Mike Wheatley
Latest from Mike Wheatley
Octopus Energy spins out AI-native utility software subsidiary Kraken
British clean energy giant Octopus Energy Group Ltd. has announced it’s spinning off its most valuable technology asset as a standalone entity. The company said its Kraken Technologies Ltd. subsidiary will become an independent company valued at $8.65 billion after it closed on a $1 billion funding round led by D1 Capital Partners. Octopus is ...
Meta Platforms buys Manus to bolster its agentic AI skillset
Meta Platforms Inc. is pushing into autonomous artificial intelligence agents with the acquisition of Singapore-based Manus, which made headlines when it first emerged earlier this year for its ability to perform tasks using a web browser without human supervision. Manus shot to fame in March, just weeks after China’s DeepSeek Ltd. shocked the world with ...
China outlines rules to regulate human-like AI companion apps
China’s internet regulator issued new draft rules on Saturday that aim to regulate the use of artificial intelligence “companions,” which are defined as systems that interact with humans and display “human-like traits and behavior.” The new rules, called “Interim Measures for the Administration of Anthropomorphic Interactive Services Using Artificial Intelligence,” were issued by the Cyberspace ...
Google planning update that will allow users to change their embarrassing old email addresses
Google LLC is giving Indian users the opportunity to change the @gmail.com address associated with their existing Google accounts in a dramatic shift away from its long-held policy on usernames. For more than 20 years, anyone who has created a Gmail account has been stuck with the username they first chose, meaning that their Google ...
Former IBM CEO and savior Louis Gerstner dies at age 83
Louis Gerstner, the former chief executive officer credited with saving IBM Corp. from bankruptcy, has died aged 83, the company revealed today. Gerstner (pictured) served as chairman and CEO of IBM from 1993 to 2002, taking over during one of the darkest periods in the company’s history, when it was rapidly losing relevance in the face ...
Report: OpenAI explores ways to make money from ChatGPT with conversational ads
Artificial intelligence industry darling OpenAI Group PBC is reportedly mulling the idea of embedding advertisements into ChatGPT’s responses amid pressure from investors to start making money from the chatbot. A report in The Information today suggests that OpenAI is already exploring possible ad formats and partnerships, with one of the favorite ideas being to integrate ...
DP Technology raises $114M to accelerate China’s AI for science industry
Beijing-based startup DP Technology Co. Ltd. today outlined a plan to use its artificial intelligence tools to accelerate scientific research in everything from battery design to drug development after raising 800 million yuan ($114 million) in funding. The Series C round was led by Fortune Venture Capital and the Beijing Jingguorui Equity Investment Fund, and saw ...
Waymo updates its fleet of driverless robotaxis to prevent future power outage chaos
Autonomous car company Waymo LLC is updating its fleet of robotaxis following a massive power outage in San Francisco that brought its vehicles to a standstill at intersections across the city. The company says the update will ensure Waymo’s self-driving cars are better able to recognize and respond to large-scale power outages. That way, they ...
TiKTok parent ByteDance to beef up AI infrastructure spending to $23B next year
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance Ltd. has revealed plans to jack up its already heavy spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure next year as it races to catch up with U.S. technology giants, according to a report in the Financial Times. Tuesday’s report, which cites two people familiar with the company’s plans, said it’s expected to increase ...
Kargo closes on $42M funding round to automate loading dock and warehouse operations
Freight shipping artificial intelligence startup Kargo Inc. said Tuesday it has closed on $42 million in new funding in order to scale up deployments of its smart loading dock and warehouse technology. The Series B round was led by Avenir and saw participation from a host of other backers, including Linse Capital, Hearst Ventures, Lightbank, ...