Wednesday, January 29th, 2025Posted by Jim ThackerChaos releases V-Ray 7 for Mayahtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Chaos has released V-Ray 7 for Maya, the next major version of the VFX and animation renderer.The update adds support for 3D Gaussian Splats, native OpenPBR support and extended USD support, and features improvements to V-Ray GPU, the V-Ray Frame Buffer and Chaos Scatter.Maya becomes the latest DCC application to get an integration for V-Ray 7, following 3ds Max, SketchUp and Cinema 4D.Native support for rendering 3DGS scan dataNew features in V-Ray 7 for Maya include support for 3D Gaussian Splats (3DGS).A new 3D scanning method, 3D Gaussian Splatting generates high-quality reconstructions of real-world objects or scenes from source photos or video.Although there are free third-party add-ons for rendering 3DGS data in Blender, Unity and Unreal Engine, V-Ray is one of the first CG applications to support the technology natively.Chaos tells us that it expects the functionality to appeal to both architectural visualization and VFX studios, particularly as a way of creating detailed background environments.You can read a good overview of how 3D Gaussian Splats work, and the pros and cons of workflows based around them in this post on Chaoss blog.Lighting and rendering: updates to Light Path Expressions and V-Ray Sun and SkyThe release also adds support for shadows within V-Rays Light Path Expressions. Users can now isolate shadows within renders using LPEs for more precise control during compositing.In addition, the V-Ray Sun and Sky system has been updated to support the PRG Clear Sky model used in Corona, Chaoss other major production renderer.According to Chaos, it generates more realistic lighting effects than the previous model, particularly at sunrise and sunset, and when rendering the sky from greater altitudes.The firefly removal algorithm, for removing bright flecks in renders, has been updated, while V-Rays implementation of render denoiser Open Image Denoise now supports a prefilter pass.V-Ray GPU: initial support for causticsV-Ray GPU, V-Rays hybrid CPU and GPU renderer, gets initial support for rendering caustics, bringing it closer to feature parity with the main CPU render engine.You can see a list of the remaining features not supported in V-Ray GPU here.Performance improvements include the option to use system memory for textures, making it possible to render larger scenes without running out of GPU memory.For rendering animation, the update reworks V-Rays algorithm for caching bitmaps between frames, speeding up rendering of image sequences up to 50% in some cases.V-Ray GPU also now supports Apples Metal API, which should improve performance on macOS: Chaos says that rendering is up to 3x faster on MacBooks with current M4 processors.VFB: vignetting and freeform render regionsThe V-Ray Frame Buffer (VFB), for viewing and editing images rendered in V-Ray, gets a new Vignette Layer, making it possible to apply vignetting effects to renders.The VFB now supports freeform region rendering, making it possible to specify render regions of arbitrary shape to help resolve key areas of an image more quickly.The update also adds a new Filters tab with access to readymade color correction presets.Updates to Chaos ScatterChaos Scatter, V-Rays new object scattering system, gets a Look At function, making it possible to orient scattered objects to face the camera.There is also a new falloff curve to control how scattered vegetation varies with altitude.Support for the new OpenPBR material standardV-Ray 7 for Maya also introduces support for the new OpenPBR open material standard.Overseen by the Academy Software Foundation, OpenPBR is intended to streamline look development for VFX, with materials developed for one application displaying near-identically in others that support it.The base V-Ray Material (VRayMtl) now includes a new OpenPBR mode, which Chaos describes as proving more control over Sheen effects, and simplifying the creation of layered materials.V-Ray for Maya also supports the native OpenPBR Surface introduced in Maya 2025.3, including within its implementation of MaterialXUpdated USD supportOther changes specific to Maya include support for USD for Maya 0.30, the current version of Mayas USD plugin.V-Ray Clipper, V-Rays geometric primitive for creating cutaway renders, is also now supported in USD workflows. Updates to Chaos CosmosOutside the core software, Chaos Cosmos, the online asset library available with all V-Ray subscriptions, now supports asset variants.The functionality, which makes it possible to switch between variant looks for an asset without having to re-import it into the scene, is initially being used for seasonal changes to foliage.It is also now possible to multi-select assets within Chaos Cosmos.Subscription prices up since V-Ray 6Chaos has also raised the price of V-Ray subscriptions since the previous release.V-Ray Solo subscriptions now cost $84.90/month or $514.80/year, up $5/month or $48/year, and V-Ray Premium