Joyce Shen’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, December 16, 2024

?? Musings and Readings

“China sets up AI standards committee as global tech race intensifies” (Reuters)

“New Tests Reveal AI’s Capacity for Deception” (Time)

“Frontier Models are Capable of In-context Scheming” (Apollo Research)

“Fake nudes created by AI "nudify" sites are causing real harm, victims say” (60 Minutes)

“AI Godmother Fei-Fei Li Has a Vision for Computer Vision” (IEEE Spectrum)

“On Device Llama 3.1 with Core ML” (Apple)

Optics Breakthrough for Generative AI and next-gen data centers (IBM)

?? Deals

Ask Sage, a VA-based company developing a GenAI platform tailored for government and commercial enterprises to automate code generation, accelerate releases, and boost team’s productivity, has raised $17m in series A financing.

Evidently, a CA-based health tech startup building an AI platform to streamline healthcare workflows with problem-focused summaries of patient data and clinical insights, has raised $15m in series A financing.

MoldCo, a MA-based company focusing on mold-related health and environmental concerns offers testing tools, assessments, and resources to promote healthier indoor environments, has raised $3m in pre-seed financing.

Wald.ai, a CA-based startup focusing on offering enterprise users with AI assistants while ensuring data security and supporting regulatory compliance, has raised $4m in seed financing.

Orthogon Therapeutics, a MA-based biotech company developing a drug discovery platform for orally administrable drugs with novel mechanisms to treat viral infections in transplant patients, has raised $5.2m in financing.

GovSignals, a New York-based startup building an AI platform that automates government contracting tasks, including opportunity discovery, compliance management, and proposal creation, has raised $5.5m in seed financing.

Mainframe, a CA-based company developing generative computing tools to change how humans interact with computers, streamlining tasks and improving productivity, has raised $5.5m in seed financing.

Concentro, a New York-based climate tech startup offering a platform to monetize renewable energy tax credits, connecting sellers with buyers while streamlining compliance, documentation, and transaction processes, has raised $3m in seed financing.??

Gentrace, a CA-based company building a collaborative platform for testing and evaluating LLM applications, helping AI teams through application-specific evaluations, experiments, and performance monitoring, has raised $8m in Series A financing.

WeaveGrid, a CA-based startup developing software to optimize electric vehicle charging for grid stability and efficiency while collaborating with utilities and automakers to accelerate EV adoption and manage energy demand, has raised $28m in financing.

Qnovia, a VA-based pharmaceutical company developing an inhaled drug delivery platform focused on smoking cessation, with technology designed to enhance drug dosing, efficacy, and patient compliance, has raised $16m in series B financing.

Vapi, a CA-based startup providing a platform for developers to build, test, and deploy voice AI applications, offering tools to create real-time voice assistants for customer support, lead qualification, and automating workflows, has raised $20m in series A financing.

Tuva Health, a New York-based startup developing a platform to convert healthcare data into AI-ready formats, helping organizations manage and analyze data to improve patient outcomes and care efficiency, has raised $5m in seed financing.

Prezent.AI, a CA-based company creating an AI-powered platform to refine business communication and presentations for enterprise teams, has raised $7.3m in financing.

Alessa Therapeutics, a CA-based biotech startup developing localized drug delivery technology for targeted cancer treatments, focusing on prostate cancer to improve outcomes and reduce side effects, has raised $15m in seed financing.