Maria Deutscher
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Microsoft uncovers Iranian cyber activities designed to influence US elections
Microsoft Corp. researchers have uncovered several Iranian cyber operations designed to influence the U.S. elections. The company detailed its findings in a report published today. The research was carried out by its MTAC, or Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, unit. MTAC focuses on tracking online influence operations run by state-backed actors. The cyber campaigns detailed in ...
Hugging Face acquires XetHub to enhance its AI storage infrastructure
Hugging Face Inc. has acquired XetHub, a startup that helps developers manage the files they create as part of artificial intelligence projects. The companies disclosed the deal today. Hugging Face describes the acquisition as its largest to date, which suggests a price tag higher than the $10 million it spent to buy Argilla Inc. in ...
Defense technology startup Anduril valued at $14B following $1.5B investment
Defense technology startup Anduril Industries Inc. today announced that it has raised $1.5 billion in funding to upgrade its manufacturing infrastructure. The investment was co-led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital. Fidelity Investments, Baillie Gifford and a number of other institutional investors chipped in as well. Anduril is now worth $14 billion, up from $8.5 ...
UK antitrust regulator launches probe into Amazon’s Anthropic partnership
The U.K.’s antitrust regulator has launched a probe into Amazon.com Inc.’s partnership with large language model developer Anthropic PBC. The Competition and Markets Authority, or CMA, disclosed the move today. The development is not entirely unexpected. In April, the CMA asked interested parties to submit feedback about the potential competitive impact of Anthropic’s work with ...
Serverless database startup Neon nabs $25M in fresh funding
Neon Inc., a startup with a serverless distribution of the open-source Postgres database, today announced that it has raised $25 million in funding. Microsoft Corp.’s M12 venture capital arm led the investment. It was joined by existing Neon investors Abstract Ventures, General Catalyst, Menlo Ventures and Notable Capital. The capital infusion brings the company’s total ...
OpenAI reportedly leads $60M round for webcam startup Opal
OpenAI is expected to lead a $60 million funding round for Opal Camera Inc., a consumer electronics startup that develops high-end webcams. The Information reported the ChatGPT developer’s investment plans today. OpenAI is expected to be joined by several of Opal’s existing backers in the new round, which is described as a Series B raise. ...
EQT to acquire majority stake in cybersecurity firm Acronis at $3.5B+ valuation
Swedish investment firm EQT is acquiring a majority stake in Acronis International GmbH, a major provider of cybersecurity and backup software. The companies announced the deal today. They didn’t disclose the size of the investment, but detailed that it values Acronis at more than the $3.5 billion the software maker was worth following a 2022 ...
OpenAI co-founder John Schulman joins rival LLM developer Anthropic
John Schulman, a member of OpenAI’s founding team who played a key role in its product development efforts, is leaving for rival Anthropic PBC. Schulman announced his resignation today in a post on X. His departure reduces the number of OpenAI co-founders still at the company to three: Chief Executive Sam Altman, President Greg Brockman ...
Fortinet acquires Next DLP to extend its data security capabilities
Fortinet Inc. has acquired Next DLP Inc., a startup that helps enterprises ensure their workers interact with internal data in a secure manner. The companies announced the deal today without disclosing the financial terms. According to PitchBook, Next DLP raised more than $10 million in funding prior to the acquisition. Sunnyvale, California-based Fortinet provides firewalls ...
Quantum error correction startup Riverlane closes $75M investment
Riverlane Ltd., a U.K. startup working to make quantum computers more reliable, today disclosed that it has closed a $75 million Series C funding round. Growth equity firm Planet First Partners led the investment. It was joined by a half-dozen other institutional backers, including Altair Engineering Inc., a publicly traded provider of simulation software. TechCrunch ...