Weekly DaaS Roundup for July 31

DaaS Never Sleeps

July 31, 2025

NEWS, READS AND MORE

Amazon Strikes AI Licensing Deal with NYT to Train Alexa Models Wall Street Journal
Amazon will pay The New York Times over $20 million annually for rights to use its news, cooking, and sports content in AI training. The deal enables Alexa and other AI models to surface NYT-sourced summaries and excerpts, marking a rare paid partnership between a major tech firm and a premium publisher.

AI Projects Risk Failure Without Quality Data TechRadar Pro
A growing wave of failed AI deployments is exposing the limits of model performance without strong data foundations. Companies are realizing that foundation models won’t fix incomplete, inconsistent, or biased inputs. Clean pipelines, trusted sources, and clear governance have become the new non-negotiables, especially as teams race to production.

Tech Giants Ignite Trillion-Dollar AI Infrastructure Battle The Guardian
Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are collectively spending upwards of $100B on AI infrastructure this year. Custom chips, frontier model labs, and global training data pipelines. While lawsuits mount over scraped creative content, incumbents are racing to secure compute and talent moats before regulation catches up.

The Hidden Costs of AI Errors and the Data Fix That Solves Them Senzing
AI systems often misidentify people, products or assets. These mistakes lead to bad predictions, broken personalization and poor planning. Issues like false fraud alerts or mixed-up customer histories usually stem from weak entity resolution. Fixing that foundation is key to building reliable AI and trustworthy data systems.

WORLD OF DAAS SPOTLIGHT

G2 is the world's largest and most trusted software marketplace. More than 100 million people annually — including employees at all Fortune 500 companies — use G2 to make smarter software decisions based on authentic peer reviews.

Thousands of software and services companies of all sizes partner with G2 to build their reputation and grow their business — including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoom, and Adobe. To learn more about where you go for software, visit www.g2.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

🎧 THE LATEST WOD PODCAST 🎧

Dwarkesh Patel is the creator and host of the Dwarkesh Podcast, where he interviews leading scientists, founders, and economists about AI, science, and progress. He’s known for his deep curiosity and ability to draw out original insights from top thinkers.

In this episode of World of DaaS, Dwarkesh and Auren discuss:

  • Why current AI models fall short of real economic impact

  • What’s missing in elite AI discourse

  • How to think clearly in a world full of noise

  • The hidden power of collective AI learning

WELCOME WORLD OF DAAS MEMBERS

We’re excited to welcome our newest Founding Members to the World of DaaS community: Godard Abel, Jonathan Bloch, Michael De La Torre, Genevieve Juillard, Freeman Lewin, Gretchen Littlefield, Geoffrey Négiar, Jacob Ross, Thani Shamsi, and Simon Vandemoortele.

If you are a DaaS leader and want to be part of this growing community, apply to join World of DaaS and get access to private events, curated connections, and more.

M&A AND FUNDING

Palo Alto Networks to Acquire CyberArk in $25B Move to Bolster AI-Era Security

Cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks has agreed to acquire identity security firm CyberArk in a $25 billion cash-and-stock deal. The move brings CyberArk’s privileged access and identity management tools into Palo Alto’s platform, strengthening its end-to-end offering as enterprise security shifts to AI-native architectures. The deal is part of Palo Alto’s broader strategy to lead in AI-driven threat prevention and identity orchestration.

Verisk Expands Insurance Data Stack with $2.4B AccuLynx Deal

Verisk is acquiring roofing software firm AccuLynx for $2.4B to strengthen its position in residential property insurance. The move brings contractor workflow tools and on-the-ground damage data into Verisk’s analytics pipeline. With rising climate-related claims and mounting pressure to automate, insurers are leaning on end-to-end platforms to price risk more accurately and streamline recovery.

Daloopa Raises $13M to Scale AI-Powered Financial Data

Financial data startup Daloopa has raised $13 million in strategic funding to scale its AI-driven platform. The company automates extraction and validation of financial data, helping analysts update models faster and with greater accuracy. The investment will support deeper LLM integrations and expansion across global markets.

RANDOM ART OF THE WEEK

prompt: Eye of the Storm

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