subscriptions cost $119.90/month or $718.80/year, up $24/year.V-Ray Enterprise subscriptions are unaffected.Price and system requirementsV-Ray 7 for Maya is compatible with Maya 2022+, running on Windows 10+, RHEL, CentOS and Rocky Linux, and macOS 10.13+. It is rental-only. You can find current pricing in the story above.Read an overview of the new features in V-Ray 7 for Maya on Chaoss websiteRead a full list of new features in V-Ray 7 for Maya in the online release notesHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.Latest NewsChaos releases V-Ray 7 for HoudiniCheck out the new features in the renderer, including a new Houdini-specific volume shader and better integration with Solaris.Wednesday, January 29th, 2025Chaos releases V-Ray 7 for MayaCheck out the new features in the VFX renderer, including OpenPBR support and changes to USD support specific to the Maya edition.Wednesday, January 29th, 2025Red9 ProPack gets new tools created for Sonic the Hedgehog 3Maya animation toolkit for VFX and games gets new tools developed for Red9's character rigging work on the latest Sonic movie.Tuesday, January 28th, 2025JangaFX teases IlluGenThe EmberGen dev's new app will be a 'better way to create the majority of assets' for VFX in games. Here's what we know about it so far.Monday, January 27th, 2025Check out the new features due in EmberGen 2.0Next major update to the real-time smoke and fire simulator to feature sparse sims, simulation retiming, USD support and a macOS edition.Monday, January 27th, 2025Tutorial: Creating Runtime Cinematics in Unreal Engine 5Master key workflows for integrating character animation into interactive gameplay in UE5 with The Gnomon Workshop's new tutorial.Saturday, January 25th, 2025More NewsPhotoLine 25 now reads Cryptomatte dataPolygonflow releases Dash 1.8.5After Effects' latest beta lets you preview HDR compsNew version of iOS and Android scanning app Kiri EngineRE:Vision Effects launches Twixtor StandaloneSee the new features due in Unreal Engine 5.6 and beyondLeft Angle releases Autograph 2025Check out this GPU-accelerated Houdini Skin Slide DeformerCheck out this free 2D Rim Light Tool for NukeCreate motion graphics in Nuke with the new Screen FX pluginMaster Cinematic Sand & Dust Simulations Using HoudiniGet the new free version of ZibraVDB for Unreal EngineOlder Posts

Sony Corp. shook up the top leadership of the company as well as at its major PlayStation division. It has appointed Hiroki Totoki as CEO.Read More

The field of artificial intelligence is evolving rapidly, with increasing efforts to develop more capable and efficient language models. However, scaling these models comes with challenges, particularly regarding computational resources and the complexity of training. The research community is still exploring best practices for scaling extremely large models, whether they use a dense or Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture. Until recently, many details about this process were not widely shared, making it difficult to refine and improve large-scale AI systems.Qwen AI aims to address these challenges with Qwen2.5-Max, a large MoE model pretrained on over 20 trillion tokens and further refined through Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT) and Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF). This approach fine-tunes the model to better align with human expectations while maintaining efficiency in scaling. Technically, Qwen2.5-Max utilizes a Mixture-of-Experts architecture, allowing it to activate only a subset of its parameters during inference. This optimizes computational efficiency while maintaining performance. The extensive pretraining phase provides a strong foundation of knowledge, while SFT and RLHF refine the models ability to generate coherent and relevant responses. These techniques help improve the models reasoning and usability across various applications.Qwen2.5-Max has been evaluated against leading models on benchmarks such as MMLU-Pro, LiveCodeBench, LiveBench, and Arena-Hard. The results suggest it performs competitively, surpassing DeepSeek V3 in tests like Arena-Hard, LiveBench, LiveCodeBench, and GPQA-Diamond. Its performance on MMLU-Pro is also strong, highlighting its capabilities in knowledge retrieval, coding tasks, and broader AI applications. In summary, Qwen2.5-Max presents a thoughtful approach to scaling language models while maintaining efficiency and performance. By leveraging a MoE architecture and strategic post-training methods, it addresses key challenges in AI model development. As AI research progresses, models like Qwen2.5-Max demonstrate how thoughtful data use and training techniques can lead to more capable and reliable AI systems.Check out the Demo on Hugging Face, and Technical Details. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our70k+ ML SubReddit. [Recommended Read] Nebius AI Studio expands with vision models, new language models, embeddings and LoRA (Promoted)The post Qwen AI Introduces Qwen2.5-Max: A large MoE LLM Pretrained on Massive Data and Post-Trained with Curated SFT and RLHF Recipes appeared first on MarkTechPost.

