Latest news with #EricSchmidt
Techday NZ
18 hours ago
- Business
- Techday NZ
Retab raises USD $3.5 million to expand document AI platform
Retab has launched from stealth with a pre-seed funding round totalling USD $3.5 million to support its document AI platform and developer-first tools. The company's funding round was supported by several early-stage investors, including VentureFriends, Kima Ventures, and K5 Global, alongside individual investors Eric Schmidt (via StemAI), Olivier Pomel (CEO of Datadog), and Florian Douetteau (CEO of Dataiku). The capital is earmarked for further platform development and community growth as Retab looks to serve demand from vertical AI startups and innovation teams within enterprises. Platform focus Retab offers a software development kit (SDK) designed to help developers automate document processing tasks that use large language models (LLMs). The platform allows developers to define the data schema needed for their applications, while Retab manages data set labelling, evaluations, prompt engineering, and model selection. This orchestration is aimed at streamlining the document automation workflow and addressing common production challenges within the space. Louis de Benoist, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said, "People keep building demos that look like magic, but break the moment you put them into production. We lived that pain ourselves. Wiring up fragile pipelines just to extract a few fields from a PDF. We built Retab because it's the developer-first platform we always wished we had." Retab's founding team, composed of engineers with backgrounds in logistics workflow automation, identified greater value in the orchestration layer they had previously developed to make AI models usable at scale. This tooling now forms the basis of the Retab platform, which is being utilised by multiple companies to extract structured data from a variety of document types. System capabilities The platform is positioned not as an LLM itself, but as a middleware solution that integrates with LLMs from major providers such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. Retab's system ensures accuracy and reliability by enabling developers to specify required outputs, while the platform oversees processes to maintain verifiable data extraction quality. Key features of the platform include self-optimising schemas, which use AI agents to test and refine extraction instructions before deployment. The model-agnostic system benchmarks and routes each automation task to the most suitable LLM for requirements such as cost, speed, or accuracy. Retab states this approach can reduce costs by up to 100 times compared to conventional solutions. Another element is guided reasoning and k-LLM consensus, where multiple models are used in parallel to reach a quantified consensus, supporting error reduction and increased trustworthiness in outputs. "Retab is the OS for reliably extracting structured data. It wraps the best models in a layer of logic that actually makes them usable with error handling and structured outputs. That's what devs need if they want to build production apps, not just prototypes," said de Benoist. Industry adoption Retab reports adoption across logistics, finance, and healthcare sectors. A logistics firm has employed Retab to find the smallest, fastest LLM configuration for 99% accuracy, reducing operational costs. A financial services client utilises the platform to extract both quantitative metrics and qualitative risk factors from long quarterly reports, a process that previously required several days of manual analysis. Other customers are using the system to automate claims processing, medical records, identity verification, and onboarding processes. Florian Douetteau, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dataiku, and investor in Retab, observed, "the AI-fication of the economy depends on the capability to convert operations based on millions of documents into verified, structured data that autonomous systems can utilize. On a large scale, this process hinges on quality control, cost efficiency, and rapid implementation. The team at Retab understands this thoroughly and is uniquely positioned to solve it for the thousands of AI first companies that are emerging." Outlook The company is extending its extraction capabilities to handle data from websites and is launching integrations with workflow automation platforms such as n8n, Zapier, and Dify. Retab's stated long-term strategy is to serve as intelligent middleware between unstructured data and AI systems, with the objective to make such data usable and programmable for a range of applications, from contract processing to customs management. With a workforce of ten and a growing developer user base, Retab aims to become a key component in AI infrastructure for document automation workflows.
