AI Market News: Wednesday, February 21, 2024

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

Adobe Releases AI Assistant

The San Jose, California-based digital experience company Adobe is rolling out in beta its AI Assistant, which is a generative AI conversational engine for its Reader and Acrobat products. The tool will help users extract information from PDFs. Adobe says there are roughly three trillion PDFs in circulation globally. The assistant generates summaries, answers questions and formats information for sharing.

Generative AI Could Raise Canada’s GDP

Generative AI could add almost 2% to Canada’s GDP, helping to reverse a “decades-long” decline in productivity, according to a report by The Conference Board of Canada. The research was done in partnership with the MaRS Discovery District, a Toronto-based innovation lab, and features insights from a survey of 221 Canadian startups: 46% said they’re using generative AI; 63% said implementing AI would not reduce their headcount; and 29% said finding talent was a roadblock to implementing AI.

Supermicro Expands AI Portfolio

The San Jose, California-based IT infrastructure manufacturer Supermicro is adding to its AI lineup with multiple edge computing AI servers with NVIDIA GPUs. The servers are designed to help AI solutions be deployed where data is generated at the edge, such as public spaces and stores, to improve response times and decisions.

Wipro Partnering With IBM on AI

Bengaluru, India-based Wipro, a technology services company, launched its Wipro Enterprise AI-Ready Platform. Wipro’s AI product uses the watsonx AI and data platform by Armonk, New York-based IBM — including AI assistants and watsonx.ai, watsonx.data and watsonx.governance — for an interoperable AI platform. The Wipro platform is designed to help clients create customized and integrated AI environments.

Former Zillow Execs Launch Home Portal

The Stamford, Connecticut-based mortgage company Tomo, with $110 million in backing, introduced Tomo Real Estate, a portal for homebuyers with “insider intel.” The portal uses OpenAI for text search as well as computer vision to index photos, extracting over 200 attributes. It also works with Tomo’s mortgage business.

See more: 10 Top AI Companies Defining the Market

Archer Acquires Compliance.ai

Overland Park, Kansas-based Archer, an integrated risk management company, is acquiring San Francisco-based Compliance.ai, a provider of AI regulatory change management solutions, founded in 2016. The deal will help Archer clients supplement their compliance with AI to automate monitoring, tracking, reporting and responding regulations.

Recogni Closes $102M Round

The AI computing company Recogni raised $102 million in Series C financing. San Jose, California-based Recogni, founded in 2017, will use the funds to develop AI inference solutions designed to increase performance and power efficiency. "The compute demand for AI applications is going to be significantly more than what the experts are forecasting — and addressing the power consumption piece of the puzzle is critical at this stage, resulting in significantly lower operational costs,” said Ashok Krishnamurthi, managing partner at GreatPoint Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm.

Bioptimus Lands $35M Seed Round

Bioptimus, which is building a generative AI foundation model for biology, secured $35 million in seed financing. The foundation model by Paris-based Bioptimus, founded in 2024, is designed to connect various areas of biology, from molecules and cells to tissues and whole organisms, to support discoveries and innovations in biomedicine. The model can help “unlock unprecedented potential to personalize medicine, capturing the uniqueness of each individual while harnessing the collective knowledge of all,” said Edward Kliphuis, a partner at Sofinnova Partners, a Paris-based venture capital firm.

AZmed Raises Series A Funds

AZmed, a Paris-based company developing AI medical imaging for radiologists, raised 15 million euros in Series A financing. AZmed, founded in 2018, will use the funds to double its workforce, increase its R&D and expand in the U.S., Asia, the Middle East and Africa. “Each medical image must be correlated with a diagnosis of AI,” said AZmed CEO Julien Vidal.

Trace Genomics Nets $10.5M

Ames, Iowa-based Trace Genomics, a DNA soil intelligence company that uses machine learning, secured $10.5 million in Series B financing. Trace, founded in 2015, will use the funds to expand commercially to more farmers and agronomists. Trace’s technology can help agriculture with “better risk assessment and demand forecasting, leading to enhanced yield and cost management," said Cristina Rohr, managing director at S2G Ventures, a Chicago-based investment firm.

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