Technology

Meta Quest 2 gets exclusive VR series ‘Scream Park’ from entertainment studio BlackBox TV

October 7, 2022

Premiering on October 8, entertainment studio BlackBox TV is releasing a short-form series exclusive to Meta Quest TV and in Meta Horizon Worlds with the Meta Quest 2 headset. The 360° VR experience “Scream Park” takes users on a virtual reality horror rollercoaster ride just in time for spooky season. Meta Quest TV is the […]

Meta Quest 2 gets exclusive VR series ‘Scream Park’ from entertainment studio BlackBox TV by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch

What happened when this entrepreneur put her startup on hold to help Ukraine, and told VCs to donate

October 7, 2022

When Russia invaded her home country of Ukraine, UK-based tech entrepreneur Irra Ariella Khi, cofounder of Zamna — set up a fundraising page to directly support people inside Ukraine. Khi’s father (aged 70) and godmother (aged 82) are both in Ukraine, as are her stepsister and her children. Khi then temporarily stepped back from her […]

What happened when this entrepreneur put her startup on hold to help Ukraine, and told VCs to donate by Mike Butcher originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: music-making AI, and Kasparov’s defeat

October 7, 2022
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’s new AI can hear a snippet of song—and then keep on playing A new AI system can create natural-sounding speech and music after being prompted with a few seconds of audio. AudioLM,…

Is a covid and flu “twindemic” on the horizon?

October 7, 2022
Hello, and welcome back to The Checkup! I’m back home in London after last week’s trip to the Swiss Alps to meet millionaires who want to live forever. Alas, I brought more than suspect supplements home with me—I’ve been out of action with a virus for the last few days. I can’t really blame my…

Google’s new AI can hear a snippet of song—and then keep on playing

October 7, 2022
A new AI system can create natural-sounding speech and music after being prompted with a few seconds of audio. AudioLM, developed by Google researchers, generates audio that fits the style of the prompt, including complex sounds like piano music, or people speaking, in a way that is almost indistinguishable from the original recording. The technique…

Convective Capital’s $35 million answer to the increasing threat of wildfires

October 7, 2022

Wildfires have become an ever-increasing threat as houses are built closer together and the growing impacts of climate change wreak havoc on natural landscapes. Entrepreneurs, in response, have started to develop tech meant to minimize the scale and damage of these natural disasters. Convective Capital is a new VC firm looking to back them. Bill […]

Convective Capital’s $35 million answer to the increasing threat of wildfires by Rebecca Szkutak originally published on TechCrunch

Purple Elephant Ventures, Kenya’s tourism-focused startup studio, raises $1M pre-seed funding

October 7, 2022

A Kenya-based venture studio with a focus on tourism, Purple Elephant Ventures (PEV), has raised $1 million pre-seed funding to build the next generation of startups that use technology to modernize the tourism sector. Investors participating in this round include Klister Credit Corp., a Canadian investment firm, The Untours Foundation, and a number of angel […]

Purple Elephant Ventures, Kenya’s tourism-focused startup studio, raises $1M pre-seed funding by Annie Njanja originally published on TechCrunch

I Was There When: AI mastered chess

October 6, 2022
I Was There When is an oral history project that’s part of the In Machines We Trust podcast. It features stories of how breakthroughs and watershed moments in artificial intelligence and computing happened, as told by the people who witnessed them. In this episode we meet one of the world’s greatest chess players, Garry Kasparov.…

Michigan is becoming the center of US battery manufacturing

October 6, 2022

Michigan, long the automotive manufacturing capital of the United States, is now getting pumped with investment both publicly and privately to build out a series of battery manufacturing plants that will power the wave of electric vehicles coming to market. The demand for domestically produced batteries has reached new peaks after the passage of the […]

Michigan is becoming the center of US battery manufacturing by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch