The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded $3.19 million in Phase II SBIR grants to eight small businesses across seven states. The funding supports research in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, semiconductor, quantum and other advanced technologies, with each award ranging around $400,000. Projects span AI‑driven imaging for biopharma, quantum‑dot photon sources, PFAS exposure wristbands, and energy‑load optimization tools. Grants run for 24 months and are intended to move toward Phase III commercialization.
MIT CSAIL and Asari AI introduced EnCompass, a Python framework that adds systematic search and backtracking to AI agents using large language models. Developers annotate "branchpoints" where LLM outputs may vary, then the runtime explores execution paths with strategies such...
Cerebras Systems closed a $1 billion Series H financing round, valuing the company at roughly $23 billion post‑money. The round was led by Tiger Global and included investors such as Benchmark, Fidelity, AMD and Coatue. Proceeds will accelerate production of the Wafer Scale...
Technical University of Munich unveiled the EU’s first 7‑nanometer AI chip, a neuromorphic processor built on an open‑source RISC‑V architecture. Designed by Prof. Hussam Amrouch, the chip processes data locally, promising higher privacy and security than cloud‑centric solutions. Production will shift...