xAI Secures $20 Billion in Series E Funding, Intel's Panther Lake AI Chip Unveiled - Daily AI Brief #360
January 07, 2026 -
Daily AI Brief
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Welcome to today's AI Brief.
In today's edition, ElevenLabs has announced an expansion of its operations in New York City with a $33 million investment. Meanwhile, Mobileye has acquired Mentee Robotics for $900 million, enhancing its capabilities in autonomous technology. CFS is collaborating with Siemens and NVIDIA to develop an AI digital twin, aiming to advance simulation technologies.
Accenture is set to acquire Faculty to boost its AI enhancement efforts, and Blackbird.AI has secured $28 million in funding to further its AI-driven initiatives. Additionally, a former Apple designer has joined the AI startup Hark, and Eficode is unifying its global operations to focus on AI-driven development.
Welcome to today's AI Brief.
In today's edition, ElevenLabs has announced an expansion of its operations in New York City with a $33 million investment. Meanwhile, Mobileye has acquired Mentee Robotics for $900 million, enhancing its capabilities in autonomous technology. CFS is collaborating with Siemens and NVIDIA to develop an AI digital twin, aiming to advance simulation technologies.
Accenture is set to acquire Faculty to boost its AI enhancement efforts, and Blackbird.AI has secured $28 million in funding to further its AI-driven initiatives. Additionally, a former Apple designer has joined the AI startup Hark, and Eficode is unifying its global operations to focus on AI-driven development.
ElevenLabs Expands NYC Operations with $33M Investment
The New York government has announced that ElevenLabs will expand its operations in New York City, creating 230 new jobs and investing $33 million in research and development. Read more
Mobileye Acquires Mentee Robotics for $900 Million
Mobileye Global Inc. has announced its acquisition of Israeli AI humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics Ltd. for $900 million. The deal includes cash and shares, aiming to enhance Mobileye's capabilities in physical AI. Read more
CFS Teams Up with Siemens and NVIDIA for AI Digital Twin
Commonwealth Fusion Systems has partnered with Siemens and NVIDIA to develop an AI-powered digital twin for its SPARC fusion machine, aiming to speed up fusion energy development. Read more
Accenture to Acquire Faculty for AI Enhancement
Accenture has announced its agreement to acquire Faculty, a UK-based AI services company, to strengthen its AI capabilities. The acquisition will integrate Faculty's team of over 400 AI professionals into Accenture. Read more
Blackbird.AI Secures $28 Million in Funding
Blackbird.AI has raised $28 million in new funding, achieving a 118% increase in annual recurring revenue and tripling its customer base. The funds will enhance its AI platform against narrative attacks. Read more
Former Apple Designer Joins AI Startup Hark
Abidur Chowdhury, previously a designer at Apple Inc., has been appointed as head of design at AI startup Hark. This hiring is part of Hark's effort to recruit top talent from major tech companies. Read more
Eficode Unifies Global Operations for AI-Driven Development
Eficode is restructuring its global operations to enhance its focus on AI in software development and SDLC tooling, effective January 1, 2026. The company aims to integrate partner technologies with specialized services and has appointed new leadership roles to strengthen partnerships with Atlassian and Microsoft. Read more
Meta's $2 Billion Manus Acquisition Faces Regulatory Scrutiny
The acquisition of AI platform Manus by Meta is under regulatory review, with Chinese authorities expressing concerns over technology export controls due to Manus's move from Beijing to Singapore. Read more
xAI Secures $20 Billion in Series E Funding
xAI, founded by Elon Musk, has raised $20 billion in a Series E funding round with strategic investors including Nvidia and Cisco. The funds will support data center expansion and improvements to the Grok chatbot. Read more
Caterpillar Introduces Cat AI Assistant for Worksites
Caterpillar has launched the Cat AI Assistant to boost productivity and safety on construction sites, aiming to streamline operations and enhance the worksite experience. Read more
Intel to Launch Panther Lake AI Chip at CES 2026
At CES 2026, Intel will introduce its Panther Lake AI chip, the first product using its new 18A manufacturing process, promising a 50% performance boost over the previous generation. Read more
Infosys and AWS Partner to Boost Generative AI in Enterprises
On January 7, 2026, Infosys announced a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services to enhance enterprise adoption of generative AI. The partnership will integrate Infosys Topaz with AWS's Amazon Q Developer to improve operations and innovation in sectors like manufacturing and financial services. Read more
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