Technology

Series, a GenAI game development platform, has quietly raised $28M from Netflix, Dell, a16z, others

Published

3 hours ago

September 30, 2024

Series, a GenAI game development platform, has quietly raised $28M from Netflix, Dell, a16z, others

It’s been quite the year for gaming industry exec Pany Haritatos.

Last month, he quietly closed an oversubscribed $28 million Series A for his new game studio startup Series Entertainment, according to an SEC document and confirmation from the company. Investors include Netflix, Dell Technologies Capital, with follow-on investments from seed investors Andreessen Horowitz, BITKRAFT, and F4 Fund. This comes after launching the company only a year ago with a healthy $7.9 million seed led by a16z.

In between, he’s already made an acquisition. Series bought mobile game studio Pixelberry in July, best known for its interactive fiction game Choices: Stories You Play.

Series, also known in the industry as Series AI, is on a mission to create video games using LLMs and GenAI. But more than that, it’s gunning to be the new Unity, powering legions of game developers. Haritatos and team have created the Rho Engine, which uses GenAI to help game developers build games speedily.

One can be skeptical that LLMs will really be the panacea to humanity that its loudest proponents claim. But gaming is definitely one of the areas that AI is glowing up.

Instead of designing everything from characters to elixir bottles, game developers can have AI step in to do that work and to make games more interactive than ever. NPCs can turn into rich, fully developed characters that, for instance, haggle with the gamer. Players can be given vast, perhaps unlimited, capacities for customization. And so on.

But to do all that, developers need AI-enhanced game engines. Series bills Rho as the first AI-native, multimodal full-stack game creation platform – meaning it handles visuals and audio. To be fair, there are other AI gaming engine competitors out there including, for instance, Modi.ai Engine, and Unity’s Muse Chat. But Rho says it sits in a different spot. Modi.ai performs tasks like bug catching, or identifying reasons why the games are crashing. Series views Muse Chat as more of an AI assistant. Rho, the company says, is intended for full-stack game development.

A16z investors Joshua Lu and Andrew Chen were so excited to land the seed deal a year ago with Haritatos that they penned a blog post calling Series, “a game studio and technology company that is reinventing the future of game development with generative AI.”

Part of what excited these investors was Haritatos himself. He has decades in game development and a knack of being on the cutting edge at just the right time. When Adobe’s Flash player emerged in the late 1990’s as a multimedia tech, he built his first studio making browser games and sold it to Zynga. Then he built a mobile game studio and sold it to Kongregate – a site that rose during the Flash games era. Haritatos later became CEO of Kongregate (eventually selling the company to Swedish gaming studio MTG). In 2020, he was hired to lead Snap’s games group, developing augmented reality and embedded games.

Those chops are why his investors are all big names in gaming. In addition to nabbing backing from a16z’s game-specific fund, Series landed BITKRAFT. This is a firm founded by eSports pioneer Jens Hilgers who cofounded ESL and G2 Esports, and is one of the most active game investors. Ditto for F4 Fund, a firm run by David Kaye and Joakim Achrén, two game makers who have built and sold multiple studios apiece and now invest.

Series has grown from 17 employees at the start of 2024 to over 100 now, the company says, with the team coming from companies like Zynga, Machine Zone, Google, and Snap.

While Haritatos declined an interview after TechCrunch discovered the Series A raise, his people sent an emailed statement from him that praised his investors and said, “We are thrilled that we raised a very successful $28 million Series A during a tough year for funding.”

Pitchbook estimates the Series A was for about 15% of the company, giving Series a $190 million post-money valuation. The company declined comment on the accuracy of that number.

