Human composting and timber marketplaces: talking “industrial” VC with investor Dayna Grayson
While the venture world is abuzz over generative AI, Dayna Grayson, a longtime venture capitalist who five years ago co-founded her own firm, Construct Capital, has been focused on comparatively boring software that can transform industrial sectors. Her mission doesn’t exclude AI, but it also doesn’t depend on it. Construct
Read MoreWomen in AI: Tara Chklovski is teaching the next generation of AI innovators
Tara Chklovski is the CEO and founder of Technovation, a nonprofit that helps teach young girls about technology and entrepreneurship. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read MoreFarewell, dunks? Threads launches quote controls for all users
Threads users can now exert more control over who can quote their posts. This builds on a feature that already allows Threads users to limit who can reply to their posts (competing services like X and Bluesky offer similar reply controls). Threads outlined its plans for quote controls last month,
Read MoreDeal Dive: Amae Health is building an in-person approach to mental healthcare in an increasingly digital space
While many recent mental health-focused startups are digital first, Amae Health focuses on the importance of in-person care. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read MoreWhy RAG won’t solve generative AI’s hallucination problem
RAG is being pitched as a solution of sorts to generative AI hallucinations. But there's limits to what the technique can do. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read MoreThis Week in AI: Generative AI and the problem of compensating creators
Keeping up with an industry as fast-moving as AI is a tall order. So until an AI can do it for you, here’s a handy roundup of recent stories in the world of machine learning, along with notable research and experiments we didn’t cover on their own. By the way —
Read MoreUp and down the abstraction ladder
Gian-Carlo Rota made a profound observation on the application of theory. One frequently notices, however, a wide gap between the bare statement of a principle and the skill required in recognizing that it applies to a particular problem. This isn’t quite what he said. I made two small edits to
Read MoreIconiq raises $5.15B toward seventh flagship fund
Iconiq Capital has raised $5.15 billion across two funds associated with the seventh growth fund family, according to SEC filings. The firm, which launched in 2011 as a private office managing capital of some of the most prominent and wealthiest people in tech, including Mark Zuckerburg and Jack Dorsey, originally
Read MoreLuminar cuts 20% of staff and outsources lidar production
Lidar company Luminar is slashing its workforce by 20% and will lean harder on its contract manufacturing partner as part of a restructuring that will shift the company to a more “asset-light” business model, as it aims to scale production. The cuts will affect around 140 employees, and are starting
Read MoreHere’s the letter from 14 senators slamming TSA facial recognition in airports
Image: Getty Images The TSA’s been planning to expand facial recognition to a whopping 430 US airports over the next several years — but a bipartisan group of 14 senators is now challenging that. Facial recognition “poses significant threats to our privacy and civil liberties, and Congress should prohibit TSA’s
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