Amazon Halts Drone Deliveries, OpenAI's Secretly Funded Benchmark, and FTC vs Microsoft - Daily AI Brief #84

Hi there,

Character AI is testing new games for subscribers, OpenAI's involvement in the FrontierMath Benchmark has been revealed, and Amazon has halted US drone deliveries after crashes in Oregon. And as you might have expected, the FTC and Microsoft are at odds again over the $13B OpenAI investment.

Top stories

Character AI Tests New Games for Subscribers

Character AI is testing two new games, Speakeasy and War of Words, on its web apps for paid subscribers and some free users, aiming to boost engagement. Read more

OpenAI's Involvement in FrontierMath Benchmark Revealed

OpenAI's funding for the FrontierMath benchmark, which evaluates AI's mathematical reasoning, was disclosed alongside the announcement of its o3 model achieving a 25.2% success rate. Epoch AI acknowledged a lack of transparency about OpenAI's role. Read more

Amazon Halts US Drone Deliveries After Oregon Crashes

Amazon has paused its drone delivery testing in the US after two crashes at a facility in Pendleton, Oregon. The company is awaiting a software update for its fleet, affecting operations in Texas and Arizona. Read more

FTC Questions Microsoft's $13B OpenAI Investment

The Federal Trade Commission has raised antitrust concerns about Microsoft's significant investment in OpenAI, citing potential risks of market consolidation and exclusivity in the AI sector. Read more

KKR and Gulf Data Hub Invest $5 Billion in Middle East Data Centers

KKR has partnered with Gulf Data Hub to invest over $5 billion in hyperscale data centers in the Middle East, aiming to boost GDH's market position and support its growth plans. Read more

FTC Refers Complaint Against Snap's AI Chatbot

The Federal Trade Commission has referred a complaint regarding Snap's AI chatbot, My AI, to the Department of Justice, citing potential risks to young users. Read more

Perplexity Acquires Professional Platform Read.cv

Perplexity, an AI search engine, has acquired Read.cv, a professional social media platform. Read.cv will cease operations, with data export available until May 16. Read more

Perplexity AI Proposes Merger with TikTok U.S.

Perplexity AI has submitted a bid to merge with TikTok U.S., proposing a new entity that would allow ByteDance's investors to retain their stakes. The merger aims to enhance video content on Perplexity AI amid the generative AI boom. Read more

Hypefy Raises €1.75 Million for AI Marketing Expansion

Hypefy, a Zagreb-based startup, has secured €1.75 million in seed funding to enhance its AI-driven influencer marketing platform. The investment will support expansion into US and European markets and further platform development. Read more

Other Stories

• NETdepot Launches Cloud GPU Platform with NVIDIA L40S

• MailMoo Raises €300k for AI Video Personalisation

• Netradyne Achieves Unicorn Status with $90M Funding

• ByteDance Invests in AI Datacenter in Shanxi

• Lupa Secures $4M for AI Veterinary Solutions

• Swan AI Studios Appoints Gary King to Board

• NSDC International Invests in Startup Stairs

• Accenture and Meiji Yasuda Partner on AI Initiative

• Snowflake AI Launches SwiftKV to Cut Meta Llama Costs

• Instabase Raises $100M in Series D Funding

• ServiceNow to Acquire Cuein for AI Enhancement

• AI Chips Market to Grow by USD 902.65 Billion by 2029

• Hong Leong Bank Partners with WeBank for AI Solutions

• Louisville to Build First Hyperscale Data Center Campus

• University of Stuttgart Launches Hunter Supercomputer

• nexos.ai Secures $8M for AI Platform Launch

• Nilus Secures $10 Million in Funding

• ONCO and Inspirata Collaborate on AI for Cancer Registries

• $5 Billion Data Center Campus Proposed in Georgia

• University of Hawaiʻi Receives $750K for AI Traffic Safety

• Mitsubishi Electric Partners with AWS for Digital Collaboration

• North Dakota Bill on AI Disclaimers in Political Ads

• Maryland Develops AI Governance Policies

• Reppo Labs Secures $2.2 Million for AI Collaboration

• Cambricon Technologies Achieves First Quarterly Profit

• PhaseV Partners with University Health Network for Lupus Research

• Quantum Connect Opens AI-Ready Data Center in Virginia

• Thomas & Herbert Consulting Awarded DoD Mentor-Protégé Agreement

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