Author: TechBrunch

While venture capitalists and other tech professionals are vacationing or attending the Paris Olympics, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and its lawyers have been busy this summer. This is the second time this week and at least the fourth time in the past few months that the SEC has filed fraud charges against a venture capital-backed founder. The SEC on Wednesday announced charges against Abraham Shafi, founder and former CEO of the social media startup known as IRL, accusing him of misleading investors. The SEC said Shafi made false and misleading statements about the company's growth and concealed his…

Google has released three new “open” generative AI models that it claims are “safer,” “smaller,” and “more transparent” than most others out there. Bold claims, to be sure. These are additions to Google's Gemma 2 family of generative models that debuted in May. The new models — Gemma 2 2B, ShieldGemma and Gemma Scope — are designed for slightly different applications and use cases but share a common focus on safety. Google's Gemma series model differs from the Gemini model in that Google has not released the Gemini source code, which is not only open to developers but is also…

As the generative AI boom continues, and in an election year that could impact future AI regulation, AI lobbying at the US federal level is intensifying. According to new data from OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks and publishes metrics on campaign finance and lobbying, the number of groups lobbying the federal government on AI-related issues increased to 556 in the first half of 2024 (January-July) from 459 in 2023. At the same time, top AI startups are stepping up their lobbying efforts, the OpenSecrets data found. OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has significantly increased its lobbying spending, spending $800,000 in…

The U.S. Copyright Office has released the first part of a report on how AI will impact the sector, and its first recommendation is that new laws must be enacted immediately to define and combat AI-based spoofing. “Our findings make clear that the distribution of unauthorized digital copies poses a serious threat not only to the entertainment and political spheres, but also to ordinary citizens,” agency director Shira Perlmutter said in a statement accompanying the report. “We believe that effective nationwide protection against harm to reputations and lives is urgently needed.” The report itself is the first of a series…

The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized startups have also seen a fair amount of cuts, and in some cases, have shut down operations altogether. By tracking these layoffs, we’re able to understand the impact on innovation across companies large and small. We’re also able to see the potential impact of businesses…

Apple is finally releasing some of the Apple Intelligence features it announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. However, the rollout is currently limited to the developer beta of iOS 18.1, so if you don't want to deal with buggy software in the early stages, you might want to wait for the public beta Apple Intelligence feature release or the stable release later this year. If you're using the Developer Beta, you can only use Apple Intelligence features if your language is set to US English and your region is set to the U.S. This does not affect your…

Hey everyone, welcome to TechCrunch's regular AI newsletter. In the AI ​​space this week, Gartner released a report suggesting that roughly one-third of generative AI projects within enterprises will be abandoned after the proof-of-concept phase by the end of 2025. The reasons for this are varied, including poor data quality, inadequate risk management and rising infrastructure costs. However, according to the report, one of the biggest barriers to generative AI adoption is a lack of clarity about business value. Gartner estimates that deploying generative AI across an organization comes at a steep cost of $5 million to $20 million. A…

More than 100 venture capitalists, including Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla and Mark Cuban, have pledged to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming US presidential election. Mobilized under the group VCsForKamala, the VCs are also raising money for Harris' campaign, though organizers say the effort is not intended to align with any particular political party. According to the group's website, signing the petition represents a commitment to “strong and trusted institutions.” “We believe that strong, credible institutions are a feature, not a flaw, and without them our industry – and every other industry – will collapse,” reads a…

Startups are raising big amounts of funding to provide a fun, non-alcoholic drink option for bars and other social settings. Earlier this year, canned water maker Liquid Death said it had raised $67 million in new funding at a valuation of $1.4 billion, and Athletic Brewing Company, which calls itself the largest non-alcoholic beer brewery in the U.S., said it had raised $50 million. While technology isn't necessarily a differentiator for either company, they could be considered disruptive startups as they are trying to create a new beverage category beyond just cola or craft beer. There's also a sparkling water…

Match Group announced on Tuesday that it will discontinue its dating app live-streaming service and cut 6% of its workforce. The news was announced during the dating app giant's second-quarter earnings report. The move will see Match shift its focus to other services, including generative AI. The decision to end live streaming directly affects dating apps Plenty of Fish (POF) and BLK, which launched free live streaming features “Live!” in 2020. These features were an attempt to encourage users to go on virtual dates during COVID-19 lockdowns. Users could also purchase “live credits” to send streamers on virtual dates, similar…