<div>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        Aurora, an autonomous vehicle technology startup, has announced a multiphase commercial pilot with Uber&rsquo;s online freight matching solution Uber Freight, to haul goods in Texas and integrate Uber Freight's shipping platform within Aurora Horizon (trucking product suite).
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        The pilot will maximize truck utilization and give shippers access to a larger pool of carriers to haul local route legs.&nbsp;
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        Earlier this month, Aurora began hauling drop-and-hook loads for Uber Freight customers between terminals in Dallas and Houston. The company plans to launch commercial autonomous trucking by the end of 2023, which then enables subscribed shippers to reserve autonomous trucks through the Uber Freight platform.
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        Uber Freight provides a mobile application that connects truck drivers with shipping companies across the US and Canada. The company operates a carrier network of 70,000, available around the clock, offering live shipment tracking and fast quote generation facilities for shippers. For carriers, it offers smart load suggestions, rating, and reviews of shipping facilities, mobile proof of delivery (POD) submission, etc. The company serves both full truckload (FTL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) markets.
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    <a href="https://aurora.tech/blog/aurora-and-uber-freight-launch-commercial-pilot">
      Aurora
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/self-driving-truck-company-aurora-launches-pilot-with-uber-freight-2021-12-15/">
      Reuters
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/15/aurora-self-driving-trucks-are-using-uber-freight-to-haul-goods-for-customers/">
      TechCrunch
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.ttnews.com/articles/aurora-uber-freight-collaborate-texas-pilot">
      Transport Topics
    </a>
     
  </p>
</div>


Truck Industry Tech

Aurora launches commercial pilot with Uber Freight

Clean, congestion-free air travel gets liftoff

Passenger eVTOL Aircraft

<div>

 <p>UK-based aerospace technology firm, Evolito Ltd, has hired Marcus Holme as its new CTO. Holme, who has a Master's degree in power electronics and 24 years of aviation experience, will lead the technology development and focus on the axial-flux e-motor and propulsion product family of Evolito. He previously served as senior director of engineering at Collins Aerospace, where he dealt with multiple aircraft system electrification programs.&nbsp;</p>
 <p>Evolito, a company established in 2021, specializes in axial-flux electric motors, power electronics, and battery solutions for aerospace applications. In December 2023, Evolito received the UK Civil Aviation Authority's Design Organisation Approval (DOA) for its electric propulsion system products. The firm partners with numerous OEMs to create motors and propulsion systems for eVTOL, urban air mobility, and fixed-wing applications.</p>

</div>

Evolito appoints Marcus Holme as CTO to transform air travel

Technology to explore opportunities beyond Earth

Space Travel and Exploration Tech

<div>
 
 <p>Orbex, a space launch firm based in the UK, has secured around USD 20.77 million financing in a round led by SNIB, Octopus Ventures, BGF, and Heartcore, as well as EIFO and several corporate and individual investors. The raised funds will be used to further progress the development of Orbex's small satellite launch rocket. After testing and commencing launches, Orbex aims to initiate a Series D funding round to ensure long-term sustainability.</p>
 
</div>

Orbex raises GBP 16.7 million to advance development of rocket

Empowering Tomorrow's Innovations with Generative AI Infrastructure

Generative AI Infrastructure

INCUMBENTS_PRESENT

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>

 <p>Reka, an AI startup, has established a partnership with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to create AI models for individuals and commercial enterprises. This relationship allows Reka's multimodal models that support more than 20 languages to be trained on Oracle, powered by NVIDIA GPUs. Furthermore, this collaboration makes Reka's models available in the Oracle Cloud Marketplace.</p>

</div>

Reka partners with Oracle to advance GenAI models

Foundation Models

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>

<p>AI startup Reka has formed a partnership with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to develop AI models for both individuals and commercial enterprises. This cooperation will allow Reka’s multimodal models, which support more than 20 languages, to be trained using Oracle's NVIDIA GPUs. Furthermore, Reka’s models will also be accessible in the Oracle Cloud Marketplace as a result of this partnership.</p>

</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake</b> :<br>
 This partnership comes after the company’s recent launch of <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/28508"> Core </a> , a frontier-class multimodal language model, this month, and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/26584"> Reka Flash </a> , a multimodal and multilingual language model, in February.&nbsp;</p>

