AI Market News: Open-Source Grok, Authors vs. NVIDIA and More

Here's the latest news on artificial intelligence — just for you:

XAI is Making Grok Open-Source

Elon Musk says that xAI will “open source Grok,” the conversational chatbot for X built on the Grok LLM, according to a post at X. Last November, xAI unveiled Grok, saying the chatbot is designed to answer questions with “a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak, so please don’t use it if you hate humor.” Grok is available through an early access program that’s limited to X Premium+ users.

Authors Suing NVIDIA

A trio of novelists filed a copyright lawsuit against the Santa Clara, California-based AI chipmaker NVIDIA, according to a post by Bloomberg. The proposed class action suit reportedly alleges that NVIDIA used their books to help train its NeMo AI platform. NVIDIA “declined to comment” on the suit for the story.

Covariant Introduces RFM-1

The Berkeley, California-based AI robotics company Covariant is rolling out RFM-1. The robotics foundation model is trained on multimodal data on physical interactions and general internet data. The model can give robots “the human-like ability to reason on the fly,” the company says. Covariant, founded in 2017, considers the model to be a step in building generalized AI models that can simulate and operate in “the demanding conditions of the physical world.”

Gladstone AI Releases ‘Defense in Depth’ Action Plan

Gladstone AI, a security company focused on AI development and national security policy, is sharing its report "Defense in Depth: An Action Plan to Increase the Safety and Security of Advanced AI." Gladstone AI delivered the report as part of “an assessment commissioned by the United States Department of State,” the company says. The action plan “bridges the gap between Silicon Valley and Washington,” said Jeremie Harris, CEO and co-founder, Gladstone AI.

Abu Dhabi Forming AI Investment Firm

Abu Dhabi is establishing an investment firm focused on AI and semiconductors, according to a post by Bloomberg. The firm, MGX, could reportedly have over $100 billion in assets under management in “a few years.” Mubadala Investment Co. and G42 are named as “foundational partners.”

See more: 10 Top AI Companies Defining the Market

Silicon Box Investing $3.6B in Italy

Singapore-based Silicon Box, a semiconductor packing company, is collaborating with the Italian government to invest up to $3.6 billion on a project to build a semiconductor assembly and test facility in north Italy. The facility will enable next-generation applications in AI, LLMs, high-performance computing (HPC) and electric vehicles (EVs). Silicon Box expects the site will help it meet next-generation demand for advanced packaging capacity by 2028.

AI Challenge Offers $1M Prize Pool

The AI Agents Global Challenge is inviting AI professionals and students to develop AI agents with “practical, real-world applications.” With a total prize pool of $1 million, the challenge is open to individuals and teams as well as companies and labs. The challenge is sponsored by MM01 AI, a London-based AI platform.

Trustworthy & Responsible AI Network Launches in Health Care Sector

A group of health care organizations formed the Trustworthy & Responsible AI Network (TRAIN) to make “safe and fair” AI accessible in the industry. TRAIN aims to “operationalize responsible AI principles” to improve the quality, safety and trustworthiness of AI in health. The network includes Mount Sinai Health System, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a list of other members as well as Microsoft as a technology partner.

NVIDIA Producing GTC Conference

The AI chipmaker NVIDIA is hosting its GTC conference March 17 through March 21. The event will be in San Jose, California as well as virtual. The conference will feature over 900 sessions, 300 exhibits and 20 technical workshops on generative AI and computing. It is intended for developers, researchers and business strategists.

Vouch Closes $25M Round

San Francisco-based Vouch, a business insurance provider, raised $25 million in Series C-1 financing. Vouch, founded in 2018, launched its AI insurance last year, which is designed to “mitigate nascent AI risks,” including LLM hallucinations, regulatory mistakes and intellectual property issues. The company will use the funds to expand its portfolio, distribution channels and invest in its technology.

Learning Opportunities

Webinar