SmartNews, a Tokyo-headquartered news aggregation website and app valued at $2 billion as of 2021, today announced a 40% reduction of its U.S. and China workforce, or around 120 people, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans. The news was announced on Thursday in an All-Hands meeting attended this evening by SmartNews staff. The […]
News aggregator SmartNews lays off 40% of US and China staff, with further reductions planned in Japan by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch
It’s a strange week. Strange and strangely familiar. You stay at the same hotel in a nearly identical room to the one you stayed in for the last 10 years or so. You see friends and colleagues you’ve not seen in a while. Everyone is three years older and a bit worse for wear. A […]
CES 2023 debrief by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch
Citizen laid off 33 staff members on Wednesday, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. “We are grateful to all of our departing team members for their contributions to Citizen and are committed to supporting them through this transition with a generous severance package that includes accelerated option vesting and extended exercise window, six months of COBRA […]
Crime reporting app Citizen lays off 33 employees by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch
For the first time in a long time, there was less talk circulating about a certain three-letter crypto exchange, ahem, FTX.
Can we get more crypto partnerships and less crypto layoffs, please? by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch
This is my week of debriefs. CES has a way of hurling you into the new year, kicking and screaming, and it can be hard to find your bearings as you emerge on the other side. As the dust has cleared, one thing remains very clear: No two people have the same notion of what […]
Robot or fauxbot? by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch
The emergence in the last week of a particularly effective voice synthesis machine learning model called VALL-E has prompted a new wave of concern over the possibility of deepfake voices made quick and easy — quickfakes, if you will. But VALL-E is more iterative than breakthrough, and the capabilities aren’t so new as you might […]
VALL-E’s quickie voice deepfakes should worry you, if you weren’t worried already by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch