UK chips in $44M for a piece of Europe’s $1.4B pot for semiconductors
The U.K. has exited the European Union, but semiconductor development is emerging as one of the areas where it hopes to partner for better economies of scale — and much-needed funding. Today, the government announced that it was joining up with the EU’s “Chips Joint Undertaking” as a “participating state”
Read moreHouse passes bill that could ban TikTok
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images Banning TikTok in the US is back on the table after the House voted Wednesday to pass a measure that would do just that unless the app separates from Chinese parent company ByteDance. The bill passed with 352 votes, needing
Read moreBlockchain startup Sei Labs creates an interesting solution to make Ethereum faster
Sei Labs, a startup co-founded by a former Robinhood engineer and a former VC from Coatue, has launched a new open sourced project that offers a novel, and exciting approach to make Ethereum faster and less expensive for developers. On Wednesday, Sei launched The Parallel Stack, a public good project
Read moreVolley’s AI-enabled ball machine for racquet sports can simulate gameplay
A new sports tech startup, Volley, aims to revolutionize the way racquet sports players (platform tennis, padel, and pickleball) train with its AI-enabled sports training machine. Unlike traditional tennis ball machines that simply launch balls at varying speeds and heights, Volley’s trainer robot leverages AI and vision software to collect
Read moreJourney acquires mental health startup Felt to enhance its employee assistance program
Employee-focused mental health company Journey is acquiring Felt, a startup formerly known as Mine’d that specializes in matching individuals with therapists using artificial intelligence. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Journey, which offers a mental health employee assistance program used by companies like Walgreens and Universal Music
Read moreDeal on EU AI Act gets thumbs up from European Parliament
The European Parliament voted Wednesday to adopt the AI Act, securing the bloc pole-position in setting rules for a broad sweep of artificial intelligence-powered software — or what regional lawmakers have dubbed “the world’s first comprehensive AI law”. MEPs overwhelmingly backed the provisional agreement reached in December in trilogue talks
Read moreSpotify’s Audiobooks will get their own ‘Countdown Pages’ to tease upcoming new releases
Spotify is enhancing its audiobooks streaming service with a feature that may be familiar to the app’s music consumers: Countdown Pages. These YouTube-like Countdown Pages were launched alongside other new additions for Spotify’s artists last year, offering a dedicated space on artists’ profiles where a timer could count down to
Read moreSpotify adds music videos in some countries
Spotify is adding music videos to its mobile and desktop apps in some markets. They are tightly integrated with the company’s music library as the streaming giant lets you seamlessly switch between audio and music videos in its mobile and desktop apps. However, music videos are only available in beta
Read moreOntario Teachers mints new unicorn in Indian fintech Perfios
Teachers’ Venture Growth, the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is investing $80 million in Perfios, an Indian fintech that provides real-time credit underwriting solutions to banks and other financial institutions. The new investment values Perfios at a valuation of over $1 billion. 15-year-old Perfios,
Read moreKolet makes travel eSIM cards easier to navigate
Kolet is a new French startup created by four experienced co-founders in the French tech ecosystem that wants to make it easier to stay connected when you travel. The company has crafted an interesting distribution strategy for travel eSIM cards and simplified the experience as eSIM remains a confusing technology
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