French artificial intelligence (AI) startup H said Friday (Aug. 23) that three of its co-founders are leaving the company due to “operational differences.”
Co-founders Daan Wierstra, Karl Tuyls and Julien Perolat are leaving the company, H said in a Friday post on LinkedIn. Moving forward, the company will be led by CEO Charles A. Kantor and Chief Technology Officer Laurent Sifre.
“While this has been a difficult decision for all parties involved, all are in agreement that this will enable the company’s greatest moving forward and H continues to have the full support of its investors and strategic partners,” the company said in the post.
Wierstra, Tuyls and Perolat are three of the five co-founders of H, and are three of the four co-founders who joined the company from Alphabet’s AI lab, Google DeepMind, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Their departure comes before H released a product, according to the report.
H raised $220 million for its goal of building artificial general intelligence, Bloomberg reported May 21.
Kantor told Bloomberg at the time that the company is working towards “full-AGI,” a reference to artificial general intelligence, a level of AI that matches or exceeds human capabilities.
Before a rebranding that was announced on May 21, H was known as Holistic AI. (Holistic is the name of a separate AI company based in the United Kingdom.)
H is among the artificial intelligence agent startups that have caught the attention of investors and attracted investments with valuations ahead of their business fundamentals, PYMNTS reported in June.
In its Friday post on LinkedIn, H said that the company “continues on its journey” and that it plans to release a series of models and products before the end of the year.
“When H Company launched earlier this year, the team set out to advance the power of GenAI to people and businesses globally via a new generation of action models,” the company said in the post. “Today, H’s team of almost 40 engineers and researchers remain committed to this vision, developing cutting edge action capabilities that enhance worker productivity and push the frontiers of AI research and engineering.”
We get a lot of press releases here at PYMNTS. We consider all of them, and some are more newsworthy than others. But this one really got our attention. This past week, Diebold Nixdorf made headlines with its announcement of successfully installing two new automated teller machines (ATMs) at the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica. This achievement marks a significant milestone in banking accessibility, to be sure. We would like to meet the crew that installed them. We’d also like to know why they needed two. Was there a line at the first one? More to come on that.
According to Diebold, McMurdo Station is Antarctica’s largest research and logistics hub, supporting a fluctuating population that ranges from fewer than 200 residents during the winter months to up to 1,100 individuals during the summer (October through February). The presence of these ATMs is crucial, it says, as the next closest banking facilities are thousands of miles away, making them the only ATMs on the entire continent. How’s that for a value proposition?
The DN Series ATMs are designed for always-on availability. And why do they need two? One ATM is actively in use, while the second serves as a backup for spare parts, ensuring uninterrupted service in this isolated area. These machines are connected to the DN AllConnect Data Engine, which leverages Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor their performance. A dedicated team continuously aggregates and analyzes technical data to identify potential issues, enabling remote diagnostics and repairs. The ATM can be maintained by trained staff at NSF McMurdo Station, or the Diebold Nixdorf service team can remotely guide them through the repair process.
Anyway, it got us thinking. Are there other surprising ATMs in extreme locations? Well, of course, there are. Here’s a sampling of what we found.
At an altitude of about 5,364 meters (17,600 feet), the Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal is another unexpected place to find an ATM. Although it’s not a permanent fixture and is often set up seasonally, it caters to climbers and trekkers who need cash for local transactions. This temporary ATM service underscores the adaptability of banking services in extreme environments.
In some parts of the Amazon rainforest, particularly in Brazil and Peru, ATMs can be found in small villages and towns. These machines are vital for local communities, providing access to cash in areas where digital payment options might be limited. The presence of ATMs here demonstrates how banking services can reach even the most remote communities.
Located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Nagqu is home to one of the highest ATMs in the world. This region is very remote, with limited infrastructure, making the presence of an ATM a notable example of banking accessibility in extreme environments.
In the Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu) off the coast of Jakarta, Indonesia, there’s a floating ATM. This unique ATM serves the local community and tourists on the islands, demonstrating how banking services can adapt to isolated marine environments.
Longyearbyen, the administrative center of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway, boasts the most northerly ATM. This location is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth, with limited access to mainland Norway, making the ATM a vital service for residents and visitors.
On a more serious note, the installation of ATMs in places like Antarctica and other remote locations highlights the evolving nature of banking technology. With advancements in IoT, AI and remote diagnostics, it’s becoming increasingly feasible to provide banking services in areas previously considered inaccessible. As we look to the future, it will be interesting to see where else ATMs might appear. Whether it’s on a remote island, at the top of a mountain or even in space, the ability to access cash is becoming more universal than ever. And who knows? Maybe one day, we’ll see an ATM on Mars, serving the first interplanetary travelers.
For now, the presence of ATMs in unexpected places reminds us that banking is not just about transactions; it’s about connecting people and communities across the globe, no matter how remote they might be.