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Science & Environment

Disney lands an upgrade — plus, why we’re considering adding to this laggard stock

Published

9 mins ago

September 30, 2024

NewsAdmin

Disney lands an upgrade — plus, why we're considering adding to this laggard stock

Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Muted Monday: Wall Street is having a relatively quiet session to wrap up a volatile, yet positive September and a strong third quarter. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke at the National Association for Business Economics conference in Nashville and fielded questions about his monetary policy outlook. Less than two weeks after the central bank kicked off its rate-cutting cycle by a half-percentage point, Powell indicated additional reductions would be ahead if the “economy evolves broadly as expected.” But, he cautioned, the Fed is “not on any preset course.” He later added that “this is not a committee that feels like it’s in a hurry to cut rates.” This last line caused the S & P 500 to trade at its lows of the day, as market probabilities for the Fed’s November meeting shifted to a traditional quarter-point cut from another 50 basis point move, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool . Ultimately, the Fed’s next move will depend on how the data evolves. Don’t overlook Disney : Shares of Club name Disney have quietly put together a solid September, up about 6% in the month. This comes after the stock spent most of August trading in the mid-$80s. Shares broke down on Aug. 7, falling more than 4% to $85.96 after a disappointing reaction to a good quarter . The entertainment giant beat estimates on revenue and delivered a sizeable bottom-line beat, thanks in part to its first profitable quarter from its streaming business. Nevertheless, the stock sold off on concerns about a moderation in spending at its theme parks . Since the quarter, the stock has rallied as the market has become more comfortable with Disney’s outlook, expecting that sluggish trends for its experiences business could reverse if multiple Fed rate cuts take some pressure off the consumer. Indeed, an improving macroeconomic outlook — coupled with emerging profitability at streaming — was the basis of Seaport Research Partner’s upgrade of Disney on Monday. The analysts now rate the stock a buy, up from neutral, with a price target of $108 a share. “While we have tangibly soft Parks data, it is likely temporary, and emergent DTC profitability is getting the benefit of the doubt, with recent price increases and paid sharing announcements possibly supporting further [average revenue per user] and sub growth,” Seaport told clients. Disney’s market valuation is heavily tied to the health of its experiences business, so we agree that an improving economic outlook should help boost the stock. The question is how long this normalization from a post-pandemic boom will last? In the meantime, we are encouraged by the progress Disney has made to make its streaming unit profitable and its recent box office success. Energy woes : The S & P 500 energy sector is on pace to finish the third quarter as the only sector in the red, down more than 3%. For the year, the energy sector is up about 5%, easily the worst-performing group. There have been a few winners in the oil-and-gas group, but for the most part, the independent exploration-and-production companies have been a big disappointment. Fortunately, we’ve only had one small energy position in Coterra Energy , a disciplined driller that balances oil and natural gas production based on commodity prices. At 2.15% of Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust, our energy exposure is less than the 3.5% energy weighting of the S & P 500, as of Aug. 30, and we have correctly held off from averaging down since our last buy in late May at $27.50. But natural gas is now finally starting to move — tracking for its best month since July 2022 and trading at its highest levels since late June, when Coterra traded around just below $27 per share. Against that backdrop, we see value in Coterra shares trading at almost $24 with a 3.5% dividend yield and are debating adding to our position. Up next: Before the open Tuesday we’ll see earnings from payroll processor Paychex and spice maker McCormick . On the economic data side, there is the so-called JOLTS report, which measures job openings and serves as a good measure of tightness in the labor market. We’ll also see the September ISM manufacturing index, which could impact how the industrials trade. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street.

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Technology

Last chance to become a volunteer at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

Published

20 mins ago

September 30, 2024

NewsAdmin

Last chance to become a volunteer at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

We are officially less than a month away from TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, taking place at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28-30. We’re currently seeking dedicated and highly motivated volunteers to support our events team and help bring this amazing experience to life.

If you’re dreaming of becoming a startup founder, marketer, or event coordinator, this experience gives you a priceless look into the operations of a premier tech startup conference.

Volunteer tasks

Volunteers will assist in plenty of fun tasks that include, but are not limited to:

Registration check-in.
Line or traffic control.
Directional/customer support.
Expo setup support.
General event setup.

Volunteer Perks

Free TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 pass

Finish your volunteer shift and enjoy a complimentary General Admission ticket for all three days — October 28-30 — valued at up to $1,500.

Powerful networking opportunities

Connect with 10,000 startup VC leaders. Enhance your network by participating in focused 1:1 or small group Braindate meetings.

Gain powerful insights

Surround yourself with inspiring insights from top leaders in tech, startups, and venture capital. Explore their stories and acquire valuable best practices, how-tos, and tips through over 250 speaker sessions and more than 200 Roundtable and Breakout sessions.

