Raspberry Pi raised an undisclosed amount from Sony Semiconductor Solutions at a $500M valuation, the same valuation as its $45M raise in 2021, to work on AI (Ryan Browne/CNBC)
Ryan Browne / CNBC: Raspberry Pi raised an undisclosed amount from Sony Semiconductor Solutions at a $500M valuation, the same valuation as its $45M raise in 2021, to work on AI — – Raspberry Pi has received fresh investment from Sony’s semiconductor unit, in a deal that will let users and developers make visual sensory […].
General Atlantic invests another $100 million in PhonePe
General Atlantic has poured another $100 million in PhonePe, three months after leading a $350 million investment in the Indian fintech startup that has so far raised $750 million as part of the ongoing financing round. Walmart-backed PhonePe disclosed the investment in a filing with the local regulator on Wednesday. A company spokesperson confirmed the […].
Backed by Japanese investors, Verod-Kepple’s fund will invest in Series A and B startups across Africa
Last month, pan-African venture capital firm Verod-Kepple Africa Partners reached the second close of its first fund (Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures), targeting African startups at $43 million. Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) achieved its first close last March (at $20 million) and aims to attain its final close by the end of the year at $100 million; […].
Talking with Future Ventures about its new fund, AI hype, and Siri sucking (still)
For a firm whose bets are largely unpredictable, the early-stage venture firm Future Ventures has become very formulaic in its fundraising. Now entering its fifth year, the firm just closed a $200 million fund – its third in a row. In fact, it would have exactly $600 million under management at this point if not […].
A profile of Andy Hunter and his ecommerce platform Bookshop.org, which helps indie booksellers set up a digital storefront instead of selling through Amazon (Kate Knibbs/Wired)
Kate Knibbs / Wired: A profile of Andy Hunter and his ecommerce platform Bookshop.org, which helps indie booksellers set up a digital storefront instead of selling through Amazon — Andy Hunter’s ecommerce platform was a pandemic hit. Now he’s on a mission to prove that small businesses can scale up without selling out. from Techmeme […].
Sources: a16z, Tiger Global, IVP, and other VCs are touring Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar to build ties with sovereign wealth funds during the funding crunch (Financial Times)
Financial Times: Sources: a16z, Tiger Global, IVP, and other VCs are touring Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar to build ties with sovereign wealth funds during the funding crunch — Liquidity crunch leads investors such as Andreessen Horowitz to sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE from Techmeme https://ift.tt/heLXwZV.
Strava launches integration with Spotify to let users listen to content while tracking activities
Strava, the activity tracking and social community platform used by more than 100 million people globally, has announced a new in-app integration with Spotify. The integration allows users to easily access music, podcasts and audiobooks from the Strava app while tracking activities. Starting today, users can play, pause, resume, skip and browse Spotify content from […].
In a Twitter Space, Elon Musk said Twitter is roughly breaking even, the company will tweak the state-affiliated media tag, most advertisers are back, and more (Faiz Siddiqui/Washington Post)
Faiz Siddiqui / Washington Post: In a Twitter Space, Elon Musk said Twitter is roughly breaking even, the company will tweak the state-affiliated media tag, most advertisers are back, and more — The Twitter CEO provided a six month update on his takeover in a live interview with BBC. — SAN FRANCISCO … from Techmeme […].
A US jury finds the former CEO, CFO, and president of digital pharma ad firm Outcome Health guilty of running a ~$1B scheme that defrauded clients and investors (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal: A US jury finds the former CEO, CFO, and president of digital pharma ad firm Outcome Health guilty of running a ~$1B scheme that defrauded clients and investors — Verdict caps fall of startup’s executive team led by Rishi Shah, who could face years in prison from Techmeme https://ift.tt/N0CsBjm.
Binance.US plans to delist the TRX token linked to Justin Sun’s Tron from April 18 for failing to meet the expected standard of excellence; TRX drops ~4% (Sunil Jagtiani/Bloomberg)
Sunil Jagtiani / Bloomberg: Binance.US plans to delist the TRX token linked to Justin Sun’s Tron from April 18 for failing to meet the expected standard of excellence; TRX drops ~4% — The Binance US exchange said the TRX token linked to Justin Sun’s Tron crypto platform will be delisted from April 18, a move […].
