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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October 2023

IronNet, founded by former NSA director, shuts down and lays off staff

October 2, 2023
IronNet, a once-promising cybersecurity startup founded by a former NSA director and funded by cyber and defense investors, has shuttered and laid off its remaining staff following its collapse. In a regulatory filing published Friday, IronNet’s president and chief financial officer Cameron Pforr said the company had ceased all business activities as it prepares for […]

Queer social app Lex gets a new CEO and $5.6M to grow

October 2, 2023
Lex, the app inspired by vintage lesbian personals, just raised $5.6 million in seed funding and elevated co-founder Jennifer Lewis from COO to CEO. As a result, founding CEO Kel Rakowski steps into a new role — chief creative officer, while former Hinge product boss Michelle Parsons joins as chief product officer. “We’re proud to […]

Amid Twitter chaos, Mastodon grew donations 488% in 2022, reached 1.8M monthly active users

October 2, 2023
Consumer interest in open-source, decentralized social networking isn’t something that was only reflected in news headlines over the past year, it’s also apparent in the financials behind Mastodon. The non-profit organization powers one of the many apps that came into fashion as a Twitter alternative following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social network he’s since […]

This week in AI: AI-powered personalities are all the rage

October 2, 2023
Keeping up with an industry as fast-moving as AI is a tall order. So until an AI can do it for you, here’s a handy roundup of recent stories in the world of machine learning, along with notable research and experiments we didn’t cover on their own. Last week during its annual Connect conference, Meta launched a […]