ElevenLabs, an AI voice synthesis startup, has doubled its valuation to $22 billion through a $300 million employee tender offer co-led by Wellington and T. Rowe Price. The funding round represents significant investor confidence in the commercial text-to-speech and voice cloning technology sector.
Source: TechCrunch
U.S. midterm elections saw voters approve restrictions on data center development in 40 of 41 ballot measures across multiple states. The Democratic victories may signal increased regulatory scrutiny of AI infrastructure expansion in the coming years. Source: TechCrunch
Spending on AI services has plateaued despite continued usage growth, according to Ramp data, potentially due to price reductions and improved cost management by large enterprises. This trend challenges investor expectations about sustained hypergrowth in AI spending as Anthropic approaches its IPO. Source: TechCrunch
Research indicates that fewer than one in four South African firms have confidence in their identity verification systems, raising concerns about AI-driven fraud risks. The findings highlight a significant trust gap in identity management practices across the South African business sector. Source: ITWeb
Underdog has unveiled a new speech model with a parameter size of 32MB that can generate both speech and music outputs. The model demonstrates capability in audio generation despite its significantly reduced size compared to larger alternatives. Source: TechCrunch