Pope Cautions on AI Impact & xAI Eyes $4.3B Raise

Good morning! Welcome to today’s First AI Movers Pro. Let’s dig into what’s capturing current attention.

✨ Pope Leo’s Call for Human-Centric AI

Pope Leo XVI spoke at the Roman Catholic Jubilee, cautioning politicians and global leaders about AI’s risks to younger generations and emphasising that “AI should be used as a tool… not to diminish or replace” human creativity and relationships.
He contrasted AI’s “static memory” with human beings’ “creative, dynamic” memory and stressed the importance of preserving personal connections.
Why it matters: This high-level warning underscores ethical and societal concerns, highlighting the importance of preserving human-centric values in technology governance.

🚀 xAI Seeks $4.3 Billion in Equity Funding

Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI, the maker of Grok, is reportedly aiming to raise $4.3 billion in equity as part of a broader $9.3 billion financing package, already burning through over $1 billion per month.
Previously valued at $80 billion (up from $51 billion late last year), xAI is competing with heavyweights like OpenAI, Google, and Meta.
Why it matters: This signals how aggressively top AI firms are scaling, emphasizing capital intensity and leadership’s high-stakes commitment to frontier AI.

Quick Takes

• New AI–Cyber Faculty in Malaysia: A dedicated AI–cyber faculty launched in Malaysian TVET institutions to prepare the workforce for AI-augmented cybersecurity roles.

• Cluely’s $15 M Seed Round: A controversial startup named Cluely, which uses AI to assist with interviews and exams, secured a $15 million Series A led by a16z, valuing it around $120 million.

• Rise of Industrial AI: Applied Intuition, an autonomous vehicle software firm, now commands a $15 billion valuation following a $600 million Series F and tender offer.

• AI Content Under Fire: News publishers are raising alarms as generative models are trained on copyrighted content without permission.

Fun Fact

Currently, the global AI market is valued at approximately $391 billion and is expected to grow nearly fivefold by 2030. It already employs around 97 million people globally.

That’s a wrap for today! What stood out—Pope’s ethical alert, xAI’s fundraising blitz, industrial AI’s rise, or the data‑rights spotlight? Reply with your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you.

Stay reflective, keep your GPUs cool, and we’ll reconvene tomorrow at the same byte time and channel.

Until then,
The AI Sailor at First AI Movers

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