October 2023

Why it’ll be hard to tell if AI ever becomes conscious

October 17, 2023
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. Many people in AI will be familiar with the story of the Mechanical Turk. It was a chess-playing machine built in 1770, and it was so good its opponents were tricked…

How to fix the internet

October 17, 2023
We’re in a very strange moment for the internet. We all know it’s broken. That’s not news. But there’s something in the air—a vibe shift, a sense that things are about to change. For the first time in years, it feels as though something truly new and different might be happening with the way we…

Invesco raises Swiggy’s valuation to nearly $8 billion

October 17, 2023

Conditions appear to be shifting favorably for India’s Swiggy. The food delivery startup — backed by SoftBank, Prosus and Accel — saw its paper valuation slashed by more than a half this year as investors marked their holdings largely in response to the dwindling market conditions. The startup, valued at $10.7 billion in a funding […]

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Stack Overflow cuts 28% of its staff

October 17, 2023

Developer community site Stack Overflow has laid off 28% of its staff, the Prosus-owned company announced Monday. In a blog post, Stack Overflow’s CEO, Prashanth Chandrasekar indicated that the company is focusing on its path to profitability. While the post didn’t elaborate on the reason behind the job cuts, it mentioned customers’ budgets shifting elsewhere […]

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Ambani’s Jio Financial launches lending and insurance businesses

October 17, 2023

Jio Financial Services, the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries’ financial services unit, has started its lending and insurance businesses and is rapidly scaling up its offerings as billionaire Mukesh Ambani expands the ever-so-wide tentacles of his oil-to-telecom empire. In an annual presentation this week, the recently publicly listed firm said it has started to offer personal […]

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Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses have ‘influencer’ written all over them

October 17, 2023

This is a review-in-progress. More soon! Somewhere between the Ray-Ban Meta and Meta Quest 3 sits an ideal mixed-reality headset. It’s slim, light, offers hand tracking and passthrough and livestreams video when the moment calls for it. It’s designed to be worn inconspicuously outdoors, until the time comes for content capture. The Meta Quest Ray-Ban […]

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Snapchat is now allowing websites to embed content

October 17, 2023

Snapchat has relied on people consuming content on its own app. But now, the social network is allowing websites to embed public content including Lenses, Spotlight videos, Public Stories, and Public Profiles. Users who want to embed a Story, video, or a Lens, can open up the content on a desktop browser using the link. […]

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FTX execs blew through $8B; testimony reveals how

October 17, 2023

Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives spent $8 billion worth of customer funds on real estate, venture capital investments, campaign donations, endorsement deals and even a sports stadium, according to testimony from former senior FTX executive Nishad Singh. Singh’s testimony, which kicked off the third week of Bankman-Fried’s trial, provides fresh details of exactly where […]

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India’s Agnikul gets $26.7M to prepare for commercial space launches

October 17, 2023

Agnikul, an Indian space tech startup developing small-lift launch vehicles, has raised $26.7 million in fresh investment as it looks to begin commercial launches using its customizable satellite rocket. Companies — from big tech giants to startups — are looking to launch their small satellites (up to 500 kg in weight) to space to improve […]

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Bandcamp’s new owner lays off half the company

October 16, 2023

Bandcamp has officially changed hands from its old new owner, Epic, to its new new owner, Songtradr, and lost half its employees in the process. Songtradr confirmed that “50% of employees received offers” to continue on under the new ownership — and naturally the other 50% didn’t. The venerable digital music marketplace was acquired by […]

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