CHIRAG SHUKLA’s Post

It’s no coincidence that 80% of the world’s unicorns use AWS and 96% of AI/ML unicorns run on our cloud. And today, we just made a new investment to power even more ideas from founders around the globe ➡️: https://lnkd.in/gPjffhxC Since day one, we’ve worked with early-stage founders to bring their ideas to life by democratizing access to the technology that is powering some of the largest businesses around the world, including Amazon. And we’re ready to support the next wave of big ideas with a new $230 million commitment to accelerate the creation of GenAI applications by startups. I’m also very excited to share that we’re hosting the #AWS Generative AI Accelerator for its second year. This round, we’re teaming up with NVIDIA and have expanded the program 4x to serve 80 early-stage companies around the world with $1 million in AWS credits each and support from domain experts in our global network. Applications are open June 13 through July 19, 2024: https://lnkd.in/g2hqRrmb From NinjaTech AI to Perplexity to Brightcove, startups are choosing to AWS to build and scale across the three layers of the GenAI stack. Join us on the GenAI revolution 🚀 Credit: Swami Sivasubramanian

Have you ever contemplated the future of investment in artificial intelligence (AI)? The advancements in AI are drawing substantial investments into data centers, as both technology giants and startups recognize this pivotal opportunity. Amazon is breaking new ground in cloud computing with Amazon Web Services (AWS), further entrenching its position as a premier hub for innovation. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Azure is establishing itself as a multifaceted solution for a wide range of AI applications, thereby expanding its market share significantly. While the so-called "AI Big Six" exert considerable influence, emerging startups focused on edge AI and specialized data centers are capturing significant investor attention. The collective market capitalization of these prominent leaders exceeds $14 trillion, indicating an extraordinary potential for growth. This financial influx is transforming the AI landscape, fostering innovation, and heightening competition. As these developments progress, how do you believe startups can effectively navigate the increasingly competitive AI environment? I invite you to share your insights on capitalizing on this wave of investment. #AI #DataCenters #CloudComputing #AWS #MicrosoftAzure #TechInvestment #Startups #EdgeAI #Innovation #ArtificialIntelligence #MarketGrowth #InvestmentOpportunities #customerla

Big Tech earnings for the latest quarter kick off today with Microsoft, and all eyes are on AI-related capex. Why it matters: What these big companies spend on AI chips has big implications for AI startups and their investors. Big cloud providers like Microsoft's Azure and Amazon's AWS are buying up (and making) AI chips not only for their own uses, but also to sell access to those compute resources to other companies, from AI giants like OpenAI to tiny startups. VCs poured $38.6 billion into AI and machine learning startups in the U.S. in the first half of 2024, per PitchBook. In all of 2023, they invested $64.6 billion. The big picture: Nvidia's data center revenue — a proxy for how much the market is spending on AI capex — has been growing at a fast clip. Last quarter, it raked in $22.6 billion in data center revenue, up 23% from the previous quarter and up 427% from a year ago (yes, it more than quadrupled since early 2023). The company is scheduled to announced its next quarterly results on Aug. 28. Rivals AMD and Arm are scheduled for today and tomorrow, respectively. Zoom in: Microsoft spent $14 billion on capex last quarter, up 79% and expected to say this afternoon that kept growing. Alphabet spent about $12 billion last quarter, up 90% year over year. Meta spent $6.7 billion, a bit less than it spent a year prior, though the company raised its capex guidance for the year to $35 billion-$40 billion, up from $30 billion-$37 billion. Between the lines: There's already some skepticism about this level of AI infrastructure investment and whether we'll ever get the necessary levels of revenue to justify it. In a recent blog post, Sequoia Capital partner notes that OpenAI is still generating the bulk of AI-related revenue right now, and its annualized revenue has been pegged at a mere $3.4 billion. Even if major tech companies generate $5 billion-$10 billion in annual AI revenue, it'll barely cover the 2024 infrastructure investment, per his estimate. Meanwhile, Barclays estimates that AI capex by 2026 will be sufficient to support 12,000 AI products of the scale of ChatGPT — and it's unlikely we'll get or want 12,000 such apps. The bottom line: Whatever the numbers we see this week from the Big Tech companies, some venture capital will be incinerated as an indirect result of it.

