<div>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        Waymo, the self-driving tech development unit of Alphabet, has introduced EMMA (End-to-End Multimodal Model for Autonomous Driving), a new training model built using Google's multimodal large language model, Gemini. The model is currently in the research phase and focuses on helping robotaxis make driving decisions.
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        EMMA processes sensor data and uses chain-of-thought reasoning to generate future trajectories for autonomous vehicles. The model is designed to handle multiple tasks, including trajectory prediction, object detection, and road graph understanding. It can also process raw camera inputs and textual data to generate various driving outputs.
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        According to Waymo, EMMA has improved performance in end-to-end planning by 6.7% and can provide an interpretable rationale for driving decisions. However, the model has limitations, including the inability to process long-term video sequences, incorporate 3D sensor inputs from LiDAR or radar, and require further research before deployment.
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/30/24283516/waymo-google-gemini-llm-ai-robotaxi">
      The Verge
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    <a href="https://waymo.com/blog/2024/10/introducing-emma/">
      Waymo
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.techinasia.com/news/waymo-pioneers-selfdriving-model-gemini-ai">
      techinasia.com
    </a>
  </p>
</div>


Auto Tech

INCUMBENTS_PRESENT

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 <p>Alphabet's self-driving technology division, Waymo, has announced the development of a new training model called EMMA (End-to-End Multimodal Model for Autonomous Driving). The model, which is still in the research stage, is built using Google's multimodal large language model, Gemini, and is designed to aid robotaxis in making driving decisions.</p>
 <p>EMMA's function is to process sensor data and employ chain-of-thought reasoning to create future trajectories for self-driving vehicles. The model is multi-purpose and can handle different tasks such as trajectory prediction, object detection, and understanding road graphs. It is also capable of processing raw camera inputs and textual data to produce different driving outcomes.</p>
 <p>Waymo claims that EMMA has boosted end-to-end planning performance by 6.7% and can provide comprehensible justifications for its driving decisions. Nevertheless, EMMA has certain limitations, including the inability to process long-term video sequences and integrate 3D sensor inputs from LiDAR or radar. More research is necessary before it can be deployed.</p>
 
</div>

Waymo introduces autonomous driving model EMMA built on Google's Gemini

Empowering Tomorrow's Innovations with Generative AI Infrastructure

Generative AI Infrastructure

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>
 <p>Snowflake, a company specializing in cloud-based data and AI infrastructure, has agreed to acquire Datavolo, a provider of multimodal data pipelines for AI, for an undisclosed sum.</p>
 <p>Datavolo uses Apache NiFi, an open-source project initiated by the NSA, to develop a platform that streamlines data flows between enterprise data sources. Datavolo's technology is designed to process, extract, clean, transform, and enrich data for GenAI applications.</p>
 <p>In the wake of the acquisition, Snowflake intends to integrate Datavolo into its own platform, thereby enhancing its data engineering capacities. This will allow customers to swap out complex, direct connectors for more flexible and reusable pipelines. Snowflake also plans to continue maintaining the Apache NiFi project, while also aiming to expand its presence in the public sector.</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> This strategic acquisition aligns with Snowflake's focus on the public sector and follows its previous acquisition of <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/33819"> Night Shift Development </a> in September 2024. This move aimed to enhance decision-making for government agencies by establishing a dedicated entity for the US public sector, enabling new methods of collaboration with public organizations.</p>

Snowflake acquires Datavolo to enhance data integration capabilities for undisclosed sum

Data Infrastructure & Analytics

<div>
 <p>Snowflake, a company specializing in cloud-based data and AI infrastructure, has announced its intentions to acquire Datavolo, a firm that provides robust data pipelines for AI applications. The financial details of the agreement remain undisclosed.</p>
 <p>Datavolo makes use of Apache NiFi, an open-source project originally developed by the NSA, to design a platform that automates the movement of data between various enterprise data sources. Their technology handles processing, extraction, cleansing, transformation, and enrichment of data for GenAI applications.</p>
 <p>Post-acquisition, Snowflake intends to absorb Datavolo into its platform in a move to bolster its data engineering capabilities. This merger will enable Snowflake's customers to substitute complicated point-to-point connectors with versatile, reusable pipelines. Furthermore, Snowflake plans to continue the upkeep of the Apache NiFi project and looks forward to expediting its growth in the public sector.</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> This strategic acquisition aligns with Snowflake's focus on the public sector and follows its previous acquisition of <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/33819"> Night Shift Development </a> in September 2024. This move aimed to enhance decision-making for government agencies by establishing a dedicated entity for the US public sector, enabling new methods of collaboration with public organizations.</p>