Witness the intense startup battle

Watch as a hand-picked group of 200 startups competes in the Startup Battlefield 200 for the opportunity to win the Disrupt Cup and a $100,000 equity-free prize. Gain insights from the elite VC judge panel as they evaluate what it takes to succeed as a startup.

Attend startup events

Join the Side Events organized by startups outside the venue and taking place after hours, including workshops, cocktail parties, happy hours, meetups, and many more event types.

Volunteer requirements

Commit to up to 10 hours of volunteer time during Disrupt 2024.
Attend a mandatory orientation in person on Sunday, October 27, in the afternoon.
Be 18 years or older to apply.
San Francisco or Bay Area residents are preferred but not required.

Start volunteering

We’re accepting applications until October 11, or as soon as all positions are filled. Discover more about volunteering at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 and begin your application process here.

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Servers computers

Dell PowerEdge R640 1U Rack Server 80 Cores 512GB RAM Home Lab TrueNAS Unraid VMware ESXi

Published

26 mins ago

September 30, 2024

NewsAdmin

Dell PowerEdge R640 1U Rack Server 80 Cores 512GB RAM Home Lab TrueNAS Unraid VMware ESXi

In this video, we provide a brief rundown of the DELL R640, along with instructions on how to set up and enhance its various components.

Our Listings:
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https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/profile/100092225825225/

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#AI
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#CAD
#engineering
#Docker
#Kubernetes
#Kafka
#Power BI
#BigData
#analysis
#Proxmox
#Xen

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Technology

Leaked Google Pixel 9A renders reveal a visor-free look

Published

43 mins ago

September 30, 2024

NewsAdmin

Leaked Google Pixel 9A renders reveal a visor-free look

Google’s first leak of the fall is here, with new renders of its upcoming Pixel 9A posted online for the world to see. As with the Pixel 8A leak earlier this year, Android Headlines has yet again acquired images of Google’s next budget A-series release, this time by way of OnLeaks, which was responsible for spoiling the recent Pixel 9 lineup.

The big change coming on the Pixel 9A, according to the leak, is that it won’t feature Google’s now-signature visor look for its camera housing. Instead, it seems like there are two cameras in a pill-shaped module that sits almost flush with the rear of the phone. A camera flash is set to the right, making it look like the rear of an iPhone 7 Plus but magnified. The rest of the body looks similar to other Pixel 9 devices — and current iPhones — with thin-looking bezels around the screen.

Android Headlines notes the 9A might ship with Android 15, and it could be the last Google device to include a Samsung-based Tensor chip, with Google moving on to using TSMC for future processors in 2025. Google usually releases its A-series phones in the springtime, typically during Google I/O, so it might be a while before we get all the details.

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Servers computers

Home Lab Build – P.1 – Building a NAS

Published

57 mins ago

September 30, 2024

NewsAdmin

My home lab journey.

Part 2: https://youtu.be/BVWmstt0AWM

Server rack:
StarTech.com 42U 19″ Open Frame Server Rack – 4 Post Adjustable Depth 22-40″ https://amzn.to/3NSeQ8B

Rails:
1U 19 inch Server Rack Rails: https://amzn.to/3OhHHD9

Switch:
10G 8 Port TP-Link switch: https://amzn.to/3NTRRKn

NAS Build:
Case: Rosewill 4U 12-bay hot swap server rack casing: https://amzn.to/3xks2fm
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS Master: https://amzn.to/3tzCHlj
CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-11600K: https://amzn.to/3Of9W5f
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB: https://amzn.to/3NUJM80
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x: https://amzn.to/3xLYqJh
4x 18TB: Seagate Exos X18 18TB Enterprise HDD: https://amzn.to/3MKwM3H
3x 120mm Noctua fans: https://amzn.to/3QlXi6j
2x 80mm Noctua fans: https://amzn.to/3xOFb1w

Super quiet Puget Workstation build: https://hubs.ly/H0-By8Q0

PCIe SATA Expansion: https://amzn.to/3Odm9Yi

TrueNAS Core 12.0 install tutorial video I used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVRWpV2xyds

