Author: TechBrunch
Ukraine-based startup Geodesic.Life is challenging traditional notions of housing by introducing affordable and eco-friendly prefabricated dome homes. This concept addresses two pressing global concerns: the need for accessible housing and the urgency of environmental conservation. By normalizing sustainable living habits, Geodesic aims to have a positive impact on both individuals and the planet. The company just completed his small $500,000 round of funding from friends and family to make that vision a reality. The startup's dome homes have several advantages. They are significantly more affordable than traditional housing options, making them an attractive option for individuals, families, and communities with…
Meta's new AI model is making waves in the tech world. The two new models, part of Facebook's parent company's Llama series of artificial intelligence tools, are both open source, helping differentiate them from competing products from OpenAI and other big-name companies. Meta's new Llama models have underlying datasets of different sizes, with the Llama 3 8B model featuring 8 billion parameters and the Llama 3 70B model having around 70 billion parameters. The more parameters, the more powerful the model, but not all AI tasks require the largest possible dataset. The company's new model, trained on a 24,000 GPU…
It's been more than a minute since Tesla went public, but we couldn't avoid talking about the EV company on TechCrunch this week. It's been a Tesla-filled week, from layoffs to price changes and more, so we needed to discuss the latest updates. But that's just one element of what we covered in Equity this week. We also dug into Mary Ann's report on Ramp's latest round and its valuation hike. This fits right in with Ripling's own impending fundraising. If you're dealing with money, it's a good time to become a startup. The team also delved into the consumer…
Webflow, a web design and hosting platform that raised over $330 million at a $4 billion valuation, is expanding into new areas of marketing optimization. Today, Webflow announced that it has acquired Intellimize, a startup that leverages AI to personalize websites for unique visitors. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch that the acquisition price was in the “eight digits” range. The majority of the Intellimize team (approximately 50 people) will be joining Webflow. However, some employees received reemployment benefits or were fired and given severance pay. Webflow did not disclose…
Leading venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has promoted Jennifer Lee to general partner after six years with the firm. She has been appointed to help invest in her new $1.25 billion infrastructure fund, which will be managed by Martin Casado, a16z's long-time general partner. The infrastructure fund is part of $7.2 billion in new funding from the Silicon Valley VC giant. Lee has been an investment partner on the infrastructure team for some time, meaning he has already been writing checks and taking a seat on the board. However, her promotion exposes her to a disturbing atmosphere. She becomes the…
Many large companies want to join the AI revolution, but many feel it is too early to be tied to one basic model. This means there is a market for layers between enterprises and large-scale language models (LLMs). Companies can use this to easily choose an LLM without having to always commit to one platform. This is the market Langdock is targeting with a chat interface that sits between LLMs and businesses. The Germany-based startup recently raised $3 million in a seed round led by General Catalyst and European seed stage partner La Famiglia. “Companies don't want to be vendor…
Last week, Meta started testing an AI chatbot across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger in India. But with India's general elections starting today, the company has already blocked certain queries on its chatbot. Meta acknowledged that it was restricting certain election-related keywords in the AI during the testing phase. He said he is also working on improving AI-enabled systems. “This is a new technology and will not always give you the intended response. This is true of all generative AI systems. Since its launch, we have continually released updates and improvements to our model. “We continue to work on making our…
Apple has removed WhatsApp, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app owned by Meta, from China's App Store following a government order citing national security concerns, news agency Reuters reported on Friday. Ta. Meta's new Twitter-like text-based social networking app, Threads, was also removed from the App Store for the same reason. “The Cyberspace Administration of China has ordered the removal of these apps from Chinese store shelves based on national security concerns,” Apple said in a statement to the news agency. Meta confirmed to TechCrunch that two of its apps are no longer available on Apple's App Store in China, but…
Artificial intelligence has been a target for governments concerned about its potential to be used for fraud, disinformation, and other malicious online activities. In the UK, regulators are currently preparing to investigate how AI can be used to combat content that is particularly harmful to children. Ofcom, the regulator responsible for enforcing the UK's online safety laws, is investigating how AI and other automated tools are used now and in the future, particularly to proactively detect and remove illegal content online. announced that they are planning to start discussions on whether it can be used for this purpose. Protect children…
Generative AI models are increasingly being introduced into healthcare settings, but in some cases it is perhaps too early. Early adopters believe they can unlock insights that would otherwise be missed while realizing increased efficiency. However, critics say these models are flawed and biased and can lead to poorer health outcomes. But is there a quantitative way to know how helpful or harmful a model is when tasked with a task like summarizing patient records or answering health-related questions? AI startup Hugging Face proposes a solution in a newly released benchmark test called Open Medical-LLM. Created in collaboration with researchers…