ByteDance’s $7B Nvidia Chip Bet Amid U.S. AI Export Rules

STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

Startup Funding Updates

Decentralized AI Platform Raises $7 M

• Nodepay, a Singapore-based decentralized AI platform transforming unused internet bandwidth into real-time data pipelines for AI training, raised a second round of funding, bringing its total to $7m.

• The latest funding round included new strategic investors IDG Capital ($23 Billion AUM), Mythos, Elevate Ventures, IBC, Optic Capital, Funders.VC, Matthew Tan (Etherscan founder) and Yusho Liu (CoinHako Co-founder & CEO) as notable angels.

AI Workflow Platform Raises $20 M

• boon AI, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered workflow platform for commercial fleets, raised $20.5m in Series A funding.

• The round was led by Marathon and Redpoint Ventures.

AI Powered Chargeback Management Firm Raises $30 M

• Justt, a NYC-based AI-based chargeback management company, raised $30M in Series C funding.

• The round was led by Zeev Ventures with participation from existing investors Oak HC/FT and F2 Venture Capital.

AI-driven Leadership Development Firm Raises $5.4 M

• Tenor, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of AI-driven leadership development solutions for managers, raised $5.4M in Seed funding.

• The round was led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Reach Capital and angel investors across the AI, HR technology, and learning spaces.

AI-Powered Tax Research Firm Raises Undisclosed Amount

• Blue J, a Toronto, Canada-based provider of generative AI-powered tax research to accounting and tax professionals, raised an undisclosed amount in Series C funding.

• The round was led by Ten Coves Capital. Dan Kittredge, Managing Partner at Ten Coves Capital, will join Blue J’s Board of Directors.

KEY AI STORIES

ByteDance’s $7B Nvidia Chip Bet Amid U.S. AI Export Rules

• ByteDance plans to spend $7 billion on Nvidia chips in 2025, using data centers in Southeast Asia to bypass U.S. export restrictions.

• These chips will support Doubao, ByteDance’s popular AI chatbot in China with 51 million active users, highlighting the company’s growing AI ambitions.

• ByteDance insists it complies with U.S. rules, stating no restricted chips have been purchased for non-U.S. data centers since the regulations began.

Nonprofit group joins Elon Musk’s effort to block OpenAI’s for-profit transition

• Encode has filed an amicus brief supporting Elon Musk’s injunction to stop OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit, arguing the shift undermines its mission to prioritize public safety over profit.

• The brief, backed by AI pioneers like Geoffrey Hinton and Stuart Russell, claims OpenAI’s restructuring into a Public Benefit Corporation would dilute its safety-focused commitments and incentivize profit-driven decisions.

• Encode warns this change could harm public trust in AI governance, as OpenAI’s nonprofit would lose control, and safety obligations would no longer outweigh shareholder interests.

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PUBLISHED PAPERS AND ARTICLES

Something is cooking in AI Industry

a16z request for AI Founders

Recently a16z published an article where they request upcoming founders to work on some of few ideas like: advanced, personalized memory bank, enabling real-time collaboration, specialized video generation, integrated qualitative and quantitative analysis, and the emergence of autonomous chatbots operating in decentralized networks.

Ilya Sutskever talk at NeurIPS 2024 in Vancouver, Canada

In recent talk, Ilya (Former Cofounder Open AI) declares we've reached "peak data" for AI training, comparing internet data to fossil fuels - a finite resource that's running out. Highly recommend video to watch.

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