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Quick Hits
Dude, where’s my laptop?: Lenovo goes transparent.
Karma capital: Reddit readies IPO.
Project parked: Apple scraps car plans.
Moon mishap: Odysseus tips, clicks.
Supermassive find: Black hole baffles.
Crypto climbs: Bitcoin hits 2-year high.
Delivering cash: Telegram eyes ad share.
Uber eats: Wendy's tests surge pricing.
Square redux?: Instagram tracks friends.
Universal quiet: TikTok loses more music.
Miner victory: Crypto energy survey halted.
Dream device: Samsung makes a ring.
Data dispute: OpenAI claims shenanigans.
Dating downturn: Bumble cuts 350.
Game over: PlayStation cuts back.
Trending Startups
Supreme Court debates social media
The Supreme Court heard arguments on a pair of First Amendment cases challenging laws that restrict social media moderation. The decision could reshape Internet discourse.
5 industries dominating seed stage VC
Five key industries exciting early-stage VCs are: AI-enabled healthcare, spacetech, construction tech, fintech for the carbon economy, and (of course) generative AI, a Crunchbase analysis finds.
Trusting AI with your money
Allocations hits $2B in assets under administration, highlighting the growing demand for alternative investments and AI's role in simplifying private capital fundraising. “AI has supercharged our output,” founder Kingsley Advani says.
Chatbots evade contentious questions
Google retracts Gemini chatbot's image-generation feature due to historical hallucinations, while Meta seeks to balance safety and engagement in developing Llama 3, addressing overly cautious responses in Llama 2.
‘The pushback is real’
Black Tech Nation Ventures secured $50M for its inaugural fund, focusing on pre-seed and seed-stage software startups led by Black, women, and LGBTQ+ founders. The Pittsburgh-based firm, backed by Mark Cuban and Alphabet, aims to bridge the funding gap for underrepresented groups after a steep decline. “We have seen funding to diverse founders and Black-led venture funds decline rapidly,” one VC says.
From Yahoo CEO to AI founder
Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer co-founded AI startup Sunshine, aiming to solve problems and boost AI confidence from Facebook's first Palo Alto office. “By applying AI … you can both solve valuable problems and you can give people back time,” she says.
Recently Funded
- Textla Secures $2M for SMS Marketing
- PlayMakers Scores $1.5M for Game Creation
- Jamix Unveils $3M for AI Enterprise Assistant
- Gradial Boosts Marketing with $5.4M Seed
- South Africa's Hohm Energy Energized by $8M for Rooftop Solar
- Initia Raises $7.5M for Blockchain Simplification
- Slice Cuts $7M Seed for AI Equity Compliance
- FlowGPT Gathers $10M for AI App Platform
- Haomo Drives $14M for Autonomous Tech
- Lapse Snaps Up $30M for Photo-Sharing App
Weekly Pulse
What We’re Reading
Tech Job Interviews Are Out of Control (Wired)
Wikimedia’s CTO: In the age of AI, human contributors still matter (MIT)
A former Gizmodo writer changed his name to ‘Slackbot’ and stayed undetected for months (The Verge)
Laurie Anderson on making an AI chatbot of Lou Reed: ‘I’m totally, 100%, sadly addicted’ (The Guardian)
The 'mind-bending' bionic arm powered by AI (BBC)
Post of the Week
Podcasts of the Week
David Boskovic, Flatfile (Code Story)
Startups Hiring Now
Rover: We believe in the unconditional love of pets | 23 open roles
CookUnity: Signature meals from award-winning chefs, delivered to your door | 47 open roles
Included Health: Tele-health for binge-eating disorder and obesity medicine | 48 open roles
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