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01

Hugging Face releases a benchmark for testing generative AI on health tasks

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Hugging Face has published a new leaderboard and benchmark for evaluating generative AI models on health-related tasks and questions.

Thursday, Apr 18

23

Tesla still plans to build 1,800-mile charging corridor for semi trucks despite Biden funding snub

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Tesla is pushing forward with a plan to build an electric big rig charging corridor stretching from Texas to California, despite being snubbed by a lucrative federal funding program that’s part of Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. But…

21

Robots can make jobs less meaningful for human colleagues

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Much has been (and will continue to be) written about automation’s impact on the jobs market. In the short term, many employers have complained of an inability to fill roles and retain workers, further accelerating robotic adoption. The…

Ibotta’s IPO opens sharply higher, hinting at warming public-market interest in tech shares

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Ibotta began its path as a public company on Thursday by opening at $117 per share, a big increase from its IPO price of $88, itself an increase from its proposed range of $76 to $84 per share. And this pop is despite boosting the size of…

20

Lacework, last valued at $8.3B, is in talks to sell for just $150M to $300M, say sources

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Consolidation continues apace in the world of security. Sources tell us that Lacework — a cloud security startup that was valued at $8.3 billion post-money in its last funding round — is in talks to be acquired by another security player,…

Hackers are threatening to publish a huge stolen sanctions and financial crimes watchlist

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The hackers say they have stolen 5.3 million records from the World-Check database, used by companies and banks for screening potential customers.

19

How to play Pokémon and other Game Boy games on your iPhone

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Apple finally updated its App Store guidelines to allow global developers to host retro game emulators on iOS. Now, you don’t need to jailbreak your iPhone or download any sketchy software — you can get a sophisticated emulator right in…

Cape dials up $61M from a16z and more for mobile service that doesn’t use personal data

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"You can’t leak or sell what you don’t have," according to the company's website.

Meta releases Llama 3, claims it’s among the best open models available

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Meta has released the latest entry in its Llama series of open source generative AI models: Llama 3. Or, more accurately, the company has open sourced two models in its new Llama 3 family, with the rest to come at an unspecified future…

Meta adds its AI chatbot, powered by Llama 3, to the search bar across its apps

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Meta’s making several big moves today to promote its AI services across its platform. The company has upgraded its AI chatbot with its newest Large Language Model, Llama 3, and it is now running it in the search bar of its four major apps,…

TechCrunch Minute: NASA needs your help to bring rocks back from Mars

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NASA’s decision to scrap its $11 billion, 15-year mission to Mars to bring back samples could create a startup feeding frenzy, TechCrunch reports. Describing its plans as too slow, and too expensive, NASA is going back to the drawing board…

17

Uber, Nvidia-backed Serve Robotics hits public markets with $40M splash

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Serve Robotics, the Uber and Nvidia-backed sidewalk robot delivery company, debuted publicly on the New York stock exchange Thursday, making it the latest startup to choose going public via a reverse merger as an alternative path to…

16

Building owners are often in the dark about their carbon pollution — a new algorithm could shed light on it

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NZero developed a new algorithm that helps building owners estimate their carbon pollution down to the hour.

Magnus Metal wants to revamp the 4,000-year-old way metal parts are made

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The startup is developing a technology it claims is as fast and energy efficient as 3D printing at a cost that can compete with sand casting.

Apex Legends hacker says game developers patched exploit used on streamers

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Last month, a hacker wreaked havoc during an esports tournament of the popular shooter game Apex Legends, hacking two well-known streamers mid-game to make it look like they were using cheats. A month later, it seems like the hacking saga…

15

For Dataplor’s data intelligence tool, it’s all about location, location, location

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Dataplor’s “secret sauce” combines technology and public domain data with a human factor, employing over 100,000 people, called Explorers, to validate all the data via computer.

Screen Skinz raises $1.5M seed to create custom screen protectors

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There has been much evolution in the personalized phone protector market, but nothing has truly captured screens yet.

14

Trellis Climate aims to bridge the ‘commercial valley of death’ for climate tech

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Climate nonprofit Prime Coalition is hoping to bridge the valley with a new program, Trellis Climate.

13

ChatGPT is a squeeze away with Nothing’s upgraded earbuds

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Nothing today announced a pair of refreshes to its earbud line. The naming conventions are a touch convoluted here, but the Nothing Ear is an update to the Nothing Ear (2), while the Nothing Ear (a) is more of a spiritual successor to the…

Google fires 28 employees after sit-in protest over controversial Project Nimbus contract with Israel

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Google has terminated the employment of 28 staff following a prolonged sit-in protest at the company’s Sunnyvale and New York offices. The employees were protesting against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract inked by…

10

Orbex’s new funding may accelerate its Prime microlauncher into orbit

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U.K.-based small launch developer Orbex got another boost from the Scottish National Investment Bank and other investors as it gears up for its first orbital launch, though that mission still does not have a set date. Founded in 2015,…

05

India’s VerSe acquires Apple News+ rival Magzter

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VerSe, the parent firm of Indian news aggregator app Dailyhunt, has acquired the popular digital newsstand firm Magzter, which competes with Apple News+.

02

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fines BloomTech for false claims

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The CFPB is permanently banning BloomTech from consumer lending activities and its CEO, Austen Allred, from student lending for a period of 10 years.

01

6 Waymo robotaxis block traffic to San Francisco freeway on-ramp

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Waymo can operate on San Francisco freeways without a human driver, but the company is still only testing on freeways with a human driver in the front seat.

Ramp raises another $150M co-led by Khosla and Founders Fund at a $7.65B valuation

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Spend management startup Ramp has raised another $150 million at a post-money valuation of $7.65 billion, the company confirmed to TechCrunch today. New investor Khosla Ventures and existing backer Founders Fund co-led the raise, which…

Wednesday, Apr 17

00

Alphabet X’s Bellwether harnesses AI to help predict natural disasters

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The world is on fire. Quite literally, much of the time quite literally. Predicting such disasters before they get out of hand — or better yet, before they happen — will be key to maintaining a reasonable quality of life for the coming…

23

Don’t blame MKBHD for the fate of Humane AI and Fisker

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Humane AI raised more than $230 million before it even shipped a product. And when it finally released its Ai Pin – which costs $699 plus a $24 monthly subscription – pretty much every tech reviewer came to the same disappointing…

22

Dark is building a rocket-powered boxing glove to push debris out of orbit

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Paris-based Dark is taking on the dual problems of debris and conflict in orbit with their mobile platform designed to launch, attach to, and ultimately deorbit uncooperative objects in space. Dark CEO Clyde Laheyne said the company is…

AirChat, the buzzy new social app, could be great — or, it could succumb to the same fate as Clubhouse

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Over the weekend, another social media platform exploded into the fray: AirChat. The app is like a combination of Twitter and Clubhouse. Instead of typing a post, you speak it. The app quickly transcribes what you say, and as your…

Mastering finance essentials with Mercury’s VP of finance, Dan Kang, at TechCrunch Early Stage

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TechCrunch Early Stage is gearing up for another insightful event on April 25, and one roundtable session promises to be particularly illuminating for early-stage founders. Titled “Finance Fundamentals Before Your First Finance Hire: A…