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

Transit tech company Via raises $110M at $3.5B valuation

February 13, 2023

On-demand shuttle service and transit tech company Via has raised another $110 million, bringing the company’s total funding to around $1 billion. The fresh capital pushes Via’s valuation up to $3.5 billion at the same price per share as the company’s previous financing in November of 2021. Via intends to use the funds to further […]

Transit tech company Via raises $110M at $3.5B valuation by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Matchmaking service Tawkify picks up ‘anti-superficial’ dating app S’More in mobile expansion

February 13, 2023

Matchmaking service provider Tawkify announced today it acquired S’More, an “anti-superficial” dating app that had experimented with blurred profile photos and even blurred video chats, in an attempt to get people to get to know one another without the focus on physical appearance. With the acquisition, S’More is sunsetting its app, and founder Adam Cohen […]

Matchmaking service Tawkify picks up ‘anti-superficial’ dating app S’More in mobile expansion by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: controversial gene therapy tests, and algorithms on trial

February 13, 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. This biohacking company is using a crypto city to test controversial gene therapies Last year, biotech startup Minicircle started recruiting participants for a clinical trial of gene therapy. But several details made it…

Adtech joint venture by European telcos DK, Orange, Telefonica, Vodafone not a competition concern, finds EU

February 13, 2023

A joint venture (JV) between four big European carriers to build cross-network ad-targeting infrastructure — which they claim will rely on “affirmative” consent to target mobile and/or fixed network subscribers with “personalized” ads across participating brands/publishers’ sites — has been given the green light to proceed by the European Commission’s antitrust division in a decision […]

Adtech joint venture by European telcos DK, Orange, Telefonica, Vodafone not a competition concern, finds EU by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

Uber and Lyft earnings diverge, a self-driving truck roadblock emerges and Redwood Materials lands a big one

February 13, 2023

The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the full edition of the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free.  Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point […]

Uber and Lyft earnings diverge, a self-driving truck roadblock emerges and Redwood Materials lands a big one by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch

The Supreme Court may overhaul how you live online

February 13, 2023
This article is from The Technocrat, MIT Technology Review’s weekly tech policy newsletter about power, politics, and Silicon Valley. To receive it in your inbox every Friday, sign up here. Recommendation algorithms sort most of what we see online and determine how posts, news articles, and accounts you follow are prioritized on digital platforms. In the…

As ChatGPT hype hits fever pitch, Neeva launches its generative AI search engine internationally

February 13, 2023

Challenger search engine Neeva wants to replace the familiar “10 blue links” in search results with something more fitting for the modern AI age. Back in December, Neeva co-founder and CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy, who previously spearheaded Google’s advertising tech business, teased new “cutting edge AI” and large language models (LLMs), positioning itself against the ChatGPT hype […]

As ChatGPT hype hits fever pitch, Neeva launches its generative AI search engine internationally by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch