Technology

In a bipartisan effort to “protect kids from harm,” an unlikely cohort of senators introduced a bill that would restrict minors’ access to social media, as well as ban companies from using algorithms to recommend content to minors.  Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Murphy (D-Conn), Katie Britt (R-Ala) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark) introduced the Protecting […]

Bipartisan Senate bill would ban social media algorithms for minors by Morgan Sung originally published on TechCrunch

We reported last year on the launch of a $225 million VC platform from the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank, which would also cover Central Asia. In addition, Most VC launched its accelerator out of Almaty, Kazakstan. So it’s clear these regions, for too long considered backwaters, are now finding their […]

London’s Sturgeon Capital launches $35M fund aimed at emerging startups in Central Asia by Mike Butcher originally published on TechCrunch

Meta announced today that it’s introducing new body shapes, improved hair and clothing textures to its avatars. The company also announced that more than one billion avatars have been created across its platforms. Starting this month, users will be able to choose from a wider range of body shape options, including two curvier body shapes. […]

Meta updates its avatars with new body shapes, hair and clothing by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

It’s possible to build a startup with a founder who wants to stay in academia, but it’s not without its challenges.

Sometimes you need to cut your startup’s school ties by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

Meta has won an antitrust lawsuit that pitted the tech giant against dozens of state attorneys general, led by New York, who had alleged Meta had illegally maintained monopoly power in the social networking market through its acquisitions of photo-sharing app Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, and that it gained further power through […]

Appeals court rules in favor of Meta in antitrust case from State AGs by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

When Pinecone launched a vector database aimed at data scientists in 2021, it was probably ahead of its time. But as the use cases began to take shape last year, the company began pushing AI-driven semantic search. With the rise of LLMs in the public consciousness, companies are beginning to see the value of vector […]

Pinecone drops $100M investment on $750M valuation, as vector database demand grows by Ron Miller originally published on TechCrunch

Early last year, entrepreneur Luke Iseman says, he released a pair of sulfur dioxide–filled weather balloons from Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, in the hope that they’d burst miles above Earth.  It was a trivial act in itself, involving far less of the gas than a commercial airliner releases. But the launch was imbued with meaning,…

This Irish startup without a bank account gives surplus wind power to those in need.

Without a single euro changing hands, Irish nonprofit is helping to reinvent the grid by Tim De Chant originally published on TechCrunch