Y Combinator deletes posts after a startup’s demo goes viral
YC deleted a controversial demo video from one of its startups, which monitors factory workers with AI cameras.
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Rippling spy says men have been following him, and his wife is afraid
If becoming a corporate spy sounds exciting, let this newest affidavit from confessed Rippling spy Keith O’Brien serve as a warning.
Others
Anthropic’s latest flagship AI might not have been incredibly costly to train
Anthropic’s newest flagship AI model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, cost “a few tens of millions of dollars” to train using less than 10^26 FLOPs of computing power. That’s according to Wharton professor Ethan Mollick, who in an X post on Monday relayed a clarification he’d received from Anthropic’s PR. “I was contacted by Anthropic who told me […]
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An environmentally friendly alternative to plastic microbeads
The tiny beads added to some cleansers and cosmetics are one source of the long-lasting microplastics that threaten the environment. But MIT researchers have found a way to address the problem at its source: replacing them with polymers that break down into harmless sugars and amino acids. Particles of this polymer could also be used…
Tiny tubes wrap around brain cells
Wearable devices like smart watches and fitness trackers help us measure and learn from physical functions such as heart rates and sleep stages. Now MIT researchers have developed a tiny equivalent for individual brain cells. These soft, battery-free wireless devices, actuated with light, are designed to wrap around different parts of neurons, such as axons…
Perplexity launches $50M seed and pre-seed VC fund
Perplexity, the developer of an AI-powered search engine, is raising a $50 million seed and pre-seed investment fund, CNBC reported. Although the majority of the capital is coming from limited partners, Perplexity is using some of the capital it raised for the company’s growth to anchor the fund. Perplexity has reportedly raised $500 million at […]
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Starbucks Is Cutting 13 Drinks From Its Menu Next Week. Here’s What to Order While You Still Can.
It’s not great news for Frappuccino lovers.
DOGE has an official ‘acting’ administrator, and it’s not Elon Musk, White House confirms
Amy Gleason is named as the acting administrator of DOGE, amid ambiguity over Elon Musk’s role.
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Anthropic’s Claude AI is playing Pokémon on Twitch — slowly
On Tuesday afternoon, Anthropic launched Claude Plays Pokémon on Twitch, a live stream of Anthropic’s newest AI model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, playing a game of Pokémon Red. It’s become a fascinating experiment of sorts, showcasing the capabilities of today’s AI tech and people’s reactions to them. AI researchers have used all sorts of video games, […]
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Michael ’87 and Kathleen Schoen
As an undergraduate, Michael Schoen ’87 found that joining his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, and participating in team sports helped him make the most of his years at MIT. “MIT changed my life,” says Schoen, who played on rugby and varsity soccer teams. “But without athletics and my fraternity, I’m not sure I’d have gotten through…
Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson steps down
Lucid Motors is changing CEOs for the first time in nearly six years. The company announced Tuesday that Peter Rawlinson is stepping down from the CEO and CTO roles that he’s held since before the company went public. Lucid appointed its chief operating officer Marc Winterhoff as its interim CEO. Rawlinson will serve as “strategic […]
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