Top AI news of the week #33: Advsr AI Spotlight

Advsr AI Spotlight

Highlighting notable AI moves at the intersection of strategic operating companies and emerging startups. Big ideas in the works.

Strategic Deployments of AI 

• NVIDIA launched the NVIDIA Rubin platform, comprising six new chips, the NVIDIA Vera CPU, NVIDIA Rubin GPU, NVIDIA NVLink 6 Switch, NVIDIA ConnectX-9 SuperNIC, NVIDIA BlueField-4 DPU and NVIDIA Spectrum-6 Ethernet Switch, designed to deliver one AI supercomputer
• CoreWeave announced it will add NVIDIA Rubin technology to its AI cloud platform, expanding the range of solutions available to its customers who are building and deploying agentic AI, reasoning, and large-scale inference workloads
• Lenovo expanded its partnership with NVIDIA to launch the Lenovo AI Cloud Gigafactory with NVIDIA to accelerate hybrid AI adoption across personal, enterprise and public AI platforms
• The University of Southern Denmark partnered with Danfoss and HPE to develop a new supercomputer in Sønderborg that combines more sustainable energy management and advanced artificial intelligence capabilities
• Datavault AI, a provider of instant data monetization & enterprise digital twins, expanded its partnership with IBM using the SanQtum AI platform to enable cybersecure data storage and compute, real-time data scoring, tokenization, and ultra-low-latency, across two of the most data-dense metro regions in the United States
• Midcontinent Independent System Operator partnered with Microsoft for grid modernization, combining MISO’s operational expertise with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Foundry AI technologies, and introducing a unified data platform to transform how the grid is planned, operated, and optimized
• Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, a commercial-stage medical technology company, partnered with Intermountain Health to enable the deployment of the company’s advanced imaging technology for tissue visualization in the operating rooms at Intermountain Health LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City and Intermountain Health American Fork Hospital in American Fork, Utah
• Infosys and Cognition partnered to deploy Devin across Infosys’ internal engineering ecosystem and client engagements worldwide, combining Infosys Topaz Fabric with Cognition’s advanced agentic and autonomous engineering capabilities
• The Home Depot and Google Cloud expanded their partnership, further advancing the interconnected retail experience with new agentic AI tools that provide real-time, expert assistance to homeowners and professional customers like contractors, renovators and remodelers
• Purdue University and Google Public Sector partnered to advance AI-enabled education, accelerate AI innovation and expand AI workforce development, providing students, faculty and researchers with Google Cloud’s full AI-optimized tech stack and high-performance computing power
• James Madison University partnered with CGI, an independent IT and business consulting services firm, to create AI career pathways for rural communities
• Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a private fusion company, partnered with NVIDIA and Siemens to develop a digital twin of its SPARC fusion machine that will apply AI and data and project management tools to accelerate commercial fusion
• IBM and The All England Lawn Tennis Club today renewed their partnership, which has included the integration of enhanced AI-powered solutions
• Walmart and Google partnered to launch a new experience that pairs the intelligence of Google’s Gemini with Walmart and Sam’s Club’s assortment, value and convenience

