May 31, 2025: NAACP Demands Halt to xAIs Memphis Data Center - The NAACP has called on Memphis officials to shut down xAI's Colossus data center, highlighting significant pollution issues affecting the Black community in Boxtown. They allege that xAI uses unpermitted gas turbines, releasing hazardous pollutants such as formaldehyde and nitrogen oxide beyond EPA limits.

The letter criticizes local authorities for failing to properly regulate these emissions, despite high cancer risks in the area. The NAACP has communicated these concerns to local health and utility officials, demanding immediate action against the reported environmental threats.

May 30, 2025: Anomalo Unveils Workflows Hub for Data Monitoring - Anomalo has enhanced its Unstructured Data Monitoring product by introducing Workflows, now generally available. This innovation allows enterprises to manage and extract insights from unstructured data, addressing data quality while enabling configurations for varied use cases. The platform can analyze over 100,000 documents swiftly, transforming them into structured data for AI applications.

With capabilities to identify duplicates, errors, and more, Anomalo aims to revolutionize data quality for unstructured data, vital for Gen AI workflows. The product is supported by major ventures and used globally across numerous industries.

May 30, 2025: Google AI Glitch Claims Its 2024 - Google resolved a bug in its AI Overviews that wrongly marked the current year as 2024. While the company didn't specify reasons for the error, it is developing updates to avoid similar problems. AI Overviews has made other errors, such as suggesting eating rocks and applying glue to pizza.

Despite these issues, Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated that AI Overviews is utilized by 1.5 billion users in over 100 countries, boosting search engine activity, especially in the U.S. and India.

May 30, 2025: Snorkel AI Raises $100M, Unveils New Offerings - Snorkel AI announced $100 million in Series D funding, reaching a $1.3 billion valuation. The company introduced Snorkel Evaluate and Snorkel Expert Data-as-a-Service to enhance its AI Data Development Platform. These tools assist enterprises in building fine-grained models with programmatic data and human expertise for domain-specific AI production.

The funding will drive innovation and expansion in AI, supported by investors like Addition and existing partners. Snorkel AI aims to enable efficient, production-ready specialized AI systems, moving beyond generic data solutions. This advancement underscores their commitment to enhancing AI capabilities for diverse industries.

May 30, 2025: Milvus Achieves 35,000 GitHub Stars - Milvus, an open-source vector database by Zilliz, has reached 35,000 GitHub stars, reinforcing its global leadership in vector databases for AI applications. Trusted by NVIDIA, Meta, and Salesforce, Milvus is known for its fast performance, scalable architecture, and developer-friendly features, making it essential for industries like e-commerce and healthcare.

The upcoming release of Milvus version 2.6 promises significant enhancements to further its market dominance. With over 5,000 enterprise users, Milvus is pivotal in the expanding AI infrastructure landscape, enabling advancements in AI-driven innovations across various sectors.

May 30, 2025: Tech Growth Shifts Amid AI and Earnings Surges - Nvidia and Dell's earnings soar due to AI demand, but uncertainties like tariffs and export controls persist. Salesforce acquires Informatica, while Anthropics' CEO foresees AI eliminating half of entry-level jobs. Despite mixed IT outcomes, AI budgets grow. Meanwhile, Elon Musk exits DOGE amidst controversies.

Major tech events like Snowflake and Databricks Summits highlight data innovations. Key financial moves include Nvidia's planned GPU for China, several impressive earnings reports, and numerous startups securing significant funding in the growing AI and cybersecurity spaces.

May 30, 2025: Prepared Secures $80M to Enhance AI Emergency Solutions - Prepared, an AI-driven emergency response startup, raised $80 million to enhance its assistive AI platform and expand outreach to public safety agencies. Operating in 49 U.S. states, Prepared supports 911 centers with automated triage, real-time call translation, and location services to improve response efficiency.

The funding round, led by General Catalyst and other notable investors, increases total investments to over $135 million. Prepared aims to optimize emergency operations and assist 911 operators in delivering precise responses during critical situations.

May 30, 2025: Perplexity Labs Unveils Versatile AI Creation Tool - Perplexity AI Inc. launches Perplexity Labs, a tool for creating spreadsheets, dashboards, and web apps with generative AI. Labs uses AI agents to improve data structuring and visualization without development tools, facilitating interactive projects and detailed research through web browsing and code execution.

Users can download assets such as images, charts, and CSV files. Available to Pro plan subscribers on web, iOS, and Android, with broader platform support coming soon, Labs demonstrates Perplexity's dedication to versatile AI solutions.

May 30, 2025: Bridging AI Ambition and Execution Gaps - A Qlik survey of 500 business leaders reveals significant challenges in operationalizing AI, despite its strategic importance. The study finds that 87% consider AI execution vital for competitiveness, yet many encounter barriers such as infrastructure costs and data silos. Younger executives emphasize the necessity of automation and demonstrate more trust in AI insights compared to their older peers.

To address these issues, Qlik plans to introduce new solutions aimed at simplifying data integration and ensuring seamless AI implementation. These efforts are vital for transforming competitive abilities and fostering innovation.

May 29, 2025: NYT Partners with Amazon for AI Content Licensing - The New York Times has partnered with Amazon to license its editorial content, including news articles, NYT Cooking, and The Athletic, for Amazon's AI training. This agreement aims to integrate Times content into Amazon's customer experiences, particularly Alexa-powered devices. Although the terms were undisclosed, this is Amazon's first licensing deal of this type.

The move follows The Times' previous copyright infringement claims against OpenAI and Microsoft for unauthorized use of its content. The Times emphasizes that this deal reflects its commitment to valuing its intellectual property appropriately.

