<div>
  <p>
  </p>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        Energy Vault, a Swiss NYSE-listed, gravity-based, long-duration energy storage company, signed a
        <b> </b>
        licensing and royalty agreement in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional economic community with 16 states, with Gravity Energy Storage Solutions (GESSOL). GESSOL is a South Africa-based consortium, including WBHO, iX Engineers, and Sizana Solutions.
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        GESSOL gains the exclusive right to deploy Energy Vault's gravity energy storage systems and VaultOS energy management system in the SADC region through the agreement. The partners will collaborate to generate ~125 GWh by 2035 for the SADC region&rsquo;s energy storage requirements.
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        Energy Vault expects to earn licensing revenue for the technology and royalty revenue from the software and maintenance over the life of projects. The company also aims to rapidly scale its expansion in Southern Africa through this partnership.
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240125678383/en/Energy-Vault-Expands-Global-Footprint-for-Gravity-Energy-Storage-with-10-Year-License-and-Royalty-Agreement-Covering-Southern-Africa">
      Press release
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


Alternative Energy

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 <p>Swiss NYSE-listed company, Energy Vault, has signed a licensing and royalty agreement with Gravity Energy Storage Solutions (GESSOL), a consortium based in South Africa, covering the Southern African Development Community (SADC).</p> 
 <p>The exclusive rights to Energy Vault's gravity energy storage systems and VaultOS energy management system have been granted to GESSOL. The partners aim to generate approximately 125 GWh by 2035.</p>
 <p>Energy Vault anticipates earning revenue from both technology licensing and software and maintenance royalties, using this partnership for rapid expansion into Southern Africa.</p>
</div>

Energy Vault expands operations in Southern Africa

Empowering Tomorrow's Innovations with Generative AI Infrastructure

Generative AI Infrastructure

<div>
 
 <p>CoreWeave has finalized a debt financing deal worth USD 7.5 billion with the majority of the funding managed by Blackstone. Other contributors included Magnetar, who also provided strategic guidance, Coatue, and several other investors.</p>
 <p>The secured funds will be utilized to broaden the company's footprint in new data centers. Additionally, the funds will aid in the procurement of expensive GPUs to cater to the escalating need for AI and graphics processing.</p>
 
</div>

CoreWeave raises USD 7.5 billion for product development and expansion

Travel Tech

INCUMBENTS_PRESENT

<div>
 
 <p>Expedia has reported the dismissal of its chief technology officer, Rathi Murthy, and the senior vice president of core services product and engineering, Sreenivas Rachamadugu. The company is in the process of finding their replacements. </p>
 <p>The firm revealed that the reason for their termination was a breach of company policy, but did not provide further details about the specific violations.&nbsp;</p>
 
</div>

Expedia's CTO and other senior member dismissed over policy violation

Technologies bringing about a new reality

Extended Reality

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>
 <p>Samsung introduced an OLEDoS (OLED on Silicon) screen designed for XR headsets at the Society for Information Display (SID) 2024 event. The screen is a 1.03-inch RGB OLED panel, developed by eMagin, with a pixel density of 3,500 ppi. It features a new Fine Silicon Mask (FSM) leading to a denser, more efficient pixel compared to the traditional Fine Metal Masks (FMM).</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> In <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/18680"> May 2023 </a> , Samsung Display Solutions entered a definitive merger agreement with AR/VR display manufacturer eMagin valued at ~USD 218 million.&nbsp;Additionally, the company plans to <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/27093"> debut </a> its mixed reality headset by 2025, developed in collaboration with Google and Qualcomm, which will likely feature eMagin’s displays as well.</p>

Samsung showcases OLEDoS screen for XR headsets at SID 2024 event

Foundation Models

<div>

 <p>OpenAI's Superalignment team, handling the risks from superhuman AI, has allegedly been disbanded. The tasks of this unit are said to have been reassigned to other OpenAI's research projects under the supervision of OpenAI co-founder, John Schulman.</p>
 <p>Furthermore, Jan Leike, the head of the Superalignment department, left the company due to disagreements with OpenAI's leadership about the company's fundamental values, and insufficient computational resources dedicated to his team's critical research. He called for OpenAI to prioritize security, safety, and alignment.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake</b> :<br>
 Several of the company's outspoken advocates for AI safety have left or been let go in the last few months. Just last week, <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/29448"> Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's co-founder and chief scientist, </a> announced his departure from the company claiming personal endeavors as the reason.</p>

OpenAI reportedly ends Superalignment unit handling superhuman AI risks

<div>
 
 <p>Following the launch of its "Icons" experiences in partnership with companies like Disney, Pixar, and Marvel, Airbnb has removed numerous individual tours and experiences from its platform. The decision is said to have been influenced by factors like the host's expertise, local relevance, uniqueness, and guest reviews and ratings. Consequently, from June 20, these listings will be removed, including all future reservations. Guests will be refunded for these cancellations.</p>
 <p>The action has raised concerns among operators about the loss of customer reviews and the potential effect on their businesses. Some industry insiders have criticised Airbnb's business strategies, advising operators against relying heavily on a single platform for income.</p>
 
