Mirelo raises $41M from Index and a16z to solve AI video’s silent problem
Mirelo, a German startup that is building AI to add synced sound effects to videos, has raised a $41 million seed round led by Index Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
Tech
Kindle app now answers questions about the book you’re reading
Amazon has launched a new AI feature in the Kindle app that gives spoiler-free answers to questions about the book you’re reading and confirmed that authors can’t opt out from the feature. The company calls Ask this Book an “expert reading assistant” in its announcement, and says that it’s capable of answering questions about “plot […]
Feeding the machine
When he was 19 years old, Brendan Foody started Mercor with two of his high school friends as a way for his other friends, who also had startups, to hire software engineers overseas. It launched in 2023 as essentially a staffing agency, albeit a highly automated one. Language models reviewed resumes and did the interviewing. […]
Starlink and Chinese satellites nearly collided last week
A collision in space was narrowly avoided last week when a newly deployed Chinese satellite came within a few hundred meters of one of the roughly 9,000 Starlink satellites currently operating in low Earth orbit. SpaceX is laying the blame on the satellite operator for not sharing location data. “When satellite operators do not share […]
Who is Picea Robotics, Roomba’s new owner?
iRobot, the owner of the Roomba robot vacuum, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, stating that it will be acquired by its contract manufacturer, Picea Robotics. The Chinese-based company assumed iRobot’s $190 million loan earlier this month and, under the terms of iRobot’s restructuring, will waive that debt, along with the $161.5 million iRobot owes […]
iRobot files for bankruptcy
After 35 years, the maker of the Roomba robot vacuum filed for bankruptcy protection late Sunday night. Following issuing warnings earlier this year that it was fast running out of options, iRobot announced it will enter Chapter 11 protection and plans to be acquired by its contract manufacturer, the Chinese-based Picea Robotics. The company says […]
How iRobot lost its way home
iRobot survived three decades of competition, but couldn’t survive European regulators killing its Amazon buyout. Now it’s being taken over by its own supplier in bankruptcy court.
WhatsApp’s biggest market is becoming its toughest test
Meta has three months to comply with Indian government directions that could affect how WhatsApp operates in the country.
You need to listen to Sudan Archives’ violin opus for the club
My introduction to Sudan Archives was the song “Nont for Sale” from her first EP Sink in 2018. I’ve been a die-hard fan ever since. With each album, she finds new ways to sculpt the sound of her violin, contorting it in defiance of expectations. Athena found her in conversation with it, leaving its timbre […]
