February 7, 2025

These documents are influencing the DOGE-sphere’s agenda

Reports from the US Government Accountability Office on improper federal payments in recent years are circulating on X and elsewhere online, and they seem to be a big influence on Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency and its supporters as the group pursues cost-cutting measures across the federal government.  The payment reports have been…

Technology

Jeeves hits over $40M in annualized revenue as it expands beyond corporate credit cards

July 25, 2023
In September of 2021, Jeeves began offering corporate credit cards as its primary product — with a primary focus on Latin America — after participating in Y Combinator’s summer 2020 batch. By that 2021 launch, Jeeves was describing itself as the first “cross country, cross currency” expense management platform — serving businesses in North America, […]

Twenty years ago, AIM chatbot SmarterChild out-snarked ChatGPT

July 25, 2023
In the early aughts, millions of preteens raced home from school and hopped onto their parents computers, opened a chat window, and typed… probably something like “fuck,” or “(.)(.)”. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” SmarterChild would reply in an instant. It would make you apologize, and then move past your indiscretions to […]

The Download: AI transparency, and Twitter’s transformation

July 25, 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. It’s high time for more AI transparency In less than a week since Meta launched its open source AI model, LLaMA 2, startups and researchers have already used it to develop a chatbot…

Cloud camera security startup Solink raises $60M

July 25, 2023
Solink, a company that provides physical security systems for businesses, including closed-circuit camera analytics, today announced that it raised $60 million in a Series C round led by Goldman Sachs with participation from Omers Ventures and BDC IT Ventures. Co-founder and CEO Michael Matta said the cash will be put toward growing Solink’s client base […]

Atomos Space books launch to demonstrate rendezvous, docking and refueling in-orbit

July 25, 2023
In-space logistics startup Atomos Space will launch its first demonstration mission on SpaceX’s Transporter-10 in the first quarter of 2024, as the company looks to gain an early foothold in the emerging market for orbital transfer services. The five-year old company will send up two spacecraft, an orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) called Quark and a […]

Wayfair’s new app uses generative AI to transform your space

July 25, 2023
Generative AI is good for more than marketing copy and anime-style avatars — or so Wayfair wants you to think. Today, Wayfair launched a new app with a cutesy name, Decorify, that lets customers create “shoppable,” “photorealistic” images of rooms in their homes or apartments in new styles. After uploading a picture of the space […]

It’s high time for more AI transparency

July 25, 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. That was fast. In less than a week since Meta launched its AI model, LLaMA 2, startups and researchers have already used it to develop a chatbot and an AI assistant. It will be only a matter…