<div>
 
 <p>Stability AI, who developed the Stable Diffusion text-to-image AI, has reported a 10% staff layoff, which equates to 20 staff members.</p>
 <p>The company says this move is strategic for cost reduction, improving investor and partner relations, and enhancing the development and release of its products.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> This news comes amid a period of instability for the company, as its <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/27872"> CEO and founder, Emad Mostaque, resigned </a> from his role and the company's board last month, along with other key personnel. However, the company has been expanding its product portfolio as it launched several models recently, including <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/28305"> Stable LM 2 12B </a> in April, <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/27695"> Stable Video 3D </a> in March, and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/26910"> Stable Diffusion 3 </a> , which was made available on the <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/28612"> Stability AI developer platform API </a> this month.</p>

Stability AI lays off 10% of workforce in strategic restructuring plan

<div>
 
 <p>Meta has launched a new AI assistant, Meta AI, based on Llama 3 technology. This feature is accessible on various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger in several countries including Australia, Canada, Ghana, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.</p>
 <p>This technology offers users the ability to personalize recommendations, access real-time information, and perform searches across these platforms. It also includes an innovative "Imagine" feature that can generate images from text inputs and provide suggestions for enhancement.</p>
 
</div>

Meta introduces Meta AI assistant built on Llama 3

Making banking work, without the paperwork

Neobanks

<div>

<p>Grasshopper, a neobank for small to medium businesses, has launched an online application for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, enabling eligible business owners to get pre-qualified in under 10 minutes.</p>
<p>The digital application is a feature of Grasshopper's business checking account that also offers corporate cards, accounting tools, and productivity software via its partner marketplace.</p>

</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> An SBA loan is a type of business loan that is guaranteed by the US SBA. These loans are designed to help small businesses access the kind of funding that larger businesses can obtain more easily, with low interest rates and long repayment terms.</p>

Grasshopper introduces digital applications for SBA loans

A decentralized version of the web powered by the blockchain

Web3 Ecosystem

<div>
 <p>Blockchain interoperability developer, Union Labs, has formed a partnership with Polygon for integrating its solutions with Polygon's AggLayer. This integration is expected to boost liquidity between AggLayer-connected chains and IBC-enabled chains, thus creating a process which is trustless, efficient, and has low latency.</p>
</div>

Union Labs plans to integrate with AggLayer for blockchain interoperability and liquidity sharing

The tools that power remote work are define the next generation of enterprise software.

Remote Work Tools

<div>
 
 <p>Zoom has collaboratively worked with Theta Lake, a firm specializing in compliance and communication security, to introduce the Zoom Compliance Manager. This tool assures compliance solutions across all Zoom software applications.</p>
 <p>The Manager furnishes an integrated platform that assists risk and compliance management, data governance, and the protection of information. It is believed that this partnership will ease customer compliance procedures by allowing them to directly tap into Theta Lake's superior compliance and security capacities via the Zoom administrator console<b>.</b></p>
 
</div>

Zoom partners with Theta Lake to launch Zoom Compliance Manager

Disrupting the traditional financial system using blockchain

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

<div>

<p>Aptos Labs, a provider of layer-1 blockchain infrastructure, has joined forces with Microsoft, SK Telecom, and Brevan Howard (a fund management firm) to introduce a new decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, named Aptos Ascend. The platform is specifically designed for institutional usage and includes a range of features such as customizable tokens, regulated transaction access, zero-knowledge transaction privacy, and network controls that can be upgraded.</p>

<p>With this collaboration, Aptos aims to use Microsoft's Azure cloud infrastructure and its OpenAI solutions to expand its product portfolio. Furthermore, SK Telecom will enable users to access its wallet-as-a-service technology, ensuring regulatory compliance, while Brevan Howard will supply asset management services.</p>

</div>

All Updates

Evolito appoints Marcus Holme as CTO to transform air travel

Orbex raises GBP 16.7 million to advance development of rocket

Reka partners with Oracle to advance GenAI models

Reka partners with Oracle to advance GenAI models

Stability AI lays off 10% of workforce in strategic restructuring plan

Meta introduces Meta AI assistant built on Llama 3

Grasshopper introduces digital applications for SBA loans

Union Labs plans to integrate with AggLayer for blockchain interoperability and liquidity sharing

Zoom partners with Theta Lake to launch Zoom Compliance Manager

Aptos Labs partners with Microsoft, Brevan Howard, and SK Telecom to launch institutional DeFi platform