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In Today’s Edition
AI drug designer Genesis Therapeutics forges $200M round with eye on clinical testing
Wand.app raises $4.2M to scale its AI-powered creative tool for artists
Meta’s Threads begins rolling out on the web, as Zuckerberg takes more direct aim at Elon Musk’s X
Meta’s “massively multilingual” AI model translates up to 100 languages, speech or text
Microsoft is bringing Python to Excel
Breakthrough creates stem cells without any “memories”
🚀Startups Nuts
Genesis, a company spun out of Stanford University in 2019, has developed GEMS - a deep learning platform that predicts how small-molecule drug compounds interact with the body. The company recently raised $100M in series B funding, led by a16z Bio + Health and an unnamed US-based life-sciences-focused investor, with participation from previous investors. In addition to expanding its drug discovery efforts, Genesis plans to use the funds to move into the clinical testing stage.
Wand.app is a creative tool that allows artists to manually customize and visualize their ideas. It has raised $4.2 million in seed funding led by O’Shaughnessy Ventures. Unlike other AI-powered creative tools, Wand tries to bridge the gap between limited control over generated content and specific visions with a combination of visual tools and personalization. Wand allows artists to teach a personal AI their own style to receive consistent results. The tool is currently being tested with a small group of beta testers and the company plans to launch it publicly in the coming months.
🏭Business Nuts
Meta's Threads has started rolling out on the web. The web version will be improved to look more like the mobile app over the coming weeks. Meta is currently working on a search feature to improve functionality on Threads and make it more of a competitor to X. The company has no plans to monetize the service until it is more established.
Netflix is shutting down its DVD rental service on September 29. Customers can keep any remaining DVDs they have after the service shuts down. Subscribers can potentially receive up to 10 discs for free as Netflix clears out its inventory. Netflix will allow people to sign up to its DVD plan until midnight on August 28 for a chance to win the DVDs.
📱Tech Nuts
SeamlessM4T is a multimodal AI model for speech and text translations. It can perform text-to-speech, speech-to-text, speech-to-speech, and text-to-text translations for up to 100 languages. Meta developed the model to help people who speak different languages communicate with each other more effectively. SeamlessM4T has been released under a research license. Its code and weights are available on Hugging Face.
Microsoft is bringing Python to Excel. A public preview of the feature is now available. Excel users can now manipulate and explore data in Excel using Python plots and libraries in combination with Excel's formulas, charts, and PivotTables. No additional software is required to access the functionality. Microsoft plans to add a feature that will expose Python data within the grid of an Excel spreadsheet.
🔥Newsletter Spotlight
Check out Morning Brew - Get smarter in 5 minutes with Morning Brew (it's free) - Link
See Bay Area Times - The Bay Area Times is an awesome daily digest of what's happening in the world of tech. - Link
🎁Miscellaneous
Embryonic stem cells are difficult to obtain and they can be rejected following transplants if they don't match the recipient's DNA. Australian researchers have developed a technique to reprogram adult cells to be more like embryonic stem cells. These cells can then be reprogrammed to become any kind of cell. The technique potentially unlocks an endless supply of stem cells for research or treatment.
💡What else are we reading and seeing?
Meta’s Threads is finally available on desktop
Instagram is adding a chronological feed for Reels and Stories in Europe
How Games Typically Get Built
Is Liquity Protocol v2 Solving the Stablecoin Trilemma through Delta Neutrality?
A Positive Black Swan
Law firms face financial challenges as productivity declines
IBM CEO says AI will impact white collar jobs first
The stock market has a real problem
5 LinkedIn features you should be using
How emotionally intelligent people speak up and get results
A short exercise to increase focus
😎Fun Fact
Bananas are berries, but strawberries are not
🐦Tweet of the Day
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