The final report from the government’s National AI Research Resource recommends a new, multi-billion-dollar research organization to improve the capabilities and accessibility of the field to U.S. scientists. The document presents “a roadmap and implementation plan for a national cyberinfrastructure aimed at overcoming the access divide, reaping the benefits of greater brainpower and more diverse … Read more
A number of consumer advocacy groups have a problem with Walmart’s entry into the metaverse. The online retailer last fall announced the launch of two new virtual worlds on Roblox, “Walmart Land” and “Universe of Play,” aimed at engaging the next generation of shoppers. The experiences allow Roblox users to play games featuring toys and … Read more
Amazon made headlines this month when the company began to work through its long-rumored 18,000 job cuts. Going, too, are a number of products and strategies as the company right-sizes for the current state of the economy, the market’s attitude to tech stocks and the current landscape as dictated by its competitors and would-be rivals. … Read more
Although the crypto gaming industry remains below its 2021 peaks, it still pulled in substantial venture funding last year. But looking to the future, the subsector may look outside of tokenomics to grow and sustain itself for the long haul. “Tokens are a fantastic way to share ownership of economies. I’m very supportive of tokens … Read more
Honda is establishing a division dedicated to the development of electric vehicles and other electrical products including storage and generation, the company said on Tuesday (via Reuters). The Japanese automaker somewhat lags the rest of the market when it comes to EVs to date. Last year, Honda announced expansive plans to electrify its lineup, including … Read more
It’s a tough time to be a richly priced company that didn’t go public when the getting was good. Not only are there fewer later-stage players with the resources and appetite to support such companies — SoftBank and Tiger Global have pulled back dramatically, for example — but even secondary investors have lost interest. That’s … Read more
Instagram announced today that it’s introducing a new dynamic profile photo feature that lets users showcase both their profile photo and their avatar. Prior to this update, you had to choose between displaying a profile picture or your avatar on your profile. Now, you can flip between the two. “Now you can add your avatar … Read more
Tapbots, the makers of a popular third-party Twitter app Tweetbot that was recently killed by Twitter’s API changes, is releasing its next new product. Hoping to fill the void that Tweetbot leaves behind, the company is now making its anticipated Mastodon client app Ivory available on the App Store as an Early Access release. The … Read more
Lyft has introduced wait time fees – in other words, charges incurred if a Lyft driver has to wait for you upon pickup. The rideshare platform hasn’t had these previously, despite its main competitor Uber having them since 2016. Lyft’s wait time fees kick in two minutes after on-time arrival for standard rides and five … Read more
Startup board meetings are scheduled several weeks apart, but many founders work until the last minute on the deck updating investors on revenue, the product pipeline, hiring and other essential matters. In this environment, founders who try to “bright side” their numbers into a positive narrative will lose credibility. It’s nice to think so, but … Read more
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against Google over alleged antitrust issues, claiming the search giant has monopoly control of the digital ad market. The DOJ is joined by eight states in its complaint, including New York, California, and Colorado. Together they aim to “halt Google’s anticompetitive scheme, unwind Google’s monopolistic grip on … Read more
It’s been seven months since Roe vs. Wade was overturned, and the dust has barely begun to settle. Politically, voters have expressed their overwhelming support for a person’s right to access abortion. Grassroots campaigns continue, and technology-wise, innovation in the wider women’s health sector is only gearing up. But have things improved at all for … Read more
Welcome back to Found, where we get the stories behind the startups. In this week’s episode Darrell and Becca are joined by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, the co-founder and CEO of Klarna. Sebastian talks about what led him to found the startup and how it has navigated multiple market cycles since. He also dove into how Klarna … Read more
Accord, a collaboration platform designed to support business-to-business (B2B) sales, today announced that it raised $10 million in Series A funding from Matrix Partners, Nat Friedman and Y Combinator. CEO Ross Rich says that the new funds, which bring Accord’s total raised to $17 million, will be put toward the startup’s engineering, sales and marketing … Read more
Developers tend to build and test software on their local laptops, but these machines often lack the necessary resources to run a full scale development environment efficiently. Large companies have built custom systems to move development tools and testing to the cloud, but this kind of approach has often been out of reach for smaller … Read more
