AI startups

Elon Musk plans to more than double xAI's computing capacity by the end of the year, expanding the startup's fleet to over 1.2 million Nvidia GPUs. The rapid buildout underscores the escalating race in artificial intelligence infrastructure, as xAI competes with rivals like OpenAI and Google while Nvidia's chips remain the essential hardware powering the AI boom.

A European artificial intelligence startup is urging Europeans to remain optimistic about AI technology, even as public debate over safety concerns intensifies. The company argues that the continent should embrace innovation rather than let fears about risks hold it back. Outlets across Europe are carrying the story, reflecting ongoing tension between AI enthusiasm and regulatory caution in the region.

A Chinese startup developing 'robot brains' — AI systems that let robots perceive and act in the physical world — says it could reach a ChatGPT-style breakthrough as soon as next year. The claim suggests the kind of leap seen in language models may soon arrive in embodied AI, a field where Chinese firms are racing US rivals. Observers are watching whether the company can deliver on such an ambitious timeline.

Politico reports on a nuclear power startup taking a page from SpaceX: moving fast, iterating on hardware, and pursuing rapid test cycles in an industry long defined by slow regulation and massive upfront costs. The piece highlights how Silicon Valley-style engineering culture is being imported into nuclear energy as demand for clean, always-on power surges.

A startup is developing artificial intelligence tools designed to counter future AI-driven threats, an idea its backers compare to preparing for a pandemic. The Wall Street Journal reported the story as an exclusive, profiling the company's effort to build defenses against misuse of AI before such threats materialize. Details on the company's name, funding and technology were not provided.

Black Forest Labs, the German AI startup behind the image generation model Flux, is calling on Europe to remain optimistic about artificial intelligence despite ongoing safety concerns. The company argues that European developers can compete globally and that regulation should not stifle innovation. Its stance feeds into a wider debate over whether EU rules are holding back the continent's AI sector.

British data centre startup Nscale is preparing a New York IPO valuing the company at around $35bn, with law firms Latham & Watkins and Milbank taking lead roles on the deal. The listing would mark one of the largest public market debuts by a UK-founded technology company in the United States, underscoring surging investor interest in AI infrastructure and data centre capacity.

Music startup Thoughtful Things has launched a Kickstarter campaign for Engram, its first instrument. The device is a sampler and groovebox that uses AI to manipulate incoming audio and generate entirely new sounds. Early commentary stresses that it is not a generative music tool like Suno, but a hands-on hardware instrument aimed at producers who want AI-assisted sound design.

Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang has published a statement titled 'Why I'm Building Muse', outlining his reasoning behind a new project called Muse. The announcement is circulating among tech and AI observers, with commenters sharing the essay and debating what the venture signals about Wang's direction following his high-profile move into Meta's AI efforts.