SoftBank-backed AI startup Peak raises $75m in second funding round in six months August 31, 2021 Manchester-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) provider Peak will expand into new global markets after raising $75m in its latest funding round, led by SoftBank’s $100bn Vision Fund Two. Peak AI, which sells its “decision intelligence” enterprise software platform to non-tech companies to help with their operations, plans to use the latest raise to double its workforce [...]
Judges announced for next month’s Crypto AM Awards 2021 August 25, 2021 Introducing the judges for September's Crypto AM Awards 2021.
Babcock teams up with encryption tech firm to boost unmanned vehicle and AI capabilities August 24, 2021 Defence giant Babcock said today it is has formed a partnership with quantum encryption technology Arqit to jointly test and experiment with a range of use case scenarios and practical applications for government and defence customers to demonstrate the encryption capabilities. Testing will include planned participation in a number of UK Government funded projects. Specific projects of focus include [...]
Former Amazon vice president poached for Ocado board August 24, 2021 Online retailer Ocado has poached a former Amazon vice president and robotics expert for its board, as the supermarket looks to broaden its market share. Incoming independent non-executive director and board veteran, Nadia Shouraboura, is set to join Ocado at the turn of September. Shares lifted 2.43 per cent by the afternoon, taking the group’s [...]
Baidu-backed AI voice assistant firm Xiaodu racks up $5.1bn valuation August 24, 2021 Chinese tech giant Baidu has confirmed its artificial intelligence voice assistant firm Xiaodu Technology has racked up an eyewatering $5.1bn valuation today. Following the artificial intelligence (AI) firm’s Series B fundraiser, Baidu will remain a majority shareholder. The lofty valuation comes in amid a local regulatory clampdown, spearheaded by Beijing, which has locked eyes on [...]
WPP snaps up delivery tech firm Satalia in AI push August 23, 2021 WPP has snapped up a London-based tech firm specialising in home delivery services in a move that will boost the ad giant’s artificial intelligence offering. The FTSE media group today said it had acquired Satalia, which is one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies and serves major clients such as BT, Tesco and Unilever. Following [...]
Action Fraud was fruitless agency – its downfall should teach us the perils of letting skulduggery go unpunished August 21, 2021 At the end of July, the Government announced it would scrap Action Fraud, the national gateway for triaging and allocating fraud complaints for police investigation. The decision is long overdue. Official reports criticising Action Fraud’s performance have been practically an annual event. The repeated criticism was that Action Fraud was a toothless crime-recording body – a [...]
Lamborghini delivers record-breaking Urus SUV to London August 20, 2021 Having left the Sant’Agata production line last month, Lamborghini London dealership H.R. Owen has just delivered the 15,000th Urus SUV.
HSBC to pull together $2bn IPO for China’s biggest AI firm SenseTime August 17, 2021 HSBC is working with China’s largest artificial intelligence group SenseTime to form a Hong Kong listing, according to reports. SoftBank-backed SeneTime’s initial public offering (IPO) could wire in at least $2bn, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. China International Capital is helping HSBC arrange the float for the firm. The company has decided [...]
Life sciences sector alert to evolving skills challenge August 16, 2021 ‘We stand on the cusp of an era of cures, in which new technologies make previously terminal diseases treatable or curable’: so states the UK ‘Life Sciences Vision’, which outlines a 10-year strategy for the sector.The vision, unveiled last month, states that life sciences will be one of the great drivers of growth in the [...]