February 7, 2025

The Download: DOGE’s tech-enabled destruction, and Meta’s brain AI for typing

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. Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper problem —Dan Hon is principal of Very Little Gravitas, where he helps turn around and modernize large and complex government services and products. In trying to…

Technology

P97 fills up its tank with $40M to fuel its gas station mobile commerce services

March 30, 2023

The rising prices for gas continue to be a headache and stress for a lot of people around the world, but it underscores something more besides the cost of living becoming increasingly untenable: Cars are a central part of modern life. So for the entrepreneurially minded, gas stations thus represent a huge opportunity: the engagement […]

P97 fills up its tank with $40M to fuel its gas station mobile commerce services by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: sleeping in VR, and promising clean energy projects

March 30, 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. Inside the cozy but creepy world of VR sleep rooms People are gathering in virtual spaces to relax, and even sleep, with their headsets on. VR sleep rooms are becoming popular among people…

Inside the conference where researchers are solving the clean-energy puzzle

March 30, 2023
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. I spent last week in Washington, DC, and when I wasn’t fawning over the cherry blossoms, I was soaking up all the newest and wildest ideas in energy.  The Advanced Research Projects Agency…

Uber expands Comfort Electric to 14 new US, Canadian markets

March 30, 2023

Uber is expanding Comfort Electric, the ride-hailing giant’s premium electric vehicle offering, to 14 new markets across the U.S. and Canada. Now, customers in a total of 40 North American markets can book a flashy, environmentally friendly ride. Eligible luxury EVs include Tesla models S, 3, X and Y, the Polestar 2, the Ford Mustang […]

Uber expands Comfort Electric to 14 new US, Canadian markets by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Parloa raises $21M to add a little automation to contact centers

March 30, 2023

It’s estimated that over $400 billion are spent annually to run customer contact centers around the world. To cut costs, in recent years, contact centers have embraced AI and automation; research from The Harris Poll indicates that 46% of customer interactions were already automated as of 2021. That’s good news for the vendors selling contact […]

Parloa raises $21M to add a little automation to contact centers by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Orb, which helps B2B companies price their products, raises $19.1M

March 29, 2023

Alvaro Morales and Kshitij Grover were working together as engineering leaders at Asana for five years, during a time when the company underwent major changes to pricing and packaging. The initiatives were painful for both the engineering and finance departments, they say — which is when the pair realized that they wanted more flexibility over […]

Orb, which helps B2B companies price their products, raises $19.1M by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Blockchain startup Fetch.ai grabs $40M to provide monetization and other tooling for AI-generated information

March 29, 2023

AI is riding high on a curve of hype, which means some of the practical questions that might grow louder over time — the many costs (financial and social), the business models — may not be the most front of mind right now. Today a startup called Fetch.ai is announcing $40 million in funding in […]

Blockchain startup Fetch.ai grabs $40M to provide monetization and other tooling for AI-generated information by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

From Balenciaga Pope to the Great Cascadia Earthquake, everything is ‘Goncharov’

March 29, 2023

Last fall, Tumblr users raved about Martin Scorcese’s 1973 film “Goncharov,” starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. They hailed the lesser-known Scorcese classic as the greatest mafia movie ever made. It was ahead of its time, never earning the acclaim it deserved. By now, we should all know that “Goncharov” is not a real […]

From Balenciaga Pope to the Great Cascadia Earthquake, everything is ‘Goncharov’ by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch