Elon Musk's SpaceX acquired his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, in a move to build space-based data centers, the company announced Monday. The merger aims to address the growing energy demands of AI by utilizing data centers located in space, according to a memo posted on the SpaceX website by Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla.
Musk stated that current advances in AI are dependent on large terrestrial data centers, which require immense amounts of power and cooling. He added that global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with terrestrial solutions, even in the near term, without imposing hardship on communities and the environment, according to TechCrunch. xAI has faced accusations of causing hardship to communities near its data centers in Memphis, Tennessee, TechCrunch reported.
In other news, Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Alphabet, raised $16 billion to expand its robotaxi fleet internationally, TechCrunch reported Monday. The funding round, led by Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital, values Waymo at $126 billion. Waymo plans to grow its fleet of driverless taxicabs to more than a dozen new cities internationally this year, including London and Tokyo. Parent company Alphabet supported the round and maintained its position as majority investor. The round also included significant investments from Andreessen Horowitz and Mubadala Capital, as well as Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price. Additional investors included BDT MSD Partners, CapitalG, Fidelity Management Research Company, GV, Kleiner Perkins, Perry Creek Capital, and Temasek.
Meanwhile, China is implementing new safety rules that will ban hidden, electronically actuated car door handles, a design feature popularized by Tesla, TechCrunch reported. The rules, published Monday by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, will require cars sold in the country to have mechanical releases on their door handles. The new rules, which go into effect January 1, 2027, dictate that each door (excluding the tailgate) should be equipped with a mechanically released external door handle. Vehicles must also have a mechanical release on the interior of the vehicle. Bloomberg previously reported on the new safety policy. Numerous high-profile fatal incidents, in which occupants have become trapped, prompted the new regulations.
In the fintech world, Gökçe Güven, a 26-year-old Turkish national and the founder and CEO of fintech startup Kalder, was charged last week with alleged securities fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud, and aggravated identity theft, TechCrunch reported. Güven is also an alum of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, which has become notorious for the number of entrants who go on to be charged with fraud. Kalder, a New York-based fintech startup, says it can help companies create and monetize individual rewards programs.
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