Microsoft launches small language model / Perplexity seeks $250M at $3B valuation / Image generator coming to Photoshop [EN]

Chinese universities and research institutes bypass U.S. export restrictions to acquire advanced Nvidia AI chips, Microsoft launches a compact AI model Phi-3 Mini for smartphones, Perplexity AI reaches a $1B valuation with plans for a significant funding round, Adobe Photoshop introduces a tool for generating images from text prompts, and Softbank announces a $960M investment in computing infrastructure and generative AI development.