February 22, 2025

US AI Safety Institute could face big cuts

The National Institute of Standards and Technology could fire as many as 500 staffers, according to multiple reports — cuts that further threaten a fledgling AI safety organization. Axios reported this week that the US AI Safety Institute (AISI) and Chips for America, both part of NIST, would be “gutted” by layoffs targeting probationary employees […]

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February 2023

Replika, a ‘virtual friendship’ AI chatbot, hit with data ban in Italy over child safety

February 3, 2023

San Francisco-based AI chatbot maker, Replika — which operates a freemium ‘virtual friendship’ service based on customizable digital avatars whose “personalized” responses are powered by artificial intelligence (and designed, per its pitch, to make human users feel better) — has been ordered by Italy’s privacy watchdog to stop processing local users’ data. The Garante said […]

Replika, a ‘virtual friendship’ AI chatbot, hit with data ban in Italy over child safety by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

The UK rolls back controversial plans to open up text and data mining regulations

February 3, 2023

The U.K. Government is seemingly backtracking on plans that would have allowed text and data mining “for any purpose,” plans designed to position the U.K. as a “global AI superpower.” The news emerges following months of blowback from creative industries concerned about what impact the rules might have on protected works. Background Text and data […]

The UK rolls back controversial plans to open up text and data mining regulations by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

The impact investor and climate correspondent walk into a bar

February 3, 2023

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This week Natasha Mascarenhas and Becca Szkutak took to their mics to sing a duet about this week’s startup news. Just kidding! But we did highlight some fun companies raising capital and talked […]

The impact investor and climate correspondent walk into a bar by Rebecca Szkutak originally published on TechCrunch

‘Nothing, Forever,’ an AI ‘Seinfeld’ spoof, is the next ‘Twitch Plays Pokémon’

February 3, 2023

“So, I was at the store the other day, and as I’m checking out, the cashier asks me if I have any coupons, and I say, ‘No coupon problem!’” recalls a pixelated, barely three-dimensional figure that vaguely resembles Jerry Seinfeld. “So I’m walking down the street, and this guy comes up to me and says, […]

‘Nothing, Forever,’ an AI ‘Seinfeld’ spoof, is the next ‘Twitch Plays Pokémon’ by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch

India orders Vodafone Idea to convert government dues into $2 billion equity

February 3, 2023

The Indian government has ordered the telecom operator Vodafone Idea to convert all the interest the firm owes to the government into equity in the firm. Vodafone said it has been ordered to convert capital worth $1.96 billion into equity. The company “will take all necessary actions forthwith to undertake the aforesaid issuance,” Vodafone Idea […]

India orders Vodafone Idea to convert government dues into $2 billion equity by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch

Is your startup heading to MWC? TechCrunch wants to hear from you

February 3, 2023

Nature is healing, the tech show is returning to in-person events. I’m not sure I’m entirely over CES less than a month after returning from Vegas, but we’re already in full planning mode for TechCrunch’s return to Barcelona. We’ll be sending an extremely scaled down team to this year’s event, but while we’re in Catalonia, […]

Is your startup heading to MWC? TechCrunch wants to hear from you by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: fighting pregnancy misinformation, and the ethics of organ donations

February 3, 2023
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. How Indian health-care workers use WhatsApp to save pregnant women Across India, an all-women cadre of 1 million community health-care workers are responsible for making public health care accessible to people from remote…

Watch Cambly CEO and Benchmark partner explain startup fundraising tactics

February 3, 2023

TechCrunch Live is back, and we’re thrilled to have hosted this conversation with Sameer Shariff, CEO and co-founder of Cambly, and Sarah Tavel, partner at Benchmark. During this hour-long event, you’ll hear how Cambly used a failed Series A fundraise to force the company into a cash-positive position. And once the company didn’t need outside […]

Watch Cambly CEO and Benchmark partner explain startup fundraising tactics by Matt Burns originally published on TechCrunch

Binance to terminate tech offerings to estranged India partner WazirX

February 3, 2023

Binance will stop offerings its wallet and other tech services that it provided to WazirX, escalating tension with the Indian crypto exchange that it once sought to acquire. The world’s largest crypto exchange cautioned on Friday that Zanmai, the firm that operates the WazirX exchange, has not fully withdrawn assets stored in the Binance wallets […]

Binance to terminate tech offerings to estranged India partner WazirX by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch