Sources: Multimodal AI startup Fal.ai already raised at $4B+ valuation
Fal.ai announced its previous round at a $1.5 billion valuation in July.
The Download: Introducing: the new conspiracy age
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. Introducing: the new conspiracy age Everything is a conspiracy theory now. Conspiracists are all over the White House, turning fringe ideas into dangerous policy. America’s institutions are crumbling under the weight of deep…
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince is pushing UK regulator to unbundle Google’s search and AI crawlers
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince is urging regulators to rein in Google’s AI practices, arguing the tech giant’s dominance in search gives it an unfair edge in the AI race.
This Mom’s ‘Scrappy’ Side Hustle Started in Her Garage — Now It Makes $5 Million a Year
Carinne Meyrignac, 45, couldn’t find the products she’d grown up with — so she created them herself.
Bill Gates’s old climate lobbyists launch a new firm
Members of Breakthrough Energy’s policy team are back with a new organization, the Clean Economy Project, aimed at nudging lawmakers toward clean energy.
I spent a month living with a $430 AI pet, the Casio Moflin
Casio’s Moflin, a hamster-like robot pet, uses AI to develop a personality over time.
Google Fi to add AI-enhanced audio and RCS web messaging
The tech giant says calls will now use AI-enhanced audio to reduce background noise and improve voice clarity, even when speaking to someone on a landline or older device.
How Being ‘Real’ Can Backfire for Leaders — and What True Authenticity Looks Like
Authenticity doesn’t mean spilling every emotion — it means aligning your values, words and actions to foster trust.
What a Company With Near-Zero Turnover Taught Me About Building Culture That Lasts
The best leaders know customer service isn’t a department, it’s a culture. I saw one company prove it beyond question, and it reaffirmed everything I believe about real leadership.
A16z-backed Codi launches AI agent office manager
Codi launches what it hails as the first fully automated office manager.
OpenAI launches an AI-powered browser: ChatGPT Atlas
OpenAI is launching an AI-powered browser, its latest challenge to Google as the main way people find information online.