Signal details costs of keeping its private messaging service alive
What price privacy? End-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging app Signal has put out an interesting overview of the costs required to develop and maintain its pro-privacy systems which shield user data from tracking by default. The blog post, penned by Signal president Meredith Whittaker and developer Joshua Lund, reveals it’s currently
Read moreOnline grocery startup Pricepally to expand in Nigeria backed by $1.3M funding
Pricepally, a Nigerian online grocery store for fresh produce and packaged food, has raised $1.3 million seed funding, backed by Samurai Incubate; a Japanese VC that also participated in the startup’s 2021 pre-seed round, SOSV, ELEA, Hi2 Global, Chui Ventures and ex-Unilever executive David Mureithi. Following the new funding, the
Read moreInstafest now lets you create a music festival poster through a playlist link
Instafest, the app which went viral last year before Spotify Wrapped was officially unveiled, now lets you create a music festival poster based on artists that you have in a particular playlist. The app’s developer, Anshay Saboo, has added more themes and customization options as well. Users can create a
Read moreThe AI assistant trained on your company’s data
Today’s guest is Joel Hellermark, founder and CEO of Sana, an AI-powered end-to-end learning platform. He talks with Ben and Ryan about a polymath Renaissance, what regulation might look like in the AI space, the intersection of AI and neuroscience, and why AI assistants aren’t turning into Terminators anytime soon.
Read moreYet another former Silicon Valley darling is convicted of investor fraud
This year will be remembered for a lot of things. Among them could be the growing number of stars in the startup world who were later convicted for defrauding investors. Roughly six months after Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes headed to jail for four counts of wire fraud, and just two
Read moreIndian central bank tightening consumer loans curb to impact startups
India’s central bank has enforced several measures to cool down high growth in consumer credit in a move that will impact consumer spending and many startups in the South Asian market, industry executives said. The Reserve Bank of India raised risk weights on unsecured personal loans, credit card, consumer durable loans by
Read moreGM absorbs commercial EV unit BrightDrop, CEO is out
BrightDrop, the commercial EV subsidiary of General Motors that launched in 2021, is being swallowed up by its parent company. GM said Thursday that BrightDrop — a “startup” that spun out of the automaker’s Global Innovation organization to become a wholly owned subsidiary — will become part of GM. BrightDrop
Read moreMicrosoft Ignite 2023: Copilot AI expansions, custom chips and all the other announcements
Microsoft’s Ignite 2023 event came with a lot of updates, and AI product reveals and expansions were front and center as the company laid out its updated vision for IT professionals. As our own Devin Coldewey wrote in October, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has made it clear that the company
Read moreIRL founders allege investors sabotaged company with fake users claims
The founders of IRL, Abraham Shafi and Genrikh Khachatryan, are suing their investors, claiming that they intentionally sabotaged the company. At its peak, IRL was poised to become an event organizing alternative for Gen Z, who are using Facebook less and less. Shafi, the CEO, was suspended from IRL in
Read moreTwitch launches Privacy Center to educate users about their personal data
In the name of transparency and accessibility, Twitch launched its new Privacy Center to educate users, after conducting “extensive research” and finding that many of its users had no idea how their personal data is collected and used. The Privacy Center, which launched on Thursday, is designed to provide “clear,
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