VC Victor Lazarte is leaving Benchmark to launch his own firm
Lazarte has only been at Benchmark for two years. He backed startups like Mercor, HeyGen, and Decart AI.
Tech
Intel continues to pull back on its manufacturing projects
Intel cancelled multiple manufacturing projects in Europe and delayed its Ohio chip plant for the second time this year.
No, Instagram didn’t suspend Zohran Mamdani’s account for being ‘too socialist’
In a story published earlier this week, a site called “NYC Journals” claimed to have a bombshell: that Instagram had suspended the account of New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for being “too socialist.” The story claimed that Mamdani’s account was down for three hours; it also cited a “leaked memo” from inside Instagram that […]
Starlink satellite internet service is down everywhere
Since around 3:30PM ET on Thursday, Starlink users have reported they can’t connect to SpaceX’s satellite internet service. The Starlink website first confirmed the issue with a banner message saying “Starlink is currently experiencing a service outage. Our team is investigating.” On X, Starlink posted a more detailed message at 4:05PM ET, saying “Starlink is […]
Intel reveals it will shed 24,000 employees this year and retreat in Germany, Poland, and Costa Rica
In April, Intel attempted to announce layoffs without announcing layoffs. “We have not set any headcount reduction target,” Intel spokesperson Sophie Metzger told The Verge. But the company has laid off thousands of employees since — and today, in the company’s Q2 2025 earnings, it has revealed that Intel will dramatically shrink as a result of […]
X to test using Community Notes to find the posts everyone likes
X is piloting a new feature that will help to identify the platform’s best posts.
VTuber agency VShojo shuts down after talent exodus
VShojo, the VTuber agency that billed itself as “talent first,” is shutting down. VShojo CEO Justin “Gunrun” Ignacio made the announcement today on X writing, “I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us to this point.” Earlier this week, VShojo came under fire as Ironmouse, the agency’s top performing VTuber, announced she was […]
Google rethinks search results with its new AI-curated ‘Web Guide’
On Thursday, Google launched Web Guide, a new AI-powered search feature that “groups links in helpful ways” for people who opt in to the test on Labs. Web Guide runs on a custom version of Google’s Gemini AI model to process search queries, reorganizing the traditional “10 blue links” by sorting results and finding related […]
The White House orders tech companies to make AI bigoted again
After delivering a rambling celebration of tariffs and a routine about women’s sports, President Donald Trump entertained a crowd, which was there to hear about his new AI Action Plan, with one his favorite topics: “wokeness.” Trump complained that AI companies under former President Joe Biden “had to hire all woke people,” adding that it […]
Chime backer Lauren Kolodny bets on AI to revolutionize estate processing
Acrew Capital’s Kolodny led a $20 million Series A in Alix, a startup that uses AI to automate estate processing.