Next-gen content farms are using AI-generated text to spin up junk websites

June 27, 2023
This article is from The Technocrat, MIT Technology Review’s weekly tech policy newsletter about power, politics, and Silicon Valley. To receive it in your inbox every Friday, sign up here. We’ve heard a lot about AI risks in the era of large language models like ChatGPT (including from me!)—risks such as prolific mis- and disinformation…

How electrifying steam could cut beer’s carbon emissions

June 27, 2023
Next year, New Belgium Brewing will swap out one of the four natural-gas-powered boilers at its main brewing facility in Fort Collins, Colorado, for an electrified version designed to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. The modular, 650-kilowatt pilot boiler system was developed by AtmosZero, a startup also based in Fort Collins and coming out of stealth today.…

Is Your Retirement Administered by Qualified People?

June 27, 2023
With an insurmountable amount of tools and resources at your fingertips, you could theoretically plan your own retirement. Examples include Money’s asset allocation calculator and retirement planning calculator, as well…

NoTraffic raises $50M to tackle congestion and enhance road safety

June 27, 2023

AI-based traffic management platform NoTraffic has bagged $50 million in Series B funding as it picks up momentum in cities across the U.S. The capital injection comes as the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill enters its second year and a host of funding programs kick in to alleviate traffic congestion, tackle CO2 emissions and reduce road […]

NoTraffic raises $50M to tackle congestion and enhance road safety by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

This app is helping workers reclaim millions in lost wages

June 27, 2023
As Rodrigo Camarena sees it, you can hail a car and order food on your smartphone; why shouldn’t it also help you exercise your rights?  Reclamo, a new web app created by Justicia Lab, the nonprofit innovation incubator that Camarena directs, helps documented and undocumented immigrant workers who have experienced wage theft. By clicking through…

Meta is rolling out new parental control tools for Instagram and Messenger

June 27, 2023

Meta announced new parental control tools across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger today. This includes a new parental supervision hub in Messenger, a feature that pre-emptively blocks unwanted DMs on Messenger and Instagram, and nudges to remind teens that they should take a break. Messenger supervision controls, which will be available in Meta’s Family Center, are […]

Meta is rolling out new parental control tools for Instagram and Messenger by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

ShopZetu raises pre-seed funding to fuel growth of its fashion marketplace beyond Kenya

June 27, 2023

Kenyan fashion e-commerce startup ShopZetu is set to add beauty and home décor categories to its portfolio, in response to the growing needs of the young and style-conscious women in Africa. This is as it currently scales regionally over the next few months while working to attract international fashion brands, and more than triple the […]

ShopZetu raises pre-seed funding to fuel growth of its fashion marketplace beyond Kenya by Annie Njanja originally published on TechCrunch

Dust uses large language models on internal data to improve team productivity

June 27, 2023

Dust is a new AI startup based in France that is working on improving team productivity by breaking down internal silos, surfacing important knowledge and providing tools to build custom internal apps. At its core, Dust is using large language models (LLMs) on internal company data to give new super powers to team members. Co-founded […]

Dust uses large language models on internal data to improve team productivity by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

Lordstown Motors sues Foxconn, files for bankruptcy

June 27, 2023

Lordstown Motors has made good on its threat to sue Foxconn, the Taiwanese company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones. The EV company took legal action against Foxconn Tuesday, and simultaneously filed for bankruptcy and put itself up for sale. Lordstown, the EV startup that went public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition […]

Lordstown Motors sues Foxconn, files for bankruptcy by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch