Arrives CES, Swave Photonics Secures $28 Million Funding, Enhances Cinematic Artificial Intelligence
Just like every year, the holidays are followed by CES, which is unavoidable. It takes place on the first Monday of January, and if you're not present, you'll start the year feeling left out – FOMO is real, and that's why over 5,000 journalists and analysts attend the event.
*Swave Photonics Obtains $28.3 Million to Transform 3D Holographic Displays.The Belgian company Swave Photonics has secured Series A funding of $28.3 million to develop its Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) platform. Swave's technology produces high-definition 3D holographic images for AI-powered augmented reality smart glasses and heads-up displays. The financing was led by Imec.xpand and SFPIM Relaunch, with participation from new investors such as the EIC Fund and Murata Electronics. This funding is a continuation of a $10.47 million seed round in 2023. Swave is set to showcase its advancements at CES, where it received a CES 2025 Innovation Award for Groundbreaking Holographic Display Technology for Augmented Reality*.
*OpenAI's Transition to Profit-Making sparks Lawsuits and Controversy* Initially founded as a nonprofit in 2015, OpenAI is shifting towards a for-profit model to attract significant investments. This move has triggered intense debate. OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk has filed for an injunction to prevent the transition, citing concerns over deviations from OpenAI's original mission and potential antitrust issues. Meta and others have also filed opposing briefs against OpenAI's plan.
Highlights from This Week's Cinematic AI Shorts
This section used to be titled "This Week in XR," but now it's also a podcast, hosted by Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, a former studio executive and co-founder of Red Camera, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week, our guest is Gary Shapiro, CEO of the CES. Listen to us on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.
Recommended Reading
*An Unbiased Assessment of XR in 2024*(Skarred Ghost Blog)
Swave Photonics' suave photonics technology, funded with $28.3 million, will be showcased at this year's CTA event, CES, where it received a CES Innovation Award.
Gary Shapiro, the CEO of CES, discusses the future of XR in this week's "Highlights from This Week's Cinematic AI Shorts" podcast, which also covers developments in AI and XR.
