It seems that major tech companies in Silicon Valley are forging relationships with the defense industry these days. In the latest news, prominent artificial intelligence company OpenAI has entered a partnership with Anduril, a defense startup that produces missiles, drones, and software for the United States military.
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The companies said that this partnership will emphasize on the improvement of the United States’ counter-unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) as well as their ability to deal with potentially lethal aerial threats in real-time. The CUAS will enable defense against drone strikes by detecting and intercepting them while they are airborne.
According to Brian Schimpf, cofounder and CEO of Anduril, OpenAI’s AI models will be used to improve systems used for air defense. The technology will be used to “assess drone threats more quickly and accurately, giving operators the information they need to make better decisions while staying out of harm’s way”, revealed a former OpenAI employee.
“OpenAI builds AI to benefit as many people as possible, and supports US-led efforts to ensure the technology upholds democratic values… Our partnership with Anduril will help ensure OpenAI technology protects US military personnel, and will help the national security community understand and responsibly use this technology to keep our citizens safe and free.”
-Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO.
Last month, OpenAI rival Anthropic also entered a partnership with a famous defense contractor to provide “US intelligence and defense agencies” access to its AI models. Regardless of its competitors’ actions, OpenAI shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. After months of tender offers and a soaring valuation, the company has reached a new record of 300 million weekly active users. The announcement was made by Sam Altman during an appearance at The New York Times’ Dealbook Conference on Wednesday, December 4th. The company is reportedly targeting 1 billion active users by next year.
These strategies aim to strengthen OpenAI’s position against competitors Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI, the latter of which Sam Altman considers a “fierce competitor”. Besides that, it is also striving to gain a larger slice of the generative AI market, which may top $1 trillion in revenue by the next decade. Altman also revealed that his company hasn’t asked investors not to invest in its competitors. However, those who decide to wouldn’t have access to OpenAI’s “information rights,” like the company’s roadmap and other materials.
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10. SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 11
SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN) is a conversational artificial intelligence company offering voice-based AI solutions to businesses. On December 5, the company announced that it has teamed up with Torchy’s Tacos, a popular taco chain known for its “Damn Good Tacos”, to launch soundhound’s advanced voice AI Smart Ordering product. The advanced AI ordering product is now live at all 130 Torchy’s locations and is trained on their entire menu. This enables the ordering system to understand even the most customized orders. The customers will speak naturally as if they are speaking to another person, which the system will recognize “instantly” and “accurately”.
“As we continue to scale our AI-powered restaurant solutions, we have seen the impact they have in redefining how restaurants engage with their customers, adding an entirely new layer of convenience and efficiency. We’re excited to work with Torchy’s Tacos to transform how guests order and experience their meals, from the first call to the first bite”.
– said James Hom, Chief Product Officer of SoundHound AI.
9. Informatica Inc. (NYSE:INFA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 22
Informatica Inc. (NYSE:INFA) is a leader in enterprise AI-powered cloud data management. On December 4, at the AWS re:Invent annual conference, the company revealed an innovation agenda to enhance its GenAI, Open Table, and analytics capabilities which are all built on AWS. Customers will be able to use these capabilities for building and deploying a new generation of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and analytics applications. Highlights include blueprints for enterprise-grade GenAI apps, automation recipes for Amazon Bedrock, and a partnership with Amazon SageMaker Lakehouse.
“We’re thrilled about the possibilities for customers with our innovation solutions built on AWS. Particularly, integration with Amazon SageMaker Lakehouse and Open Table support will help customers build next generation data architectures and enhance the reach and breadth of IDMC’s platform capabilities across data warehouse, data analytics and AI. With AWS PrivateLink integrations, customers can use serverless deployment architectures while keeping their current workflows. These new developments will allow customers to accelerate GenAI application development and new analytics use cases by ensuring that data is AI-ready”.
– Pratik Parekh, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Informatica.
