Technology

America’s space-based spy agency awards six contracts to hyperspectral imagery providers

March 22, 2023

The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has awarded five-year study contracts to six space companies that provide hyperspectral satellite imagery — BlackSky, Orbital Sidekick, Pixxel, Planet, Xplore and HyperSat — as the agency seeks to expand its remote sensing capabilities. The NRO, the arm of the Department of Defense that conducts space-based spying and surveillance, […]

America’s space-based spy agency awards six contracts to hyperspectral imagery providers by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

TikTok gears up for its big day in Congress

March 22, 2023

As the Biden administration escalates its threats against TikTok, the company is preparing for its chief executive’s first appearance before Congress. Given recent gestures from the White House, lawmakers and federal law enforcement agencies, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is in for a potentially harsh turn under the glare of the government’s big, bright lights. […]

TikTok gears up for its big day in Congress by Taylor Hatmaker originally published on TechCrunch

These new tools let you see for yourself how biased AI image models are

March 22, 2023
Popular AI image-generating systems notoriously tend to amplify harmful biases and stereotypes. But just how big a problem is it? You can now see for yourself using interactive new online tools. (Spoiler alert: it’s big.) The tools, built by researchers at AI startup Hugging Face and Leipzig University and detailed in a non-peer-reviewed paper, allow…

Ubisoft’s new AI tool automatically generates dialogue for non-playable game characters

March 22, 2023

Ubisoft, the developer behind popular games like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, announced that it’s using an AI “Ghostwriter” tool to write dialogue for some of its games with the aim of keeping NPCs (non-playable characters) individually interesting and realistic with less manual work. The company says tool isn’t replacing video game writers, but instead […]

Ubisoft’s new AI tool automatically generates dialogue for non-playable game characters by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Clerk is simplifying identity for front-end web developers

March 22, 2023

Developers building front-end Jamstack web applications often struggle to build identity with traditional API tools. With the approach growing in popularity, the founders of Clerk decided to focus their startup on building a simplified identity tool purpose-built for React applications. The company announced a $15 million Series A led by Madrona today. Colin Sidoti, who […]

Clerk is simplifying identity for front-end web developers by Ron Miller originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: Google’s Bard experiment, and Ernie Bot’s rehabilitation

March 22, 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. Google just launched Bard, its answer to ChatGPT—and it wants you to make it better Google has launched Bard, the search giant’s answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing Chat. Unlike Bing Chat,…

Brex takes a swipe at Concur with an expansion into travel

March 22, 2023

In yet another example of how competitive the spend management space has become, Brex announced today that it has expanded into travel. Besides seeking to snag market share from incumbents such as Concur, Brex is also taking on startups such as Navan (formerly called TripActions) — which actually started its business focused on travel expense […]

Brex takes a swipe at Concur with an expansion into travel by Mary Ann Azevedo originally published on TechCrunch