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SandboxAQ Wants to Make Its Models Easier to Use–Via Claude
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By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Artificial intelligence already powers drug-discovery and materials-science research. Now, SandboxAQ and Anthropic are teaming up to make the technology even more pervasive in these fields.
Spun off from Alphabet in 2022, SandboxAQ creates large quantitative models, or models trained on lab data and scientific equations. Two areas of focus are pharmaceutical and materials research. But to use its models, companies in these sectors have had to hire specialized scientists and write complex code, according to SandboxAQ.
To make its models simpler to use, SandboxAQ is integrating them with Claude, Anthropic’s AI chatbot. This will allow scientists to query SandboxAQ models with natural language prompts.
The SandboxAQ models are currently available through an invitation-only, early-access program, said Nadia Harhen, general manager of AI simulation for SandboxAQ. The company expects to open the program more broadly in the coming weeks, she said.
To begin, scientists will have access to a model that can help identify catalysts, such as enzymes, that enable specific chemical reactions. This applies to various endeavors, among them, diagnostic development. SandboxAQ also plans to make models geared to drug discovery available through Claude.
Ease of use will hopefully translate into faster research breakthroughs, Harhen said. “Ultimately we exist to change the way scientific discovery is done,” she added.
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And now on to the news...
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Elon Musk’s suit sought the unwinding of OpenAI’s conversion to a more traditional governance structure. MANUEL ORBEGOZO/REUTERS
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Verdict. A jury unanimously rejected Elon Musk’s claims against OpenAI, finding that he brought his lawsuit against the company and Chief Executive Sam Altman after the statute of limitations expired. In deliberations that lasted less than two hours, the nine-person panel found against Musk on technical grounds. He had alleged in testimony that the startup behind the world’s most popular chatbot “stole a charity” when it converted into a for-profit company. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who presided over the case, accepted the verdict and dismissed the claims.
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Musk, in a post on his social network X, said he planned to appeal and described the ruling as a “destructive” precedent.
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Nvidia-Backed Startup Makes Switching AI Chips Easier
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Most AI companies are so desperate for computing capacity that they will use any advanced chip they can lay hands on, but switching to a new computing system can be complex and costly. Decart, a San Francisco-based software startup, says it has found a way to make it easier for AI developers to switch between processors made by Nvidia, Amazon.com, Google and others. Nvidia is among the brand name companies backing the startup as part of a new $300 million round led by Radical Ventures. The funding round values the startup at nearly $4 billion, up from $3.1 billion in August, when it raised $153 million from Sequoia Capital, Benchmark and others.
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Google and Blackstone to Create New AI Cloud Company
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Alphabet’s Google and Blackstone plan to create an AI cloud company to rival the likes of CoreWeave using Google’s specialized chips. The duo said Monday they plan to launch the unnamed U.S. company with $5 billion in equity capital from Blackstone, confirming an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal. The venture, the biggest attempt yet by Google to sell and monetize its own chips to external parties, will sharpen a rivalry with Nvidia, the market leader in AI computing.
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Funds
Playground Global raised $475 million for its fourth fund to back deep tech startups across AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy and advanced manufacturing.
Mouro Capital, which invests at the intersection of technology and financial services, held the first close of its third fund at $400 million, bringing the firm’s total investment commitments to over $1 billion.
Deals
Austin-based brokerage platform Gyde acquired Medicare insurance agency We Know Medicare.
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Sigma, a San Francisco-based AI apps and agentic analytics platform, closed an $80 million Series E round at a $3 billion valuation. Princeville Capital led the investment, with Partner Vivian Huang joining the company’s board. Investors including Spark Capital and Sutter Hill Ventures also participated in the round.
Searchable, an AI performance marketing platform, picked up a $14 million investment led by Headline.
Sprouts.ai, a Palo Alto, Calif.-headquartered startup delivering revenue agents for B2B enterprises, landed $9 million in pre-Series A funding from investors including Accel.
FaceUp, a Charleston, S.C.-based ethics and compliance platform for companies, raised $5 million in Series A funding. Fil Rouge Capital led the round, which included participation from JIC Ventures, Venture to Future Fund and Gi21 Capital.
Furientis, a Los Angeles-based defense technology startup building ship-based interceptor systems, secured $5 million in pre-seed financing. Silent Ventures led the round, which included contributions from Bessemer Venture Partners, SV Angel and others.
Cimento AI, a Salt Lake City-based AI-powered human-risk-management startup, launched with about $3 million in pre-seed funding from investors including Bowery Capital.
StitcherAI, a Seattle-based IT finance intelligence platform, emerged from stealth with $3 million in pre-seed funding led by Founders’ Co-op.
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Amazon in its early days was a proponent of the ‘two-pizza team’—that is, any team should be small enough that it could be fed with two pizzas. JASON HENRY FOR WSJ
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