March 14, 2025

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan asks Big Tech if Biden tried to censor AI

On Thursday, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent letters to 16 American technology firms, including Google and OpenAI, asking for past communications with the Biden Administration that might suggest the former President “coerced or colluded” with companies to “censor lawful speech” in AI products. The Trump Administration’s top technology advisers previously signaled it would pick […]

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Finch lands $40M to connect disparate HR systems with a single API

February 22, 2023

Finch, a platform that helps companies connect to various HR apps, services and systems, today announced that it raised $40 million in a Series B round co-led by General Catalyst and Menlo Ventures with participation from QED Investors, Altman Capital and PruVen Capital. Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Zhang says the new cash will be put […]

Finch lands $40M to connect disparate HR systems with a single API by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Uber redesigns app for simpler, more personalized experience

February 22, 2023

Uber is releasing an updated version of its app that aims to simplify and personalize the experience for customers. The new app has a more straightforward homescreen that removes the friction of a few extra taps when booking a ride or ordering a delivery. It also allows customers to more easily access saved locations, and […]

Uber redesigns app for simpler, more personalized experience by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

EV batteries are the next point of tension between China and the US

February 22, 2023
China Report is MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. It’s the perfect moment to talk about EV batteries and China: yesterday, I published a story unpacking the country’s two decades of investment into becoming a world leader in the EV industry. It’s about how…

4 A-Rated Stocks to Buy Before the End of This Month

February 22, 2023
Sticky inflation might trigger more rate hikes this year, which could keep the stock market under pressure. Hence, investors could consider buying fundamentally strong stocks Stellantis (STLA), Honda Motor (HMC),…

If design is everything, is it anything?

February 22, 2023
Good design has a habit of making things simple—sometimes too simple. You may look at the first iPod, for example, and marvel at its minimalist elegance without having to consider who designed it, where it was made and by whom, what materials it required, or even how long it would work.  The ease of use…

Why the definition of design might need a change

February 22, 2023
It was drawing, or disegno, as deployed in the making of Italian buildings during the Renaissance, that gave us the word “design”—or such was the enthusiastic explanation I received as an architecture student at the end of the 1990s. History, of course, tells a more complex story. Though there was indeed a key shift in…

Baidu to deploy conversational AI across search, in-car entertainment and more

February 22, 2023

Baidu today revealed more details about its much-anticipated intelligent Ernie Bot, widely seen as the search giant’s counterpart to ChatGPT. Ernie Bot is built atop Baidu’s large language model Erniethat released in 2019. In May last year, the third generation of Ernie launched. Here’s how Baidu plans to integrate Ernie Bot into its ecosystem of services, […]

Baidu to deploy conversational AI across search, in-car entertainment and more by Rita Liao originally published on TechCrunch

South African car subscription service Planet42 raises $100M equity, debt

February 22, 2023

Planet42, a South Africa-based car subscription company that buys used cars from dealerships and rents to customers via a subscription model, has raised $100 million in equity and debt from a wide range of investors. Naspers, through its early-stage investment vehicle, Naspers Foundry, co-led the $15 million equity round (the SA-based investor also led Planet42’s previous […]

South African car subscription service Planet42 raises $100M equity, debt by Tage Kene-Okafor originally published on TechCrunch