyright Concerns - OpenAI is set to release its first open-weight language model since 2019 amid scrutiny over copyrighted data use, securing $40 billion in funding led by SoftBank.
OpenAI is set to release its first open-weight language model since 2019, marking a strategic shift for the company. This move comes amidst growing competition in the AI landscape, with rivals like DeepSeek and Meta already offering open-source alternatives. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, announced the upcoming model will feature reasoning capabilities and allow developers to run it on their own hardware, departing from OpenAI's traditional cloud-based approach.

This decision follows OpenAI securing a $40 billion funding round, although reports suggest a potential breakdown of $30 billion from SoftBank and $10 billion from Microsoft and venture capital funds. Despite the fresh funding, OpenAI also faces scrutiny over its training data. A recent study by the AI Disclosures Project suggests that OpenAI's GPT-4o model demonstrates "strong recognition" of copyrighted data, potentially accessed without consent. This raises ethical questions about the sources used to train OpenAI's large language models.

Recommended read:
References :
  • Fello AI: OpenAI Secures Historic $40 Billion Funding Round
  • AI News | VentureBeat: $40B into the furnace: As OpenAI adds a million users an hour, the race for enterprise AI dominance hits a new gear
  • InnovationAus.com: OpenAI has closed a significant $40 billion funding round, led by SoftBank Group, pushing its valuation to $300 billion.
  • Maginative: OpenAI Secures Record $40 Billion in Funding, Reaching $300 Billion Valuation
  • www.theguardian.com: OpenAI said it had raised $40bn in a funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300bn – the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup.
  • The Verge: OpenAI just raised another $40 billion round led by SoftBank
  • SiliconANGLE: OpenAI bags $40B in funding, increasing its post-money valuation to $300B
  • techxplore.com: OpenAI says it raised $40 bn at valuation of $300 bn
  • THE DECODER: OpenAI nears completion of multi-billion dollar funding round
  • Kyle Wiggers ?: OpenAI raises $40B at $300B post-money valuation
  • THE DECODER: Softbank leads OpenAI's $40 billion funding round
  • Verdict: OpenAI has secured a $40 billion funding round, marking the biggest capital raising ever for a startup, with a $300 billion valuation. The deal is led by SoftBank and backed by leading investors.
  • Crunchbase News: OpenAI secured $40 billion in funding in a record-breaking round led by SoftBank, valuing the company at $300 billion.
  • bsky.app: OpenAI has raised $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation. For context, Boeing has a $128 billion market cap, Disney has a $178 billion market cap, and Chevron has a $295 billion market cap.
  • Pivot to AI: OpenAI signs its $40 billion deal with SoftBank! Or maybe $30 billion, probably
  • TechInformed: OpenAI has raised more than $40 billion in a fundraise with Japanese telco SoftBank and other investors, valuing the ChatGPT company at more than $300bn.… The post appeared first on .
  • CyberInsider: OpenSNP to Shut Down and Delete All User-Submitted DNA Data
  • www.techrepublic.com: OpenAI Secures $40B in Historic Funding Round — But There’s a $10B Catch
  • techstrong.ai: OpenAI has secured up to $40 billion in a record new funding round led by SoftBank Group that would give the artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer a whopping $300 billion valuation as it ramps up AI research, infrastructure and tools.
  • SiliconANGLE: OpenAI to launch its first ‘open-weights’ model since 2019
  • venturebeat.com: OpenAI to release open-source model as AI economics force strategic shift
  • AI News: Study claims OpenAI trains AI models on copyrighted data
  • Charlie Fink: OpenAI raises $40 billion, Runway’s $380 million raise and its stunning Gen-4 AI model, Anthropic warns AI may lie, plus vibe filmmaking with DeepMind.
  • thezvi.wordpress.com: Greetings from Costa Rica! The image fun continues. We Are Going to Need A Bigger Compute Budget Fun is being had by all, now that OpenAI has dropped its rule about not mimicking existing art styles.
Michael Nuñez@AI News | VentureBeat //

Hakimo Secures Funding for Autonomous AI Security Agent - AI security startup Hakimo secured $10.5M in Series A funding to expand its autonomous security monitoring platform.
AI security startup Hakimo has secured $10.5 million in Series A funding to expand its autonomous security monitoring platform. The funding round was led by Vertex Ventures and Zigg Capital, with participation from RXR Arden Digital Ventures, Defy.vc, and Gokul Rajaram. This brings the company’s total funding to $20.5 million. Hakimo's platform addresses the challenges of rising crime rates, understaffed security teams, and overwhelming false alarms in traditional security systems.

The company’s flagship product, AI Operator, monitors existing security systems, detects threats in real-time, and executes response protocols with minimal human intervention. Hakimo's AI Operator utilizes computer vision and generative AI to detect any anomaly or threat that can be described in words. Companies using Hakimo can save approximately $125,000 per year compared to using traditional security guards.

