In today’s newsletter:

• News - 🚀💸 AI Funding Soars, But Deals Drop 

• Productivity - 🔍 Boost Your Rankings with Surfer SEO

• Culture - 🔐 Think Your Gmail's Safe From AI Scams? Think Again!

Check out our Meme of the Day at the bottom of the newsletter for your daily dose of AI-powered humor!

🚀💸 AI Funding Soars, But Deals Drop 

AI funding continues to skyrocket, even as deal flow slows. In Q3, AI startups raised a massive $18.9 billion — the second-largest total since ChatGPT launched, though it’s a 19% dip from Q2’s record $23.4 billion. Big players like Alphabet, Groq, and Cohere drove the action, with Waymo alone pulling in $5 billion. Despite fewer deals (down 22% from Q2), more dollars are being funneled into larger rounds for established companies.

Fewer early-stage deals suggest investors are going all-in on proven AI players or those that can convincingly sell their vision. Deal count dropped below 1,000 for the first time since ChatGPT launched, but big raises like OpenAI's recent $6.6 billion ensure the dollars keep flowing. With generative AI companies burning through cash, we’re likely to see this trend continue through Q4 and beyond.

🗞️ In Other News…

• Researchers used AI to discover 70,500 previously unknown RNA viruses, highlighting the potential of AI-driven methods to explore viral diversity and uncover new species in extreme environments.

• Bitcoin miners like APLD, MIGI, and SLNH are branching out into AI by using their powerful data centers to offer cloud services and GPU computing for AI and machine learning tasks, setting the stage to cash in on the growing demand for AI-driven high-performance computing.

• Apple's study reveals that large language models, like those from OpenAI and Meta, lack reliable reasoning skills, as minor changes in wording or irrelevant details can significantly alter their answers, highlighting their dependence on pattern matching rather than true understanding.

• Ben Nimmo, OpenAI's principal threat investigator, has uncovered efforts by Russia, China, and other nations using AI tools like ChatGPT to fuel disinformation campaigns ahead of U.S. elections, though many of these attempts remain amateurish, with the potential to become more dangerous as AI capabilities improve.

• In a 15,000-word techno-optimist manifesto, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei boldly claims AI will cure diseases, solve world hunger, and save the planet—though skeptics say he's dreaming big while overlooking the real-world risks.

🔍 Boost Your Rankings with Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is a comprehensive tool designed to boost your website's search rankings by optimizing content through data-driven insights. Its standout feature, the Content Editor, helps users analyze competitors’ content, providing recommendations on keyword use, structure, and optimization to improve your own posts. With capabilities like keyword research, on-page SEO audits, and even a plagiarism checker, Surfer SEO offers everything you need to fine-tune your content strategy. It also integrates AI through features like Grow Flow, an AI-powered SEO growth management tool, and a new content-writing assistant that generates optimized articles.

Beyond content optimization, Surfer SEO includes tools like the SERP Analyzer to assess competitor data, and the Domain Planner to help plan content clusters for better ranking. While it excels at content improvement, Surfer also offers flexible pricing plans and add-ons to suit different user needs, from freelancers to large enterprises. Though there are some areas for improvement—like the occasional glitch with the WordPress plugin—Surfer’s consistent updates and new features make it a reliable SEO tool for businesses looking to climb the search rankings.

🔐 Think Your Gmail's Safe From AI Scams? Think Again!

Google is ramping up its defense against increasingly sophisticated AI-driven scams targeting Gmail users. Hackers are using AI to create hyper-realistic phishing schemes, like fake Google support calls that nearly tricked security consultant Sam Mitrovic into giving up his account credentials. These scams play on urgency and trust, mimicking Google’s security alerts and even using legitimate-looking tools like Google Forms to fool users. The best defense? Stay calm, verify the source, and never rush into account recovery requests or click on suspicious links.

In response, Google has launched the Global Signal Exchange, a partnership with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance to share real-time scam intelligence and fight fraud at scale. For high-risk users like journalists or politicians, Google’s Advanced Protection Program is a must. It now includes passkey support, requiring both your device and biometrics to access your account—making it far harder for hackers to break in. With these new protections in place, Gmail users can better safeguard their accounts from even the most advanced phishing attempts.

VC Fundraising Rounds

• Cytovale, a medical diagnostics company specializing in early detection technologies for rapid and immune-mediated diseases, announced it has secured $100 million in Series D funding. (10/10/24)

• Suki, a startup developing AI-powered assistants to streamline tasks in the healthcare industry, announced it has raised $70 million in a Series D funding round. (10/10/24)

• Noetica AI, a New York City-based company offering an AI-driven platform for benchmarking deal terms, has raised $22 million in Series A funding. (10/10/24)

• Basecamp Research, a London-based startup, has raised $60 million to explore a new frontier by developing an AI agent capable of answering any biology-related questions and uncovering new insights into biodiversity that humans alone could not achieve. (10/9/24)

• Lendbuzz, an AI-driven fintech company focused on improving consumer access to auto credit, has completed a $262 million securitization backed by a pool of auto loans secured by new and used vehicles, including cars, light trucks, and vans. (10/9/24)

Meme of the Day

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