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Entrepreneur
3 minutes ago
- Entrepreneur
SiMa.ai Secures USD 85 Mn to Advance Physical AI Platform
Funding led by Maverick Capital with StepStone Group joining will drive global expansion and innovation for edge-based AI applications You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. has secured USD 85 million in a funding round led by Maverick Capital, with StepStone Group joining as a new investor. The round was oversubscribed and included participation from existing backers. With this latest infusion, the company's total funding has reached USD 355 million. The capital will be used to expand global presence and to accelerate the growth of its Physical AI platform. Plans include increasing investment in software innovation, enhancing go-to-market activities, strengthening customer support, and advancing its automotive development plans. "This new funding further validates our leadership in the Physical AI space and the growing demand for solutions that deliver top-tier performance per watt with exceptional ease of use," said Krishna Rangasayee, Founder and CEO of "With the support of both new and existing investors, we are moving quickly to extend our lead and meet demand across robotics, automotive, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, smart vision, and healthcare." Founded in 2018 by Rangasayee, is headquartered in San Jose, California. The company specialises in Physical AI computing, creating platforms that enable intelligent applications to operate efficiently at the edge. Its flagship Modalix platform offers high performance while maintaining strong energy efficiency, designed to make advanced AI capabilities accessible in industries such as robotics, automotive, aerospace, and industrial automation. offers a full-stack Physical AI solution through its ONE platform. This integrates purpose-built silicon with a software-first approach to simplify deployment and maximise performance. The platform includes Modalix, a second-generation multimodal MLSoC now available to customers, and Palette, a software suite that features both a software development kit and Edgematic, a no-code visual development tool. The system supports major machine learning frameworks, including vision models, transformers, and generative AI, within a single architecture. Andrew Homan, Managing Partner at Maverick Capital, said, " is redefining possibilities at the edge by combining advanced silicon with a software-centric approach to Physical AI. Their ability to deliver powerful, low-energy solutions with simple deployment positions them to lead in a rapidly growing market." John Avirett, Partner at StepStone Group, added, "As generative AI changes the data center, we see significant opportunity in AI at the edge. integrated solution, technical expertise, and customer adoption make it a leader in this space." With AI applications increasingly moving to the edge, aims to address the need for high performance, energy efficiency, and ease of use in real-world environments.
Forbes
4 minutes ago
- Forbes
Stablecoins – The Internet's Upgrade To Money?
Imagine if PayPal, Swift, and your banking app went on a wellness weekend in Silicon Valley and returned Monday as leaner, faster versions of themselves. That's the premise behind stablecoins - crypto's sensible sibling. They are digital tokens pegged to real-world currencies, such as the US dollar. One stablecoin, one dollar, it's as simple as that. Or at least that is the idea. Backed 1:1 by short-dated US Treasuries or bank deposits, stablecoins like USDC (Circle) and USDT (Tether) now represent a parallel financial infrastructure: programmable, blockchain-native money that moves 24/7, costs pennies (sometimes fractions of pennies) to transmit, and settles in seconds across borders. Unlike their volatile crypto cousins, stablecoins don't swing with Elon's tweets. They are built for stability and, increasingly, for scale. In short, stablecoins might just be the internet's long-overdue upgrade to money. The Market Defined - a $3 Trillion Disruption in Motion If traditional FX is a battered old dial-up modem, stablecoins are fibre-optic. The current foreign exchange system is built upon decades-old 'correspondent banking' rails. That means sending USD to Nairobi from Berlin still involves a long conga line of intermediaries, opaque fees, and 2–5 business days of holding your breath. Now imagine a contractor in Lagos receiving USD in minutes, not days, with 90% lower fees. That's the promise - and increasingly, the reality - of stablecoin payments. According to Visa and Artemis, over $35 trillion in stablecoins were transferred in the last 12 months, more than Visa and Mastercard combined. Adoption spans over 190 countries, with more than 30 million active wallets and $214 billion in supply. And yet, this is still small fry compared to the $1.1 trillion traded daily in traditional FX markets. The runway is long. The Emerging Stablecoin Stack At the heart of this emerging ecosystem are three core players: Stablecoins are now less about crypto speculation and more about enabling global payments, liquidity management, and even treasury operations. (Yes, SpaceX reportedly uses stablecoins to manage treasury exposure in places like Argentina and Nigeria.) Why Now? Three tailwinds are converging: As Jeremy Allaire of Circle put it: 'This is one of the biggest TAMs (Total Addressable Markets) of all industries out there.' Stablecoin Benefits - Not Just a Cheaper Payment Let's be clear: stablecoins aren't just shaving a few basis points off remittance fees. They're overhauling the plumbing of money movement, and if carried out properly, should ensure: Even governments are starting to warm up. The US Secretary of the Treasury recently noted stablecoins could 'reinforce the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency'. Now there's a geopolitical incentive too. The Use Cases - From Contractors to Capital Markets Today, stablecoins are fuelling cross-border B2B and remittances (especially in high-friction corridors like LatAm, Africa, Southeast Asia), Vendor payments and global payroll (freelancers, contractors, AI microtasks), DeFi and tokenised assets, Treasury operations and liquidity management, retail and micropayments (Stripe now lets you 'Pay with Crypto,' settling in fiat), etc. Platforms like Koywe and BVNK are abstracting away the blockchain complexity, offering embedded wallets and FX capabilities to fintechs, banks, and corporates alike. The Programmable Edge - Money with a Brain Stablecoins aren't just faster dollars. They're programmable