VP Harris meets with top AI CEOs, Cohere close to raising $250M at $2B, Inflection AI launches Pi

VP Harris is meeting with CEOs from Alphabet, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic to discuss implementing safeguards around AI technology - Link

FT sources: Cohere, a generative AI startup building tools focused on enterprise users, is close to raising $250M at a ~$2B valuation from backers like Nvidia and Salesforce; Cohere is already working with Spotify to improve search and podcast recommendations - Link

Inflection AI, a startup co-founded by Reid Hoffman and DeepMind Co-Founder Mustafa Suleyman, launched a chatbot called Pi, which is designed to serve as a personal AI assistant; the company has already raised $225M and has ~30 FTEs - Link

The Verge sources: TikTok's US Head of Trust and Safety, Eric Han, who played a crucial role in efforts to avoid a US ban, will leave the company on May 12th - Link

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Semafor Co-Founder and EIC Ben Smith joins Jason to dive into his new book and explore the current state of media. They break down BuzzFeed vs. Gawker, why media unions might not work (29:35), the future of journalism (36:54), and much more! - Link

Simpplr, an internal social network for companies, raised $70M led by Sapphire Ventures; the startup uses ChatGPT to help users auto-generate business content for employees - Link

Twitter restored free API access for emergency, weather, and transportation alerts, ensuring that critical info will continue to be shared without additional costs - Link

At a WEF panel on Wednesday, Microsoft Chief Economist Michael Schwarz said he believes AI will be used by bad actors to cause real damage, specifically referencing spam and elections - Link

Bloomberg sources: TSMC is in discussions to invest up to ~$11B to build a chip fabrication plant in Germany, which will focus on developing chips for the automotive industry - Link

This Week in Startups

E1734: BuzzFeed vs Gawker, AI’s impact on the future of media, and more with Semafor’s Ben Smith

E1732: Demoing the most innovative new ChatGPT features with Sunny Madra and Vinny Lingham

E1731: Big Tech earnings breakdown w/TechCrunch's Alex Wilhelm

E1730: Billy McFarland on Fyre Fest fraud, failure, hacking, & the long road back

E1729: AI’s Future: Opportunity, Regulation & Limits with Vinny Lingham & Sunny Madra

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