Recommended read:
References :
  • AiThority: Hakimo Secures $10.5Million to Transform Physical Security With Human-Like Autonomous Security Agent
  • AI News | VentureBeat: The watchful AI that never sleeps: Hakimo’s $10.5M bet on autonomous security
  • Unite.AI: Hakimo Raises $10.5M to Revolutionize Physical Security with Autonomous AI Agent
staff@insideAI News //

Celestial AI Secures $250M to Advance AI Infrastructure - Celestial AI secured $250 million in Series C1 funding for its Photonic Fabric optical interconnect technology, aiming to speed up data transfer inside servers and expand AI infrastructure.
References: insideAI News , insidehpc.com , OODAloop ...
Celestial AI, the creator of the Photonic Fabric optical interconnect technology, has announced a successful Series C1 funding round, securing $250 million. The round was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, bringing the total capital raised by the company to over $515 million. Celestial AI's Photonic Fabric platform aims to speed up data transfer inside servers using light, with plans for new data centers in North America and France. This investment underscores the growing demand for advanced AI models and the development of AI infrastructure.

The company's Photonic Fabric technology allows AI compute to be networked seamlessly, from within processor packages to servers across multiple racks. Celestial AI offers a full suite of products, that include connectivity, switching and packaging solutions which serve as the foundation for optical scale-up networks for accelerated computing. Celestial AI's valuation has now reached $2.5 billion, reflecting investor confidence in its potential to revolutionize AI infrastructure. New investors include funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Maverick Silicon, Tiger Global Management and Lip-Bu Tan, as well as participation from existing investors including AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), Temasek, Temasek’s wholly-owned subsidiary Xora Innovation, Porsche Automobil Holding SE and The Engine Ventures.

Recommended read:
References :
  • insideAI News: SANTA CLARA, CA – March 11, 2025 – Celestial AI, creator of the Photonic Fabric optical interconnect, today announced that it has raised $250 million in its Series C1 funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, bringing the total capital raised to date to more than $515 million.
  • insidehpc.com: SANTA CLARA, CA – March 11, 2025 – Celestial AI, creator of the Photonic Fabric optical interconnect, today announced that it has raised $250 million in its Series C1 funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, bringing the total capital raised to date to more than $515 million.
  • Crunchbase News: Optical interconnectivity startup Celestial AI raised a $250 million Series C1 round led by Fidelity Management & Research Co. at a reported $2.5 billion valuation.
  • OODAloop: Celestial AI, a startup that seeks to use light to speed up data transfer inside servers, has raised $250 million to better position itself in a race to lower AI computing power requirements.
  • SiliconANGLE: Celestial AI Inc., a startup that develops optical technology for linking chips, has raised $250 million in funding at a $2.5 billion valuation.
  • Verdict: Celestial AI raises $250m in Series C1 funding
Maria Deutscher@SiliconANGLE //

Turing Raises $111M for AI Training Data - Turing, an AI training data provider for OpenAI and other LLM producers, has closed a $111M Series E funding round, bringing its valuation to $2.2 billion to advance its AI training data solutions.
Turing, a prominent coding provider for OpenAI and other large language model (LLM) producers, has successfully raised $111 million in a Series E funding round. This new investment has propelled the company's valuation to $2.2 billion, doubling its previous valuation. Turing, initially an HR tech startup focused on vetting and hiring remote coders, has transformed into a key player in the AI development landscape, assisting in building LLMs and creating generative AI applications for enterprises.

The funding round was led by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad, with participation from WestBridge Capital, Sozo Ventures, and several other investors. Turing plans to utilize the funds to expand its business, reach more customers, and broaden its use cases. CEO Jonathan Siddharth emphasized that the company has been profitable for around a year and aims to leverage the investment to fast track the "next generation" of AI model advancement.

Recommended read:
References :
  • Analytics India Magazine: OpenAI’s Coding Provider Turing Raises $111 Million at $2.2 Billion Valuation
  • TechCrunch: Turing, a key coding provider for OpenAI and other LLM producers, raises $111M at a $2.2B valuation
  • Verdict: Turing secures $111m funding to advance AGI technology
  • SiliconANGLE: AI training data provider Turing closes $111M investment
Maria Deutscher@SiliconANGLE //

Shield AI Raises $240M for AI Autonomy Platform - Shield AI secured $240 million to scale Hivemind Enterprise, an AI platform enabling autonomous flight for jets and drones.
References: AiThority , SiliconANGLE , Crunchbase News ...
Defense technology startup Shield AI has secured $240 million in a Series F-1 strategic funding round, pushing its valuation to $5.3 billion. The funding round saw significant investment from strategic investors L3Harris and Hanwha Aerospace, alongside existing investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, U.S. Innovative Technology, and Washington Harbour. This latest investment brings Shield AI's total outside funding to $1.3 billion.

The funds will be used to scale Hivemind Enterprise, Shield AI's AI-powered autonomy developer platform, which enables fighter jets and drones to fly autonomously. Hivemind Enterprise is designed to empower the robotics and drone industrial base to rapidly develop and deploy resilient, high-performance autonomy for intelligent machines across various industries. The platform includes an integrated autonomy factory, industrial-grade middleware, a rich autonomy catalog, and seamless mission control.