This article contains no spoilers for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and is based on all 10 episodes of season 1. When it was first announced near the end of 2021, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Mans path to success seemed pretty clear.As long as the Marvel Disney+ series projected the same energy of previous animated Spider-Man efforts like the beloved cartoon of the 90s, subscribers would go home happy, bellies full of memberberries. But then a funny thing happened on the way to that streaming layup. Whats that synth music in the distance? Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuuuh. Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuuuuh nuh.X-Men 97 proved that modern Marvel animation didnt need to rely solely on nostalgia to be worthwhile. A good Marvel animated series can also elevate the material its honoring as long as it cared enough to do so. And X-Men 97 clearly cared a lot. Under the initial guidance of creator Beau DeMayo (who was fired by Marvel before the show premiered), X-Men 97 certainly looks like X-Men: Animated Series of the mid 90s. It also features many of the same characters and background canon that made the Fox Kids program a cult classic. But X-Men 97 wasnt content to rest on the shoulders of the mutants who preceded it. It adopted a bold storytelling plan that incorporated the political commentary of the comic source material with a daring plot that featured multiple character deaths midway through the season. All in all, it was one of the best shows of the year, animated or otherwise.X-Men 97s creative success raised expectations for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, especially since the 90s X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons occupied the same storytelling universe. Unfortunately those expectations prove to be a bar that this Peter Parker cannot clear, agile as he may be.The only real similarity YFNSM bears to X-Men 97 (aside from creating behind-the-scenes headaches for Disney before it even premieres) is an animation style that pays vague homage to its 90s counterpart, and even that isnt quite as lush as its Disney+ cousin. There are some visual treats for those who care to look (Norman and Harry Osborn have the same wavy red-and-black hairstyle that I found so striking as a kid in the 90s) but the 3D cel-shaded animation itself is choppy. Its not overly distracting (and could even be viewed as creatively mirroring its arachnid heros twitchy personality and powers) but it is missing a certain level of visual diversity and ambition.The season-long plot, spread out over 10 episodes*, is equally predictable and safe. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man becomes the umpteenth Spider-Man property to depict a now-familiar origin story. While a certain sorcerer supreme cameos in the first episode to clarify that this show exists in one of Marvels many alternate universes, things are still kicked off with a little eight-legged buddy chomping down on a young Peter Parkers neck.*Which are to be released in some truly bizarre intervals. Two episodes in week one, three in week two, three in week three, and two in the fourth and final week.Despite taking place outside the confines of Earth-616, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man doesnt do much to take advantage of its status as a multiversal outsider. Both Iron Man and Captain America still exist in this timeline and characters frequently make reference to their exploits that sound roughly identical to the events of the Marvel Cinematic Universes Infinity Saga. The show also maintains the current MCU continuity by making sure that Peters Aunt May is super hot. Tony Stark and Happy Hogan arent around so Ill be the one brave enough to comment on this animated fictional characters appearance!Still, at the end of the day, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man presents a pretty straightforward Spidey story and thats hard to screw up (unless youre The Amazing Spider-Man 2). Oscar-nominee Colman Domingo proves a capable, sturdy presence as Peters mentor (yes mentor) Norman Osborn. The show is also very much not stingy with its Spider-Man cameos and Easter eggs. Every week contains multiple new characters who, while relatively minor in this story, are prominent enough in the larger Marvel mythos to have their own Wikipedia entry. Indeed the main cast of the show may hold some larger Marvel secrets to those unfamiliar with the comic history.Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man also gets the most important part of Spider-Man right, which is Spider-Man himself. This Peter Parker is a charming lad. From the moment hes introduced trying to operate the cracked screen on his smartphone, the viewer is confident that hes the same hot mess weve always known and loved. He also matures and improves his skillset believably across the season, building meaningful relationships and rapport with his supporting cast.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!By the end of its finale, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man hasnt broken any new ground but it has made its case as a low-stakes comfort watch that merits a second season. That would have felt like a resounding success for Marvel fans in a pre-X-Men 97 world. It doesnt quite feel like a victory now.The first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are available to stream on Disney+ now. New episodes premiere Wednesdays, culminating in the two-episode finale on February 19.Learn more about Den of Geeks review process and why you can trust our recommendationshere.