May 29, 2025: Meta AI Reaches 1 Billion Monthly Users - Meta AI has surpassed one billion monthly active users, doubling from 500 million in September 2024. Announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the milestone underscores the company's focus on personalization, voice conversations, and entertainment within its AI platform.

Meta plans to enhance its AI assistant, exploring monetization options like paid recommendations or a subscription service, potentially challenging leading AI chat applications such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. This achievement aligns with the recent launch of a stand-alone Meta AI app.

May 29, 2025: DeepSeeks R1 AI Model Tightens Censorship - Chinese AI startup DeepSeeks updated its R1-0528 model, which excels in coding, math, and general knowledge. However, it faces criticism for increased censorship on sensitive topics. Testing by developer xlr8harder reveals the model's reluctance to address controversial issues, especially criticism of the Chinese government, aligning with strict information controls from a 2023 Chinese law.

While R1-0528 occasionally acknowledges human rights abuses, it often mirrors official government stances. This trend persists amid broader criticisms of Chinese AI models for filtering politically sensitive content. The model's approach reflects ongoing concerns about censorship and the influence of government regulations on AI development in China.

May 29, 2025: Sisense Unveils AI-Powered Intelligence Suite - Sisense has introduced Sisense Intelligence, a suite of AI-driven tools that simplify data analytics and integrate insights into workflows. It includes an intuitive AI-first assistant that enables users to generate sophisticated analytics effortlessly. Key features comprise a GenAI suite for natural-language summaries, data change explanations, trend forecasting, and pattern detection.

Sisense Intelligence is set to revolutionize data-driven decision-making in sectors such as finance and healthcare. It aims to pave the way for an Analytics Platform as a Service (AnPaaS), embedding analytics into enterprise tech stacks to enhance decision-making processes.

May 29, 2025: DeepSeek Unveils Lightweight AI Model for Single GPU - DeepSeek unveiled a compact version of its R1 AI model called DeepSeek-R1-0528-Qwen3-8B, optimized to run on a single GPU. This model, based on Alibaba's Qwen3-8B, shows superior performance compared to similar models, notably outperforming Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash on AIME 2025 math tests and coming close to Microsoft's Phi 4 on HMMT.

Though it lacks the capabilities of larger models, its lower computational requirements make it attractive for various applications. Released under the permissive MIT license, it is accessible for both academic and industrial uses through platforms such as Hugging Face and LM Studio.

May 29, 2025: Perplexity Labs Debuts AI-Powered Project Tools - Perplexity, an AI-driven search engine, launched Perplexity Labs for Pro subscribers at $20/month. This tool crafts spreadsheets, dashboards, and reports, using AI for tasks like research and code generation. Accessible on multiple platforms, Labs enables users to create web apps and organize outputs like charts and images.

As part of its expansion beyond search, Perplexity aims to enhance corporate-focused features. This move may be driven by investor expectations for returns. Additionally, Perplexity is reportedly seeking $1 billion in funding at an $18 billion valuation.

May 29, 2025: ClickHouse Secures $350M for AI-Powered Data Analytics - ClickHouse, a leader in real-time analytics, raised $350 million in Series C funding led by Khosla Ventures, with major investors like BOND and Battery Ventures also participating. This brings their total funding to over $650 million. The company plans to use the funds for product development and global expansion to meet the growing demands for AI-native applications.

With over 2,000 customers, including Tesla and Mercado Libre, ClickHouse's innovative database platform supports high-performance, low-latency analytics crucial for AI-driven data environments.

May 29, 2025: Chalk Secures $50M to Lead in AI Inference - Chalk AI Inc. raised $50 million at a $500 million valuation to enhance its AI inference platform, improving real-time data delivery for AI models. The funding, led by Felicis with Triatomic Capital's participation, aims to expand Chalk's capabilities for accurate, real-time AI decisions, crucial for models such as chain-of-reasoning.

Chalk seeks to outperform data solutions like Databricks and Snowflake by offering faster data pipelines and supporting AI security and financial product innovation. The funds will also be used to expand Chalk's team and infrastructure in San Francisco and New York.

May 29, 2025: AI-Powered Buildots Raises $45M for Construction Tracking - Buildots, a Chicago-based startup, raised $45 million in a Series D round led by Qumra Capital. Founded in 2018, Buildots uses AI and computer vision to track construction progress with 360-degree cameras and predictive tools, providing real-time insights for construction managers.

The funds will help expand its product offerings and grow its North American operations. With clients like Intel, Buildots aims to transform construction management through data-driven decision-making, solidifying its position as a leading industry player.

May 29, 2025: DataRobot Launches Syftr for Advanced AI Optimization - DataRobot has launched Syftr, an open-source framework designed to optimize agentic AI workflows for enterprises. Syftr uses a multi-objective approach to discover the best configurations for AI systems, balancing accuracy, cost, and speed through a Pareto-efficient search and Bayesian optimization for cost-effective computations.

The framework features a component-agnostic evaluation system that simplifies implementing new techniques. Syftr is now available, offering a solution to streamline AI development and reduce manual experimentation. An enterprise version is scheduled for release in fall 2025.

May 29, 2025: Kurrent Revolutionizes Database Interaction with AI - Kurrent has introduced the open-source KurrentDB MCP Server, which enables developers to use AI agents and natural language for database interaction, removing the need for traditional coding. It features a self-correcting capability that aids in prototyping and debugging, and it supports advanced models like GPT-4 and Claude.

Released under the MIT license, the server encourages community-driven innovation, turning AI agents into effective database collaborators. This development cuts down coding time and speeds up development, fostering AI-managed data workflows across various industries.