Using AI to automate, enhance and optimize marketing activities

Marketing Automation

<div>
 <p>BrightEdge, a company specializing in AI-driven organic search and digital marketing automation, has incorporated new AI functions into its Data Cube X solution. Through this platform, clients can track and examine their brand's presence in Google AI Overview (AIO) search results.</p>
 <p>Data Cube X enables users to have real-time insight into their brand presence in Google AIO search outcomes. It observes changes in the digital footprint, pinpoints consumer touchpoints via search, and empowers content optimization for relevance and freshness. The solution is designed to work in conjunction with BrightEdge Copilot for crafting content and BrightEdge Autopilot for content structuring.</p>
 <p>BrightEdge explains that these fresh capabilities offer brands the opportunity to identify and respond to prospects in Google AIO, observe their AI presence development, and modify to the ever-changing AI search environment.</p>
</div>

BrightEdge releases AI capabilities to monitor and analyze brand presence in Google AI Overview search results

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

AI Drug Discovery

<div>
 
 <p>Drug discovery company Converge Bio has amassed USD 5.5 million in seed funding, with TLV Partners leading the round. The company plans to utilize these funds to further develop its large language model (LLM) platform.</p>
 <p>The LLM platform is capable of breaking down and interpreting biological and chemical data, thus significantly speeding up the drug development process. With this platform, Converge Bio helps biotech and pharmaceutical companies create more effective drugs in a shorter time frame.</p>
 <p>Their GenAI platform, which employs LLMs trained in the analysis of biological and chemical data like DNA, RNA, protein sequences, and small molecules, includes a library of base models for different biological languages. These models can be improved through a proprietary data enrichment pipeline. Hence, the platform offers solutions for designing improved antibodies, identifying new drug targets, and creating optimized mRNA vaccines.</p>
 
</div>

Converge Bio raises USD 5.5 million in seed funding to develop LLM model for drug discovery

<div>
 
 <p>Verge Genomics, a company specializing in AI-based neurological therapeutics, has hit a development milestone in its collaboration with Eli Lilly & Company. The partnership focuses on the development of treatments against two validated drug targets for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). These potential drug targets were identified and validated through Verge's AI-enhanced tool, CONVERGE.</p>
 <p>CONVERGE, Verge's platform, utilizes AI and human data to discover and verify potential ALS drug targets. It provides insights into the disease and pinpoints potential targets for complex medical conditions, merging computational predictions with solid experimental data. In addition, Verge continues to progress its principal ALS drug candidate VRG50635, which is presently under evaluation in a Phase Ib proof-of-concept study in Canada and several European countries.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> The partnership between Verge Genomics and Eli Lilly was first established in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/7418"> July 2021 </a> . The partnership aimed to research and develop novel therapies for treating ALS. Under the partnership, Verge agreed to use its all-in-human platform to discover and validate new targets for ALS, and Eli Lilly agreed to choose up to four targets to be advanced to clinical development and commercialization.</p>

Verge Genomics to develop two ALS drug targets chosen by Eli Lilly ALS Therapeutics

Conservation Tech

<div>
 <p>OceanWell, a forward-thinking desalination startup, has garnered USD 11 million in Series A funding. Prominent contributors include Kubota Corporation, Jon Hemingway's family office of Carrix Ports, and Charles McGarraugh, who previously headed Goldman Sachs Metals Trading.</p>
 <p>The investment is intended to support the scale-up of the company's revolutionary modular deep-sea water farm technology. An initial water farm pilot in cooperation with Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD) in California is also on the cards. OceanWell's ambitious plan is to construct 15 water farms across the world.</p>
 <p>The novel technology developed by OceanWell harnesses the hydrostatic pressure at depths of 400 meters to facilitate reverse osmosis desalination. Each of the company's pods has the capacity to generate up to one million gallons of fresh water every day. This method provides a 40% reduction in energy usage compared to traditional desalination techniques, and it offers additional benefits in terms of marine life preservation.</p>
 </div>

