Wendy Lee

1 day ago | latimes.com | Queenie Wong |Wendy Lee

Venture capital investors and private equity firms poured $3.1 billion to fund 144 deals in the L.A. area in the first quarter of this year, up 15% from a year ago. The money not only funded AI ventures, but also businesses in healthcare, e-commerce and defense technology, underscoring the diversity of L.A.’s economy.

1 day ago | aol.com | Queenie Wong |Wendy Lee

Early this year, private equity firm Blackstone bet big on the future of artificial intelligence by investing $300 million in a Chatsworth company that’s been around for more than two decades. The company, DDN, helps businesses store and manage the massive trove of data that powers AI systems — the lifeblood needed for chatbots, self-driving cars and more. DDN's high-profile customers include chipmaker Nvidia, Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI, Google Cloud and Ford.

2 days ago | latimes.com | Wendy Lee |Samantha Masunaga

Benedict Corpuz has always been a “day one” type of person when it comes to fueling his video game habit. Beginning in his high school years, the 45-year-old flight attendant from Kent, Wash., has tried to get his hands on new Nintendo systems on the day of their release, whether it was the Nintendo 64 or its less popular successor, the GameCube. The new Nintendo Switch 2 was no different.

1 week ago | timeswv.com | Wendy Lee

LOS ANGELES (TNS) — For decades, Hollywood directors including Stanley Kubrick, James Cameron and Alex Garland have cast artificial intelligence as a villain that can turn into a killing machine. Even Steven Spielberg's relatively hopeful "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" had a pessimistic edge to its vision of the future. kAm}@H v@@8=6 — 2 =625:?8 56G6=@A6C :? px E649?@=@8J — H2?ED E@ >@G6 E96 4F=EFC2= 4@?G6CD2E:@?D 2H2J 7C@> E96 E649?@=@8J 2D D66? :?

1 week ago | latimes.com | Wendy Lee

Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings is joining the board of San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company Anthropic. Anthropic, valued at $61.5 billion after its most recent funding round in March, is known for its AI chatbot model Claude. “Anthropic is very optimistic about the AI benefits for humanity, but is also very aware of the economic, social, and safety challenges,” Hastings said.