Author: TechBrunch

Farcaster, a blockchain-based social protocol founded by two Coinbase alumni, announced Tuesday that it has closed $150 million in funding. The Paradigm-led platform also raised funding from a16z crypto, Haun Ventures, USV, Variant, Standard Crypto, and others, according to a blog post by founder Dan Romero. Farcaster, a social protocol, inspires developers to build other apps on top of it. The most popular app is Warpcast, a social network similar to Twitter. What does it mean to build social experiences on Ethereum? Farcaster takes a hybrid approach, storing user identities on-chain and data such as public posts, follows, and reactions…

Microsoft announced Tuesday that it is bringing Windows Volumetric Apps to its Meta Quest headset during its annual Build conference. With this partnership, Microsoft will bring Windows 365 and local PC connectivity to Quest headsets, allowing developers to extend their apps into 3D space. “We're deepening our partnership with Meta to make Windows the best experience on Quest devices,” Pavan Davuluri, corporate vice president of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, said during the event. “Windows can take advantage of Quest's unique capabilities to extend Windows apps into 3D space.” Image credit: Microsoft Developers can sign up for the developer preview…

TLDR: During COVID lockdowns, BNED reached a share price of $12.01. This time around, we estimate BNED may reach a conservative share price between $5 – $7 if retail is able to maintain the momentum started during trading hours today. BNED stock has striking similarities to GME and AMC being a household name and we believe a meme-like run is in store for the family friendly bookstore . Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (BNED) is currently the subject of intense market speculation, with many investors eyeing it as a potential candidate for a massive short squeeze. A short squeeze occurs…

It started with drawing on a napkin. AirLoom Energy has now raised $12.7 million in new funding, according to TechCrunch. The funding came from 21 investors, which are not named, according to a regulatory filing. The company did not respond to requests for comment. This Wyoming-based startup is taking a novel approach to wind power. Rather than installing giant turbines atop towers more than 100 meters high, vertical blades will be attached to cables that run along oval tracks just 25 meters (82 feet) above the ground. The company wants to generate electricity for $13 per megawatt hour, more than…

Generative AI creates something. I may be biased. In some cases, they may spew out harmful text. Can we call it “safe” then? Rick Caccia, CEO of WitnessAI, believes it's possible. “Protecting AI models is a real issue, and one of particular concern to AI researchers, but it's different from protecting their use,” Caccia, former senior vice president of marketing at Palo Alto Networks, told TechCrunch. said in an interview. “I think of it like a sports car. Even if you have a more powerful engine, model, you don't get anything without good brakes and steering. It’s just as important.”…

It's not often that you hear about seed rounds exceeding $10 million. H is a Paris-based startup formerly known as Holistic AI, where he announced a $220 million seed round just a few months after founding it. The reason the company was able to raise so much money in such a short period of time is because it is an AI startup working on a new model with a great founding team. The startup's co-founder and CEO, Charles Cantor, was a researcher at Stanford University. The other four co-founders all previously worked at Google-owned AI company DeepMind. Karl Tuyls is…

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Microsoft wants to make its branded generative AI even more useful for teams, especially those in enterprises and large enterprise organizations. This morning, Microsoft announced Team Copilot, the latest expansion of the Copilot family of generative AI technologies, at its annual Build Development Conference. Unlike Microsoft's previous Copilot-branded products, Team Copilot is less a point solution and more a set of features aimed at “improving collaboration” and “streamlining project management.” “[Team] “Copilot enables teams to be more productive and creative by taking over time-consuming and costly administrative tasks,” Jared Spataro, CVP of AI at Microsoft, said in a blog post…

Generative AI is a big focus for Microsoft at this year's Build conference. And to that end, the tech giant announced a series of updates to Azure AI Studio and Copilot Studio, its platforms for building generative AI-powered apps and experiences. First, a quick refresher on Azure AI Studio and Copilot Studio. Azure AI Studio is a toolset within Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service that allows customers to combine their own data with AI models, like OpenAI's recently announced GPT-4o, to make inferences about that data. ” You can build chat assistants and other types of apps. Copilot Studio, on the…

Britain's data protection watchdog has concluded a nearly year-long investigation into Snap's AI chatbot My AI, saying it is satisfied the social media company has addressed concerns about risks to children's privacy. Ta. At the same time, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a general warning to the industry to proactively assess the risks to people's rights before bringing generative AI tools to market. GenAI often refers to a type of AI that fronts content creation. In Snap's case, the tech powers chatbots that can respond to users in human-like ways, like sending text messages and snaps, allowing the…