☕️ Microsoft And OpenAI Get Talking, Perplexity Raises $500M & Google Launches its AI Futures Fund

Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly in talks to renegotiate their partnership ahead of a potential future IPO

​According to the Financial Times, OpenAI is in "a tough negotiation" with Microsoft over how much equity the $13 billion partner will hold in OpenAI's new for-profit public benefit corporation and the terms of their broader contract, which would allow OpenAI to launch an IPO in the future. Microsoft is reportedly willing to relinquish some equity in exchange for access to any OpenAI technologies developed after the current 2030 cutoff. However, the increasingly competitive relationship between the pair has made these talks complicated, as OpenAI's enterprise business and its ambitious Stargate Project make strides.

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Perplexity valuation soars to $14 billion as its latest $500 million fundraiser nears its end

AI-based search startup Perplexity has gone into late-stage discussions to soon wrap up a $500 million fundraiser at a valuation of $14 billion valuation, led by Accel, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Sources say that Perplexity was targeting up to $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation earlier, yet the current size, albeit on the lower end, reflects the reality of the market. Perplexity, with just under $100 million ARR, faces intensifying competition from Anthropic's Claude search, Google's AI Overviews, and OpenAI's ChatGPT search feature, though it does have its own AI agent browser, Comet, in the works.

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Google launches a new fund to get AI startups to hit the ground running

Earlier on Monday this week, Google announced the debut of its new AI Futures Fund that will invest in startups leveraging Google DeepMind tools, offering rolling, stage-agnostic support without fixed deadlines. Founders gain early access to DeepMind models, collaboration with Google Labs and DeepMind experts, and Google Cloud credits, with some select companies also privy to receiving direct equity investments. Startup applications open on the 12th of May, with flexible check sizes tailored to each startup's stage and needs.

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Apple may turn to AI to help keep your iPhone battery healthier for longer

​A report from Bloomberg recently uncovered that Apple may be looking at adding an AI-based feature that would help optimize power consumption and conserve battery for its iPhones as part of iOS 19. It functions by analyzing "battery data it has collected from users" to understand user behavior and patterns, make predictions from there, and lower power draw. Though Google has been doing something similar since 2018, Bloomberg says that Apple is mainly launching this "AI battery management" feature for its upcoming iPhone 17, one of the company's slimmest designs, and thus one with a small battery.

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SoundCloud's February terms of service updates now seemingly enables the company to train AI on user content

In a February 7 update, tech ethicist Ed Newton-Rex spotted that SoundCloud's terms now grant the platform permission to use user-uploaded audio "to inform, train, develop or serve as input to artificial intelligence" systems, unless covered by separate label agreements, with no clear opt-out in settings. However, SoundCloud later clarified it has not yet trained AI on artist content and that the clause was meant to enable internal AI features like personalized recommendations and fraud detection, though nowhere was it specified or commented on that the company isn't at least preparing for it.

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Honor's latest 400 series smartphones will include Google's state-of-the-art image-to-video tech

On May 22, Honor will launch its new Honor 400 and Honor 400 Pro smartphones, packed with Google's image-to-video AI tool pre-installed in the Gallery app. Powered by Google's Veo 2 model, it converts still photos into five-second videos in about a minute without needing an extra download. Early access on Honor arrives before wider release to Google's Gemini users. As for whether this integration will cost anything, new buyers will get two months of free use with up to 10 daily video generations, though afterward, an undisclosed subscription fee set by Google will take over.