November 21, 2024

The Download: AI replicas, and China’s climate role

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. AI can now create a replica of your personality Imagine sitting down with an AI model for a spoken two-hour interview. A friendly voice guides you through a conversation that ranges from your…

December 2022

Bored Apes creator Yuga Labs appoints Activision’s Daniel Alegre as CEO

December 19, 2022

Activision Blizzard COO Daniel Alegre is leaving the gaming giant to take over as CEO of Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Yuga’s first and current CEO Nicole Muniz will stay on as a strategic advisor. “Nicole, Greg, and I have been on the hunt for someone with Daniel’s skill set […]

Bored Apes creator Yuga Labs appoints Activision’s Daniel Alegre as CEO by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch

AI-based data analytics enable business insight

December 19, 2022
Remember buying music on CDs? Or even vinyl? From the consumer perspective, the shift to streaming services provides a limitless selection of content that we can access on all of our devices. For the music industry, it creates tremendous opportunities to collect, analyze, and monetize data about our listening habits. That was the directive SK…

Helm.ai snags $31M to scale its ‘unsupervised’ autonomous driving software

December 19, 2022

A few bright spots remain in the autonomous vehicle industry even amid macroeconomic headwinds that have nearly shut off the spigot of venture capital and led to further consolidation. Helm.ai, a startup developing software designed for advanced driver assistance systems, autonomous driving and robotics, is one of them. The Menlo Park, Calif-based startup recently raised […]

Helm.ai snags $31M to scale its ‘unsupervised’ autonomous driving software by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch

A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?

December 19, 2022
In the fall of 2020, gig workers in Venezuela posted a series of images to online forums where they gathered to talk shop. The photos were mundane, if sometimes intimate, household scenes captured from low angles—including some you really wouldn’t want shared on the Internet.  In one particularly revealing shot, a young woman in a…

FTC fines Fortnite maker Epic Games $520M over children’s privacy charges

December 19, 2022

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Monday morning it will charge Epic Games with a $520 million settlement over charges related to children’s privacy. Epic Games, which makes popular all-ages games like “Fortnite” and “Fall Guys,” allegedly violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by deploying “design tricks, known as dark patterns, to dupe […]

FTC fines Fortnite maker Epic Games $520M over children’s privacy charges by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch

Instagram’s new Reels template lets users create their own 2022 recaps

December 19, 2022

Instagram is once again offering an in-app method for users to create shareable end-of-year content. The social network announced today that it’s rolling out a new Reels template that allows users to create their own 2022 Recap to share with their friends and followers. Users can customize their 2022 Recap Reel by choosing a narrated […]

Instagram’s new Reels template lets users create their own 2022 recaps by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Binance.US to buy Voyager Digital’s assets for $1 billion

December 19, 2022

It’s been a long year for Voyager Digital. After filing for bankruptcy, the crypto lender thought it would be able to return some funds to its customers by selling its assets to FTX. As you know, things haven’t been going well at FTX either. That’s why Binance.US is stepping in today and offering to buy […]

Binance.US to buy Voyager Digital’s assets for $1 billion by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch