Grab's New AI Tools, Amazon's Nova Sonic Voice Model, and Deep Cogito's Open LLMs - Daily AI Brief #151

April 09, 2025 - Daily AI Brief

Hi there,

Welcome to today's AI Brief. Grab has launched new AI tools aimed at enhancing the operations of merchants and drivers. Meanwhile, Amazon has introduced the Nova Sonic AI Voice Model, expanding its capabilities in voice technology. Deep Cogito has released open LLMs utilizing the IDA methodology, marking a significant development in language model accessibility.

In other news, Multiverse Computing has achieved an 80% compression of Llama models, and Starhive has raised $5 million to develop an AI IT management platform. Additionally, CUJO AI has acquired Domos to enhance its ISP services, and a new semiconductor center has opened in Brno, Czech Republic.

Top stories

Grab Launches AI Tools for Merchants and Drivers
On April 8, 2025, Grab announced the AI Merchant Assistant and AI Driver Companion at the GrabX event in Singapore, developed with OpenAI and Anthropic to aid partners with insights and task support. Read more
Amazon Launches Nova Sonic AI Voice Model
Amazon has announced Nova Sonic, a new AI voice model aimed at generating natural-sounding speech. The model is available on Amazon's Bedrock platform and is noted for its cost-efficiency and enhanced performance compared to competitors. Read more
Deep Cogito Launches Open LLMs with IDA Methodology
Deep Cogito, based in San Francisco, has introduced open large language models (LLMs) that claim to outperform existing models using a new training method called Iterated Distillation and Amplification (IDA). Read more
Thinking Machines Lab Adds Ex-OpenAI Advisors
Thinking Machines Lab, an AI startup led by Mira Murati, has appointed former OpenAI chief research officer Bob McGrew and researcher Alec Radford as advisors to develop AI tools tailored to individual needs. Read more
Trump to Sign Order Supporting Coal for Data Centers
President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order to classify coal as a critical mineral, mandating some coal-fired power plants to remain operational to meet the rising electricity demand from data centers. Read more
Andreessen Horowitz Plans $20 Billion AI Investment Fund
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is planning to raise $20 billion to invest in growth-stage AI companies, marking its largest fund to date. The effort targets international investors amid heightened interest in US tech. Read more

Other news

Multiverse Computing has introduced Llama models compressed by 80% for efficiency, while Starhive raised $5M to enhance its AI IT management platform. CUJO AI acquired Domos to improve ISP services, and the Czech Semiconductor Centre opened in Brno to support Europe's semiconductor industry. Infortrend launched EonStor GSx for HPC and AI, and Aalo Atomics unveiled a modular nuclear plant for AI data centers.

Subscribe to Daily AI Brief

Daily report covering major AI developments and industry news, with both top stories and complete market updates