TREND REPORTS
OpenAI Tops 400 Million Users Despite DeepSeek’s Emergence
[Business]
2025/02/21 09:07
The artificial intelligence company saw 400 million weekly active users, up 33% in less than three months, OpenAI’s chief operating officer, Brad Lightcap, told CNBC. The growth came amid more competition from open source models like DeepSeek. There’s an overall effect of people really wanting these tools, and seeing that these tools are really valuable,” Lightcap said.OpenAI appears to be g...
(Video) Helix : A Vision-Language-Action Model for Generalist Humanoid Control
[Tech]
2025/02/21 09:06
Robot Startup Figure Reveals an AI Breakthrough Called Helix The company also released a video showing two humanoid robots putting away groceries. It’s worth watching. Figure, a Silicon Valley-based startup that builds humanoid robots, has announced Helix, a proprietary AI model that the company says enables robots to more easily pick up objects, collaborate on tasks with other robots, and smo...
CB Insights - State of CVC 2024 Report
[Investing]
2025/02/21 09:05
CVCs plunge headfirst into AI, prioritize early-stage deals, and downshift on Asia. We break down the trends reshaping corporate venture capital using CB Insights data.Global CVC-backed funding rebounded 20% YoY to $65.9B in 2024, fueled by increased attention to US startups — especially AI companies, which drew record-high shares of both CVC-backed deals and funding.AI startups capture 37% of...
Amazon Will Take Full Creative Control of The James Bond Franchise
[Business]
2025/02/21 09:04
The next 007 may receive intel via Echo Buds and a Kindle Fire.Time (and perhaps a large check or two) heals all wounds. Amazon and the longtime producers and custodians of the James Bond movies have finally agreed on a way forward for the series. Amazon MGM Studios will form a joint venture with Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli that will hold the intellectual property rights and ensure t...
Japan’s Toilet Jokes Are on You. Innovation Is Flourishing.
[Business]
2025/02/21 09:03
Toto, a firm better known for its high-tech commodes, is these days making money off semiconductor materials. It’s just one example of how Japanese brands are less visible, but more vital.Is Japanese manufacturing in the toilet? Absolutely not — though it might be the first place to look to understand how the country’s firms are changing.One of the most surprising stories in corporate Japan...
(PDF) Ipsos Housing Monitor 2025
[Consumer]
2025/02/20 09:10
Homeownership hurdles: why Gen Z & Millennials feel locked out.From London to Istanbul to Sydney, rents are skyrocketing while homeownership drifts further out of reach. For most Gen Z and Millennials, buying a first home remains a distant dream. A recent Zillow report confirms the struggle: single-family home rents in the US are up 41% since pre-pandemic times, while multifamily rents have...
AI-Coding Startup Codeium in Talks to Raise at an Almost $3B Valuation
[Investing]
2025/02/20 09:09
Codeium, an AI-powered coding startup, is raising a new round of funding at a $2.85 billion valuation, including fresh capital, according to two sources with knowledge of the deal. The round is being led by returning investor Kleiner Perkins, the people said.The new round comes just six months after Silicon Valley-based Codeium announced that it had closed a $150 million Series C at a $1.25 bil...
(PDF) Mckinsey - What Do US Consumers Want from e-Commerce Deliveries ?
[Consumer]
2025/02/20 09:08
As US e-commerce growth slows, retailers and logistics providers face rising delivery costs. A survey of consumer preferences for package shipments—speed or reliability?—could help inform priorities.Consumers still love to shop online, but growth in e-commerce is no longer likely to be as frenzied as it was in recent years. E-commerce sales in the United States soared to 18 percent annual gro...
Walmart to Deploy AI Price Forecasting Tool
[Business]
2025/02/20 09:07
The retailer will use tech provided by Helios to predict the price and availability of agricultural commodities.Walmart will soon begin using software that calculates climate risk and provides price forecasting for categories like produce, according to a Tuesday announcement.Walmart aims to improve its evaluation of medium- and long-term climate risks for the global agricultural supply chain wi...
