Backed by Microsoft, AWS and Meta, the Overture Maps Foundation launches its first open map data sets

The Overture Maps Foundation is today releasing data sets for 2.3B building “footprints” globally, 54M notable places of interest, a visual overlay of “boundaries,” and land and water features such as physical infrastructure.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Backed by Microsoft, AWS and Meta, the Overture Maps Foundation launches its first open map data sets

Vanta trust management platform raises $150M Series C, now valued at $2.45B

Vanta, a trust management platform that helps businesses automate much of their security and compliance processes, today announced that it has raised a $150 million Series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital. The company is now valued at $2.45 billion, up from $1.6 billion in 2022 when it raised its $40 million Series B […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Vanta trust management platform raises $150M Series C, now valued at $2.45B

Tesla has humanoid robots ready for 2025, Musk says

Tesla will deploy humanoid robots next year, according to the company founder and CEO, Elon Musk. 
Initially, the EV giant will produce and deploy the robots for their own use, before they are available commercially in 2026. 
The project is well-advanced with the Optimus robot set to be introduced in Tesla factories by the end of this year.  
Optimus, named with a nod to the Autobots chief in the Transformers series, is around 1.7 meters in height and weighs 56 kilos. It is optimized to carry out  “boring, repetitious, and dangerous” work. 
Musk made the announcement on X, just a day before the company was due to produce its latest financial results. On Monday, shares spiked by more than 5% by the end of trading in New York on Monday.
“Tesla will have genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year and, hopefully, high production for other companies in 2026.”

Tesla will have genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year and, hopefully, high production for other companies in 2026
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 22, 2024

Tesla’s other interests beyond EVs
Tesla – which is tipped to see its Cybertruck enter the Fortnite realm – has previously showcased the “Tesla Bot” and later Musk claimed the company’s robot business would exceed the value of its car interests, so this is a long-term vision that appears close to fruition. 
Amid a drop in demand for EVs, there appears to be more attention given to alternate ventures. Robots, as well as AI and autonomous driving, are the other areas that Musk is seeking to fully exploit. 
He had hoped to unveil the Robotaxi on Aug. 8 after comments made earlier this year, but in recent days a delay was all but confirmed, as expected. The billionaire entrepreneur added that a change to the design of the front of the vehicle was one of some revisions worked on. 
“The extra time allows us to show off a few other things,” he stated.
Image credit: Via Ideogram
The post Tesla has humanoid robots ready for 2025, Musk says appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Tesla has humanoid robots ready for 2025, Musk says

How to get Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Test key

When Marvel Rivals was first announced, it was met with some high expectations and it seems to have delivered, even if it was in Alpha form.
Now you have the chance to become a superhero once more thanks to the Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Test.
But, you’ll need a key to get in. Here, we’ll reveal a few different ways in which you can get a Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Test so you can play the game ahead of its official 1.0 release.
How to get into the Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Test
Thankfully, there are a few different ways you can gain access to the Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Test which is fantastic, giving more opportunities to those wanting to get in.
The first way you can get a Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Test key is simply by signing up.
If you’re wanting to play on PC, this can be done on Steam via the game’s store page, and those of you who are console users, you have to sign up using the console questionnaire.
This is a selection process though, you won’t just get access by completing the steps. So, keep an eye on those emails for that all-important confirmation.

As a side note, both of these ways have since expired so if you didn’t get your signup in, you’ll have to rely on the following.
If someone you know is playing the Closed Beta, when they reach level 6, they can unlock an extra key that you can grab off them. You won’t be able to play for the full duration of the Beta because of this but you’ll at least get some hours in.
Finally, if both of the above have failed you, there is one last method of acquiring a Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Test key – via Twitch Drops.
If you watch your favorite Twitch streamers playing the game and they have drops enabled, you will be able to snag a key.
You will have to watch for a total of 60 minutes between July 25th and July 28th and when you do, you should see a key in your Twitch rewards.
This is for all platforms too, so no matter if your playing on PC, PS5, or Xbox Series X|S, you can select your preference and secure the code.
The post How to get Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Test key appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on How to get Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Test key

