Latest news with #WorldArtificialIntelligenceConference
The Star
3 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Cornelis Networks releases tech to speed up AI datacenter connections
FILE PHOTO: An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Cornelis Networks on Tuesday released a suite of networking hardware and software aimed at linking together up to half a million artificial intelligence chips. Cornelis, which was spun out of Intel in 2020 and is still backed by the chipmaker's venture capital fund, is targeting a problem that has bedeviledAI datacenters for much of the past decade: AI computing chips are very fast, but when many of those chips are strung together to work on big computing problems, the network links between the chips are not fast enough to keep the chips supplied with data. Nvidia took aim at that problem with its $6.9 billion purchase in 2020 of networking chip firm Mellanox, which made networking gear with a network protocol called InfiniBand, which was created in the 1990s specifically for supercomputers. Networking chip giants such as Broadcom and Cisco Systems are working to solve the same set of technical issues with Ethernet technology, which has connected most of the internet since the 1980s and is an open technology standard. The Cornelis "CN5000" networking chips usea new network technology created by Cornelis called OmniPath. The chips will ship to initial customers such as the U.S. Department of Energy in the third quarter of this year, Cornelis CEO Lisa Spelman told Reuters on May 30. Although Cornelis has backing from Intel, its chips are designed to work with AI computing chips from Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices or any other maker using open-source software, Spelman said. She said that the next version of Cornelis chips in 2026 will also be compatible with Ethernet networks, aiming to alleviate any customer concerns that buying Cornelis chips would leave a data center locked into its technology. "There's 45-year-old architecture and a 25-year-old architecture working to solve these problems," Spelman said. "We like to offer a new way and a new path for customers that delivers you both the (computing chip) performance and excellent economic performance as well." (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler)
The Star
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Exclusive-Grammarly secures $1 billion from General Catalyst to build AI productivity platform
An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Grammarly has raised $1 billion in non-dilutive financing from General Catalyst to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, aiming to grow into a comprehensive productivity platform, the companies told Reuters. Grammarly, known for its popular writing assistant tool, plans to use the capital to fund sales and marketing costs and strategic acquisitions. It looks to use AI to build more communication-based productivity tools and even hosts third-party tools on its platform by leveraging access to its 40 million daily users. The investment, one of the biggest out of General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF), could help late-stage tech companies like Grammarly accelerate growth by using dedicated capital to acquire new customers. By reallocating funds typically tied up in sales and marketing, Grammarly can invest more in product development. In return, General Catalyst doesn't receive an equity stake in Grammarly, but will get a capped return linked to revenue generated through using this capital. This is structured as a percentage of the revenue generated from the fund being used in customer acquisition. Founded in 2005, Grammarly has an annual revenue exceeding $700 million and is profitable. In December, Grammarly appointed Shishir Mehrotra, previously CEO of the acquired productivity platform Coda, as its new leader, signaling a push into broader AI-powered workplace tools. "As Grammarly is going through a huge transformation of going from being a what is mostly known as a single-purpose agent to being an agent platform, it just felt very important for us to be able to bet big in our product development and in M&A as well as in our growth strategies," Mehrotra said in an interview. He added said the company has an eventual goal to go public, although no imminent plans. "I'm right now just focused on making sure we're innovating with new products, growing as fast as we can. But when we feel ready, we'll go public," Mehrotra added. The dedicated growth investment, if it pays off, could also benefit the valuation of Grammarly and General Catalyst's stake in the company, as it has also been an equity investor in Grammarly's series B funding in 2017. San Francisco-based Grammarly has raised over $550 million in venture capital, according to PitchBook. It was last valued at $13 billion in 2021. General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund operates by drawing capital from the firm's main investment fund, including a newly raised $8 billion. This approach is part of a strategic evolution for the investment firm, led by CEO Hemant Taneja, as it seeks to grow beyond the traditional venture capital model, including creating innovative funding mechanisms. Its customer acquisition fund has invested in nearly 50 companies, including Lemonade and Fivetran, as it leads on growth metrics to a more predictable path to returns. "Companies like Grammarly basically have a machine where they can invest dollars in sales and marketing and generate a very consistent return," said Pranav Singhvi, Managing Director at General Catalyst, "With this wave of AI, giving Grammarly the firepower to actually go and invest could land those customers beyond the 40 million." (Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York; editing by Giles Elgood)
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
2025 Brand Global Communication Conference held in Shanghai
