Technology

Bifrost raises $8M to accelerate AI’s ability to solve problems in the physical world

Published

2 months ago

October 31, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Bifrost AI, a Generative 3D Data platform, raised $8 million in Series A funding to meet the growing demand for AI training data and 3D simulations. Its physically accurate data generation engine provides the vast real-world scenarios crucial in rapidly training, testing and adapting models in AI and Robotics. The round was led by Carbide Ventures, with participation from Airbus Ventures, Peak XV’s Surge (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA), Wavemaker Partners, MD One, and Techstars. The capital will be used to accelerate the commercialization of Bifrost’s product for heavy industries such as aerospace, maritime, manufacturing, and national security.

Bifrost raises $8M to accelerate AI’s ability to solve problems in the physical world

Today’s pressing challenges, such as labor shortages and escalating geopolitical tensions, primarily exist in the physical world. While AI has thrived in the digital realm, its potential in the physical domain remains untapped due to a lack of domain-specific training datasets. More than 95% of enterprises struggle to obtain high-quality training data at scale, often pouring millions into sensor deployments and dedicating months to manual data labeling—only to face uncertain outcomes. This struggle is one of the biggest barriers to effectively implementing AI systems in the physical world.

Bifrost’s software platform changes this by allowing teams to generate datasets in minutes using simulated 3D worlds. This allows teams to build new AI capabilities faster than ever, teach robots how to solve real-world problems, and adapt to new objects, tasks, and environments in hours instead of months.

Bifrost’s breakthroughs in Generative AI and 3D graphics allow users to create realistic, industry-specific data & scenarios at scale—no 3D expertise needed. Designed for AI developers, the platform offers fully controllable real-time 3D worlds in supercharged Jupyter notebooks. Traditional 3D simulators often fail to deliver realism, while 2D generative AI lacks the nuanced control necessary for sophisticated applications. Bifrost bridges this gap with a hybrid approach, combining an unprecedented level of precision with realism. Users harness a powerful Python library to program every element of their 3D worlds, from camera movements to environmental conditions, automating and fine-tuning their simulations with ease.

This has enabled their customers to build new Physical AI capabilities faster than ever. Autonomous boats that can safeguard shipping lanes from piracy, industrial robots that can assemble new parts with unmatched efficiency, and drones that can inspect thousands of electrical grids for defects—all without human intervention. These systems serve as a vital link that allows digital systems to engage with the real world.

After LLMs and image generators, Physical AI represents AI’s most important frontier yet. However, building these systems is incredibly hard. Bifrost is making this process faster, cheaper, and more reliable, so teams can focus on what matters: solving real-world problems with AI.

“We work with some of the most technically demanding organizations in the world, solving some of the toughest problems. This includes major U.S. government organizations and leading enterprises in heavy industry. One example is NASA JPL, with whom we have been collaborating on several initiatives, including data generation engines for Moon and Mars exploration,” said Charles Wong, Co-founder and CEO of Bifrost AI.

“The market for robotics and autonomous systems is rapidly increasing. In the future, AI development will rely increasingly on synthetic data instead of real data. We believe the Bifrost team is uniquely positioned to enable this opportunity by bridging the data , allowing systems to be trained more efficiently and quickly by an order of magnitude. We expect their approach will unlock new use cases and opportunities, enabling AI to transform our physical world”, said Stephen Lee, General Partner at Carbide Ventures.

“As AI becomes increasingly prevalent, actively deployed across commercial and defense-related applications at an unprecedented scale, Bifrost stands out as a trusted partner, ready to support teams working on advanced robotics and autonomous systems,” adds Thomas d’Halluin, Airbus Ventures Managing Partner. “We are confident that Bifrost AI will unlock exceptional value at the intersection of 3D generative AI, advanced simulation, and design, which is already being used by major U.S. government organizations and leading global enterprises in heavy industry.”

“One of the fundamental challenges in AI and robotics is generalization—the ability to learn new skills and handle a variety of scenarios and tasks. Traditionally, adapting to new tasks could take months. But with Bifrost, that timeline has shrunk to just hours. This acceleration enables teams to build AI systems that can tackle a wider range of problems, unlock larger markets, and generate more revenue with less upfront data acquisition cost.” Aravind SK, co-founder and CTO of Bifrost AI.

Technology

Inspur Smart Healthcare Participates in GITEX IMPACT 2024 Exhibition

Published

4 minutes ago

December 23, 2024

DUBAI, UAE, Dec. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — From October 13th to 16th, the GITEX IMPACT 2024, Dubai’s Carbon Neutrality and Technology Exhibition, was held in Dubai. Organized by the Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Tourism of the United Arab Emirates, the exhibition focused on the forefront of sustainable development technologies, encompassing a wide range of sectors including construction, oil and gasoline, energy, and healthcare. It stands as one of the largest technology exhibitions in the Middle East and globally. Inspur Smart Health was invited to participate, showcasing its core products and cases of empowering the digital and intelligent transformation of the healthcare industry at the exhibition.

