Abdul Azeez

A Billion Dollar Amazon Delivery

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Reinventing gene therapies with next-generation technologies

Human Gene Editing

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 <p>NYU Langone Health reported a successful surgical procedure involving a heart pump implantation and a genetically modified pig kidney transplant on a 54-year-old woman. The woman had been battling heart failure and end-stage kidney disease and was previously not a candidate for conventional heart or kidney transplants. The procedure was carried out in two separate surgeries over 12 days.</p>
 <p>The initial stage of the procedure involved the insertion of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), a type of heart pump. The second stage consisted of a xenotransplant of a pig kidney. The kidney used for the transplant came from United Therapeutics and was a genetically modified version dubbed "UThymoKidney", possessing an attached pig thymus.</p>
 
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NYU Langone Health surgeons perform first combined heart pump and pig kidney transplant

Artificial intelligence is identifying and testing new therapies faster than ever.

AI Drug Discovery

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 <p>BigHat Biosciences and Janssen Biotech have entered into a strategic partnership to develop novel therapeutics. The details of the collaboration, including financial terms, have not been disclosed. Their combined expertise in drug discovery and AI/ML will be harnessed for this initiative.</p>
 <p>The focus of the collaboration lies in discovering and verifying potential proteins, along with simplifying the design of antibodies and other treatments for various medical conditions, ranging from chronic illnesses to life-threatening diseases. The companies plan to achieve these objectives by deploying BigHat's AI/ML-powered platform, Milliner, in tandem with Janssen’s prowess in drug development and data science.</p> 
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BigHat Biosciences collaborates with Janssen Biotech for next-gen protein therapeutics design

Sustainably solving the food shortages of the future

Smart Farming

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<p>Syngenta India, a company originating from Switzerland specialising in agricultural science and seed technology, has unveiled SapRaise. This is a smart seedling solution developed in conjunction with OM Gayatri Global Seedlings, a facility that is dedicated to heightening seedling production.</p>
<p>The purpose of this project is to fortify early crop growth, exchange knowledge and utilise cutting-edge seedling technology. This will increase the company's collaboration with juvenile plant growers to uplift the quality of crops and their yield potential. Consequently, this will lead to elevated profits for farmers.</p>

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Syngenta India launches SapRaise to enhance seedling production

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 <p>Agrarius Corp (AC), a US-based company that develops technology to enhance crop growth and resilience, has provided Mountain Valley MD Holdings Inc.(MVMD) an exclusive license for AC's agricultural plant signaling technology for a sum of ~USD 1.3 million.</p>
 <p>AC’s “Agrarius” plant signaling technology is a certified organic product designed to naturally increase yields, reduce fertilizer usage, and increase general resilience to pests and climate change.</p>
 <p>Following the licensing acquisition, MVMD plans to implement a performance guarantee program in association with AC, aimed at domestic farms in the US. With this, potential clients will need to pay for the Agrarius product only after it achieves a minimum performance enhancement on the selected crop.</p>
 
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Agrarius Corp. got acquired exclusive license by Mountain Valley MD Holdings

Clean, congestion-free air travel gets liftoff

Passenger eVTOL Aircraft

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 <p>Lilium, a Nasdaq-listed eVTOL jet developer, has teamed up with global technology and manufacturing leader, Honeywell, to develop propulsion unit position sensors, or "resolvers", for the Lilium Jet.</p>
 <p>These specific resolvers are designed to accurately measure the engine's position, ensuring an incident-free takeoff. They employ spiral magnet technology and magneto-resistive sensors to track the position of magnetic objects.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> Lilium and Honeywell previously partnered to enhance thermal management solutions for the Lilium Jet in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/24969"> December 2023 </a> . Honeywell also partnered with Eve Air Mobility to supply guidance and navigation tools for the company’s eVTOLs in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/26075"> January 2024 </a> .</p>

Lilium partners with Honeywell to produce propulsion sensors for Lilium's all-electric jets

