Last August, a fire ripped through 10 acres of grass on either side of California’s I-280 near Redwood City. Traffic backed up as firefighters extinguished the blaze, and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers directed drivers to turn around and travel the wrong way to exit the freeway. Some of those drivers encountered a new obstacle:…
The number of med-spas, weight loss clinics, and concierge practices where patients pay a membership fee for direct, often same-day access to physicians, has exploded in recent years. But while patients pay for these services out-of-pocket, providers still often rely on software built for traditional, insurance-based care. VITL, an 18-month-old startup, claims to be solving…
At a press conference at the White House on Wednesday, First Lady Melania Trump showed up with a humanoid robot developed by robotics firm Figure AI. The duo waltzed down a red carpet together before the bot gave a brief speech, chirping: “I am grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children…
One day after Meta lost a similar child safety lawsuit in New Mexico, a Los Angeles jury on Wednesday handed the social media giant — along with YouTube — another defeat. In a case arguing that social media platforms played a major role in harming a young woman’s mental health, jurors have sided with the…
Block Party founder Tracy Chou announced on Wednesday that the company has been acquired by DeleteMe, an online personal data removal service. A software engineer and advocate for diversity in tech, Chou founded Block Party in 2018 as a tool to help people stay safe from targeted harassment on Twitter, inspired by her own experiences…
Over the past few years, a new category of mobile apps has quietly exploded into a multi-billion dollar business. They’re called “micro dramas” — short-form, mobile-first scripted shows designed to be watched vertically on your phone. Think soap opera meets TikTok, complete with secret billionaire romances, disapproving werewolf mothers-in-law, and cliffhangers engineered to keep users tapping. The leading…
Users might not like bots in meetings visibly taking notes, but a lot of them don’t mind if an app on someone’s computer is doing the transcription. That’s the core reason behind Granola’s popularity, which helped it secure $125 million in Series C funding led by Danny Rimer at Index Ventures, with participation from Mamoon…
Social media platform X swiftly backtracked on its announcement regarding new rules for creator monetization, which had focused on payouts based on engagement from a creator’s local audience. Late Tuesday, X Head of Product Nikita Bier announced that, starting Thursday, the platform will change its policy around payouts and will give more emphasis to impressions…
The AI-powered notetaking app Granola, valued at $250 million, has become a popular tool among tech industry founders and VCs. But one developer believes there’s demand for a more private, local-only alternative that’s available for a one-time fee and without a subscription. That’s led to the creation of a new Mac app called Talat. Yorkshire,…
Andrew Ashur, the founder and CEO of window cleaning robot startup Lucid Bots, likes to joke that his company is the antithesis of the robotics industry right now. While many companies are trying to build humanoids or tout demos of their robots dancing and doing flips, Lucid Bots’ drones are out in the field making…