Q&A with Alondra Nelson, former deputy director of Biden’s OSTP who spearheaded the White House’s AI Bill of Rights effort, on AI policy challenge and more (Ezra Klein/New York Times)
Ezra Klein / New York Times: Q&A with Alondra Nelson, former deputy director of Biden’s OSTP who spearheaded the White House’s AI Bill of Rights effort, on AI policy challenge and more — I’m Ezra Klein. This is “The Ezra Klein Show.” — [MUSIC PLAYING] — It would be easy, listening to the discourse about […].
Elon Musk says Twitter will finally remove legacy checkmarks on 4/20
Elon Musk said that Twitter will finally move to remove the legacy blue checkmarks on April 20 or 4/20 because he can’t let go of that joke. This is the “final date,” he said in a tweet. If the move goes through, Twitter will have verification marks only for paid users and businesses, and government […].
Video game illustrators in China say AI image generators are causing them to lose their jobs, as some employers encourage use of AI tools to boost productivity (Viola Zhou/Rest of World)
Viola Zhou / Rest of World: Video game illustrators in China say AI image generators are causing them to lose their jobs, as some employers encourage use of AI tools to boost productivity — “AI is developing at a speed way beyond our imagination. Two people could potentially do the work that used to be […].
Recent autonomous vehicle snafus in San Francisco include five Waymo cars jamming an intersection and Cruise recalling software last week after an AV hit a bus (Rachel Swan/San Francisco Chronicle)
Rachel Swan / San Francisco Chronicle: Recent autonomous vehicle snafus in San Francisco include five Waymo cars jamming an intersection and Cruise recalling software last week after an AV hit a bus — Five self-driving vehicles blocked traffic early Tuesday morning in the middle of a residential street in San Francisco’s Balboa … from Techmeme […].
Kaspersky: malware developers are selling malicious Google Play loaders for $2K-$20K on hacker forums; the average price for a loader is $6,975 (Bill Toulas/BleepingComputer)
Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer: Kaspersky: malware developers are selling malicious Google Play loaders for $2K-$20K on hacker forums; the average price for a loader is $6,975 — Malware developers have created a thriving market promising to add malicious Android apps to Google Play for $2,000 to $20,000 … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/YDG3Zv7.
Australia-based Fivecast, whose AI-powered software can help companies and governments monitor potential threats, raised a ~$20M Series A led by Ten Eleven (Joseph Brookes/InnovationAus.com)
Joseph Brookes / InnovationAus.com: Australia-based Fivecast, whose AI-powered software can help companies and governments monitor potential threats, raised a ~$20M Series A led by Ten Eleven — Australian software startup Fivecast on Tuesday announced it had closed its AU$30 million Series A. The round … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/vtCbRP6.
Microsoft releases 97 security fixes, patching one actively exploited zero-day flaw in the Windows Common Log File System and seven critical RCE vulnerabilities (Lawrence Abrams/BleepingComputer)
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer: Microsoft releases 97 security fixes, patching one actively exploited zero-day flaw in the Windows Common Log File System and seven critical RCE vulnerabilities — Today is Microsoft’s April 2023 Patch Tuesday, and security updates fix one actively exploited zero-day vulnerability and a total of 97 flaws. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/G8h0O4u.
Customs data: Russia imported $570M worth of US chips from Hong Kong and mainland China from February 24, 2022 to December 31, 2022, despite US sanctions (Nikkei Asia)
Nikkei Asia: Customs data: Russia imported $570M worth of US chips from Hong Kong and mainland China from February 24, 2022 to December 31, 2022, despite US sanctions — Shipments from Hong Kong and China jumped tenfold after invasion of Ukraine — TOKYO/HONG KONG/TAIPEI — More than a year since … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/HvTsMq8.
Silicon Valley Bank’s chief risk officer is out, months after taking the job
When Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse was first unfolding, a belated disclosure colored some of the chaos: The bank spent most of last year without a chief risk officer, and the one who left sold more than $4 million of stock in the bank before departing. The new CRO, Kim Olson, who joined in January 2023, […].
Sources: after Twitch cut ~15% of the staff who policed abusive or illegal content and folded an AI ethics team, ex-staffers worry content moderation will slip (Cecilia D’Anastasio/Bloomberg)
Cecilia D’Anastasio / Bloomberg: Sources: after Twitch cut ~15% of the staff who policed abusive or illegal content and folded an AI ethics team, ex-staffers worry content moderation will slip — Job cuts at Amazon.com Inc.’s Twitch division are raising concerns among former employees and content monitors … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/9kH15JD.