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Workera’s CEO was mentored by Andrew Ng. Now he wants an AI agent to mentor you

AI /

Kian Katanforoosh has one of the best mentors in the AI world: renowned researcher Andrew Ng, who also served as his graduate school advisor at Stanford. The two went on to create Stanford’s deep learning program, and now, Ng serves as Chairman of Katanforoosh’s startup, Workera. Ng has been a meaningful guide in Katanforoosh’s career, […]

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Fintech Mesa promises 1% cash back on mortgages, up to 3x on other home needs

Fintech /

Mortgage fintech Mesa has emerged from stealth on Tuesday with $9.2 million in seed capital and a novel idea for homeowners. It’s offering cash back and rewards on all spending done on the home, including the mortgage itself.  Mesa is offering mortgage loans, original or refinancing, that include a credit-card-style 1% cash back on the

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Torq, which automates cybersecurity workflows, raises $70M in new capital

AI /

As the volume of cyberattacks grows, there’s increasing interest from the corporate sector in tech to help automate responses to breaches. Per a 2023 survey from analytics firm Devo, 80% of security leaders expected expanded investments in security automation technology this year; most cited the tech’s potential to support cyber threat mitigation. Projections say that the market

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Rivian reveals first $10M in grants for long-promised Rivian Foundation

Climate /

Rivian has revealed the first $10 million worth of grants from the Rivian Foundation, just three years after promising to make the “natural world” a “stakeholder in our success.” The company launched a website for the foundation on Monday that details 41 grantees who will collectively receive just north of $10 million in funding. The

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Rabbit’s web-based ‘large action model’ agent arrives on r1 as early as this week

Hardware /

The Rabbit r1 was the must-have gadget of early 2024, but the blush fell off it pretty quick when the company’s expansive promises failed to materialize. CEO Jesse Lyu admits that “on day one, we set our expectations too high” — but that an update coming to its devices this month will finally set their

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Shelf is a social network based on the media you consume

Social /

Social networks have become increasingly homogenous, showing everything from text to short videos across platforms, where algorithms often overshadow your creativity. In this ubiquitous environment, it’s harder than ever to get a genuine sense of someone’s vibe before deciding to follow them. Enter Shelf, an app that lets you create a personalized “storefront” of your

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Musk dodged Brazil’s X ban by ‘coincidence,’ says Cloudflare CEO

Apps /

X went back online in Brazil earlier this week, three weeks after Elon Musk’s platform was blocked under orders from Brazil’s Supreme Court. That prompted Brazil’s top court to fine X Corp. nearly $1 million for every day the platform remained accessible in the country. However, Cloudflare’s CEO Matthew Prince tells TechCrunch that X going

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Black Forest Labs, the company that powers Grok’s image generation, is raising another $100M on a $1B valuation, say sources

AI /

While OpenAI pursues yet another monster fundraise, it is not stealing all the oxygen in the room: AI startups building promising foundational models can still open doors, and checkbooks. For example, multiple sources tell us that Black Forest Labs — a startup building generative AI image models, which only came out of stealth two months

Black Forest Labs, the company that powers Grok’s image generation, is raising another $100M on a $1B valuation, say sources Read More »

Grok’s image generator, Black Forest Labs, is raising $100M at a $1B valuation, say sources

Fundraising /

While OpenAI pursues yet another monster fundraise, it is not stealing all the oxygen in the room: AI startups building promising foundational models can still open doors, and checkbooks. Multiple sources tell us that Black Forest Labs — a startup that’s building generative AI image models and came out of stealth two months ago with

Grok’s image generator, Black Forest Labs, is raising $100M at a $1B valuation, say sources Read More »

Virtuous, a fundraising CRM for nonprofits, raises $100M from Susquehanna Growth Equity

Enterprise /

I recently adopted a kitten from a local animal shelter. The modern, well-staffed three-story facility relies almost entirely on donations to operate. It’s just one of the 1.8 million nonprofits in the U.S. that need to continually solicit contributions from donors to maintain its services. But Virtuous founder and CEO Gabe Cooper says that many

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