DeepMind spinout just embarrassed OpenAI & Anthropic

TechCrunch

DeepMind alumni-founded Inherent claims its AI agent Faraday outperformed much larger models from Anthropic and OpenAI at replicating scientific research, using a fraction of the computing power by employing reinforcement learning to develop "research taste." The startup, which raised $50 million in seed funding, aims to build AI systems capable of discovering new scientific knowledge.

Bloomberg

SoftBank is preparing a record-breaking ¥1 trillion retail bond offering in Japan, the largest such sale in the country's history, as it seeks capital for AI and technology investments.

The Information

Nvidia is discussing investing in AI search startup Perplexity at a $30+ billion valuation, more than triple its previous $9 billion valuation, potentially including both equity investment and a technology licensing deal.

TechCrunch

Outer Biosciences keeps living human skin tissue viable for over a month and uses AI to rapidly discover new cosmetic ingredients, generating candidates every six weeks compared to the industry's 18-month timeline. The startup has raised $23 million and plans to license its discoveries rather than build consumer products directly.

Thinking Machines launched a $50,000 grant program to fund safety research on open-weight AI models, focusing on tamper-resistant safeguards, hazardous data filtering, differential defensive capabilities, and measuring worst-case risks after model release.