Microsoft’s Strategic Moves in AI: Partnerships and Innovation The Wall Street Journal reports about Microsoft's AI strategy and the roles of startups and OpenAI: - Strategy: It includes amassing AI talent, tools, and technology globally. Nadella has recruited Suleyman, a notable figure in the AI industry, to lead an in-house AI development team, indicating a move towards creating Microsoft's proprietary AI technologies. - Importance of Startups: By investing in startups, Microsoft gains access to AI innovations and it competes more effectively against Google and Amazon. Microsoft plans to integrate startups' innovations into Microsoft's ecosystem. - Role of OpenAI : Microsoft continues to integrate OpenAI technology across its product lineup, indicating that while Microsoft is expanding its AI capabilities, OpenAI remains a central component of its strategy - AI and Azure: Microsoft cloud is deeply intertwined with its AI strategy. This includes (i) an agreement for OpenAI to use Azure exclusively, (ii) providing Startups free access to computing resources on Azure. #MicrosoftAI #AIstrategy #OpenAI #Azure #AIinnovation #TechTrends #StartupCulture #CloudComputing -

Lambda Secures $320 Million Funding, Targets AI Infrastructure Expansion Lambda, a cloud computing startup, raises $320 million, valuing it at $1.5 billion. Led by Thomas Tull's US Innovative Technology, the funding includes B Capital and SK Telecom. Lambda plans to expand GPU resources for AI software training and hire more staff. Originally offering facial recognition, Lambda shifted to machine learning consulting and launched Dreamscope, an AI image filter app. High cloud costs led Lambda to build its servers, transitioning into a computing service and hardware provider. With over 5,000 clients, including AnyScale and Rakuten, Lambda aims to compete in AI infrastructure provision, amidst rising demand for AI-driven applications. #Lambda #CloudComputing #Startup #Funding #ThomasTull #USInnovativeTechnology #BCapital #SKTelecom #GPU #AI #MachineLearning #Consulting #Dreamscope #FacialRecognition #ImageFilter #Infrastructure #AnyScale #Rakuten #Technology #Innovation

Amazon says that it will commit up to $230 million to startups building generative AI-powered applications. The investment, roughly $80 million of which will fund Amazon’s second Amazon Web Services (AWS) Generative AI Accelerator program, aims to position AWS as an attractive cloud infrastructure choice for startups developing generative AI models to power their products, apps and services. Much of the new tranche — including the entire portion set aside for the accelerator program — comes in the form of compute credits for AWS infrastructure, meaning that it can’t be transferred to other cloud service providers like Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. To sweeten the pot, Amazon is pledging that startups in this year’s Generative AI Accelerator cohort will gain access to experts and tech from NVIDIA, the program’s presenting partner. They will also be invited to join the Nvidia Inception program, which provides companies opportunities to connect with potential investors and additional consulting resources. The Generative AI Accelerator program has also grown substantially. Last year’s cohort, which had 21 startups, received only up to $300,000 in AWS compute credits, amounting to around a combined $6.3 million investment. “With this new effort, we will help startups launch and scale world-class businesses, providing the building blocks they need to unleash new AI applications that will impact all facets of how the world learns, connects, and does business,” Matt Wood, VP of AI products at AWS, said in a statement. #amazon #ai #genai #news #tech https://lnkd.in/gqYqB36T

Microsoft is set to invest €4 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure in France as part of the 'Choose France' summit. This strategic investment aims to train 1 million people and support 2,500 startups by 2027, enhancing France's tech ecosystem. #Microsoft #AI #CloudComputing #TechInvestment #ChooseFrance

In the bustling world of MLOps, a new star emerges: VESSL AI from South Korea has just clinched $12M in Series A funding to innovate how we manage GPU expenses. Imagine slashing those costs by up to 80%! At the heart of this innovation is VESSL AI’s multi-cloud strategy that seamlessly combines on-premise and cloud infrastructures. This approach not only reduces costs but alleviates the notorious GPU shortages plaguing AI development. With 50 major enterprise clients already on board, including Hyundai and TMAP Mobility, and strategic partnerships with Oracle and Google Cloud, VESSL AI is poised to make a significant impact on the MLOps landscape. Founded in 2020 by a dream team with stints at Google and PUBG, VESSL AI is focused on solving the complex challenges of machine learning deployment and operation. Their impressive platform offers automated training, real-time deployment, streamlined workflows, and optimized resource usage. Could this be the future of cost-effective AI model training? Keep an eye on VESSL AI as they continue to reshape the MLOps industry! Source: TechCrunch #AI #MLOps #Startups #Cloud #Funding

Unlock the Power of AI with Google Cloud. Calling all ambitious founders and CTOs! Join us for an exclusive half-day event exploring how Google Cloud's AI capabilities can supercharge your business. Don't miss this chance to discover how AI can revolutionize your product development, customer experience, and operational efficiency, learn about Google Cloud's tailored programs and resources for AI startups and scaleups, network with a community of like-minded leaders driving the future with AI. Space is limited, so RSVP today! #GoogleCloudAI #AIforStartups #Founders #CTOs #Innovation #scottsdaleaz#phoenixaz #glendaleaz #peoriaaz #cavecreekaz #anthemaz #arizonabusiness #smallbusinessmarketing #googleads #googlemaps #smallbusinessmarketingtips #googleadsexpert #google