Can AI make us feel less alone? The founder of Manifest thinks so
Amy Wu, founder of the AI-based mental health app Manifest, has a bold prediction for the next wave of tech. “Separately from the AI trend, I think so many people are seeing this loneliness epidemic that’s happening with Gen Z,” she said. “There is no doubt in my mind that
Read morePermira completes Squarespace acquisition after upping bid to $7.2B
Website builder Squarespace is no longer a publicly-traded company, after private equity firm Permira procured all remaining common stock in the firm. Permira first revealed plans to acquire Squarespace back in May, offering shareholders in the NYSE-traded company $44 per share — this equated to an equity valuation of $6.6
Read moreIndia’s central bank orders Sachin Bansal’s Navi to halt loans
India’s central bank ordered four non-bank lenders, including Navi Finserv and DMI Finance, to halt loans from October 21, citing excessive interest rates and regulatory breaches. The Reserve Bank of India said (PDF) the firms violated rules on pricing, income assessment, and asset classification. This action follows months of warnings
Read moreElon Musk’s X boosts DSA info for EU users as bloc’s probe of its complaint handling continues
An incoming privacy policy update to Elon Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) will see the company making it clearer to users in the European Union that they have the right to appeal decisions under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), such as account bans, content takedowns and shadowbanning. The online governance
Read moreZepto eyes $100M from Indian offices in third funding in 6 months
Zepto is in advanced stages of talks to raise $100 million in new investment, its third in the last six months, as the leading Indian quick commerce startup looks to rope in more domestic investors, sources familiar with the talks told TechCrunch. The Mumbai-headquartered startup, which allows customers in multiple
Read moreAccel eyes stake in India’s Truemeds at $330 million valuation
According to half a dozen sources, Accel, the global venture firm, is in advanced discussions to lead a funding round of $30 million to $40 million in Truemeds, an Indian online pharmacy that’s focused on providing customers with more affordable generic alternatives to costly branded medications. The talks are currently
Read moreMeta’s AI chief says world models are key to ‘human-level AI’ — but it might be 10 years out
Are today’s AI models truly remembering, thinking, planning, and reasoning, just like a human brain would? Some AI labs would have you believe they are, but according to Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, the answer is no. He thinks we could get there in a decade or so, however,
Read moreMeta lays off employees across multiple teams
Multiple teams at Meta were hit by layoffs on Wednesday, the company confirmed in a statement to TechCrunch, noting these changes were made to reallocate resources within the company. The layoffs appear to have hit employees working on Threads, recruiting, legal operations, and design, among other teams, according to social
Read moreODD taps $27M for diamond chips to clear radioactive debris at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
Back in 2011, the world held its breath after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan suffered a failure of its cooling systems, in the wake of the country getting hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami. The worry was not unfounded: the resulting meltdown — which spread highly
Read moreRNG, PRNG, CSPRNG
Most random number generators are pseudorandom number generators (PRNGs). The distinction may be pedantic or crucial, depending on context. In the context of cryptography, it’s critical. For this post, RNG will mean a physical, true random number generator. A PRNG may be suitable for many uses—Monte Carlo simulation, numerical integration,
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