July 4, 2025

The Download: India’s AI independence, and predicting future epidemics

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. Inside India’s scramble for AI independence Despite its status as a global tech hub, India lags far behind the likes of the US and China when it comes to homegrown AI. That gap…

Woolly mammoth de-extinction is definitely not about making real-life Pokémon

April 4, 2023

Colossal Biosciences bills itself as the “de-extinction company” and is seeking to bring back the woolly mammoth, the thylacine (aka the Tasmanian tiger) and the dodo. Co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm told me all about why it wants to do that on stage at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin a couple weeks ago, and […]

Woolly mammoth de-extinction is definitely not about making real-life Pokémon by Darrell Etherington originally published on TechCrunch

Pinterest expands its Creator Fund for underrepresented groups to five more countries

April 4, 2023

Pinterest announced today that it’s expanding its Creator Fund for underrepresented groups to five more countries, including Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. The company debuted its $500,000 Creator Fund in 2021, and announced an additional $1.2 million for the fund last year. The fund focuses specifically on supporting creators from underrepresented groups by offering […]

Pinterest expands its Creator Fund for underrepresented groups to five more countries by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Israel’s political crisis has activated its apolitical tech industry — and there’s no turning back

April 4, 2023

As unease spread amongst a handful of entrepreneurs, alarmed at radical “reforms,” proposed by the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government, to the independence of the judiciary, WhatsApp groups were fired up, and were quickly flooded with volunteers from the tech industry. Last week, the country hit its thirteen in the number of weeks of protests, many of […]

Israel’s political crisis has activated its apolitical tech industry — and there’s no turning back by Mike Butcher originally published on TechCrunch

Using Facebook in the EU? Here’s how to opt out of its creepy ads

April 4, 2023

Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union objecting to Meta’s behavioral advertising can easily ask for their data not to being used for its consentless tracking-and-profiling thanks to a free tool provided by privacy rights not-for-profit, noyb. According to noyb, an online form Meta is planning to offer EU users wanting to exercise their […]

Using Facebook in the EU? Here’s how to opt out of its creepy ads by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

Amazon to shutter Book Depository, a UK-based online bookseller it acquired in 2011, on April 26

April 4, 2023

Amazon is set to shutter Book Depository, an online bookstore and competitor it acquired back in 2011. The news comes hot on the heels of a swathe of cutbacks at the internet giant, with two separate rounds of layoffs impacting at least 27,000 people across various divisions including its highly profitable AWS cloud unit and […]

Amazon to shutter Book Depository, a UK-based online bookseller it acquired in 2011, on April 26 by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

These Y Combinator-backed startups are trying to build ‘ChatGPT for X’

April 4, 2023

The hype around ChatGPT, OpenAI’s viral AI-powered chatbot, hasn’t reached a peak yet. That’s the vibe one gets from Y Combinator’s Winter 2023 batch, which features no fewer than four startups that claim to be building a “ChatGPT for X.” That new ventures are jumping on the ChatGPT hype train isn’t surprising, considering ChatGPT’s virality. […]

These Y Combinator-backed startups are trying to build ‘ChatGPT for X’ by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch