🕶️ Everyone has an opinion: Openness in AI

Six bullets of updates

1. 🖥️ Friends will be friends. Microsoft and OpenAI are collaborating on a $100 billion data center project featuring an AI supercomputer called "Stargate," set to launch in 2028. 

2. 🇺🇲 Navigating US sales tax is tricky for expanding startups. Try to onboard a US investor before leaping. Sifted has the full scoop.

3. 🤓 Low IPO activity isn't a problem; it's an opportunity to prepare meticulously and negotiate effectively with advisors. 

4. 📃 Elon Musk's AI startup Grok launches Grok-1.5, with more extended document comprehension and outperforming OpenAI on a key test. 

5. 👨‍⚖️ Crypto kingpin Sam Bankman-Fried gets 25 years and an $11B bill for his part in one of the largest financial frauds ever. 

6. 🥕 Sprouting from frustration, Jacob Pechenik launches Lettuce Grow, a hydroponic system that lets anyone farm fresh organic veggies at home.

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Disagreement Persists: Openness in AI

The definition of "open AI" remains a contentious issue in the tech industry. You may have your interpretation, Sam Altman has his version of 'open,' and Elon Musk has another, which differ significantly. In light of this ongoing conversation, how about considering the opinion of a specialist? For example, Thomas Padilla, Archive.org's Deputy Director, outlined five characteristics that open AI should possess:

♻️ Reusability
👻 Transparency
📭 Accountability
🌱 Sustainability
👍🏽 Affirmative impact

How often do these characteristics are achieved? Even AI claiming to be open source, such as Meta's Llama 2, are found to have limiting licensing terms, fueling debate. For instance, Llama 2's license terms restrict use by companies with over 700 million active monthly users, which has led to criticism. Padilla argued that trustworthy open-source AI should be transparent about data origins and the technology's intended use, citing the model cards by Hugging Face as a promising practice. He also emphasized the need for AI to be developed and used according to specific community needs and to have a positive societal impact. The need for a concrete regulatory framework becomes apparent as the industry grapples with these challenges.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. Crash Course in Financial Modeling | Webinar | April 10 | Online 

2. Financial Modeling | Course | April 15 - 19 | Online

3. SaaSiest Sweden | Conference | April 16 - 17 | Malmö, Sweden   

4. TechCrunch Early Stage | Conference | April 25 | Online

5. SaaStock: USA | Conference | May 13-15 | Austin, TX ➡️ Redeem free tickets! 🔥

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These companies just raised money

1. 🛡️ Securing SMBs, Coro raised $100M in Series D round, boosting its valuation to $750M after a 300% revenue jump last year.

2. 🧑🏽‍⚕️ Telehealth firm Pelago, previously Quit Genius, nabs $58M in a Series C round, eyeing expansion after an 11x revenue boom.

3. 🛋️ Furnished apartment startup Blueground lands $45M in Series D, plans for market expansion and possibly an IPO

4. 🔐 Data privacy startup Skyflow bags $30M in Series B extension after expanding into AI technologies and seeing its revenues grow 30%.

5. 🇸🇪 Swedish BNPL provider Zaver boosts its Series A funding to $20M, promising real-time purchase risk assessments. 

6. 🇲🇽 Mexican tax tech startup Taxo secures $1.2M pre-seed, eyes 160% user growth and Latin America expansion.

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Separate ways: GGV Capital splits in two

Six months after announcing they would split their U.S. and Asia operations, GGV Capital is now two brands. GGV Capital, The 24-year-old firm, previously bridged U.S. and China operations. Now, it has become Granite Asia and Notable Capital.

The Asian brand will focus on expanding its investment platform in the region from its base in Singapore. Managed by experienced investors Jenny Lee and Jixun Foo, Granite Asia, with $5 billion in assets under management, plans to explore new asset classes like private equity and debt while continuing to manage tech startup investments across China, India, and Southeast Asia. 

The split divides GGV's assets under management, with Granite Asia housing $5 billion and Notable Capital $4.2 billion. This move follows growing geopolitical tensions, similar to Sequoia Capital's partition last year. 

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