March 12, 2025

This artificial leaf makes hydrocarbons out of carbon dioxide

For many years, researchers have been working to build devices that can mimic photosynthesis—the process by which plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make their fuel. These artificial leaves use sunlight to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen, which could then be used to fuel cars or generate electricity. Now a research team has…

Judge rejects Musk’s attempt to block OpenAI’s for-profit transition

March 5, 2025

A federal judge in Northern California denied Elon Musk’s motion for an injunction that would have halted OpenAI’s planned transition into a for-profit company, Bloomberg reported. Musk failed to provide enough evidence necessary for an injunction, U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled Tuesday. However, Rogers said the court is prepared to hold an […]

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Amazon reportedly forms a new agentic AI group

March 4, 2025

Amazon has formed a new group within AWS dedicated to creating AI agents, systems that help people automate parts of their lives, Reuters reported on Tuesday. In an email to staff seen by Reuters, AWS CEO Matt Garman said agentic AI has the potential to be “the next multi-billion business for AWS.” A longtime AWS […]

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X updates Communities with new filters, sorting options, and a way to see your own posts

March 4, 2025

X is bringing more attention to Communities, a feature that allows X users to connect and engage in discussions around a given topic, similar to how it’s done on Reddit. Today, tabs to access popular Communities are pinned to the top of the app’s homepage alongside your For You feed and other Lists. Now, you’ll […]

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African VC LoftyInc Capital launches third fund for seed and Series A, reaches $43M first close

March 4, 2025

One of Africa’s most active investors, known for early bets on unicorns like Flutterwave, Andela, and Wave, has secured fresh capital to invest in startups across the continent. This comes as funding deals and volumes in Africa saw only a slight dip last year, according to a report by VC firm Partech. LoftyInc Capital, which […]

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Andy Dunn’s new app Pie uses AI to help you make friends

March 4, 2025

“We’re a long way from pants,” Andy Dunn, founder of online fashion retailer Bonobos, told TechCrunch. Now, the former CEO is taking on a completely different challenge: he wants to help people make friends. Dunn’s newest venture, Pie, is a social app focused on bringing people together in real life. With an $11.5 million Series […]

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Foundation Capital, an early backer of Solana and Cerebras, raises $600M fund

March 4, 2025

Foundation Capital has come a long way since it was forced to scale down its fund size from $750 million in 2008 to $282 million (its sixth main fund) in 2013. On Tuesday, the 30-year-old firm announced that it raised a $600 million eleventh flagship fund, which is 20% larger than the predecessor $500 million […]

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Klarna CEO doubts that other companies will replace Salesforce with AI

March 4, 2025

The founder and CEO of IPO-bound fintech Klarna took to X to once again explain why his company ditched Salesforce’s flagship CRM product about a year ago in favor of its own homegrown AI system.  But this time, Sebastian Siemiatkowski emphasized that he doesn’t think others will — or should — follow his lead. “I […]

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