Sunfish, a new startup built by a former director at one of the oldest surrogacy and egg donation agencies in the world, has raised $4 million to build financial assistance tooling for hopeful parents. The round, led by Walkabout Ventures with participation from Hannah Grey VC and Fiat Ventures, comes a little over a year … Read more
Garmin is the latest company to give its users the ability to take an ECG reading from their wrist. The company is launching a new ECG app that allows users to record their heart rhythm and check for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib), the company announced on Tuesday. The app, which is the company’s first … Read more
After multiple delays due to inclement weather and high winds, Rocket Lab is poised to launch its first-ever mission from Virginia today, with a two-hour launch window opening at 6PM EST. The mission is called “Virginia is for Launch Lovers,” and the name is appropriate in more ways than one. Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket will … Read more
Last week, Twitter updated its developer terms to effectively ban any alternative Twitter client application. The company’s change came after many popular apps — including Twitterrific, Tweetbot, Echofone, and Fenix — were suspended by the company’s developer platform team without any notice or explanation. The social media company hadn’t been transparent about its decisions to … Read more
Pocket, a popular read-it-later app acquired by Mozilla in 2017, is rolling out two major changes to its mobile reading experience, as it faces new competition from startups like Matter and open-source alternatives like Omnivore. The company today is revamping key features, including its Home tab and its “My List” tab, which is now being … Read more
As Roblox bets big on the future of user-generated content, the online game platform ubiquitous in the under-13 age group is staffing up accordingly. The company announced Tuesday that it has hired former Google Play VP Tian Lim to lead the product team for its creator group, the internal division of the company focused on … Read more
Netflix received 15 Oscar nominations this year, putting the streaming service ahead of other media companies. Warner Bros. was close behind with 13 nominations, and Disney earned 11. Netflix’s German war movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” was nominated nine times, making it one of the most-nominated Oscar films, behind “Everything Everywhere All at … Read more
Korean storytelling companies want to kindle the popularity of webtoons and web novels in the West on the back of their success in East Asia. Serialized digital comics, also known as webtoons in South Korea, are optimized for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets or websites, which read top to bottom. Digital comics gained … Read more
AI may be getting hyped as the next billion dollar (or, much bigger) opportunity these days after that mega round for OpenAI from Microsoft, but that rising tide is not lifting all boats. SoundHound — the voice AI company that provides conversational AI services for automotive, connected home and hospitality applications — earlier this month … Read more
After successfully building Kind Snacks into a multibillion-dollar company, Daniel Lubetzky and his team, including former Kind executive Elle Lanning, have unveiled Camino Partners, a startup incubator and investment platform. Lubetzky, founder and chairman of Camino Partners, built Kind up from just $5 million in initial investment and told TechCrunch he wants to help other … Read more
The FBI accused two groups of North Korean government hackers of carrying out last year’s heist of $100 million in crypto stolen from a company that allows users to transfer cryptocurrency from one blockchain to another. On Monday, the FBI announced that the Lazarus Group and APT38 — two groups linked to the North Korean … Read more
Paris Heymann Contributor Share on Twitter Paris Heymann is a partner at Index Ventures, where he invests primarily in B2B SaaS and data. For the tech community, the rallying cry in 2022 was about moving from the growth-at-all-costs mindset toward emphasizing profitability. We believe that in turbulent times, startups and scaleups alike need to ensure: … Read more
The software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry is facing budget constraints and reductions in headcount as a result of the pandemic and the broader slowdown in tech. Companies have tightened up their budgets for SaaS purchases, looking to keep cash on hand while growing more efficiently. That’s why Kush Kella and Ahmed Sharif founded Vartana (which my colleague … Read more
WhatsApp has released its native macOS app compatible with Apple Silicon in a public beta. Users running Mac with Apple’s own chip with macOS 11 Big Sur or newer version will be able to download the test version. Plus, people with Intel Macs that can run apps built with Apple Catalyst — the company’s program … Read more
It’s never been cheaper to send a spacecraft to orbit, but many companies are hamstrung by the complex and expensive demands of satellite mission management. Quindar wants to change that. The company, which just closed $2.5 million in seed funding, has built a web app for end-to-end satellite operations that it says will enable its … Read more