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First Post
3 days ago
- Business
- First Post
How ex-Google CEO emerged as Ukraine's unlikely friend & helped take down Russian drones
Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and co-founder of Swift Beat, has emerged as an unlikely friend of Ukraine. While tech giants like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Maxar have emerged as unreliable partners, Schmidt's company's interceptor drones have helped the country take down Russian drones. Here's how. read more Eric Schmidt speaks onstage during the 2024 TIME100 Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2024 in New York City. (Photo:via AFP) Even as Western technology giants like SpaceX and Maxar have emerged as unreliable partners, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has emerged as a key partner of Ukraine in the war with Russia. Earlier this month, Schmidt met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Denmark and signed a deal for the joint production of artificially intelligence (AI)-driven interceptor drones. Schmidt's company Swift Beat has provided three types of interceptor drones to Ukraine that have taken down up to 90 per cent of Russian drones that they have encountered, according to Ukrainian-language outlet Ekonomichna Pravda (EP). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'These drones are highly accurate' A source told EP that Swift Beat's interceptor drones are 'are extremely accurate in identifying Russian drones in the night sky'. In recent months, Russia has ramped up attacks on Ukraine with near-daily assaults with hundreds of drones and missiles. Officials told the outlet that Swift Beats' three types of interceptor drones have taken down roughly 90 per cent of Russia's Iranian-origin Shahed drones. Swift Beat's drones are said to be equipped with advanced AI targeting technology and a secure communication system that has so far proven resistant to Russian electronic warfare, the report said. The collaboration between Schmidt's Swift Beat and Ukraine has presented a win-win situation where both sides have benefitted — as opposed to the likes of satellite internet-provider SpaceX-owned Starlink and satellite imagery-provider Maxar that led to Ukraine's dependency. Under the arrangement with Swift Beat, while Ukraine has got interceptor drones with high precision, Swift Beat has had an opportunity for the testing and fine-tuning of its products. Contrary to such a mutually-beneficial arrangement, Ukraine's dependence on other Western tech giants meant that when Elon Musk ordered the shutdown of Starlink in Ukraine's Kherson region in 2022, it compromised Ukraine's ongoing counter-offensive. Similarly, earlier this year, after US President Donald Trump suspended military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, Maxar was ordered to stop providing satellite imagery to Ukraine.
Winnipeg Free Press
7 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Philanthropist Wendy Schmidt insists science and immersive media can inspire action for the planet
NEW YORK (AP) — Technology drove the personal wealth behind many philanthropists atop the list of last year's biggest American donors. But Wendy Schmidt and her husband, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, are fairly unusual in their insistence that the scientific advancements they fund be shared widely and for the planet's protection. The Silicon Valley veterans' philanthropies, led by Wendy Schmidt, have joined the growing ranks focused on marine conservation since the Schmidt Family Foundation's inception in 2006. With a net worth estimated to exceed $25 billion, they're embracing that role as the Trump administration cuts billions in federal funding to scientific research. 'We work really hard to make sure science holds its place in our society,' Wendy, the president and co-founder of the Schmidt Family Foundation and Schmidt Ocean Institute, told The Associated Press. 'It's how we got where we are. It's why we have these technologies that we're using today.' Her latest philanthropic venture is Agog: The Immersive Media Institute. Co-founded last year with climate journalism pioneer Chip Giller, the effort attempts to spark social change by fostering new connections with the natural world through extended reality technologies. Grantees include 'Fragile Home,' a project exploring displacement through a mixed reality headset that takes users through the past, present and future of a Ukrainian home; and Kinfolk Tech, a nonprofit that aims to help excluded communities reshape public monuments by superimposing their own digitally rendered installations onto real world spaces. The Associated Press recently followed Wendy Schmidt on a tour of Kinfolk Tech's Juneteenth exhibit in Brooklyn Bridge Park and spoke with her about funding scientific research. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: What do you hope to accomplish with Agog: The Immersive Media Institute? A: (Extended reality) has an enormous amount of power. It has a power to get inside your head. It has a power to move you and remove your ego in a way, and it puts you inside as a participant of something. You're seeing a story rather than just being an observer. And so, it has a potential for stirring you to action. We realized someone's going to take this and they're going to make it really good. And they'll probably use it for entertainment and someone will make money with it. But maybe there's a better way to use it. As a philanthropist, I'm thinking about what good can come out of this and how can we use this for social good and to create more empathy in the world, more connection for people. Q: Why are you leaning into diversity and inclusion with this tool when others are rolling back similar philanthropic efforts? A: Well, they're not going away. Because even when you think about AI and how you program an AI, if you're not inclusive, you're not really serving everybody. And when you have a technology just as powerful as this one is, and those that are more powerful, they must be inclusive by design. We work with all of our grantees to make sure that we're listening and that their voices are heard and their stories, in this case, get told by them. Q: What is philanthropy's role in advancing climate research when the U.S. government is reducing funding for that area? A: We've frankly continued to do what we've always done, which is to try to be on the frontier of research and efforts to understand our planet, to share that understanding openly with more people. Because when you see something differently, your whole worldview changes. We're finding things in the ocean we didn't know existed at all, even five years