Databricks reportedly in talks to raise funding at a $130B+ valuation
Databricks is said to be in talks to raise a new round of funding just a few months after its last fundraise, which valued the company at $100 billion.
Tech
Mastodon CEO steps down as the social network restructures
Eugen Rochko is stepping down as CEO of decentralized social network Mastodon. Felix Hlatky will now become the Executive Director as the company become structured as a nonprofit government by a board.
As consumers ditch Google for ChatGPT, Peec AI raises $21M to help brands adapt
With consumers increasingly asking questions to ChatGPT, not Google, product discovery is changing — and the promise to give brands visibility and control over this fast-growing search channel has made Peec AI one of Europe’s hottest startups.
a16z-backed super PAC is targeting Alex Bores, sponsor of New York’s AI safety bill — he says bring it on
A super PAC backed by Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI, and other tech leaders has targeted New York Assembly member Alex Bores’ congressional campaign, marking its first attack against a lawmaker supporting AI regulation.
Google is fighting the defamation battle Meta caved on
Google filed a motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by anti-corporate diversity activist Robby Starbuck, who claimed Google’s AI falsely associated him with sexual assault allegations and a white nationalist. Starbuck’s claims against Google came after he filed a similar lawsuit against Meta, whose AI he claimed falsely asserted that he’d participated in the […]
OpenAI is finally letting employees donate their equity to charity
Current and former OpenAI employees have grown increasingly frustrated by the fact that the company hasn’t allowed them to donate their equity to charity in years. But OpenAI has finally seemed to bow to pressure, sending out an email from the company’s equity team stating that current and former employees with eligible shares will be […]
Google updates its weather forecasts with a new AI model
Google debuted a new and improved AI weather model today that will be incorporated into popular products like Search, Gemini, and Pixel phones. The company’s AI-enhanced forecasts have proven themselves to be quite accurate so far. AI weather models have also been able to make predictions faster and more efficiently than conventional physics-based models. Until […]
Apps, Google, News, Tech, Tech News
Google Calendar can finally block off time without faking a meeting
The latest feature update for Google Calendar allows you to block off time for tasks and mark yourself as busy, all in one place, expanding the existing Tasks feature in Calendar. It’s something Workspace users have been specifically requesting and effectively allows tasks to function like meetings, including options to set (and adjust) a specific […]
NetChoice sues Virginia to block its one-hour social media limit for kids
The tech industry trade group NetChoice is suing Virginia over a new law that will restrict minors from using social media for more than one hour per day. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, asks the court to block the law over claims it violates the First Amendment by putting “unlawful barriers on how and when […]
Meta releases a new tool to protect reels creators from having their work stolen
On Monday, Meta introduced Facebook content protection, a mobile tool designed to detect when a creator’s original reels posted to Facebook are being used without their permission. The new tool extends to Instagram too.