</div>

Airbnb removes tourist experiences from platform after recent 'Icons' launch

Technology to explore opportunities beyond Earth

Space Travel and Exploration Tech

<div>
 
 <p>NASA is collaborating with The European Space Agency (ESA) on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin, a European Mars Rover mission due to launch in late 2028.</p>
 <p>The partnership involves NASA supplying key elements such as throttleable braking engines and radioisotope heating units (RHUs), which were initially provided by Roscosmos. This helps the mission continue following Roscosmos' withdrawal.</p>
 <p>Through this collaboration, NASA can focus on finding evidence of past life on Mars, using the distinctive drilling capabilities and onboard samples laboratory of the Rosalind Franklin rover.</p>
 
</div>

NASA partners with European Space Agency to collaborate on ExoMars Rosalind Franklin

Clean, congestion-free air travel gets liftoff

Passenger eVTOL Aircraft

<div>
 
 <p>Eve Air Mobility, a firm focused on creating next-generation Urban Air Mobility (UAM) solutions, has formed a partnership with Groupe Aéroport de Paris (ADP) through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU). The goal of this partnership is to advance low-carbon aviation at the Le Bourget Airport in Paris.</p>
 <p>This collaboration is expected to result in a twofold increase in the capacity of the new aircraft maintenance facility at the airport. The two companies will offer service and support activities to establish an environment conducive to eVTOL aircraft operations. The partnership will further help boost operations of Embraer at the airport and support its drive towards advancing air mobility operations using eVTOLs.</p>
 
</div>

Eve Air Mobility signs MoU with Groupe ADP to advance low-carbon aviation at Le Bourget Airport

Buy Now, Pay Later

<div>
 
 <p>Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) service provider, Sezzle, has successfully obtained a USD 150 million senior debt facility, which can be expanded to USD 225 million. This new facility was secured to refinance its previous USD 100 million debt obtained in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13858"> October 2022 </a> from Bastion and its affiliates. Altogether, Sezzle's total raised funds currently amount to USD 551.6 million. </p>
 <p>The newly acquired funds will be used to further the company's growth in the United States and Canada. Additionally, Sezzle plans to broaden its product offerings. </p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> The BNPL space has witnessed players raising significant amounts in debt financing along with its fair share of equity financing rounds in recent months. Sezzle’s debt financing comes in third in terms of debt funding size, with Sunbit securing USD 310 million via a <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/26115"> debt warehouse facility </a> and Australia-based Zip securing USD 225 million in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/25676"> debt facility </a> from Victory Park Capital in January this year.</p>

Sezzle secures USD 150 million via senior debt facility

Building future-ready applications in the cloud

Cloud-native Tech

<div>
 
 <p>LogicMonitor, a performance monitoring and observability platform, has launched a feature called LM Cost Optimization for its LM Envision platform. This feature is designed to help companies manage the complexities and costs of cloud infrastructures.</p>
 <p>LM Cost Optimization's purpose is to cut unnecessary expenditures and allow businesses to make informed decisions. It achieves this by integrating multi-cloud spending into one view and providing AI-driven recommendations to identify unused resources, forecast capacity alterations, and boost resource usage.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> The emergence of FinOps and the need for comprehensive cloud cost management solutions have become essential for enterprises navigating multi- and hybrid-cloud complexities. Leveraging advanced tools like LogicMonitor's LM Cost Optimization enables organizations to make data-driven decisions, optimize cloud spend, and maintain a competitive edge.</p>

LogicMonitor introduces LM cost optimization feature to Envision platform

<div>
 
 <p>The Kubernetes automation provider, Rafay Systems, has enhanced its enterprise platform to support graphics processing unit (GPU) oriented workloads. Additionally, it has launched a new AI suite easing the process of AI application generation and implementation.</p>
 <p>The revamped enterprise platform introduces remarkable features such as self-service for developers and data scientists, AI-optimized user spaces, GPU matchmaking, and GPU virtualization.</p>
 <p>The just added AI suite encompasses preconfigured LLMOps Playgrounds, hassle-free MLOps Pipeline, centralized control over LLM providers and prompts, along with integrations and governance of AI data sources.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> These enhancements will allow businesses to harness GPU resources efficiently, enabling faster data processing and the development of more complex AI models. They will also allow companies to innovate rapidly, improve decision-making, and maintain a competitive edge in the fast-paced AI industry.</p>

All Updates

Energy Vault expands operations in Southern Africa

CoreWeave raises USD 7.5 billion for product development and expansion

Expedia's CTO and other senior member dismissed over policy violation

Samsung showcases OLEDoS screen for XR headsets at SID 2024 event

OpenAI reportedly ends Superalignment unit handling superhuman AI risks

Airbnb removes tourist experiences from platform after recent 'Icons' launch

NASA partners with European Space Agency to collaborate on ExoMars Rosalind Franklin

Eve Air Mobility signs MoU with Groupe ADP to advance low-carbon aviation at Le Bourget Airport

Sezzle secures USD 150 million via senior debt facility

LogicMonitor introduces LM cost optimization feature to Envision platform

Rafay Systems launches AI suite and extends PaaS to support GPU workloads

Alternative Energy

Energy Vault expands operations in Southern Africa

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