Foldable iPhone could launch in 2026 as report says development has begun

Now and then it feels like we’re going back in time as old styles emerge and become mainstream once more. There are now rumors that Apple could be releasing a foldable iPhone in 2026.
While the category of the phone is new, the style could be reminiscent of an early noughties flip phone but with a modern touch.
Following in the footsteps of Samsung who debuted the Galaxy Z Flip in 2020, there have long been reports about Apple testing a foldable device although it was initially believed to be an iPad or MacBook.
According to DigiTimes, the technology giant is currently developing the product and it could be on the market in just two years. Apple is believed to have begun the research and development for the iPhone this year.
Typically, the company has a smartphone development cycle of two years so a 2026 release would be in line with their previous work.
The report claims the phone would be similar to Samsung’s, with a top-down folding factor. When completely unfolded, the smartphone could have similar dimensions to the iPhones we already know.
The rumor also states the company has signed a display panel supply contract with Samsung Display.
Although fans of the brand thought it would be the iPad or MacBook that got the foldable touch, the report claims the company switched to the phone product due to challenges faced in the Chinese smartphone market.
Competition for Samsung if the foldable iPhone is released
If the reports are true, the Galaxy Z Flip will likely have stiff competition for the first time. While sales for these devices aren’t publicly known, Chief Marketing Officer Benjamin Braun shared details at a press conference in 2023.
He said: “Our latest foldable phones are selling super-fast. In fact, the annual sales of our foldable devices have exceeded the Note series in Europe.”
The South Korean multinational has adopted similar technology in its other products, like the Galaxy Book laptops that have a 360-rotating hinge. This means the screen can bend backward if needed.
Apple has not confirmed nor denied rumors about a foldable iPhone.
Featured Image: Via Ideogram
The post Foldable iPhone could launch in 2026 as report says development has begun appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Foldable iPhone could launch in 2026 as report says development has begun

Mark Zuckerberg says ‘Open Source’ A.I is needed for a positive future

As Meta announces its largest and most capable large language model yet with the Llama 3.1 405B, Mark Zuckerberg says it’s important technology isn’t controlled by a handful of companies.
Opting for a transparent approach, the CEO wrote a public letter on Tuesday (July 23) explaining why the LLM is open source and why this is ‘good for the world.’
“I believe that open source is necessary for a positive AI future,” writes the billionaire.

Mark is an incredible CEO.
What particularly stood out to me from our conversation was how deeply he thinks about open source and how it’ll benefit Meta (and the world) in the long term.
A few of my favorite moments/quotes:
On the future of AI agents:
“I think we’re going to… https://t.co/rhuOVcapbW
— Rowan Cheung (@rowancheung) July 24, 2024

 
“Open source will ensure that more people around the world have access to the benefits and opportunities of AI, that power isn’t concentrated in the hands of a small number of companies, and that the technology can be deployed more evenly and safely across society.”
The new Llama 3.1 405B is the company’s first frontier-level open source AI model. Unlike in previous releases, a greater focus on building a broader ecosystem has now been taken.
The team has been working with a range of companies to grow this, citing “Amazon, Databricks, and NVIDIA” as all having full suites of services to support developers fine-tuning and distilling their own models.
Zuckerberg explains how this move was taken to “ensure that we always have access to the best technology, and that we’re not locking into a competitor’s closed ecosystem where they can restrict what we build.
“One of my formative experiences has been building our services constrained by what Apple will let us build on their platforms.
“Between the way they tax developers, the arbitrary rules they apply, and all the product innovations they block from shipping, Meta and many other companies would be freed up to build much better services for people if we could build the best versions of our products and competitors were not able to constrain what we could build.”
What is the Llama 3.1 405B model by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta?
Meta officially announced Llama 3.1 on Tuesday (July 23) describing it as having “state-of-the-art capabilities in general knowledge, steerability, math, tool use, and multilingual translation.”
The LLM was trained on over 15 trillion tokens and model training was pushed to over 16 thousand H100 GPUs, making it the first Llama model to be done at such scale.
Meta says they’ve spoken with the community and realize there’s so much more to generative AI development than just prompting models.
As such, they believe developers can do the following with the ecosystem: “real-time and batch interference, supervised fine-tuning, evaluation of your model for a specific application, continual pre-training, retrieval-augmented generation, function calling, and synthetic data generation.”
Featured Image: Via Anthony Quintano on Flickr
The post Mark Zuckerberg says ‘Open Source’ A.I is needed for a positive future appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Mark Zuckerberg says ‘Open Source’ A.I is needed for a positive future

The U.S. Election Could Potentially Fuel the Next Crypto Bull Run – Could This Layer 2 Meme Coin Take the Lead?

The cryptocurrency market, including Bitcoin and Shiba Inu, is recovering strongly, which is a positive sign for new cryptocurrencies like Pepe Unchained.
As investor confidence grows and the market picks up, people are focusing on the upcoming U.S. election and how it might affect cryptocurrencies.
The election is becoming a key topic in crypto discussions, with speculation that the results could significantly change market prices.
If pro-crypto candidates win, we might see a rise in the value of major coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, and others. This shows how much politics and cryptocurrency are starting to intersect in the financial world.
While Bitcoin and Ethereum are still seen as stable investments, the chance for bigger profits often lies in newer tokens. Pepe Unchained is an example of this, especially with expectations of a big market surge ahead.

