U.S. government sanctions Kaspersky executives

June 21, 2024

The U.S. government announced Friday sanctions against twelve executives and senior leaders of the Russia-based cybersecurity giant Kaspersky. In a press release, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it designated the twelve company executives to protect internet users against malicious cyber threats. “Today’s action against the leadership of Kaspersky […]

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Style DNA gets a generative AI chatbot that suggests outfit ideas based on your color type

June 21, 2024

Style DNA, an AI-powered fashion stylist app, creates a personalized style profile from a single selfie. The app is particularly useful for people interested in seasonal color analysis, a process used to determine the best colors to complement an individual’s skin tone. This service can be expensive, with experts charging upwards of $300. However, the […]

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Khosla-backed Marble, built by former Headway founders, offers affordable group therapy for teens

June 21, 2024

Rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts are surging among U.S. teens. A recent report from the Center of Disease Control found that nearly one in three girls have seriously considered suicide, and a significant number, 13% have actually attempted it. Psychologists have various theories about what’s causing adolescent mental health crises.   Some blame the […]

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Spotify launches a new Basic streaming plan in the US

June 21, 2024

Spotify is introducing a new “Basic” streaming plan in the United States, the company announced on Friday. The new plan costs $10.99 per month and includes all of the benefits of a Premium plan but without the monthly audiobook listening time. The launch of the new streaming plans comes a few weeks after Spotify increased […]

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Squarespace sells restaurant reservation system Tock to American Express for $400M

June 21, 2024

Website building platform Squarespace is selling Tock, its restaurant reservation service, to American Express in a deal worth $400 million — the exact figure that Squarespace paid for the service three years ago. The news comes shortly after news emerged that private equity giant Permira was taking Squarespace private in a deal worth $6.9 billion […]

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Google is pausing its experiment of allowing real-money games on the Play Store

June 21, 2024

Google said today that it is globally pausing its experiment of allowing real-money games on the Play Store, where there was no central body for this kind of app. In January, the company said it would start allowing real-money apps widely in June in India, Brazil, and Mexico. Notably, India has had a pilot program […]

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The Download: replacing animal testing, and underwater drones

June 21, 2024
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. Is this the end of animal testing? Animal studies are notoriously bad at identifying human treatments. Around 95% of the drugs developed through animal research fail in people, but until recently there was…