Would Baidu’s answer to ChatGPT make a difference?

Baidu, China’s top search engine provider and robotaxi developer, is apparently working on its own counterpart to ChatGPT. The news, first reported by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, sent Baidu’s stock price rising on Monday to reach its highest point since September. A spokesperson for Baidu declined to comment on the reports. But it … Read more

InstaDeep’s acquisition is a classic case of an African startup gone global 

This January, Germany’s largest vaccine maker BioNTech announced that it had agreed to acquire Tunisian-born and London-headquartered AI startup InstaDeep for up to £562 million, including a performance-tied £200 million tranche investment. InstaDeep’s deal — subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in the first half of this year — is quite intriguing, for … Read more

Southeast Asia farm-to-table startup Secai Marche raises Series A

Secai Marche, a farm-to-table fulfillment platform serving farmers in Japan and Southeast Asia, announced today it has raised 210 million Japanese yen (about $1.6 million USD) in Series A funding. The round included participation from venture capital firm The Agribusiness Investment and Consultation Co., Spiral Ventures Asia Fund I and Beyond Next Ventures. This brings … Read more

Labor officials found that Apple execs infringed on workers’ rights

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found merit to complaints that high-level executives at Apple violated national labor law. This finding comes after the NLRB also found that Apple illegally interfered with labor organizing at retail stores in New York City and Atlanta. These charges were filed by Ashley Gjøvik, a former senior engineer program … Read more