In Brief Archives - Page 14 of 43

OpenAI co-founder John Schulman leaves Anthropic after just five months

OpenAI co-founder and prominent AI researcher John Schulman has left Anthropic after five months, according to multiple reports. Credited as one of the leading architects of ChatGPT, Schulman left OpenAI last August for its direct competitor, Anthropic. He posted about the decision on X, saying it stemmed from a desire to deepen his focus on AI alignment […]

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First lab-grown meat treats go on sale in the UK — for dogs

Startups / Sasandara Dilmina

Cultivated chicken doggie snacks have gone on sale at a U.K. pet food retailer, Pets at Home. The retailer also happens to be a major investor in Meatly, the startup producing the meat ingredient contained in dog food brand The Pack’s Chick Bites, as the slaughter-free, low carbon treats are billed. (Other ingredients in the

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Sonos lays off 200 ahead of rumored set-top box release

Gadgets / Sasandara Dilmina

Sonos announced that it has laid off 200 people in a letter posted to its site Wednesday. The news follows a 100-person layoff in August. Both rounds arrive in the wake of a disastrously botched update to the Sonos app that alienated broad swaths of the premium audio hardware firm’s extremely loyal fanbase. The new

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Amazon reportedly gears up to release next-gen Alexa

AI / Sasandara Dilmina

Amazon may be gearing up to release a next-gen, AI-powered Alexa experience, according to Reuters. Per the outlet’s report, Amazon plans to preview an upgraded version of Alexa, the company’s smart home assistant that runs on a number of first- and third-party devices, at an event on February 26. The revamped Alexa is said to

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Google removes pledge to not use AI for weapons from website

Government & Policy / Sasandara Dilmina

Google removed a pledge to not build AI for weapons or surveillance from its website this week. The change was first spotted by Bloomberg. The company appears to have updated its public AI principles page, erasing a section titled “applications we will not pursue,” which was still included as recently as last week. Asked for

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‘Hundreds’ of companies are blocking DeepSeek over China data risks

AI / Sasandara Dilmina

DeepSeek took the U.S. by storm this week: The Chinese company’s chatbot rose to the top of the Apple and Play stores, while major U.S. cloud providers like Microsoft began offering it on their platforms. But “hundreds” of companies — especially ones with ties to government — have blocked the service, Bloomberg reported based on

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Apple Intelligence will support more languages starting in April

Gadgets / Sasandara Dilmina

Apple’s AI suite, Apple Intelligence, will soon be available in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and simplified Chinese, along with localized English versions for India and Singapore. During the company’s Q4 2024 quarterly results call on Thursday, CEO Tim Cook said that the company will roll out support for these additional languages in

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OpenAI said to be in talks to raise $40B at a $340B valuation

Fundraising / Sasandara Dilmina

OpenAI may have billions of dollars in the bank. But it’s gearing up to raise billions more, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Per The WSJ, OpenAI is in talks to secure up to $40 billion in a funding round that would value the startup at $340 billion. SoftBank would lead the

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a16z has venture scouts scattered across Europe

Venture / Sasandara Dilmina

Despite news that Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) closed its London crypto-focused office, the VC giant has dozens of scouts across Europe looking for early-stage startups, reports Sifted. Some scouts are said to work at companies like Poolside and 11x, the latter of which just raised a $50 million Series B led by the firm. Though many

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US Justice Department sues to block HPE’s $14B acquisition of Juniper Networks

Government & Policy / Sasandara Dilmina

The U.S. Department of Justice has sued to block enterprise tech giant HPE from acquiring Juniper Networks, the networking firm, citing antitrust concerns. In a complaint filed in California federal court Thursday, the Justice Department said the deal would consolidate the market for enterprise wireless equipment from three major vendors — HPE, Cisco, and Juniper

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