Jan 29, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Network SecurityCybersecurity researchers are warning that a critical zero-day vulnerability impacting Zyxel CPE Series devices is seeing active exploitation attempts in the wild."Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to execute arbitrary commands on affected devices, leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, or network infiltration," GreyNoise researcher Glenn Thorpe said in an alert published Tuesday.The vulnerability in question is CVE-2024-40891, a critical command injection vulnerability that has neither been publicly disclosed nor patched. The existence of the bug was first reported by VulnCheck in July 2024.Statistics gathered by the threat intelligence firm show that attack attempts have originated from dozens of IP addresses, with a majority of them located in Taiwan. According to Censys, there are more than 1,500 vulnerable devices online."CVE-2024-40891 is very similar to CVE-2024-40890, with the main difference being that the former is Telnet-based while the latter is HTTP-based," GreyNoise added. "Both vulnerabilities allow unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands using service accounts."VulnCheck told The Hacker News that it's working through its disclosure process with the Taiwanese company. We have reached out to Zyxel for further comment, and we will update the story if we hear back.In the meantime, users are advised to filter traffic for unusual HTTP requests to Zyxel CPE management interfaces and restrict administrative interface access to trusted IPs.The development comes as Arctic Wolf reported it observed a campaign starting January 22, 2025, that involved gaining unauthorized access to devices running SimpleHelp remote desktop software as an initial access vector.It's currently not known if the attacks are linked to the exploitation of recently disclosed security flaws in the product (CVE-2024-57726, CVE-2024-57727, and CVE-2024-57728) that could allow a bad actor to escalate privileges to administrative users and upload arbitrary files."The first signs of compromise were communications from the client process to an unapproved SimpleHelp server instance," security researcher Andres Ramos said. "The threat activity also involved enumeration of accounts and domain information through a cmd.exe process initiated via a SimpleHelp session, using tools such as net and nltest. The threat actors were not observed acting on objectives because the session was terminated before the attack progressed further."Organizations are strongly advised to update their SimpleHelp instances to the latest available fixed versions to secure against potential threats.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Role Purpose:A Manual Software Testing Engineer is responsible for ensuring software quality through systematic testing, bug identification, and detailed documentation of test results. They work closely with developers, product managers, and other stakeholders to verify that software meets specified requirements.Job duties and Responsibilities:Execute detailed test cases and scenarios to validate software functionalityCreate and maintain comprehensive test documentation, including test plans, test cases, and test reportsIdentify, document, and track software defects using bug tracking systems (like Jira, Azure DevOps, or similar tools)Collaborate with development teams to reproduce and verify bug fixesPerform various types of testing including functional, regression, usability, and compatibility testingReview software requirements and provide feedback on testability and potential issuesSupport User Acceptance Testing (UAT) processesParticipate in daily scrum meetings and sprint planning sessionsRequirements:4+ years of hands-on manual software testing.Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.Strong understanding of SDLC/STLC & including various testing methodologies (e.g., functional, regression, integration, smoke, UAT).Experience in test case creation, execution, and reporting.Proficiency in bug tracking tools (e.g., Jira).Excellent communication & collaboration skills.Strong analytical & problem-solving abilities.Preferred Qualifications:Agile/Scrum experience.Basic SQL knowledge.Basic automation tool experience (e.g., Selenium).ISTQB Foundation Level certification.Join us and get ready to Soar!

