Digital Economy News | August 2023

AI start-up releases new speech models and plans Bosch partnership

Heidelberg-based AI start-up Aleph Alpha has released a new generation of language models that it claims are equivalent to OpenAI’s text-davinci-002 models. The control models in the base, extended and supreme versions of the Luminous family can trace relationships in information and factual correctness based on established facts according to a recent report in THE DECODER. Handelsblatt also reports that Bosch plans to make its own counterpart to ChatGPT available to its workforce by the end of the year. The “BoschGPT” developed by Aleph Alpha will replace keyword searches in the company’s internal database and create texts for employees. The Heidelberg start-up has also attracted investors and partners including SAP, Intel and HPE onboard according to Handelsblatt. Chip companies including Intel and Nvidia as well as software company SAP and venture capitalist firms are reportedly set to invest more than EUR 100 million in a series B financing round.

Germany’s best financed AI start-ups 

The applied AI Institute for Europe has published its annual German AI Startup Landscape report on the domestic AI start-up scene. The study provides an overview of the 500-plus companies currently active in the field of AI within the country. According to this year’s report, 119 of the companies received between one and ten million US dollars in funding, with 81 start-ups securing more than USD 10 million in funding. A handful of companies surveyed were in the USD 100 million-plus league, highlighting the relative youth of the AI market in Germany. One start-up on the list, Inflection AI, now has a reported value of around USD 4 billion according to Forbes, after raising USD 1.3 billion in new funding from investors including Microsoft, Nvidia and tech billionaires including LinkedIn co founder Reid Hoffman and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Berlin start-up develops ChatGTP alternative for industry

Berlin-based start-up Nyonic is building large AI language models (LLMs) that focus on industry applications and include sector-specific data. According to the company, powerful foundation models for use in Europe will meet the demands and requirements of numerous industry sectors and the needs of a multilingual and multicultural society. Nyonic’s plans to develop generative AI for the European market are part of its strategy to establish a European foothold in a generative AI market in which three quarters of foundation models are currently developed in the USA.

AI and data analysis top start-up technologies

Data analysis and AI are the two top technologies used in German start-ups according to digital agency bitkom. Fifty-three percent of start-ups deploy big data and data analytics solutions, with 49 percent implementing AI in their operations. The trend will continue as 39 percent of start-ups surveyed plan to introduce or are currently discussing AI deployments, followed by 31 percent for big data/data analytics.

IT workforce in Germany tops the million mark

The number of people employed in the IT industry has exceeded the one million mark for the first time according to the Federal Employment Agency. The sector recorded year-on-year employment growth of eight percent – up 60 percent from 10 years ago.

EUR 4.3 million euros for Quantagonia

Frankfurt-based quantum computing start-up Quantagonia has secured EUR 4.3 million in total funding according to Handelsblatt. The company, which is developing a transition service to novel quantum computers, received new venture capital from investors including Tensor Ventures and Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hesse according to reports.