UK launches £500M package to support diverse, underrepresented investors and founders

The British Business Bank, owned by the UK government, is creating a £500 million (around $674 million) economic package to help support diverse and underrepresented fund managers and founders in the country.  Fifty million pounds will be set aside for female-led venture funds, which means the BBB has now committed at least £100 million (around […]

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The countdown’s almost over: 2 days until TechCrunch All Stage 2025 kicks off in Boston

TechCrunch All Stage 2025 is almost here — In 2 days, the doors swing open at Boston’s SoWa Power Station. If you’re a founder or investor, this is your last shot to lock in the lowest ticket prices before they vanish at the door. This isn’t your average startup conference. TC All Stage is where […]

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What Makes a Car Lovable? It’s Not the Tech, It’s the Cup Holders

Frustration with the size, location, and design of cup holders in new cars is on the rise—and it holds enormous influence on whether we buy a ride or not.

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More rules being considered to keep children safe online

Heidi Alexander says new age checks will not mark the “end of the conversation” on online safety.

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A United Nations research institute created an AI refugee avatar

A research institute connected to the United Nations has created two AI-powered avatars designed to teach people about refugee issues. 404 Media wrote about an experiment conducted by a class at the United Nations University Center for Policy Research that resulted in the creation of two AI agents or avatars — Amina, a fictional woman […]

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Marc Andreessen reportedly told group chat that universities will ‘pay the price’ for DEI

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen sharply criticized universities including Stanford and MIT, along with the National Science Foundation, in a group chat with AI scientists and Trump administration officials, according to screenshots viewed by the Washington Post.

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Week in Review: X CEO Linda Yaccarino steps down

Welcome back to Week in Review! We’ve got tons of news for you this week, including a shakeup at X, Hugging Face’s new robot, new phones from Nothing and Samsung, and a whole lot more. Have a great weekend! Off to do something else: X CEO Linda Yaccarino stepped down this week after a tumultuous […]

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xAI and Grok apologize for ‘horrific behavior’

In a series of posts on X, the AI chatbot Grok apologized for what it admitted was “horrific behavior.”

The posts appear to be an official statement from xAI, the Elon Musk-led company behind Grok, as opposed to an AI-generated explanation for Grok’s posts. (xAI recently acquired X, where Grok is prominently featured.)

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Grok Chatbot Mirrored X Users’ ‘Extremist Views’ in Antisemitic Posts, xAI Says

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company said its Grok chatbot had also undergone a code update that caused it to share antisemitic messages this week.

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Google Hires Top A.I. Leaders From Windsurf, Which OpenAI Was Courting

In a $2.4 billion deal, Google recruited the chief executive and a co-founder of Windsurf, which OpenAI had been in talks to buy, as the battle to dominate artificial intelligence escalates.

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