Pepe Unchained ICO hits $5 million – Could it be the next big meme coin?
Pepe Unchained (PEPU) is one of the top meme coins with high potential. It’s currently in a presale and has already raised over $5 million, with no signs of slowing down. This project is gaining attention as the first Pepe-themed token with its own blockchain.
The presale is still active, and you can buy $PEPU for $0.0086304 today. However, the price will increase in 1 day and 14 hours. Now is a great time to get some $PEPU before it gets listed on major exchanges and its Layer 2 chain launches.

Pepe Unchained raises $5M in in just weeks!
Thanks to your amazing support, Pepe’s blockchain journey is just beginning 🐸🧠 pic.twitter.com/fnPbr0s1Pw
— Pepe Unchained (@pepe_unchained) July 23, 2024

Once that happens, $PEPU’s price is expected to rise significantly. Anyone who misses out now might regret it later. The $PEPU token is part of the Pepe Unchained ecosystem, with a total supply of 8 billion tokens allocated as follows: 20% presale, 30% staking, 20% marketing, 10% liquidity, 10% project finances, and 10% chain inventory.
SolidProof, a third-party smart contract auditor, has reviewed the project and found no security issues, making it a lower-risk option compared to other early-stage cryptocurrencies. Investors can buy tokens at potentially lower prices during the presale and claim them after the presale ends and the token is officially launched.
Pepe Unchained is also gaining traction on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram, with thousands of followers already engaging with the community.
Pepe Unchained: Enhanced layer 2 blockchain and attractive staking rewards
Pepe Unchained is creating a unique Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain specifically for meme coins, something that hasn’t been done before in the crypto industry. This new layer 2 sector is growing rapidly.
Pepe Unchained aims to address the limitations of Layer 1 blockchains, such as Ethereum, which often face congestion, slow transactions, and high gas fees. The project promises transaction speeds 100x faster and significantly lower fees compared to the Ethereum Mainnet.

While Solana has been the primary platform for memetic activity, it suffers from centralization issues that frequently lead to outages. Pepe Unchained solves these issues by creating a blockchain just for meme coins, a $50 billion market that didn’t have a dedicated system before.
Additionally, Pepe Unchained features staking opportunities. Despite over 433 million $PEPU tokens already being staked, the annual percentage yield (APY) remains an impressive 369%. This presents a valuable opportunity for investors, even though the yield may decrease over time.
If you’re interested in top altcoins that might offer high rewards and rally in the next bull run driven by the upcoming U.S. election, check out our guide.
Conclusion
Recent headlines show that cryptocurrency is attracting significant attention, regardless of political views. The market is abuzz with speculation, including Bitcoin briefly surpassing $68,000 amid rumors of political changes.
Cryptocurrency is clearly becoming a major topic in the U.S. election, reflecting its increasing importance and influence. The recent rebound in the crypto market and the growing focus on digital assets in U.S. politics mark a crucial moment for investors.
Projects like Pepe Unchained present unique chances to engage with the blockchain ecosystem, especially for those looking beyond the well-known coins.
With its innovative features, strong community support, and strategic positioning, Pepe Unchained is a project to watch as the market evolves. To take part in the $PEPU token presale, visit pepeunchained.com.
Related

Pepe Unchained Potential to Lead the Meme Coin Rally and Become the Next Big Crypto as Its ICO Surges Past $4 Million
Current Market Rebound Will Lead These Three Meme Coins to Massive Gains – PlayDoge, Base Dawgz, and Pepe Unchained

The post The U.S. Election Could Potentially Fuel the Next Crypto Bull Run – Could This Layer 2 Meme Coin Take the Lead? appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on The U.S. Election Could Potentially Fuel the Next Crypto Bull Run – Could This Layer 2 Meme Coin Take the Lead?

The ACLU Fights for Your Constitutional Right to Make Deepfakes

States across the US are seeking to criminalize certain uses of AI-generated content. Civil rights groups are pushing back, arguing that some of these new laws conflict with the First Amendment.

Posted in Business | Tagged | Comments Off on The ACLU Fights for Your Constitutional Right to Make Deepfakes

How IT Departments Scrambled to Address the CrowdStrike Chaos

System administrators and their teams sprang into action last Friday and worked tirelessly to get their companies back online amid one of the worst digital blackouts ever.

Posted in Business | Tagged | Comments Off on How IT Departments Scrambled to Address the CrowdStrike Chaos

CrowdStrike to improve testing after ‘bug’ caused outage

The cybersecurity company’s mistake caused millions of PCs not to work on Friday.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on CrowdStrike to improve testing after ‘bug’ caused outage