The building, rebranded Plant Basingstoke, has been redeveloped for client Mactaggart Family & Partners by Longstock Capital, and now oers over 19,500m2 of Category A and B multi-let oce and amenity space.The five-storey block, formerly known as Mountbatten House, is considered one of the most important listed modernist buildings in Britain. It was originally designed in 1973 by Peter Foggo and Arup Associates Group 2, working with garden designer James Russell, to be the UK headquarters of paper manufacturers Wiggins Teape.The building and the terraced roof gardens were both separately listed by English Heritage in 2015 for their design excellence and signicance within British modernist architecture and horticulture. The gardens were added to the Register of Parks and Gardens at Grade II.AdvertisementFeilden Clegg Bradley Studios was selected in 2019 to revamp the building, obtaining planning approval and listed building consent for the work, and taking the design up to Stage 3. Twelve Architects has now completed Stages 4-6, including design variations under approval of conditions.In the case of the gardens, Grant Associates designed the landscaping to Stage 4, obtaining planning approval and listed consent in 2019. Subsequently Studio Knight Stokoe obtained planning and listed building consent for an amended landscape scheme in 2024, based on the principles established in the Grant Associates design, and completed the amended detailed design.Inside, a redesigned and expanded entrance and reception area strengthens the visual connection out to the gardens and is marked by a new helical staircase. New double-height spaces have been formed to create vertical connections between oors, which draw more natural light into the plan.Suspended ceilings and nishes have been removed to reveal the buildings distinctive coered slab structure and cruciform columns. The original curtain wall system has been refurbished, improving the buildings thermal performance and the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems have been upgraded.New facilities, including a caf, gym, shower and changing rooms, secure cycle storage and a multipurpose function space have also been incorporated.AdvertisementOutside, access has been improved to the hanging gardens of Basingstoke gardens and roof terraces, with pathways and new seating areas oering spaces for relaxation and reection. The listed landscaping has been adapted to be climate-resilient, regenerative and to foster biodiversity. Over 2,500 new plants have been introduced, alongside 86 new trees, taking inspiration from the original design vision for the gardens to be informal, elaborate, romantic, overowing and tumbling. Much of the existing hardscaping has been restored too, and every original paving element across the garden levels reused.Architects viewTwelve Architects is proud to have played a pivotal role in the transformation of Plant into an incredible, forward-thinking workspace. By preserving its architectural heritage while embracing modern innovations, the team have created an exemplar development that promotes wellbeing and connections. Its wonderful to see how the refurbishment has enhanced natural light, spatial ow and brought tenants closer to nature. With sustainability at its core and a pending BREEAM Outstanding certication, Plant Basingstoke sets new standards for the future of oce design. It has been a privilege to work with such an outstanding team and a client who is truly passionate about delivering remarkable buildings.Robert Shannon, associate director, Twelve Architects & MasterplannersI am immensely proud of the role Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios has played in extending the life of this seminal building designed over 50 years ago by Peter Foggos group 2 at Arup Associates (with whom I worked in the 1980s). The building designs prescience in creating contact with, and access to, nature within all the oce spaces on all levels created a legacy that even now appears forward thinking. Our work focused on preserving the unique character of Foggos original design while creating a framework that balances function with environmental responsibility. Plant Basingstoke now stands as a benchmark for retrotting and regeneration, a space where people and nature thrive in harmony, embodying the values we strive for in every project.Ian Taylor, partner, Feilden Clegg Bradley StudiosLandscape architects viewOur approach in helping to bring this amazing building and series of gardens back to life has been to honour the original vision of seamlessly blending architecture and landscape. This project provided a unique opportunity to not only preserve the legacy of Peter Foggo and James Russell but also to enhance it for future generations. By prioritising nature, wellbeing, and sustainability, as a team weve created an environment that reects the changing needs of the modern workplace while staying true to the building and gardens pioneering spirit.Keith French, director, Grant AssociatesPlant Basingstoke is redening what a workspace can be. By reimagining this nationally signicant building and its gardens, Studio Knight Stokoe has helped to create a transformational exemplar of retrot and reuse. It's a project that respects the original design vision, while meeting modern needs. Here, the connection between people and nature isn't an afterthought it's at the core of everything. The team has used regenerative and biophilic design principles to create beautiful environments that support wellbeing, in every sense. For those who'll work and visit here, Plant Basingstoke oers a daily reminder of nature's importance in our lives. This project goes beyond preserving history or creating oce space. It's about shaping a place that positively impacts people and the environment. Its been a pleasure to be part of the team bringing our clients vision to life.Martin Knight, director, Studio Knight StokoeClient's viewThe project team has captured the original spirit of Plant and delivered an outstanding refurbishment. Plant is a unique building that we are all immensely proud of, and will serve the region for many more years to come. The building is now a perfect example of what occupiers require in terms of design aesthetic, environmental credentials and amenities and the proof is in how well it has been received by the leasing market.Hugo Denee, co-founder, Longstock Capital Source:Studio Knight StokoeProject dataLocation Basingstoke, HampshireStart on site February 2023Completion date October 2024Gross internal floor area 19,515m2Total site area 14,415m2Construction cost UndisclosedConstruction cost per m2 UndisclosedArchitect Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (RIBA 0-3, 5+ CMT); Twelve Architects and Masterplanners (RIBA 4+)Landscape architect Grant Associates (RIBA 0-4, 5+ CMT); Studio Knight Stokoe (RIBA 5+)Client Mactaggart Family & PartnersDeveloper Longstock CapitalStructural engineer Whitby WoodCivil engineer Whitby WoodM&E consultant Skelly & CouchQS Circle DevelopmentProject manager Circle DevelopmentPrincipal designer CField ConstructionMain contractor CField Construction

Enjoy this selection of art made Brandon Liao, Principal Concept Artist at Mountaintop Studios.The post The Art of Brandon Liao appeared one day on IAMAG Inspiration.