ago. And they should change the way we think about the planet. And so (what's going on today in our country) is really a shame. There are many important projects that have lost funding, and you can't save all of them. But we are doing everything we can to shore up people in our very broad network of scientists and young PhD students and post-PhD folks, researchers everywhere. We're expanding our opportunities on Falkor (too), on the (ocean) research vessel. Most people are lacking funding. We're helping them to have funding so they can complete their mission. We don't think science should stop because of what's going on here. In fact, it's more important than ever. As always, it's our job as philanthropists to take risks — to do what governments and industry often won't do anyway. You can't do everything, but you can do a lot. Particularly when it comes to climate and climate science. Climate modeling is super important in terms of public health and the surveillance and reporting of data. When the United States isn't doing that, there are others who can do that if you build out their architecture. And philanthropy can play a very big role in doing that. Q: How do you restore that faith in science? A: Experiential (media) I think is important. One of the things that Agog can do is expose people to realities that they don't see. People accept what they see on the surface. But when you, for example, bring people along on a dive that our robot SuBastian does off of Falkor (too), and you show them a world no human eye has ever seen, and they witness what is really on the earth. And then you give them the science and tell them this is most of life on earth and that this plays this function in your life and your well-being. We can help people make connections when we can show them things, get their attention, and reveal the most wonderful things they've ever seen that are here on this planet. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Philanthropist Wendy Schmidt insists science and immersive media can inspire action for the planet
NEW YORK (AP) — Technology drove the personal wealth behind many philanthropists atop the list of last year's biggest American donors. But Wendy Schmidt and her husband, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, are fairly unusual in their insistence that the scientific advancements they fund be shared widely and for the planet's protection. The Silicon Valley veterans' philanthropies, led by Wendy Schmidt, have joined the growing ranks focused on marine conservation since the Schmidt Family Foundation's inception in 2006. With a net worth estimated to exceed $25 billion, they're embracing that role as the Trump administration cuts billions in federal funding to scientific research. 'We work really hard to make sure science holds its place in our society," Wendy, the president and co-founder of the Schmidt Family Foundation and Schmidt Ocean Institute, told The Associated Press. "It's how we got where we are. It's why we have these technologies that we're using today.' Her latest philanthropic venture is Agog: The Immersive Media Institute. Co-founded last year with climate journalism pioneer Chip Giller, the effort attempts to spark social change by fostering new connections with the natural world through extended reality technologies. Grantees include 'Fragile Home," a project exploring displacement through a mixed reality headset that takes users through the past, present and future of a Ukrainian home; and Kinfolk Tech, a nonprofit that aims to help excluded communities reshape public monuments by superimposing their own digitally rendered installations onto real world spaces. The Associated Press recently followed Wendy Schmidt on a tour of Kinfolk Tech's Juneteenth exhibit in Brooklyn Bridge Park and spoke with her about funding scientific research. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: What do you hope to accomplish with Agog: The Immersive Media Institute? A: (Extended reality) has an enormous amount of power. It has a power to get inside your head. It has a power to move you and remove your ego in a way, and it puts you inside as a participant of something. You're seeing a story rather than just being an observer. And so, it has a potential for stirring you to action. We realized someone's going to take this and they're going to make it really good. And they'll probably use it for entertainment and someone will make money with it. But maybe there's a better way to use it. As a philanthropist, I'm thinking about what good can come out of this and how can we use this for social good and to create more empathy in the world, more connection for people. Q: Why are you leaning into diversity and inclusion with this tool when others are rolling back similar philanthropic efforts? A: Well, they're not going away. Because even when you think about AI and how you program an AI, if you're not inclusive, you're not really serving everybody. And when you have a technology just as powerful as this one is, and those that are more powerful, they must be inclusive by design. We work with all of our grantees to make sure that we're listening and that their voices are heard and their stories, in this case, get told by them. Q: What is philanthropy's role in advancing climate research when the U.S. government is reducing funding for that area? A: We've frankly continued to do what we've always done, which is to try to be on the frontier of research and efforts to understand our planet, to share that understanding openly with more people. Because when you see something differently, your whole worldview changes. We're finding things in the ocean we didn't know existed at all, even five years ago. And they should change the way we think about the planet. And so (what's going on today in our country) is really a shame. There are many important projects that have lost funding, and you can't save all of them. But we are doing everything we can to shore up people in our very broad network of scientists and young PhD students and post-PhD folks, researchers everywhere. We're expanding our opportunities on Falkor (too), on the (ocean) research vessel. Most people are lacking funding. We're helping them to have funding so they can complete their mission. We don't think science should stop because of what's going on here. In fact, it's more important than ever. As always, it's our job as philanthropists to take risks -- to do what governments and industry often won't do anyway. You can't do everything, but you can do a lot. Particularly when it comes to climate and climate science. Climate modeling is super important in terms of public health and the surveillance and reporting of data. When the United States isn't doing that, there are others who can do that if you build out their architecture. And philanthropy can play a very big role in doing that. Q: How do you restore that faith in science? A: Experiential (media) I think is important. One of the things that Agog can do is expose people to realities that they don't see. People accept what they see on the surface. But when you, for example, bring people along on a dive that our robot SuBastian does off of Falkor (too), and you show them a world no human eye has ever seen, and they witness what is really on the earth. And then you give them the science and tell them this is most of life on earth and that this plays this function in your life and your well-being. We can help people make connections when we can show them things, get their attention, and reveal the most wonderful things they've ever seen that are here on this planet. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit James Pollard, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Hill