At the exhibition site, Inspur Smart Health introduced a series of products and solutions to government agencies and medical institutions, including the Health and Medical Big Data Intelligent Platform, Inspur Medical Industry International Trade Platform, Integrated Healthcare and Long-term Care Platform, Health Examination Center Solutions, Medical Group Information Management Platform, Internet Hospitals. These presentations comprehensively demonstrated Inspur Smart Health’s product innovation advantages and service capabilities.

Through this “debut” in the Middle East and even the global market, Inspur Smart Health has laid a solid foundation for further expanding its overseas “circle of friends” and establishing international brand recognition. In the future, Inspur Smart Health will continue to leverage its technological advantages in big data and artificial intelligence, constantly enhance the internationalization level of its products and solutions, deepen the exploration of overseas markets, and contribute to the thriving development of the global medical digital industry.

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SOURCE Shandong Inspur Intelligent Medical Technology Co., Ltd.

Technology

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP AND AMAZON MUSIC EXPAND GLOBAL RELATIONSHIP

Published

5 minutes ago

December 23, 2024

Reflects New Era in Music Streaming, Including Artist-Centric Principles and Furthering Authentic Engagement Between Artists and Fans

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, and Amazon Music today announced an expanded global relationship that will enable further innovation, exclusive content with UMG artists, and advancement of artist-centric principles including increased fraud protection.

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP AND AMAZON MUSIC EXPAND GLOBAL RELATIONSHIP

This reflects the two companies’ shared commitment to advancing and safeguarding human artistry, while ensuring UMG’s artists achieve their commercial potential through the service’s continued product enhancements and exclusive content that elevate authentic engagement between artists and fans.

UMG and Amazon Music will work closely to explore new and enhanced product opportunities designed to benefit artists and enrich the experience of their fans. UMG will also collaborate with Amazon Music as it continues to expand in audio, including further innovation in audiobooks, audio and visual programming, and its investment in livestreamed content that has connected millions of fans with their favorite artists across all genres and corners of the world. UMG and Amazon will also work collaboratively to address, among other things, unlawful AI-generated content, as well as protecting against fraud and misattribution.

Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman & CEO, Universal Music Group said, “We are very excited to advance our long-standing, excellent partnership with Amazon Music that marks a new era in streaming—Streaming 2.0. We appreciate Amazon Music’s deep commitment to the interests of our artists, and look forward to progressing our shared artist-centric objectives through product innovation and accelerating growth of their service.”

Steve Boom, VP of Audio, Twitch and Games for Amazon said, “UMG has always been a collaborative partner to Amazon Music, and as we continue to invent and introduce more artist-to-fan connections through our product and exclusive content, we’re redefining what it means to be a streaming service. We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with UMG which will enable us to partner on meaningful new ways for artists to deepen their engagement with fans around the world, while working together to protect the work of artists, songwriters and publishers.”

Notes to editors:

About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group exists to shape culture through the power of artistry. UMG is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content. Featuring the most comprehensive catalogue of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. For more information, visit www.universalmusic.com.

About Amazon Music
Amazon Music is an immersive audio entertainment service that connects fans, artists, and creators through music, podcasts, and culture. Amazon Music brings fans closer to what they love, with curated and personalized playlists, artist livestreams, artist merch, and Amazon Exclusive podcasts. Prime members get access to over 100 million songs in shuffle mode, All-Access playlists, plus the largest catalog of top ad-free podcasts, included with their membership. Customers can upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited for full, on-demand access to 100 million songs in HD, a growing catalog of Ultra HD and Spatial audio, and the world’s largest selection of audiobooks from Audible. Anyone can listen to Amazon Music by downloading the free Amazon Music app, or wherever they listen to music including Alexa-enabled devices. Learn more at amazon.com/music.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/universal-music-group-and-amazon-music-expand-global-relationship-302338093.html

SOURCE Universal Music Group

Technology

Repurchase of Loomis’ shares during the fourth quarter 2024 completed

Published

5 minutes ago

December 23, 2024

STOCKHOLM, Dec. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Loomis AB has through the repurchase program that was resolved and communicated on October 28, 2024, repurchased 590,100 shares. Loomis AB’s holding of own shares thereby amounts to 2,514,653 shares, corresponding to 3.54 percent of the outstanding shares in the company. The total number of shares in Loomis AB, including the company’s own shares, amounts to 71,000,000.

For information about transactions in the repurchase program, please see:
https://www.nasdaq.com/european-market-activity/news/corporate-actions/repurchase-of-own-shares.

This press release is also available on the company’s website, www.loomis.com.

For more information, please contact:

Jenny Boström
Head of Sustainability and IR
jenny.bostrom@loomis.com
+46 79 006 45 92

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/loomis-ab/r/repurchase-of-loomis–shares-during-the-fourth-quarter-2024-completed,c4086142

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/51/4086142/3187900.pdf

Repurchase of Loomisâ€™ shares during the fourth quarter 2024 completed

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/repurchase-of-loomis-shares-during-the-fourth-quarter-2024-completed-302338207.html

SOURCE Loomis AB