Anysphere Raises $8 Million for AI-Driven Software Development Enviroment 🤯

Author

Hashim Aliyu Hashim
October 15, 2023

Happy Weekend AI Visionaries!

As we gear up for the weekend, Anysphere Raises $8 Million for AI-Driven Software Development Enviroment, PLUS Adobe's Experimental "Project Res-Up" Enhances fuzzy Videos and Gifs with AI

Today’s AI Spotlights:

  •  Anysphere Raises $8 Million for AI-Driven Software Development Enviroment

  • Adobe's Experimental "Project Res-Up" Enhances fuzzy Videos and Gifs with AI

  • AMD to acquire AI software startup in effort to Possibly catch upto Nvidia

NEWS

💸Anysphere Raises $8 Million for AI-Driven IDE

cursor.so

Startup Anysphere has secured $8 million in seed funding, led by OpenAI's Startup Fund, with participation from notable investors, including Nat Friedman, former CEO of GitHub, and Arash Ferdowsi, co-founder of Dropbox. This funding brings Anysphere's total investment to $11 million, and it will be allocated toward expanding their AI and machine learning research.

Anysphere's mission is to revolutionize software development by making it significantly faster and more creative. The company's platform, Cursor, is described as an "AI-native" software development environment that enables developers to build software more efficiently.

Cursor, built on Microsoft's open-source code editor VS Code, incorporates AI-powered tools to assist developers in writing code and seeking answers to coding-related questions. It can respond to inquiries like "What service in VS Code lets me save a state to disk?" by providing relevant documentation and code definitions. Moreover, Cursor features generative AI capabilities, allowing it to produce code from prompts and passively identify potential bugs in codebases.

Anysphere is focused on enhancing coding beyond autocomplete with a strong emphasis on finding and fixing bugs and codebase Q&A. This approach sets it apart from other AI-driven coding tools, such as GitHub Copilot.

NEWS

Adobe's Experimental "Project Res-Up" Enhances fuzzy Videos and Gifs with AI

Adobe

Adobe has unveiled an experimental AI-driven upscaling tool named "Project Res-Up," aimed at enhancing the quality of low-resolution GIFs and video footage. While not yet a fully-fledged application or feature, early demonstrations suggest its significant potential.

"Project Res-Up" utilizes diffusion-based upsampling technology, a form of generative AI that generates new data based on existing data, to increase video resolution while improving sharpness and detail. In a direct comparison, Adobe upscaled a clip from the 1947 film "The Red House" from 480 x 360 to 1280 x 960, resulting in a 675 percent increase in pixel count. The AI-driven process substantially sharpened the footage, reducing blurriness and introducing new details, such as hair strands and highlights. While some slight artificiality remains, considering the initial low-quality video, it's a noteworthy leap forward compared to other upscaling methods.

NEWS

AMD Acquires Nod.ai to Strengthen AI Software for Advanced Chips

AMd

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has announced its acquisition of the artificial intelligence startup Nod.ai, marking a strategic move to enhance its software capabilities. This acquisition is part of AMD's effort to compete with Nvidia in the AI chip market by investing significantly in essential software development.

Nvidia has established a powerful advantage in AI chips due to its software and developer ecosystem. In response, AMD aims to create a unified collection of software to support its diverse range of chips. Nod.ai's technology aligns with this strategy, making it easier for companies to deploy AI models optimized for AMD's chips, particularly in data center environments.

While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Nod.ai, based in Santa Clara, California, has raised approximately $36.5 million. AMD previously established an AI group that will now house the Nod.ai acquisition, consisting mainly of software engineers. The company plans to expand this team with 300 additional hires in 2023 and continues to look for growth opportunities through potential acquisitions.

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