Cal AI Co-Founder Raises $10 Million for Persona AI Assistant With $179 Wearable Band
Cal AI co-founder Zach Yadegari has launched Persona, a personal AI assistant startup that has raised $10 million in funding and plans to introduce a $179 wearable band in December…
Manus Raises Over $500 Million After China Blocks Meta’s $2 Billion Acquisition
Manus, the Chinese-founded AI agent startup, has raised more than $500 million in its first funding round since Chinese regulators forced it to reverse a $2 billion acquisition by Meta.…
Uber and Pony.ai Plan London Robotaxi Service With Testing to Begin in Coming Weeks
Uber and Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai plan to launch a robotaxi service in London, expanding their partnership to bring self-driving vehicles to European cities. The companies announced on October…
Mecka AI Raises $60 Million From Sequoia and Nvidia to Expand Robot Training Data
Mecka AI, a startup that collects human movement data to train humanoid robots, has raised $60 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital. The company announced the investment…
Endeavor Catalyst Raises $320 Million for Fifth Fund to Back Startups Outside Silicon Valley
Endeavor Catalyst has closed its fifth investment fund with $320 million in capital commitments, bringing its total assets under management to more than $850 million. The firm announced on October…
Nous Research Raises $90 Million at $1.5 Billion Valuation to Expand Hermes AI Agent for Businesses
Nous Research, the startup behind the open-source Hermes AI Agent, has raised $90 million in Series B funding at a $1.5 billion valuation. The company announced the funding in October…
Microsoft Launches Surface Laptop Ultra With Nvidia RTX Spark, Starting at $2,600
Microsoft has introduced its Surface Laptop Ultra and Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, two Windows 11 devices designed to run AI models locally without relying on cloud computing. The company…
Common Sense Media Rates ChatGPT for Teens an Unacceptable Risk Despite New Safety Features
Common Sense Media has rated OpenAI’s ChatGPT for Teens an “Unacceptable Risk,” finding that the chatbot continues to encourage prolonged engagement and emotional attachment despite its safety protections. The nonprofit’s…
Greenairy Develops Plant Towers That Cut Indoor Air Pollution by 50% in Singapore Tests
Singapore-based startup Greenairy is developing plant-based air purification towers designed to remove toxic gases from offices and commercial buildings. The company said its early tests in Singapore showed a 50%…
Former CIA Officer Pleads Guilty to Stealing $194 Million Through Fake Secret Government Program
A former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer has pleaded guilty to defrauding the U.S. government of approximately $194 million by creating a fake classified intelligence program. David J. Rush, 49,…
JioHotstar Expands Into MENA Through Starzplay Partnership
JioHotstar is expanding into the Middle East and North Africa through a partnership with regional streaming service Starzplay, extending its international presence after launching in the U.K., Canada, and Singapore…
Furientis Raises $25 Million To Mass-Produce Lower-Cost Missile Interceptors
Furientis has raised $25 million in seed funding led by Benchmark to develop and mass-produce lower-cost interceptor missiles for the U.S. military. The round marks Benchmark’s first investment in a…
LibreOffice Says It Will Keep Generative AI Out Of Default Installations
LibreOffice says it will not add generative AI to its default software installation for the foreseeable future, citing concerns around privacy, data control, offline use, and dependence on external providers.…
Bluesky Applies For .bsky Domain To Give Users Shorter Online Identities
Bluesky has applied to create “.bsky” as a new internet top-level domain, potentially allowing users to replace longer handles such as “sarahp.bsky.social” with shorter addresses like “sarahp.bsky.” The application has…
Google Pauses Open Source Bug Bounty Program After Surge In AI-Generated Reports
Google has suspended its Open Source Software Vulnerability Rewards Program after a sharp increase in AI-generated submissions, many of which the company said were invalid. The pause took effect on…
Federal Judge Rules Warrantless Flock License Plate Search Violated Fourth Amendment
A federal judge in Oklahoma has ruled that a sheriff’s deputy violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights by using Flock Safety’s license plate database to search her vehicle without a…
AWS Ends Use Of NDAs With Government Agencies Amid Data Center Opposition
Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman said the company has stopped using nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) with government agencies as it seeks approval for new data center projects across the United…
OpenAI Safety Report Leader Resigns, Says Company Culture Is “Broken”
David Robinson, a longtime OpenAI employee who led the writing of safety reports accompanying major product launches, has resigned from the company, arguing that its culture is “broken” and warning…