OceanWell raises USD 11 million in Series A funding to build water farms

Foundation Models

<div>
 
 <p>H, a Paris-based AI startup created by former employees of Google, has introduced Runner H, a platform leveraging Artificial Intelligence for business automation.</p>
 <p>This platform, Runner H, is developed on a unique, compact LLM with 2 billion parameters. It is designed to address three primary use cases: RPA (Robotic Process Automation), quality assurance, and business process outsourcing. The design of the platform permits users to either choose from already built agents or design their own using API's.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> This news follows its funding round of <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/29664"> USD 220 million </a> in June this year to acquire datasets and compute power to advance artificial general intelligence (AGI). The company claims its compact model outperforms Anthropic's "Computer Use" by 29% based on WebVoyager benchmarks, as well as models from Mistral and Meta. H states the smaller parameter count makes the platform more efficient in terms of cost and operations.</p>

H launches Runner H, an AI agent for business automation

<div>
 
 <p>Capgemini expands its Intelligent App Factory on Azure through a partnership with Mistral AI and Microsoft to boost GenAI adoption. This partnership will incorporate Mistral AI's language models into Microsoft Azure AI Studio. Furthermore, Capgemini's RAISE platform will be utilized to deliver customizable, cost-effective, and secure GenAI solutions. </p>
  
</div>

Capgemini partners with Mistral AI and Microsoft to expand GenAI solutions globally

<div>
 
 <p>Biotechnology AI solutions provider, Converge Bio, has introduced a platform to aid companies in integrating biology-focused large language models (LLMs) into their R&amp;D processes. They have secured USD 5.5 million in seed funding, led by TLV Partners.</p>
 <p>This funding will be used to grow their team, gain customers, publish scientific articles on antibody design, and create their own foundation model.</p>
 <p>The firm states that the platform provides data enrichment options for augmenting existing LLMs with particular biological data, fine-tuning features for specific research, and an explainability layer enabling researchers to comprehend model outputs in depth.&nbsp;</p>
 <p>GenAI models for drug discovery are provided by Converge Bio. It is reported that the platform aims to ease the application of AI in specialized fields such as microbiology and immunology, facilitating researchers to effectively use LLMs in their routine research workflows.&nbsp;</p>
 
</div>

Converge Bio launches biotech LLM platform with USD 5.5 million seed funding

<div>
 
 <p>Anthropic, an AI models developer, has joined forces with Snowflake, a data and AI infrastructure company based on cloud, to incorporate Claude 3.5 models into Snowflake's AI platform, Cortex, to bolster AI development capabilities.</p>
 <p>The alliance allows Snowflake clients to use Anthropic's Claude models in the secure environment of Snowflake without transferring data externally. Alongside, Snowflake plans to utilize Claude to run its GenAI agents both semi-autonomously and autonomously, with the pre-developed agents primed for Claude from the inception.</p>
 <p>Although this is the seventh LLM partnership for Snowflake, it stands out from the earlier ones as it involves the direct employment of Claude in its agency tools by Snowflake, with an emphasis on preserving security, governance, and privacy while enabling users to take advantage of GenAI abilities.</p>
 
</div>

All Updates

Waymo introduces autonomous driving model EMMA built on Google's Gemini

Snowflake acquires Datavolo to enhance data integration capabilities for undisclosed sum

Snowflake acquires Datavolo to enhance data integration capabilities for undisclosed sum

BrightEdge releases AI capabilities to monitor and analyze brand presence in Google AI Overview search results

Converge Bio raises USD 5.5 million in seed funding to develop LLM model for drug discovery

Verge Genomics to develop two ALS drug targets chosen by Eli Lilly ALS Therapeutics

OceanWell raises USD 11 million in Series A funding to build water farms

H launches Runner H, an AI agent for business automation

Capgemini partners with Mistral AI and Microsoft to expand GenAI solutions globally

Converge Bio launches biotech LLM platform with USD 5.5 million seed funding

Snowflake partners with Anthropic to integrate Claude AI models into Cortex AI platform

Auto Tech

Waymo introduces autonomous driving model EMMA built on Google's Gemini

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