3 methods for valuing pre-revenue novel AI startups

Ryan E. Long Contributor Share on Twitter Since 2006, Ryan E. Long has been the principal attorney of Long & Associates. The Santa Monica-based law practice solves tricky IP-related issues for tech/media clients so they can safely scale or be acquired. Valuing pre-revenue tech startups is an established process today, but do the methods employed … Read more

Microsoft to sunset Soundscape 3D audio app and open-source the code

Microsoft is sunsetting an experimental research project that uses audio-based technology to help visually-impaired people navigate and gain a stronger awareness of their surroundings. However, the company also revealed that it will release the code under an open source license for other developers to use. The technology giant first debuted Soundscape back in 2017, essentially … Read more

A quick guide to all the checkmarks and badges on Twitter

Elon Musk-led Twitter is shaking up its verification system. Instead of one checkmark, now there are multicolored checkmarks to denote different things. This could be very confusing for users to track. So here’s a handy guide to all checkmarks and badges on the social network. Checkmarks Blue checkmark: It currently means two things. 1) Account … Read more

California’s finance department confirms breach as LockBit claims data theft

California’s Department of Finance has confirmed it’s investigating a “cybersecurity incident” after the prolific LockBit ransomware group claims to have stolen confidential data from the agency. The California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) in a statement on Monday described the threat as an “intrusion” that was “identified through coordination with state and federal security … Read more

Image-generating AI can copy and paste from training data, raising IP concerns

Image-generating AI models like DALL-E 2 and Stable Diffusion can — and do — replicate aspects of images from their training data, researchers show in a new study, raising concerns as these services enter wide commercial use. Co-authored by scientists at the University of Maryland and New York University, the research identifies cases where image-generating … Read more

Vic.ai raises $52M, shows that automating accounting processes can be profitable

AI is an imperfect technology, but one task at which it excels is identifying patterns in vast amounts of data. That’s perhaps why a number of startups have sprung up in recent years offering AI-powered products aimed at automating accounting tasks, like redacting sensitive info in paperwork and filing forms across different departments. Simply put, … Read more

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried charged with securities fraud by the SEC

Illustration: The Verge About twelve hours after we learned authorities in the Bahamas have arrested FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed the first of multiple sets of criminal charges he’ll face. The SEC complaint accuses Bankman-Fried of executing a “years-long fraud” while diverting customers’ funds … Read more

SEC, CFTC and SDNY attorney’s office charge FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried with defrauding investors

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially charged disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (aka SBF) with defrauding investors, it revealed on Tuesday morning follwing his arrest in the Bahamas. The SEC said in a press release that in addition to being charges with fraud regarding equity investors in FTX, he’s also being investigated regarding … Read more