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Category: robotics/AI – Page 603

Amazon to spend $1 billion on startups that combine AI with robots

The industrial innovation fund is seeking to invest in start-ups that can support the ecommerce group’s aims of becoming “more efficient, safer for our associates, and increase the speed of delivery to our customers.” Bossart said.

She said the Amazon fund would expand its focus this year, including by seeking to invest in companies involved in the “last mile” of deliveries, when packages arrive with customers, as well as geographically and in later-stage companies. However, Bossart would not be drawn on how much the fund has deployed so far, declining to comment on a report it has invested $110 million as of June.

The focus on the automation of warehouses and logistics was not about cutting people out of them altogether, but would result in a “shift in jobs” as more robots and automated vehicles took on repetitive or dangerous tasks, she said. “We’re also a long way off from replacing all humans,” she added.

Swiss Researchers Develop Revolutionary Quadruped Robot for Advanced Manipulation Tasks

In a groundbreaking study published on the arXiv server, a team of Swiss researchers introduces Pedipulate, an innovative controller enabling quadruped robots to perform complex manipulation tasks using their legs. This development marks a significant leap forward in robotics, showcasing the potential for legged robots in maintenance, home support, and exploration activities beyond traditional inspection roles.

The study, titled “Pedipulate: Quadruped Robot Manipulation Using Legs,” challenges the conventional design of legged robots that often rely on additional robotic arms for manipulation, leading to increased power consumption and mechanical complexity. By observing quadrupedal animals, the researchers hypothesized that employing the robot’s legs for locomotion and manipulation could significantly simplify and reduce the cost of robotic systems, particularly in applications where size and efficiency are crucial, such as in space exploration.

Pedipulate is trained through deep reinforcement learning, employing a neural network policy that tracks foot position targets. This policy minimizes the distance between the robot’s foot and the target point while penalizing undesirable movements such as jerky motions or collisions. The controller was tested on the ANYmal D robot, which features 12 torque-controlled joints and force-torque sensors on each foot, proving the feasibility of leg-based manipulation in real-world scenarios.

Adobe’s new prototype generative AI tool is the “Photoshop” of music-making and editing

Project Music GenAI Control can generate audio using text prompts and provides editing features to customize the results within the same workflow.

Adobe’s latest generative AI experiment aims to help people create and customize music without any professional audio experience.

Audio is generated by text prompts, with editing built into the same workflow.

Photoroom, An App That Generates AI Images In One Second, Is Now Worth $500 Million

Photoroom announced Tuesday that it has raised $43 million in Series B funding at a valuation of $500 million. London-based early-stage venture firm Balderton Capital and Aglaé Ventures, an investment firm backed by LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault and his family, led the round, with participation from Y Combinator. The new round brings the Photoroom’s total funding to $64 million. With more than 150 million app downloads and a subscription-based business model, the Paris-based startup has crossed $50 million in annual recurring revenue, according to Rouif.

Photoroom has also garnered the attention of brands like Netflix, Lionsgate and Warner Bros, who have used the startup’s API to promote films and shows including Barbie and Black Mirror. In October 2023, Photoroom partnered with Universal Music Group-owned record label, Republic Records, to create a custom selfie generator of Taylor Swift’s album 1989 that millions of fans used to create an album cover with their own faces.

Photoroom first gained traction in 2020, the same year it was accepted into Y Combinator. During the pandemic, entrepreneurs rushed to produce online catalogs of their products and without access to photographers and professional photo studios, they turned to photo editing tools like Photoroom. Before generative AI tools became mainstream, the startup’s most popular tools were a background remover tool, a tool called “magic retouch,” which removed unwanted objects from a photo as well as a feature that could blur backgrounds in two seconds. When more advanced AI tools became available in 2023, the startup expanded its offerings to include fully AI-generated backgrounds, where users could create background visuals from scratch through text prompts — now Photoroom’s most commonly used feature.

Apple pulls the plug on its electric car project

The move also comes when Apple faces stiff competition from other tech giants in the electric vehicle space, such as Xiaomi and Sony.

Apple has reportedly finally given up on its long-running and secretive electric car project.

The project was dubbed Project Titan. According to a report by Bloomberg, the tech giant reportedly broke the news to its employees on Tuesday. The report said that many of the 2,000-strong car team will be reassigned to other areas, such as generative AI.

The decision to scrap the electric car project is a surprise, given that Apple has been on it for years. Reportedly it has even tested its autonomous driving technology on public roads.

Mistral AI: Microsoft invests $16M in OpenAI French doppelgänger

The Microsoft-Mistral agreement draws the scrutiny of the European Commission.

Microsoft has inked a multi-year partnership with French startup Mistral AI to make its artificial intelligence (AI) models, like ‘Le Chat,’ available through the Azure cloud computing platform.

Essentially, Microsoft’s investment will be used to purchase equity in Mistral. The valuation of Mistral AI remains the same even after Microsoft’s investment.

This move comes amidst regulatory scrutiny faced by Microsoft in Europe and the US over its significant investment in OpenAI.

And the ink hadn’t even dried on the agreement signed by Microsoft and Mistral AI when it attracted the scrutiny of the European Commission.