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References :
  • AiThority: Shield AI raises $240M at $5.3B valuation to scale Hivemind Enterprise, an AI-powered autonomy developer platform
  • SiliconANGLE: Defense technology startup Shield AI valued at $5.3B in $240M funding round
  • Verdict: Defence startup Shield AI raises $240m at $5.3bn valuation
  • Crunchbase News: Just a day after anti-drone tech startup Epirus raised a $250 million Series D, defense and aerospace startup Shield AI locked up a $240 million F-1 strategic funding round at a $5.3 billion valuation.
Matthias Bastian@THE DECODER //

Anthropic Secures 3.5 Billion Funding for AI Expansion - Anthropic secured $3.5 billion in Series E funding, elevating the company’s valuation to $61.5 billion, earmarked for research, infrastructure, and international growth.
References: THE DECODER , venturebeat.com , TechCrunch ...
Anthropic has successfully closed a Series E funding round, securing $3.5 billion and elevating the company's valuation to an impressive $61.5 billion. This substantial financial injection will be channeled towards accelerating Anthropic's research efforts, expanding its compute capacity and infrastructure, and driving the company's international growth strategy. Lightspeed Venture Partners spearheaded the funding round with a $1 billion contribution, underscoring strong investor confidence in Anthropic’s mission.

The financing round also attracted participation from several prominent investors including Salesforce Ventures, Cisco Investments, Fidelity Management & Research Company, General Catalyst, D1 Capital Partners, Jane Street, Menlo Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners. The company's annualized revenue reached $1 billion by December 2024, representing a tenfold increase year-over-year and the company plans to further enhance its AI systems with the new funding. Anthropic aims to advance the development of next-generation AI systems and expand what humans can achieve.

Recommended read:
References :
  • THE DECODER: Anthropic raises $3.5 billion in new funding, valuing the AI company at over $60 billion
  • venturebeat.com: Anthropic secured $3.5 billion in series E funding at a $61.5 billion valuation as the AI company's revenue grows 1,000% year-over-year, intensifying competition with OpenAI amid massive industry investment.
  • SiliconANGLE: Anthropic raises $3.5B at $61.5B valuation to advance its AI research
  • TechCrunch: AI startup Anthropic on Monday announced it raised $3.5 billion at a $61.5 billion post-money valuation, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
  • Analytics Vidhya: February 2025 has been yet another game-changing month for generative AI, bringing us some of the most anticipated model upgrades and groundbreaking new features. From xAI’s Grok 3 and Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet, to OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 and the promise of GPT-5, this month saw fierce competition in the AI race. Meanwhile, both OpenAI and Perplexity […]
  • Last Week in AI: Summary and discussion of last week's big AI news, including Alibaba's Qwen-32B, Anthropic's funding, and DeepMind's BigBench Extra Hard.
  • Last Week in AI: Discusses Alibaba’s new Qwen-32B reasoning model, Anthropic’s $3.5 billion funding, and other AI news.
Matthias Bastian@THE DECODER //

Anthropic Raises $3.5 Billion Amid AI Investment Boom - Anthropic secured $3.5 billion in Series E funding, reaching a $61.5 billion valuation with 1,000% year-over-year revenue growth, and launched Claude 3.7 Sonnet Reasoning Model, intensifying competition with OpenAI.
References: venturebeat.com , THE DECODER ,
Anthropic has successfully closed a $3.5 billion Series E funding round, elevating the AI company's valuation to an impressive $61.5 billion. This substantial financial injection, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with a $1 billion contribution, underscores investor confidence in Anthropic's potential despite the already high valuations in the AI sector. The company's revenue has experienced exponential growth, increasing by 1,000% year-over-year, fueled by strong enterprise adoption of its Claude chatbot and other AI solutions.

The new capital will be strategically allocated to bolster Anthropic's research and development efforts, expand its compute infrastructure, and deepen its focus on mechanistic interpretability and alignment. Anthropic's CFO, Krishna Rao, emphasized that the investment would facilitate the development of more intelligent and capable AI systems. In addition to these advancements, Anthropic has also launched Claude 3.7 Sonnet, an advanced AI model designed with hybrid reasoning capabilities, showcasing the company's commitment to innovation and cutting-edge AI technology.

Recommended read:
References :
  • venturebeat.com: Anthropic secures $3.5 billion in series E funding at a $61.5 billion valuation as the AI company's revenue grows 1,000% year-over-year, intensifying competition with OpenAI amid massive industry investment.
  • THE DECODER: Anthropic raises $3.5 billion in new funding, valuing the AI company at over $60 billion
  • www.windowscentral.com: Anthropic CEO predicts AI will surpass human smarts by 2027, echoing Bill Gates' claim it will replace humans for most things — but Sam Altman said AGI would whoosh by with "surprisingly little" societal impact

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