Strategic and AI Startup Collaborations

• TEGUAR, a provider of industrial-grade computers, HMIs, and edge hardware, and SORBA.ai, a no-code industrial AI platform, partnered to deploy SORBA.ai’s full suite of industrial AI capabilities on TEGUAR’s hardware platforms
• Allianz SE, an integrated financial services company, and Anthropic partnered to accelerate the adoption of responsible AI at Allianz, focusing on workforce empowerment, operations automation through agentic AI, and regulatory compliance
• Envision Energy, a provider of green technology, partnered with Casa dos Ventos, a Brazilian renewable energy developer, to deliver AI-enabled, end-to-end renewable energy solutions to accelerate Brazil’s energy transition
• Credo AI, a provider of AI governance software for enterprises, and Carahsoft, a government IT solutions provider, partnered so that Carahsoft will serve as Credo AI’s Master Government Aggregator, making the company’s AI governance platform available to the public sector
• Threat Digital, a compliance technology firm that provides AI-powered risk intelligence solutions, and Carahsoft partnered, with Carahsoft serving as Threat Digital’s Public Sector distributor, making the company’s global risk intelligence solutions available to the public sector
• Boston Consulting Group and Hippocratic AI, developer of AI Agents for healthcare, partnered to transform the biopharma and medtech industries through the responsible implementation of generative AI health care agents
• IKE Tech, a developer of age-verification technology for vapor products, partnered with Charlie’s Holdings, a provider of vapor products, to deploy AI-powered, blockchain-based age verification that prevents device activation until user identity and age are confirmed in real-time
• Flydubai partnered with ZestIoT, an IoT and AI-enabled aviation platform that integrates passenger, baggage, aircraft, ground, and airport operations, to deploy its Turnaround Management Platform at Dubai International and across the airline’s network
• EPAM Systems, a digital and AI transformation services company, partnered with Cursor, an AI-powered development platform, to accelerate enterprise adoption of generative AI engineering for clients
• Bluon, a provider of AI-powered technical support for the HVAC industry, partnered with Helios HVACR Services, a commercial HVACR service provider delivering installation, maintenance and repair solutions 
• Bridge, a business intelligence platform, partnered with Ferguson Control Systems, a company that specializes in the architecture, design, and implementation of embedded systems software, and Intellect Logic Systems, an AI-based programming company, which will provide technical guidance to support Bridge’s AI implementation and key systems decisions as the platform continues to expand
• Bisk Amplified, a provider of online education and development solutions, and Kelley School of Business Executive Education expanding their partnership, which includes a portfolio of online AI certificate courses to help working professionals confidently lead, adapt, and drive impact in an AI-enabled business environment
• TomTom, a mapping and location technology company, partnered with SoundHound AI,  a voice and conversational AI company, to showcase a unified in-car AI voice and navigation experience

AI Startup Acquisitions

• Accenture acquired Faculty, an AI native services and products business
• OpenAI acquired the team behind Convogo, a business software platform that helps executive coaches, consultants, talent leaders, and HR teams automate and improve leadership assessments and feedback reporting
• Snowflake acquired Observe, a provider of AI-powered observability
• OpenAI acquired Torch, a a healthcare startup that unifies lab results, medications, and visit recordings
• CrowdStrike acquired SGNL, a provider of Continuous Identity, enabling access for human, non-human, and AI identities to be continuously granted and revoked based on real-time risk
• Search.com, a provider of performance marketing and AI search solutions, acquired Direqt AI Search, an AI-powered search business
• Mobileye, a developer of autonomous driving and driver-assistance technologies, acquired Mentee Robotics, an AI-first humanoid robotics company with a third-generation, vertically integrated humanoid robot
• AI-powered music production platform LANDR acquired digital audio workstation Reason Studios
• Standard AI, a technology company using computer vision and edge AI to unlock a new data layer for physical retail, acquired Pathr.ai, a spatial intelligence company that analyzes movement and behavior in stores
• Spectral Capital Corporation, a company building AI and quantum enabled digital infrastructure, acquired Intermatica S.p.A., a telecommunications and technology company
• Majesco, a provider of cloud-native and AI-native insurance technology for the P&C and L&AH markets, acquired Vitech, a provider of cloud-native pension and benefits administration solutions

AI Outtakes

• Alaska’s court system has been designing a generative AI chatbot called the Alaska Virtual Assistant (AVA) to help residents navigate the forms and procedures involved in probate, the judicial process of transferring property away from a deceased person. Yet, what was meant to be a three month project has now taken over a year as it has been plagued by false starts and false answers, with early versions that were too empathetic and annoyed users who might have been actively grieving and simply wanted answers about the probate process. There was also the issue of hallucinations, or instances in which AI systems confidently share false or exaggerated information, including telling people to look at the alumni network at a law school in Alaska, even though Alaska is the only U.S. state without a law school

Disclaimer: This information is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute any form of endorsement, recommendation, or advice. Links to third party websites are provided for reference and convenience purposes. This information has not been independently verified.