TwitchCon 2023 was better than last year, but everyone hated Las Vegas
Compared to the shitshow that went down last year, TwitchCon Las Vegas was largely a success. The problem? Nobody liked Las Vegas. This year’s TwitchCon appeared to mitigate last year’s crowding issues and concluded without any foam pit tragedies. The fraught relationship between Twitch and its streamers is on the
Read moreWhy 42 states came together to sue Meta over kids’ mental health
Attorneys general from dozens of states sued Meta this week, accusing the company of deliberately designing its products to appeal to kids to the detriment of their mental health. In the lawsuit, filed in California federal court Tuesday, 33 states including California, Colorado, New York, Arizona and Illinois argue that
Read moreAMD and Korean telco KT back AI software developer Moreh in $22M Series B
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Korean telco KT are among the investors of Moreh, which builds an AI software tool that optimizes and creates AI models. The Santa Clara- and Seoul-based startup said it has raised a $22 million Series B round, bringing its total raised to $30 million. Moreh says
Read moreCarta’s CEO reaches out to customers about bad press, alerting them to bad press
In an attempt at damage control, the CEO of the equity management startup Carta, Henry Ward, today emailed customers, telling them that if they are concerned about “negative press” tied to the outfit, they should read a Medium post of his. The move appeared only to call more attention to
Read moreKids on Roblox are hosting protests for Palestine
In the Lego-like world of Roblox, about a hundred blocky avatars march through a lamplit street, wielding Palestine flags that are larger than their own animated bodies. Characters dressed like cartoonish dinosaurs, steampunk zombies and pastel pink pop stars chant together via instant messages in both Malay and English as
Read moreX is officially rolling out audio and video calls
Illustration: The Verge X, the platform previously known as Twitter, is rolling out audio and video calls. Several users on the platform, including some of us here at The Verge, have received a notification when opening the app, stating: “Audio and video calls are here!” There’s also a new “Enable
Read morePony.ai gets $100M, establishes JV with Saudi Arabia’s Neom
Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai has scored $100 million from Neom, Saudi Arabia’s futuristic city and development project. As part of the deal, the two plan to establish a joint venture to develop, manufacture and deploy autonomous vehicles and smart infrastructure in Neom and key markets in the Middle East
Read moreEU commissioner sidesteps MEPs’ questions about CSAM proposal microtargeting
The European Union’s home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, has confirmed the Commission is investigating whether or not it broke recently updated digital governance rules when her department ran a microtargeted political ad campaign aiming to drive support for a controversial child sexual abuse material (CSAM)-scanning proposal she’s spearheading. But at
Read moreSingapore-based fintech YouTrip picks up $50M led by Lightspeed
YouTrip, a Singapore-based fintech that offers multi-currency wallet for consumers and business accounts with corporate cards for SMEs, has its eyes on growth throughout Southeast Asia after landing a Series B led by Lightspeed. The round was $50 million, and brings YouTrip’s total raised to $100 million since it launched
Read moreCIRA, SIDN to build new shared domain registry platform
On Tuesday, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), which manages the .CA internet top-level domain (TLD), and SIDN, its counterpart in the Netherlands which manages the .NL TLD, announced a partnership to develop, promote, and support the CIRA Registry Platform. Under the agreement, the code base and intellectual property of
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