November 8, 2024

The Download: AI vs quantum, and the future of reproductive rights in the US

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. Why AI could eat quantum computing’s lunch Tech companies have been funneling billions of dollars into quantum computers for years. The hope is that they’ll be a game changer for fields as diverse…

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…

Kevin Hartz’s A* raises its second oversubscribed fund in two years

June 21, 2024

Venture firms raised $9.3 billion in Q1 according to PitchBook data, which means this year likely won’t match or surpass 2023’s $81.8 billion total. While emerging managers are feeling the fundraising market’s frost the most, some emerging VCs like A* have enough name recognition, and a good enough track record, to still find success. A*, […]

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Google is making your movie and TV reviews visible under a new profile page

June 21, 2024

Google is making all your movie, TV shows, books, albums and game reviews visible under one profile page starting June 24, according to an email sent to users last month. These profiles are also searchable through Google searches, which can lead to users’ being profiled based on their likes and dislikes. The company first launched […]

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