Swedish shared micromobility giant Voi had its first profitable year in 2024, according to preliminary unaudited results the company shared exclusively with TechCrunch.Voi, which offers shared e-scooters and e-bikes across more than 100 markets in Europe, recorded 132.8 million ($138 million) in net revenue in 2024. On an adjusted basis, Voi earned 17.2 million ($17.9 million) in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization profit, and around 100,000 ($104,000) in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT).While 100,000 profit (on an adjusted basis) doesnt seem like much to go on, Vois founder and CEO Frederik Hjelm told TechCrunch that the companys modest results demonstrate Vois ability to improve its bottom line by 100 percentage points since 2021 is in a tough industry with lots of ups and downs.Lime, another industry leader, reported full-year profitability in 2023.Now were starting to show real cash positive financials and EBIT profitability, so were getting to a place where wed be a good candidate for the public markets in, say, two to three years from now, Hjelm said.Hjelm also noted that a business that revolves around physical assets should highlight EBIT profitability over EBITDA because its a metric that better captures the operational cost structure.Voi didnt share other financial information like net income and operating expenses. Hjelm said the company would release that information with a more detailed audited report at the end of February.Hjelm did note that Vois vehicle profit margins which grew to 57%, up from 49% in 2023 can be considered a proxy for the companys gross margin.The CEO attributes Vois improved bottom line to a series of cost-cutting measures and efficiency improvements such as automation on the product side, and using machine learning models to power predictive maintenance or determine battery swapping schedules. He claimed this has also helped Voi improve the lifespan of its current fleet to around eight years, which has been a big driver of profitability improvements.A thousand small things that distill down to one thing, which is really a focus on discipline and obsession with small details, Hjelm said.Vehicle utilization is also healthy, he said, with each vehicle averaging out at up to 10 rides per day during peak months and two rides per day at off-peak.The first years [of shared micromobility] were quite chaotic when it came to how many players were in the market, location accuracy on the vehicles, parking clutter, and so on, Hjelm said. Over the last three years, we have seen cities maturing and taking what they consider to be the most suitable players to run micromobility schemes in their cities. And that has improved both public acceptance but also profitability on the bottom line for us.Voi ended 2024 with 60 million ($62 million) in cash and cash equivalents. In October 2024, Voi secured 125 million in senior secured bonds ($130M) that are mainly backed by Nordic and American institutional investors a step change for the startup that had until then raised $675.56 million in equity from VCs, according to PitchBook data.Me and my CFO said at the end of 2021 that we dont want to be dependent on equity investors anymore, so lets turn this company profitable, Hjelm said.Voi completed its first drawdown of 50 million ($52 million) from the bond issuance, money that will go towards helping Voi expand its fleet and launch in new markets across Europe. Today, Voi counts about 100,000 vehicles in its fleet 90% of which are scooters.This year, were increasing our bike fleet significantly over the next couple of months, Hjelm said.Raising a public bond is proof of trust from the very sophisticated public debt bond investors, he added.When asked if Voi plans to use any of its cash to acquire other companies there have been rumors that Voi is acquiring Bolts micromobility business Hjelm said that there is no confirmed acquisition offer.But I would buy it at the right price, he said. Bolt is great, but we do micromobility better!

Chinese AI lab DeepSeeks Android app has taken the No. 1 spot on the Google Play Store, mere days after the companys chatbot app clinched the top spot on the Apple App Store.According to app analytics firm AppFigures, since its launch in mid-January, the DeepSeek app has been downloaded over 1.2 million times on the Play Store and over 1.9 million times on the App Store across the world. Notably, the actual number of installs could be higher as DeepSeek has a label indicating over 5 million downloads on the Play Store.The rapid rise of DeepSeek in the charts follows a sudden rise in popularity resulting from the release of a series of open-source AI models that are competitive with leading offerings by AI companies in the West, like Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta and Google. However, the Chinese company claims its AI models were trained for just a fraction of the price as the ones from the likes of OpenAI and Meta, and using significantly worse AI chips.DeepSeeks app is essentially a ChatGPT alternative thats powered by the Chinese labs V3 model. You can use the bot to analyze files, answer questions, and get information from the web. The app is free and lets you upload files and sync your chat history across devicesWhile DeepSeek is ruling the charts for now, it will have to get to 300 million weekly users to overtake OpenAIs ChatGPT for a long-term lead in chatbots.Both DeepSeek and its family of models have received a lot of attention from the industry in the past few days. Startups like Perplexity and Gloo former Intel CEO Pat Gelsingers new venture are already integrating DeepSeek for their usage.