SHANGHAI, May 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On May 12, the 2025 Brand Global Communication Conference was held in Shanghai, highlighting the theme of "Brands bring better future for the world." More than 100 representatives from well-known domestic enterprises, government agencies, and academic institutions gathered to discuss and analyze the going-global of Chinese brands, aiming to enhance the global influence of domestic brands entering overseas markets. A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link. A report on global brand communication capability of Chinese brands was released at the conference. The report provides reference pathways for promoting high-quality brand going-global and effectively presenting the story of Chinese brands. Since 2024, urban culture, finance, and the gaming and toy sectors have shown significant progress in brand development, industry innovation, and international communication. The report has focused on these three key areas, introducing a global communication capability ranking of Chinese brands in the specific realms. Notably, the report marks the first in-depth regional analysis by unveiling the 2025 Shanghai cultural brand global communication capability ranking. The top ten brands encompass key sectors, including cultural tourism, design, film and television, technology, and urban intellectual property. Shortlisted brands such as the Shanghai International Film Festival, World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Shanghai International Design Week, and World Cities Day prominently illustrate the outstanding performance of Shanghai's cultural brands in the global public discourse, social media landscape, and industrial ecosystem. This is the third consecutive year that the conference unveiled an edition of the research report on the global communication capacity of brands. The report focuses on the overall ranking and changing characteristics of Chinese brands' global communication capability over the past three years, compiling data from the 2023 and 2024 rankings while highlighting the ascendancy and contribution of Chinese brands in global communication during this period. The data indicates strong performances in the automotive, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics sectors. The conference is launched by the office of Xinhua Brand Reimagine, the Shanghai Branch of Xinhua News Agency, and the News & Information Center of Xinhua News Agency, with the News & Information Center's Shanghai branch and China News Development Co., Ltd. Shanghai Branch serving as organizers. Source: China News Development Co., Ltd. Shanghai Branch CONTACT: Contact person: Ms. Liu, Tel: 86-10-63074558Error 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
Asahi Shimbun
09-05-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
China's Baidu looks to patent AI system to decipher animal sounds
A Baidu sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. (REUTERS) BEIJING--Ever wished you could understand what your cat is trying to tell you? A Chinese tech company is exploring whether it's possible to translate those mysterious meows into human language using artificial intelligence. Baidu, owner of China's largest search engine, has filed a patent with China National Intellectual Property Administration proposing a system to convert animal vocalizations into human language, according to a patent document published this week. Scientists have long attempted to decode animal communication, and Baidu's patent represents the latest effort to leverage AI to do so. The document says the system will collect animal data, including vocal sounds, behavioral patterns, and physiological signals, which will be preprocessed and merged before an AI-powered analysis designed to recognize the animal's emotional state. The emotional states would then be mapped to semantic meanings and translated into human language. The system could allow 'deeper emotional communication and understanding between animals and humans, improving the accuracy and efficiency of cross-species communication,' Baidu said in the patent document. 'There has been a lot of interest in the filing of our patent application,' a Baidu spokesperson said when asked how soon the company could turn the patent into a product. 'Currently, it is still in the research phase.' Baidu was among the first major Chinese companies to invest heavily in AI following the 2022 debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT. It unveiled its latest AI model, Ernie 4.5 Turbo, last month, saying it matched the industry's best in several benchmark tests. However, the Ernie chatbot has struggled to gain traction amid fierce competition. A number of efforts are underway outside China to try and interpret what animals want to convey. International researchers at Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) have been using statistical analysis and AI since 2020 to understand how sperm whales communicate, while the Earth Species Project, a non-profit founded in 2017 whose backers include LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, is also trying to use AI to decode animal communication. Local media reports about Baidu's patent application sparked discussion on Chinese social media platforms late on Wednesday. While some were excited about the possibility of eventually being better able to understand their pets, others were skeptical. 'While it sounds impressive, we'll need to see how it performs in real-world applications,' commented a user on Weibo.
South China Morning Post
20-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Ant Group jumps into humanoid robots as China's AI advances
Published: 12:30pm, 20 Feb 2025 Chinese fintech giant Ant Group has ventured into the country's booming humanoid robotics sector, according to a company statement and job postings. The recent move by Ant, an affiliate of South China Morning Post owner Alibaba Group Holding, comes as Chinese tech giants are investing heavily into the humanoid-robot supply chain, hoping that the technology can be quickly deployed in factories and homes to replace human workers. Ant said in a statement on Wednesday that it would continue to invest in AI. In a speech addressing employees last December , founder Jack Ma said the company must embrace the fast-developing technology as 'the changes brought by AI in the next 20 years will go beyond everyone's imagination'. Ant set up an entity in Shanghai late last year called Shanghai Mayi Lingbo Technology with 100 million yuan (US$13.7 million) in registered capital, according to business registry database Tianyancha. Humanoid robots from various Chinese and foreign brands on display during the 2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in July. Photo: SCMP Launched on December 17, the new firm would focus on the 'research and development of embodied-intelligence technology and products', an Ant representative said on Wednesday.
