Israeli agri-tech startup Fermata secures funding for AI-powered farming solutions
Israeli startup Fermata, founded in 2020 by bioinformatics expert Valeria Kogan, is using AI and computer vision to monitor greenhouse crops for diseases and pests. The company’s software works with standard cameras, capturing images of plants twice a day and alerting farmers to potential infestations via an app. Initially considering robotic solutions, Kogan shifted focus after consulting with farmers, realising that simpler camera-based monitoring was more effective.
Based in Israel, Fermata has gained traction by prioritising farmer needs and keeping its AI training in-house, improving model accuracy. Partnering with major agricultural firms like Bayer and Syngenta, the company has deployed over 100 cameras and continues to expand. The startup recently secured a $10 million Series A investment from Raw Ventures, its existing investor, to scale operations and work towards profitability by 2026.
Plans for growth include strengthening the sales team and expanding beyond greenhouse tomatoes into new crops. Despite AI’s previous struggles in agriculture, Fermata’s practical approach and farmer-centric model have helped it carve a niche in the industry.
Ryzen AI and Fire Range: AMD’s big CES 2025 reveals
AMD has announced a range of new processors and graphics cards at CES 2025, including high-performance desktop CPUs, energy-efficient laptop chips, and AI-powered processors for next-generation Copilot+ PCs. The company’s latest flagship, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, targets gamers and creators with 16 cores and speeds of up to 5.7GHz, offering an 8% performance boost in select games compared to its predecessor. AMD also introduced the Fire Range series for laptops and the Ryzen AI 300 and Ryzen AI Max chips, which integrate neural processing units for AI workloads.
The growing market for handheld gaming PCs has led to the release of AMD’s Ryzen Z2 series, optimised for portable devices. Meanwhile, the company’s new Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 GPUs, built on RDNA 4 architecture, promise improved ray tracing, AI acceleration, and better media encoding. AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution 4.0, designed to enhance gaming visuals with minimal latency, was also unveiled.
Expanding beyond hardware, AMD’s Adrenalin software now includes AI-powered features, such as image generation and local AI models for summarising documents. With a strong market presence and increasing demand for AI and gaming solutions, AMD’s 2025 lineup reflects its strategy to remain competitive across multiple segments. Ryzen AI and Fire Range: AMD’s big CES 2025 reveals
AI and speed cameras to tackle dangerous Devon road
A notorious stretch of the A361 in Devon will receive £1 million in AI and speed camera technology to improve road safety. The investment, part of a £5 million grant from the Department for Transport (DfT), comes after the road was identified as ‘high risk,’ with three fatalities and 30 serious injuries recorded between 2018 and 2022. AI-powered cameras will detect offences such as drivers using mobile phones and failing to wear seatbelts, while speed cameras will be installed at key locations.
A pilot scheme last August recorded nearly 1,800 potential offences along the route, highlighting the need for stricter enforcement. The latest plans include three fixed speed cameras at Ilfracombe, Knowle, and Ashford, as well as two average speed camera systems covering longer stretches of the road. AI cameras will be rotated between different locations to monitor driver behaviour more effectively.
Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council’s cabinet member for highways, expressed pride in the region’s adoption of AI for road safety improvements. The remaining £4 million from the DfT grant will be allocated to upgrading junctions and improving access for pedestrians and cyclists along the A361.
AI data centres strain US power grid
The increasing number of data centres powering AI could pose significant challenges for the United States power grid, as reported by Bloomberg. Findings indicate a connection between data centre activity and ‘bad harmonics,’ a term describing electrical power distortions that can damage appliances, heighten fire risks, and lead to power outages.
Bloomberg’s analysis, using data from Whisker Labs and DC Byte, revealed that over half of homes with the worst power distortions are located within 20 miles of active data centres. AI-driven centres, with their unpredictable energy needs, exacerbate these grid strains, pushing infrastructure beyond its designed limits.
Experts, including Aman Joshi of Bloom Energy, warn that no current grid can handle such intense load fluctuations from multiple data centres. While some utility companies question these findings, the report underscores the urgent need to address the interplay between technological expansion and energy stability.
Jet.AI transforms private jet booking experience
Jet.AI has introduced a cutting-edge AI model, ‘Ava,’ designed to revolutionise private jet bookings. Customers can communicate with Ava via phone or text to receive real-time pricing, aircraft availability, and personalised guidance. According to Jet.AI‘s founder Mike Winston, the agentic AI model offers a cost-efficient solution that enhances customer convenience while streamlining operations.
Updates to Jet.AI’s CharterGPT app accompany Ava’s launch, providing features like carbon tracking, enhanced notifications for travel updates, and deep linking for seamless access to trip details discussed with the AI. These upgrades prioritise eco-conscious decisions and user-friendly functionality.
Agentic AI, which operates autonomously to handle entire processes, is gaining momentum across industries. Intuit, for instance, plans to expand agentic AI across its platforms like TurboTax and QuickBooks through 2025, enhancing efficiency while maintaining human expert support when necessary.
Google unveils experimental AI reasoning model
Google has introduced Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental, an AI model designed for advanced reasoning, now available on its AI Studio platform. Billed as effective for multimodal understanding, coding, and complex problem-solving, it aims to enhance AI’s reasoning capabilities.
Unlike typical AI, reasoning models like Gemini fact-check themselves during response generation, improving accuracy but requiring more processing time. However, early testing shows mixed results, suggesting room for refinement in practical applications.
The rise of reasoning models reflects the industry’s search for new methods to optimise AI performance. While promising, challenges such as high computational costs and uncertain scalability remain points of debate.
AI boom could triple US data centre power demand
Data centres in the United States could consume up to 12% of the country’s electricity by 2028 due to the rapid growth of AI, according to a new report. The Department of Energy-backed study predicts energy usage from data centres will rise from 4% to between 6.7% and 12%, depending on GPU availability and demand.
The shift to AI-driven infrastructure is driving the surge, with GPU-accelerated servers and cooling systems responsible for doubling power use in recent years. Researchers are calling for annual reports and strategies to track trends and enhance efficiency.
The findings highlight concerns about the impact of AI on power grids, energy bills, and climate change. Researchers also suggest increased transparency in data centre energy use, aiming to encourage efficiency and sustainable growth within the industry.
AI advances ovarian cancer detection and speeds up blood tests
AI is revolutionising medical testing, including early detection of ovarian cancer and faster identification of life-threatening infections like pneumonia. Researchers are leveraging AI to interpret complex patterns in blood tests, improving accuracy and speed in diagnosing diseases.
Dr Daniel Heller’s team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center developed a nanotube-based blood test that uses AI to detect ovarian cancer earlier than traditional methods. Despite limited data, the technology shows promise, with further studies underway to enhance its effectiveness and expand its application.
AI is also transforming infectious disease diagnosis. California-based Karius uses AI to identify pneumonia-causing pathogens within 24 hours, cutting costs and improving treatment outcomes. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca‘s Dr Slavé Petrovski developed a platform that identifies over 120 diseases from United Kingdom biobank data. However, challenges persist, including a lack of data sharing among researchers, prompting calls for more collaborative efforts.