7 days ago
- The Hill
Philanthropist Wendy Schmidt insists science and immersive media can inspire action for the planet
NEW YORK (AP) — Technology drove the personal wealth behind many philanthropists atop the list of last year's biggest American donors. But Wendy Schmidt and her husband, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, are fairly unusual in their insistence that the scientific advancements they fund be shared widely and for the planet's protection. The Silicon Valley veterans' philanthropies, led by Wendy Schmidt, have joined the growing ranks focused on marine conservation since the Schmidt Family Foundation's inception in 2006. With a net worth estimated to exceed $25 billion, they're embracing that role as the Trump administration cuts billions in federal funding to scientific research. 'We work really hard to make sure science holds its place in our society,' Wendy, the president and co-founder of the Schmidt Family Foundation and Schmidt Ocean Institute, told The Associated Press. 'It's how we got where we are. It's why we have these technologies that we're using today.' Her latest philanthropic venture is Agog: The Immersive Media Institute. Co-founded last year with climate journalism pioneer Chip Giller, the effort attempts to spark social change by fostering new connections with the natural world through extended reality technologies. Grantees include 'Fragile Home,' a project exploring displacement through a mixed reality headset that takes users through the past, present and future of a Ukrainian home; and Kinfolk Tech, a nonprofit that aims to help excluded communities reshape public monuments by superimposing their own digitally rendered installations onto real world spaces. The Associated Press recently followed Wendy Schmidt on a tour of Kinfolk Tech's Juneteenth exhibit in Brooklyn Bridge Park and spoke with her about funding scientific research. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: What do you hope to accomplish with Agog: The Immersive Media Institute? A: (Extended reality) has an enormous amount of power. It has a power to get inside your head. It has a power to move you and remove your ego in a way, and it puts you inside as a participant of something. You're seeing a story rather than just being an observer. And so, it has a potential for stirring you to action. We realized someone's going to take this and they're going to make it really good. And they'll probably use it for entertainment and someone will make money with it. But maybe there's a better way to use it. As a philanthropist, I'm thinking about what good can come out of this and how can we use this for social good and to create more empathy in the world, more connection for people. Q: Why are you leaning into diversity and inclusion with this tool when others are rolling back similar philanthropic efforts? A: Well, they're not going away. Because even when you think about AI and how you program an AI, if you're not inclusive, you're not really serving everybody. And when you have a technology just as powerful as this one is, and those that are more powerful, they must be inclusive by design. We work with all of our grantees to make sure that we're listening and that their voices are heard and their stories, in this case, get told by them. Q: What is philanthropy's role in advancing climate research when the U.S. government is reducing funding for that area? A: We've frankly continued to do what we've always done, which is to try to be on the frontier of research and efforts to understand our planet, to share that understanding openly with more people. Because when you see something differently, your whole worldview changes. We're finding things in the ocean we didn't know existed at all, even five years ago. And they should change the way we think about the planet. And so (what's going on today in our country) is really a shame. There are many important projects that have lost funding, and you can't save all of them. But we are doing everything we can to shore up people in our very broad network of scientists and young PhD students and post-PhD folks, researchers everywhere. We're expanding our opportunities on Falkor (too), on the (ocean) research vessel. Most people are lacking funding. We're helping them to have funding so they can complete their mission. We don't think science should stop because of what's going on here. In fact, it's more important than ever. As always, it's our job as philanthropists to take risks — to do what governments and industry often won't do anyway. You can't do everything, but you can do a lot. Particularly when it comes to climate and climate science. Climate modeling is super important in terms of public health and the surveillance and reporting of data. When the United States isn't doing that, there are others who can do that if you build out their architecture. And philanthropy can play a very big role in doing that. Q: How do you restore that faith in science? A: Experiential (media) I think is important. One of the things that Agog can do is expose people to realities that they don't see. People accept what they see on the surface. But when you, for example, bring people along on a dive that our robot SuBastian does off of Falkor (too), and you show them a world no human eye has ever seen, and they witness what is really on the earth. And then you give them the science and tell them this is most of life on earth and that this plays this function in your life and your well-being. We can help people make connections when we can show them things, get their attention, and reveal the most wonderful things they've ever seen that are here on this planet. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
