Helm.ai & Honda Team Up, Lace AI Lands $14M, and OpenAI Partners with Washington Post - Daily AI Brief #163

April 23, 2025 - Daily AI Brief
Hi there,

Welcome to today's AI Brief. Lace AI has secured $14 million to enhance its AI customer service software, while the Washington Post is partnering with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its platform. In other developments, Adaptive Computer has raised $7 million to advance its no-code app platform.

Additionally, Character.AI has launched AvatarFX for video creation, and OpenAI is showing interest in acquiring Google's Chrome. Meanwhile, xAI has introduced Grok Vision for object analysis. Stay tuned for more updates in the world of AI.

Top stories

Lace AI Secures $14M for AI Customer Service Software
Lace AI, founded by former Meta engineer Boris Valkov, has raised $14 million to enhance its AI-driven customer service software for home service companies. The funding will support workforce expansion and improve call conversion rates through customer interaction analysis. Read more
Washington Post Partners with OpenAI for ChatGPT Integration
The Washington Post has partnered with OpenAI to integrate its journalism into ChatGPT, allowing the AI to display summaries and links to the Post's articles. Read more
Adaptive Computer Raises $7M for No-Code App Platform
Adaptive Computer has secured $7 million in seed funding to develop a platform that enables non-programmers to create custom applications using a no-code approach. The funding round was led by Pebblebed and included investors like Jake Paul's Anti Fund and Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki. Read more
AI Datacenters at Risk of Chinese Espionage
A report by Gladstone AI indicates that AI datacenters in the U.S. are vulnerable to Chinese espionage, posing a threat to national security. The report calls for enhanced security measures to protect AI models from sabotage and theft. Read more
Character.AI Launches AvatarFX for Lifelike Chatbots
Character.AI has launched AvatarFX, a video generation model that animates characters using text and images. The technology has sparked concerns over potential misuse, such as deepfakes, and the company is dealing with legal issues regarding chatbot safety. Read more
OpenAI Shows Interest in Buying Google's Chrome
During Google's antitrust trial, an OpenAI executive expressed interest in acquiring Google's Chrome browser if it were to be sold. Read more
xAI Launches Grok Vision for Object Analysis
xAI has launched Grok Vision, a new feature for its Grok chatbot that allows users to identify and inquire about objects using a smartphone camera. This feature is currently available on iOS, with additional functionalities for Android users on the SuperGrok plan. Read more

Other news

Helm.ai and Honda have collaborated to introduce the Helm.ai Driver technology for self-driving cars. Fujitsu and Super Micro are launching a generative AI platform, while the Trump administration considers an executive order for AI education in schools. Templum and SoFi are offering shares of Anthropic, and Altruist has raised $152 million in Series F funding. du and Microsoft have signed a $544 million data center deal, and Alexis Bonnell has joined OpenAI after leaving the AFRL. Nvidia CEO urges Japan to increase power supply for AI, and Amazon resolves GPU shortages with Project Greenland. Omniwire and NowutalkAI launch an AI Voice Personal Banker, while the Jamaican Ministry of Education tests AI tools in schools. AI labs face criticism for crowdsourced benchmarking, and Nari Labs develops the AI speech model 'Dia'. SureStack launches an AI cybersecurity platform, Veeam integrates AI with Anthropic's protocol, and 01VC launches a $69 million fund for AI and robotics.

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