money. Developers can build logic into transactions, such as pay-on-delivery, split payments, escrow with triggers, etc. Imagine Stripe automatically issuing a virtual card with preset limits for a one-time transaction. Or a DAO releasing funds when a smart contract verifies an invoice, this is where stablecoins become 'room-temperature superconductors for financial services,' to borrow Stripe's analogy. Fiat vs. Stablecoin - The Convergence is Underway Here's the kicker – the more people spend stablecoins, the less they need to convert back to fiat. This threatens the incumbents, not because stablecoins are replacing dollars or banks, but because they may become the rails on which banks ride. Think of stablecoins as TCP/IP for money, invisible but essential. Fiat isn't disappearing. But control over the user interface, the relationship, the rail – that's the next frontier. But… There are still Challenges Of course, no revolution is without its wrinkles. The regulation is still evolving. US and EU frameworks are being formed, but cross-border clarity remains a work in progress. Redemption risk: Some 'stable' coins aren't so stable (read: algorithmic failures). The user experience is improving. Right now, wallets, gas fees, cross-chain issues are still too clunky for grandma. There's friction with the Central Bank. Will CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) replace stablecoins? Maybe. But don't expect it to be programmable, anonymous, or innovation friendly. CBDC is great tools for surveillance, monetary policy, and state control but it won't be winning developer hearts any time soon. The Road Ahead – What Matters and Who Wins? Here's what we're betting on: The winners will straddle both worlds. Not crypto-native or TradFi alone, but companies that can operate across both and move fast. Banks and fintechs will converge. Banks are already exploring the issuance of stablecoins and fintechs are acquiring bank charters. Platforms matter. Ethereum and Solana are dominating, but keep an eye on Bitcoin Lightning, Stellar, and Tron in emerging markets. Yield matters. Those who capture the interest from reserves will be the ones to define business models. Ultimately, stablecoins aren't a threat to the financial system. They represent an evolution - an upgrade. The question isn't if they'll go mainstream, but how fast, who wins, and what rails the money flows on. If you're still thinking of stablecoins as a crypto gimmick, you're already late for the next phase of finance.
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Read AT&T CEO's frank response to employee feedback about a 5-day RTO mandate — and much more
AT&T's CEO addressed the company's shift to a "more market-based culture" in a memo to managers after an employee survey. This year, the company shifted from a hybrid schedule to a five-day in-office mandate. Stankey said those who want hybrid work "will have a difficult time aligning" with company priorities. Roughly seven months after AT&T called workers back to the office five days a week, CEO John Stankey has a message for employees: Get on board or get out. In a lengthy Friday memo addressed to "all AT&T managers" that was obtained by Business Insider, Stankey shared his thoughts on the results of the company's employee engagement survey. The AT&T CEO said he is "not surprised" by the declining self-reported employee engagement level and touched on some changes the company is going through. The note was, in part, to help workers identify where their "professional expectations" may be "misaligned with the strategic direction of this company," he wrote. "If you are of the small minority that shared comments similar to, 'I have heard this nonsense before and I'll ignore things until this goes away…' or 'things were just fine the way they were…' there might be a disconnect between you and your current professional choice," Stankey wrote. According to the memo, 79% of respondents said they feel committed and engaged with their work. The survey results represent over 99,000 employees, which is 73% of the company. AT&T told BI that the company has no additional comments on Stankey's memo because it "speaks for itself." "We run a dynamic, customer-facing business, tackling large-scale, challenging initiatives," Stankey wrote. "If the requirements dictated by this dynamic do not align to your personal desires, you have every right to find a career opportunity that is suitable to your aspirations and needs." "That said, if a self-directed, virtual, or hybrid work schedule is essential for you to manage your career aspirations and life challenges, you will have a difficult time aligning your priorities with those of the company and the culture we aim to establish," Stankey added. AT&T has undergone a series of changes this year, starting with replacing a hybrid schedule with a five-day in-office mandate. Some AT&T employees previously told BI that it became difficult to obtain office desks and parking spaces amid the RTO push, while the telecom's rival, Verizon, saw the office mandate as an opportunity to recruit AT&T workers interested in hybrid schedules. In the memo, Stankey addressed the "right to expect to work in a professional, well-maintained, and functional facility" and the ongoing and coming investments into office hubs. Stankey is the latest CEO to tell employees to get on board with a return-to-office policy or go elsewhere. He also described the company's transition as a shift away from some elements, including "loyalty, tenure, and conformance with the associated compensation," to "a more market-based culture —focused on rewarding capability, contribution, and commitment." "When I read comments lamenting disruption, I tried to pick my brain for an example of another 100+ year old company that didn't have to disrupt itself to secure sustainable relevance," he wrote. "I am still searching for the first example." So far, AT&T shares have risen more than 21% in 2025, and the company posted robust earnings that met analyst expectations over the past two quarters. "I know change like this is difficult and can be unsettling for some," Stankey said in the memo. "However, as General Eric Shinseki so eloquently stated, 'If you dislike change, you're going to dislike irrelevance even more.'" Read AT&T CEO John Stankey's full memo: A Message from John Stankey My Observation on our Employee Survey results Have a tip? Reach out to the reporter from a non-work email and device at dreuter@ or on Signal 646.768.4750 Read the original article on Business Insider 擷取數據時發生錯誤 登入存取你的投資組合 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤
