This week on StrictlyVC Download, we’re catching our breath and catching up with all of the news that’s been happening in the industry. Connie Loizos and Alex Gove are breaking down the top headlines. They discuss: Slow Ventures’ new creator fund and whether or not it’s a gimmick The continuing saga of Elon Musk’s attempt […]
Social media is often about scale, but Nextdoor bet long ago on something different: that it could grow a big business off smaller, local communities. For years, the plan worked. The 15-year-old company has long been a dominant platform for neighborhood-based conversations, connecting users for everything from lost pet alerts to local business recommendations. Then
The New York Times is now allowing its product and editorial teams to use AI tools, which might one day write social copy, SEO headlines, and code, reports Semafor. The news came to staff via an email, in which the publication announced the debut of its new internal AI summary tool called Echo. The New
The New York Times has greenlit AI tools for product and edit staff Read More »
AI models are being cranked out at a dizzying pace, by everyone from Big Tech companies like Google to startups like OpenAI and Anthropic. Keeping track of the latest ones can be overwhelming. Adding to the confusion is that AI models are often promoted based on industry benchmarks. But these technical metrics often reveal little
These are the hottest AI models, what they do, and how to use them Read More »
AI models are being cranked out at a dizzying pace, by everyone from Big Tech companies like Google to startups like OpenAI and Anthropic. Keeping track of the latest ones can be overwhelming. Adding to the confusion is that AI models are often promoted based on industry benchmarks. But these technical metrics often reveal little
The hottest AI models, what they do, and how to use them Read More »
Every Sunday, NPR host Will Shortz, The New York Times’ crossword puzzle guru, gets to quiz thousands of listeners in a long-running segment called the Sunday Puzzle. While written to be solvable without too much foreknowledge, the brainteasers are usually challenging even for skilled contestants. That’s why some experts think they’re a promising way to
These researchers used NPR Sunday Puzzle questions to benchmark AI ‘reasoning’ models Read More »
Silicon Valley-based robotics startup Figure AI is in talks to raise a massive $1.5 billion round at a $39.5 billion valuation, Bloomberg reports. That’s a whopping 15 times higher than Figure’s $2.6 billion post-money valuation for its $675 million Series B last year. Figure’s current round is expected to be led by Align Ventures and
Figure AI is in talks to raise $1.5B at 15x its last valuation Read More »
DeepSeek has gone viral. Chinese AI lab DeepSeek broke into the mainstream consciousness this week after its chatbot app rose to the top of the Apple App Store charts (and Google Play, as well). DeepSeek’s AI models, which were trained using compute-efficient techniques, have led Wall Street analysts — and technologists — to question whether the U.S. can maintain its
DeepSeek: Everything you need to know about the AI chatbot app Read More »
Public semiconductor company Arm will start making its own chips this year after landing a high-profile enterprise customer. Arm, which is majorly owned by SoftBank, will start making its own chips now that Meta has signed on as a customer, according to the Financial Times. The chip is expected to be a CPU for servers
Arm is launching its own chip this year with Meta as a customer Read More »
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk’s x.AI offered to buy OpenAI for $97.4 billion last week. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has dismissed the proposal, which would gum up OpenAI’s planned conversion from a non-profit, something Musk is attempting to block in a lawsuit. Altman’s lawyers argued in a Wednesday filing that Musk can’t
Elon Musk’s full offer letter to buy OpenAI reveals five key details Read More »
