tech:

taffy

Databricks closes Series I funding round

Data lakehouse architecture company Databricks has raised an undisclosed amount in Series I funding.  Existing investors Amazon Web Services (AWS), CapitalG, and Microsoft participated in the investments, along with new investors AT&T Ventures, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), and Sanabil Investments.

The Series I funding round also included participation from other investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Capital One Ventures, ClearBridge Investments, Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton, among others.

The funding pegs Databricks’ post-money valuation to $43 billion.

The Series I funding is earmarked for the acceleration of AI technology development, particularly in Generative AI (Gen AI) research, and for expanding the company’s AI data science and engineering teams, says Databricks.

Just in

AI is ‘a new kind of digital species,’ Microsoft AI chief says — Quartz

Mustafa Suleyman, chief executive of Microsoft AI, said during a talk at TED 2024 that AI is the newest wave of creation since the start of life on Earth, and that “we are in the fastest and most consequential wave ever,” writes Britney Nguyen in Quartz.

It’s baaack! Microsoft and IBM open source MS-DOS 4.0 — ZDNet

Microsoft and IBM have joined forces to open-source the 1988 operating system MS-DOS 4.0 under the MIT License, writes Steven Vaughan-Nichols. 

Generative AI arrives in the gene editing world of CRISPR — NYT

New AI technology is generating blueprints for microscopic biological mechanisms that can edit your DNA, pointing to a future when scientists can battle illness and diseases with even greater precision and speed than they can today, writes Cade Metz.

Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will offer its virtual reality OS to hardware companies, creating iPhone versus Android dynamic — CNBC

Meta will partner with external hardware companies, including Lenovo, Microsoft and Asus, to build virtual reality headsets using the company’s Meta Horizon operating system, writes Kif Leswing.