A Former Apple Engineer Behind Face ID Is Now Building an 8-Figure AI Startup: ‘We’re the Guardians of AI’
Vince Gaydarzhiev’s startup, Alcatraz, ensures that top companies remain secure with face security scans.
The Download: the internet’s best weather app, and why people freeze their brains
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 a couple of ski bums built the internet’s best weather app The best snow-forecasting app for skiers isn’t a federally-funded service or a big-name brand. It’s OpenSnow, a startup that uses government data, its own AI…
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Agentic commerce runs on truth and context
Imagine telling a digital agent, “Use my points and book a family trip to Italy. Keep it within budget, pick hotels we’ve liked before, and handle the details.” Instead of returning a list of links, the agent assembles an itinerary and executes the purchase. That shift, from assistance to execution, is what makes agentic AI…
Lucid Bots raises $20M to keep up with demand for its window-washing drones
Lucid Bots has seen demand accelerate over the last year for its window cleaning drones and power washing robots.
The AI Hype Index: AI goes to war
AI is at war. Anthropic and the Pentagon feuded over how to weaponize Anthropic’s AI model Claude; then OpenAI swept the Pentagon off its feet with an “opportunistic and sloppy” deal. Users quit ChatGPT in droves. People marched through London in the biggest protest against AI to date. If you’re keeping score, Anthropic—the company founded…
A former Thiel fellow’s startup just launched a drone it says can replace police helicopters
Brinc launched its newest 911 response drone this week, as the company seeks to expand its prominence in the public safety industry.
Amazon just bought a startup making kid-size humanoid robots
The acquisition of Fauna Robotics is the second robotics startup Amazon has purchased this month.
With $3.5B in fresh capital, Kleiner Perkins is going all in on AI
The fundraise includes $1 billion for investing in early-stage startups, and $2.5 billion for late-stage growth businesses.
New Mexico just handed Meta its first courtroom defeat over child safety, and the rest of the country is watching
The dollar amount isn’t as important as the fact that this is the first jury verdict of its kind against Meta over harm to young people.
Lululemon bets Epoch Biodesign can eat its shorts, literally
Startup Epoch Biodesign uses enzymes to break plastic waste down into monomers, the chemical building blocks that can be used to make new plastic.
OpenAI’s Sora was the creepiest app on your phone — now it’s shutting down
Though the underlying Sora 2 video- and audio-generation model is scarily impressive, there was not sustained interest in an AI-only social feed.