Author: TechBrunch
The key to high-quality AI may be high-quality data. Dataset management practices are becoming increasingly important, as research shows that it is dataset curation, not size, that actually impacts AI model performance. is not surprising. According to several studies, today's AI researchers spend a lot of time on data preparation and organization tasks. Brothers Vahan and Tigran Petrosyan were frustrated by the amount of data they had to manage when training algorithms at university. Vahan even worked on creating data management tools during his doctoral studies. Research on image segmentation. After a few years, Vahan realized that developers and even…
US space technology and satellite giant Maxar has confirmed a data breach involving the personal information of its employees, according to a filing with state regulators. Colorado-based Maxar operates imaging satellites and builds spacecraft, and claims to operate one of the largest constellations of commercial satellites in orbit. Maxar has long been a key provider of commercial satellite imagery to the U.S. government, which uses imagery for mission-critical planning, intelligence gathering, and disaster response. In a mandatory data breach notification filed with the California Attorney General last week, Maxar said hackers using a Hong Kong-based IP address breached its network…
The widespread availability of tools to build generative AI has led to a Cambrian-like explosion of startups in this field. Abundant capital is not having an impact, nor is the falling cost of the necessary technology infrastructure. In fact, one of the flashiest applications of generative AI, generative video, is in danger of becoming saturated. Labs like Genmo, Haiper, and Rhymes AI are rapidly releasing models that, in some cases, are nearly indistinguishable from previous state-of-the-art models. Naeem Talukdar believes that what sets some generative video ventures apart from others is trust, rather than model ability. That's why he founded…
Starting in January, Xiaomi will replace its app store with fintech PhonePe's service for Indian customers. The move is a big win for Indian startups, but also a sign of further realignment for the Chinese hardware giant in one of its biggest markets outside its home country. Xiaomi, India's second-largest smartphone vendor after Vivo, informed customers over the weekend that it will automatically push an update to the devices of its Indian customers to replace GetApps with PhonePe's Indus AppStore. “The GetApps team will continue to provide app installation and support services under the name Indus Services App,” says a…
Roblox announced Friday that it will no longer allow users under 13 to message other users outside of games or experiences on the platform. Roblox also announced enhanced parental controls, as well as a set of other built-in protections for younger users, including age restrictions for certain experiences. Roblox has been criticized for failing to protect its children and young users from online predators, and these new features appear to be an attempt to regain trust. A recent Bloomberg investigation reveals how predators can find and groom children on Roblox. Shortly after the Bloomberg report was released, Roblox announced that…
AI agents are all the rage, a trend driven by the generative AI and large-scale language model (LLM) boom of the past few years. Although it is difficult to get people to agree on what exactly an AI agent is, most people agree that AI agents can be assigned tasks and make decisions, with varying degrees of autonomy. It claims to be a software program. In other words, AI agents go beyond what mere chatbots can do and help people get things done. Although it's still early days, companies like Salesforce and Google are already investing heavily in AI agents.…
The valuation of Indian nutrition startup HealthKart has soared to about $500 million on $153 million in new investment, two people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The investment, one of the largest in an Indian consumer startup this year, was co-led by private equity firms ChrysCapital and Motilal Oswal, with Avendus Capital acting as financial advisor. A91 Partners and asset management firm Neo Group also participated in the round. The startup was previously valued at $350 million. Some of the startup's old investors sold their stakes to new backers, the people said. Peak XV, formerly known as Sequoia India…
An investment consortium backed by Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal is proposing to inject an additional $65.1 million into the Indian hospitality startup, according to a notice to shareholders seen by TechCrunch. The investment, through Redsprig Innovation Partners, values the SoftBank-backed company at $3.8 billion, according to terms shared in a notice to shareholders. This represents a 38% premium to Oyo's recent June valuation of $2.3 billion, but the implied price is still well below the startup's 2019 peak of $10 billion. Oyo has raised more than $3.4 billion in equity and debt since its inception, according to Tracxn. Redsprig invested…
In the wake of the 2024 US presidential election, one fact has become clear. That means misinformation is spreading online at an alarming rate, shaping Americans' views not only of each candidate but also of topics as diverse as public health, climate change, and immigration. Generative AI only exacerbates the problem, with its ability to create deepfakes in seconds and its propensity to hallucinate facts. Factiverse, a startup that participated in the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield 200 in October, is bracing for an onslaught. The company, which won top honors in the Security, Privacy, and Social Networking categories, has developed a…
Charles Hudson, Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, spoke to the AfroTech audience about the basics of knowing when to invest. Companies must fit into the product market and have some form of traction. But what he said next drew some surprised looks from the audience: Founders need to test investors with small problems to see how they react to the problems. “I'm on a board with someone who tends to explode every time a founder brings up an issue,” he said. “As you can imagine, the founders basically stopped bringing in problems.” And that in itself can be problematic, both…