Chinese company E-Home Household Services Holdings Limited has officially launched its second generation of AI intelligent housekeeping customer service, called eJia. The upgraded system includes automated task processing, data analysis, and decision support functionalities. The new AI system aims to improve service competitiveness, reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. The launch took place on June 17, 2024, in Fuzhou, China. E-Home Household Services is listed on NASDAQ under the stock symbol EJH [79543d36].
Chinese retail technology company Hanshow has showcased its GenAI product strategy at the 24th China Retail Expo. The company unveiled its upgraded Hanshow Polaris Pro series electronic shelf labels (ESL) and a new green digital store solution. The GenAI solution utilizes GPT-4 text output and Dall-E3 image output to generate marketing materials. Hanshow is a global strategy partner of Microsoft in the retail industry and is incorporating GenAI technology in retail scenarios using Azure OpenAI. The company plans to unveil its GenAI marketing solutions at the NRF exhibition in Singapore in June 2024 [f105616d].
Aniai, a leader in kitchen automation and AI solutions, has opened its first North American showroom in Midtown Manhattan. The showroom features Aniai's flagship product, the Alpha Grill, which uses advanced AI and robotics to automate the hamburger patty cooking process. Aniai has partnered with several notable quick-service-restaurant brands for pilots and plans to roll out the Alpha Grill at multiple locations over the next year. The company aims to improve efficiency and consistency in restaurant kitchens while reducing labor intensity. Aniai will also showcase the Alpha Grill at the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago, along with enhancements such as 'Alpha Cloud', a cloud-based AI system that monitors patty quality in real-time. Aniai CEO Gunpil Hwang emphasizes the importance of potential adopters seeing the technology in action to understand its benefits. Aniai was founded in 2020 and is based in New York City, with a mission to empower restaurants with intelligent solutions that enhance kitchen operations [31ebafb6].
Face Haus, a facial bar chain in the US, has partnered with Perfect Corp. to offer AI Skin Analysis technology, called Skin IQ, at its locations. The technology captures precise details about each guest's personalized skin care needs and provides results on par with medical professionals, 20x faster than traditional hardware devices. Face Haus estheticians will combine the AI insights with their own expertise to provide personalized recommendations for skin services and products. Perfect Corp. was shortlisted in the Technology Vendor of the Year category at the 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards [fdcfd8bb].
AI start-up HeyGen has raised US$60 million in its series A funding round, bringing its valuation to US$500 million. The funding round was led by San Francisco-based venture capital firm Benchmark and included investors such as Thrive Capital, BOND, Conviction, Dylan Field, Elad Gil, Aviv Nevo, Neil Mehta, and SV Angel. HeyGen, formerly known as Surreal, rebranded itself in April 2023 after relocating to Los Angeles, California. The company dissolved its Chinese entity at the end of 2023 and asked its Chinese investors to sell shares to their US counterparts to cut ties with mainland China. HeyGen's platform allows users to create avatars for natural conversations, interactive education, and market research. By cutting ties with China, HeyGen can now obtain advanced semiconductors for training AI systems without restrictions from the US government. The company primarily targets US enterprise clients and has about 40,000 paying customers. HeyGen's services include creating studio-quality videos without a camera, cast, or crew. The company gained popularity in China by helping local comedians speak fluent English through their avatars. However, its generative AI service faced potential hurdles due to government regulations [0f9e132d].
Hebbia Inc. has raised $130 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Index Ventures, Alphabet Inc.'s GV venture fund, and Peter Thiel. The investment brings Hebbia's valuation to approximately $700 million. Hebbia's search platform uses natural language prompts to help users sift through large amounts of data and organize search results in a spreadsheet-like format. The platform can retrieve and analyze business information, generate property assessments, and perform complex tasks by breaking them down into individual steps. Hebbia's revenue has increased by a factor of 15 in the past 18 months, and the funding will help the company maintain its growth amidst competition from other AI startups [d04ed59d].