The Tech Wire

The realm of quantum computing is already bustling with activity, particularly in the high-level quantum computer science domain. In a recent announcement, Multiverse Computing, a startup based in San Sebastian, Spain, has secured €25 million (approximately $27 million) in equity funding, led by Columbus Venture Partners. This substantial investment, valuing the startup at €100 million ($108 million), is earmarked for expanding the company.

Anthropic, a tech startup backed by tech giants Google and Amazon, made waves in the AI world with the introduction of Claude 3, a suite of artificial intelligence models poised to redefine the industry’s standards. With its flagship model, Claude 3 Opus, Anthropic claims superiority over rivals like OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google’s Gemini 1.0 Ultra in various benchmark tests, asserting its position as the pinnacle of AI innovation.

Apple announced the release of multiple IMAX formatted documentaries for its Vision Pro headset in a new wave of what it is calling “spatial films” which it hopes will transform movie watching. The documentaries include A Beautiful Planet 3D, Pandas 3D, Super Power Dogs 3D, and Deep Sky, and join a list of 150 3D films that were released for the Vision Pro earlier.

A recent lawsuit against Apple has brought to light allegations of unfair pricing and restrictive practices regarding iCloud storage services. The complaint, spearheaded by law firm Hagens Berman on behalf of plaintiff Julianna Felix Gamboa, argues that Apple’s policies effectively force users to rely solely on iCloud for certain file backups, limiting competition and consumer choice.

Waymo, the Google-owned company pioneering autonomous vehicles, has achieved a significant milestone in its journey towards widespread adoption. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) granted Waymo approval to operate a commercial robotaxi service in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Peninsula, and on San Francisco freeways, marking a pivotal moment in the development of autonomous transportation.

Google has unveiled a groundbreaking feature for its Google Docs platform, allowing users to hand annotate directly on documents using a stylus or finger. This new markup feature caters to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and personal Google account holders, offering a seamless way to add handwritten notes and annotations to their documents.

Microsoft has introduced Copilot for Finance, the latest addition to its Copilot suite, aimed at transforming finance operations with AI-driven automation. Copilot for Finance integrates with Microsoft 365 to streamline financial tasks, automate workflows, and provide insights tailored to finance professionals. The new offering focuses on specific areas of opportunity by job function rather than generalized AI assistants that are built into the Microsoft 365 Office Suite.

Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit, its co-founders, and associated entities, accusing them of deviating from their original mission to develop AI for the betterment of humanity. Elon Musk is a co-founder of OpenAI and was the initial donor and majority funder for OpenAI when it launched in 2015. Musk claims he was persuaded to fund the startup with the promise of it being a nonprofit organization aimed at countering Google’s competitive threat.

Media outlets Raw Story, Alternet, and The Intercept filed lawsuits against OpenAI for copyright infringement, challenging the company’s practice of using copyrighted content from journalists to train its AI chatbot. Allegations include OpenAI’s failure to credit or cite journalists’ works, prompting the media outlets to seek damages of $2,500 per violation and demand the removal of copyrighted articles from training datasets.

Meta’s decision to charge European Union users for an ad-free experience on Facebook and Instagram, unless they agree to tracking, has sparked criticism from consumer rights groups, triggering complaints under the Bloc’s data protection rules. Users are given the choice to pay €9.99/month on the web (or €12.99/month on mobile) to opt out of ads or agree to tracking for free access, leading to concerns about privacy and coercion.