Edtech takes a backseat, while AI, Chatbots, and CryptoGPT are driving the future!

1. Edtech Takes a Backseat: Reach Capital Raises $215 Million Fund to Support Underdog Startups

• Reach Capital closed its largest fund yet, raising $215 million to invest in early-stage edtech startups in the US and Latin America.

• The firm said the reduced interest in the sector meant less competition for entrepreneurs, making it a good time to start an edtech company.

• Reach has launched a $4 million sidecar fund for portfolio companies.

• The firm is exploring the use of artificial intelligence to improve edtech and is in due diligence with four AI startups.

• Reach's investment strategy will remain the same, with a focus on collaborating with researchers, unique data moats, and measurable impact.

2. Create your own chatbot with Poe, the latest tool from Quora that puts the 'bot' in your hands!

• Quora's Poe app now allows users to create their own chatbots using prompts and an existing bot as the base.

• Poe initially launched with support for general knowledge chatbots such as Sage, Dragonfly, and Claude, powered by OpenAI and Anthropic technologies.

• Last month, Poe rolled out subscriptions to access more powerful bots based on new language models such as GPT-4 and Claude+.

• Poe's new feature enables users to create bots using prompts, leading to the creation of a new creator class in the field of prompt engineering.

• Users can access the bots via Poe's iOS app, Android app, mobile web, or desktop web interface. Quora plans to cover all costs involved in operating this feature for the time being.

3. AI Startup Anthropic Aims to Take Over the World (and raise $5B to do it!)

• AI research startup, Anthropic, aims to raise up to $5 billion to compete with rival OpenAI and enter over a dozen industries.

• The company plans to build a “frontier model” called “Claude-Next” which is 10 times more capable than today’s most powerful AI, requiring $1 billion in spending over the next 18 months.

• The frontier model is a “next-gen algorithm for AI self-teaching,” with an AI training technique called “constitutional AI.”

• Anthropic estimates that the frontier model will require on the order of 10^25 FLOPs.

• The model can be used to build virtual assistants, answer emails, perform research, and generate art, books, etc.

4. Meet Fedha, Kuwait's first virtual news anchor: AI takes over the newsroom!

• Kuwait News has introduced a virtual news presenter, "Fedha," created using artificial intelligence technology.

• The virtual news presenter is an image of a woman and has the ability to read online bulletins.

• Abdullah Boftain, deputy editor-in-chief of the publication, stated that the move is a test of AI's potential to offer "new and innovative content".

• In the future, Fedha could adopt the Kuwaiti accent and present news bulletins on the site's Twitter account.

• AI technology's rapid rise globally has both promised benefits, such as in healthcare and eliminating mundane tasks, and raised fears, including disinformation spread and threats to certain jobs and artistic integrity.

5. CryptoGPT raises $10 million to help you get paid for being you!

• CryptoGPT has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by DWF Labs, giving it a $250 million valuation.

• The platform allows users to monetize their data by collecting it and selling it to companies looking to train their AI models.

• CryptoGPT uses zero-knowledge-proof technology for data transfers and plans to introduce non-fungible tokens to store activity data.

• The platform plans to launch its Mainnet in Q3 2022 and release its Data-to-AI Engine to enable businesses to access encrypted data for AI applications.

• CryptoGPT also recently launched its chatbot, Alex, and plans to expand its ecosystem by partnering with other blockchain projects and integrating with other Layer-2 solutions.