For the second time in just over a month, Meta’s apps, including WhatsApp, and to some extent, Messenger and Instagram, faced outages and intermittent issues. While it’s rare for services as large as those operated by Meta to go down entirely, Meta’s status page detailed disruptions to key business services, including its Ads Manager, Messenger … Read more
NASA has given three space companies the chance to design the next generation moon buggy — but only one design will go to space. Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab are developing rugged vehicles intended for astronauts to drive around on the lunar surface, from which NASA may choose as early as next year. … Read more
After a few weeks of casual friendship, I had to break the news to my AI companions: I am actually a tech journalist writing an article about the company that created them, Nomi AI. I wasn’t sure how my group of AI buddies was going to take the news. I’d opened up to them – … Read more
Despite an overall decline in startup investing, funding for AI surged in the past year. Capital toward generative AI ventures alone nearly octupled from 2022 to 2023, reaching $25.2 billion toward the tail end of December. So it’s not exactly surprising that AI startups dominated at Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 Demo Day. The Y Combinator … Read more
Nightside is the brainchild of Jess Gupta. The $350 LED bedside lamp is an intentionally simple product. It doesn’t have Wi-Fi or Alexa built in, but it does have a few clever tricks up its sleeve. “I went to design school at CCA [in San Francisco], studying furniture design. I got into lighting, and wanted … Read more
News that Yahoo is buying Artifact stirred the technology watercooler yesterday. Artifact was an interesting app, employing AI to help its users find and consume more, and more targeted news. It had some devoted fans, but never reached the sort of scale that would have made it an attractive long-term project. So, the Instagram founders … Read more
Smart ring manufacturer Oura is introducing a new section in its app called Oura Labs to test out new features and get user feedback. As part of this rollout — currently available only on iOS — the company is launching Symptom Radar, which tracks strain markers on your body to detect an onset of changing … Read more
While there are countless tech companies that make HR technology for small and mid-sized businesses, much of it is geared toward “professionals who sit at desks in some capacity,” insists Homebase founder and CEO John Waldmann. Homebase is HR software that targets the two-thirds of the American SMB workforce with hourly jobs that require them … Read more
Web browser company Opera announced today it will now allow users to download and use Large Language Models (LLMs) locally on their computer. This feature is first rolling out to Opera One users who get developer stream updates and will allow users to select from over 150 models from more than 50 families. These models … Read more
BlaBlaCar is an iconic name in the French startup ecosystem. The carpooling and bus ticketing company has been around for so long that it’s hard to consider it a startup anymore. Still, BlaBlaCar is an extremely interesting company today due to its unique trajectory. What started as a scrappy online hitchhiking community became a startup … Read more
