December 23, 2024

The Download: trustworthy humanoid robots, and Anduril’s latest project

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. Will we ever trust robots? The world might seem to be on the brink of a humanoid-robot heyday. New breakthroughs in artificial intelligence promise the type of capable, general-purpose robots previously seen only…

Evernote and Meetup owner Bending Spoons raises $155M in equity financing

February 15, 2024

Bending Spoons, the owner of popular apps and services like Evernote and Meetup, announced today that it has raised $155 million in a new equity financing round at a $2.55 billion post-money valuation. Durable Capital Partners led the round with existing investors, such as Baillie Gifford, Cox Enterprises, NB Renaissance, NUO Capital and StarTIP (controlled […]

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Alibaba faces reckoning with once-vaunted ‘new retail’ strategy

February 15, 2024

In 2017, “new retail” began appearing in Alibaba’s earnings reports. Coined by the Chinese e-commerce behemoth, the term refers to the seamless integration of online and offline retail. Six years later, Alibaba is having a moment of reckoning with this strategy as it looks to offload some of its offline retail assets. On its recent […]

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Crypto exits remain low but investors remain unfazed

February 15, 2024

New PitchBook data makes it clear that if the larger startup market is suffering from an exit-drought, crypto startups are possibly even more parched.

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GM is expanding its hands-free driving system to rural highways

February 15, 2024

GM is expanding access to Super Cruise with plans to let drivers use the hands-free advanced driver assistance system on about 750,000 miles of roads in the United States and Canada. The expansion, which will nearly double the automaker’s Super Cruise network by 2025, will include rural and minor highways that often connect smaller cities […]

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Bluesky and Mastodon users are having a fight that could shape the next generation of social media

February 15, 2024

People on Bluesky and Mastodon are fighting over how to bridge the two decentralized social networks, and whether there should even be a bridge at all. Behind the snarky GitHub comments, these coding conflicts aren’t frivolous — in fact, they could shape the future of the internet. Mastodon is the most established decentralized social app […]

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Varda Space Industries finally gets approval to bring its drug manufacturing spacecraft back to Earth

February 14, 2024

Varda Space Industries has received long-awaited approval from regulators to return its first spacecraft to Earth — and with it, a batch of pharmaceutical crystals manufactured on orbit. Varda’s Winnebago capsule has been stuck in limbo for months. The company launched the spacecraft on a SpaceX Transporter mission eight months ago, with the plan to […]

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Largest text-to-speech AI model yet shows ’emergent abilities’

February 14, 2024

Researchers at Amazon have trained the largest ever text-to-speech model yet, which they claim exhibits “emergent” qualities improving its ability to speak even complex sentences naturally. The breakthrough could be what the technology needs to escape the uncanny valley. These models were always going to grow and improve, but the researchers specifically hoped to see […]

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7 Proven Strategies to Rehabilitate Your Shattered Online Image

February 14, 2024
Rehabilitating a shattered online image is more than just fixing things — it’s about taking back control over your story. You need to face the harsh reality, make a heartfelt apology, dive into online spaces, find lessons in tough times, rewrite your story sincerely, spread positivity online — and embrace change.