In Brief

Hollywood’s Olivia Wilde launches a VC firm

Actress Olivia Wilde, famous for her roles in “Tron: Legacy” and “Don’t Worry Darling,” quietly launched venture firm Proximity Ventures late last year, according to Bloomberg. She launched the early- and growth-stage investment fund with Neil Sirni, formerly of Roc Nation’s venture division Arrive; Jason Mack, formerly of Mack Ventures; and Santi White, the musician

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Actor and director Olivia Wilde launches a VC firm

Actor and director Olivia Wilde, famous for in “Tron: Legacy” and “Don’t Worry Darling,” quietly launched venture firm Proximity Ventures late last year, according to Bloomberg. She launched the early- and growth-stage investment fund with Neil Sirni, formerly of Roc Nation’s venture division Arrive; Jason Mack, formerly of Mack Ventures; and Santi White, the musician

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U.S. finalizing rules to ban certain investments in AI tech in China

President Joe Biden’s administration says it’s finalizing rules to curb investments in AI and other tech sectors in China, Reuters reports. The rules, which were first proposed in June by the U.S. Treasury and directed by an executive order President Biden signed in August 2023, cover certain AI systems, quantum information systems, and semiconductors and

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Margaret Atwood’s verdict on AI poetry is in — and it’s not good

Bestselling author Margaret Atwood isn’t worried about the indefatigable rise of generative AI — telling Reuters that she’s too old to be concerned about its impact on the arts. Her remarks follow a petition calling for an end to the unlicensed use of creative works to train AI models that’s now amassed over 31,000 signatures.

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McDonald’s broken ice cream machines could get fixed faster thanks to new federal rule

McDonald’s ice cream machines have developed a lousy reputation for being broken when you visit the restaurant, largely due to strict copyright laws that only permit specially licensed technicians to legally repair them. The manufacturers have to license each technician, and they put locks on the McFlurry machines to prevent others from repairing them. However,

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Classic Christmas song gets authorized Spanish reworking thanks to ‘responsible’ AI

In the decades following its 1958 release, Brenda Lee’s rockabilly-tinged “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” has attained status as an all-time holiday classic. Sixty-six years later, it’s getting a Spanish language rework courtesy of “responsible” AI. Universal on Friday announced the release of “Noche Buena y Navidad,” which utilized SoundLabs AI’s MicDrop technology to reconstruct

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Perplexity says it’s now serving 100M search queries a week

Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, says that the AI-powered search engine is now performing 100 million queries each week. Extrapolated out to a month, that’s roughly 400 million queries — up from 250 million queries in July. Perplexity’s rapid rise comes as the company teases ecommerce features, including the ability for subscribers to its

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