Exploring the limitless possibilities of AI

Generative AI Applications

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 <p>Moderna, a biotechnology firm, has formed a partnership with OpenAI to integrate sophisticated AI into their operations, boosting their mRNA medicine development. </p>
 <p>The partnership employs the use of OpenAI's GenAI tools throughout Moderna's infrastructure. They had early success with the adaptation of a platform called "mChat" from ChatGPT, which aids multiple business operations including legal, research, and manufacturing.</p>
 <p>The aim of this strategy is to use AI for tackling complex problems and aiding in the inception of newer generation medicines. With this approach, they have already managed to launch more than 750 GPTs within Moderna, notably enhancing automation processes and productivity levels. </p>
 
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Moderna and OpenAI partner to advance mRNA medicine with GenAI tools

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 <p>Parloa, a German AI and automation firm specializing in customer service, has secured USD 66 million in a Series B round. The funding round was led by Altimeter Capital and included participation from EQT Ventures, Newion, Senovo, Mosaic Ventures, and La Familia Growth.</p>
 <p>The company plans to utilize this investment to amplify its growth in the European and US markets. Notably, since they opened an office in New York last year, Parloa has expressed a strong interest in the US market.</p>
 <p>Based in Berlin, Parloa is a software provider for enterprises, specializing in conversational AI technologies for contact centers. The company has crafted a platform that uses AI to improve customer service interactions across various channels, including phone and digital. The technology of the company incorporates features like speech-to-text and natural language understanding, enabling smooth communication between businesses and their customers.</p>
 
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Parloa raises USD 66 million in Series B funding to expand operations

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 <p>Microsoft has reportedly limited its employees' use of external AI applications, like Azure's Perplexity AI and Google's Gemini chatbot. </p>
 <p>Perplexity AI, an AI chatbot, works as a conversation-driven search engine, employing natural language predictive text to more closely mimic human conversation. Similarly, Google's Gemini chatbot, also an AI tool, communicates with users through a chat interface to provide necessary information and assistance. </p>

</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> Microsoft has previously temporarily disabled AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT on employee devices, citing security and data concerns; however, later, it reported that it was a mistake. This decision stresses the company's stand on the importance of privacy and data security. It recommends employees utilize services like Bing Chat Enterprise and ChatGPT Enterprise, which claim to ensure better protection of sensitive information.</p>

Microsoft reportedly blocks employee access to Perplexity AI and other AI tools

Empowering Tomorrow's Innovations with Generative AI Infrastructure

Generative AI Infrastructure

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 <p>WhyLabs, an AI observability firm, has announced the AI Control Center for real-time management of AI applications, to address security and reliability issues posed by GenAI. The AI Control Center provides real-time assessments of user prompts, RAG context, LLM responses, and application metadata to identify potential threats. It also offers low-latency threat detectors specifically designed for inference environments.</p>
 <p>According to WhyLabs, the AI Control Center mitigates risks associated with GenAI by empowering teams with real-time control over their AI applications. The key benefits of this system include prevention of AI security threats, reduction of unsafe user experiences, the ability to customize threat detection rules, and continuous improvements in model evaluation through the use of high-quality datasets.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> The introduction of the AI Control Center is a significant development for WhyLabs, transcending traditional observability by monitoring AI systems and implementing real-time guardrails that guide applications toward secure operations.</p>

WhyLabs launches AI Control Center to enhance AI application security

Making banking work, without the paperwork

Neobanks

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 <p>Brazil's neobank, Nubank, has introduced a new feature for the withdrawal of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana cryptocurrencies using the Nubank wallet. The feature will be gradually rolled out for a smooth user experience and plans to include more tokens in the future. Withdrawals may incur varying fees depending on the chosen network.</p>
  
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> Nubank was one of the first neobanks offering access to cryptocurrencies. In 2022, it launched a <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/11347"> crypto-trading platform </a> and its own token, <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/13912"> Nucoin </a> , as part of its rewards program.</p>

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