Neural Networks from Scratch book: https://nnfs.io
Channel membership: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfzlCWGWYyIQ0aLC5w48gBQ/join
Discord: https://discord.gg/sentdex
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/sentdex/
Support the content: https://pythonprogramming.net/support-donate/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sentdex
Instagram: https://instagram.com/sentdex
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pythonprogramming.net/
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/sentdex

Contents:
00:00 – Server rack types
00:30 – StarTech 42U 4 Post Open Frame Server Rack
01:15 – Network Area Storage (NAS)
02:42 – Prebuilt NAS Options (QNAP vs Synology)
03:36 – Custom-built rack-mount NAS
07:52 – Server rack Power Distribution Unit (PDU) (Tripplite PDU1230)
09:48 – Server Rack/Homelab networking (TP-Link TL-SX1008) 8x 10G
11:35 – StarTech 1U 19″ Server Rack Rails
12:21 – TrueNAS 13 w/ RAIDZ1
14:03 – Why HomeLab?

#homelab #server .

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Technology

Philips has a new business monitor to challenge HP and others, and it looks to be the real deal

Published

1 hour ago

September 30, 2024

NewsAdmin

Philips, maker of the some of the best business monitors around today, has unveiled the Philips 27B2U6903, which comes with UHD 4K resolution and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity as standard.

The 27-inch monitor comes features an IPS LED panel with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 and support for 1.07 billion colours, making it ideal for anyone who needs to work in creative industries or to content content.

Thunderbolt 4 also adds a lot of oomph to the 27B2U6903, enabling a dual-screen setup via daisy-chaining, transferring data to external devices, and charging devices at up to 100W in power. For good measure, Philips has also added RJ45 for ultra-fast ethernet connections.

Smart features

Philips 27B2U6903

(Image credit: Philips)

Philips says one of the standout features of the 27B2U6903 is PowerSensor 2, which aims to save power by putting the monitor and its connected PC in sleep mode when a user walks away from them. When it detects their return, the devices are powered up.

Philips also highlights its Smart KVM feature, which lets users hot-key between different input sources (think: PlayStation 5) by pressing the Ctrl key three times.

As with most modern monitors, the 27B2U6903 is height adjustable, and can tilt, pivot, and swivel to your heart’s content, all of which is vital for a monitor you will likely be looking at for many hours of the day.

The Philips 27B2U6903 will cost around £450, and is available now.

The best business monitor?

The Philips 27B2U6903 is facing some pretty stiff competition for the crown of the best business monitor going.

After hours of testing, TechRadar recommends the BenQ PD3220U, a premium 4K monitor that comes with a 32-inch IPS panel, HDR, a wide array of ports, and support for KVM switching, like the 27B2U6903.

The Huawei MateView 4K+ 3:2 aspect is also an intriguing proposition, offering an unusual 3:2 display that is perfect for coding and other vertical tasks. The 28.2-inch display is pretty stunning, too.

Ultrawide fans, we have something for you too: the best ultrawide monitor is the LG UltraGear 38GN950, a massive 38-inch behemoth that looks fantastic and comes with a 160Hz display.

Anyone looking for an ultrawide monitor on a budget (at least relatively), should look at the AOC CU34G2X, which comes in a 34-inch configuration and really suits gaming.

MORE FROM TECHRADAR PRO

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Series, a GenAI game development platform, has quietly raised $28M from Netflix, Dell, a16z, others

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Science & Environment

Disney lands an upgrade — plus, why we’re considering adding to this laggard stock

Technology

Last chance to become a volunteer at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

Volunteer tasks

Volunteer Perks

Free TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 pass

Powerful networking opportunities

Gain powerful insights

Witness the intense startup battle

Attend startup events

Volunteer requirements

Start volunteering

Servers computers

Dell PowerEdge R640 1U Rack Server 80 Cores 512GB RAM Home Lab TrueNAS Unraid VMware ESXi

Technology

Leaked Google Pixel 9A renders reveal a visor-free look

Servers computers

Home Lab Build – P.1 – Building a NAS

Technology

Philips has a new business monitor to challenge HP and others, and it looks to be the real deal

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