xAI lays out interplanetary ambitions in public all-hands|BREAKING:

On Wednesday, xAI took the rare step of publishing a full 45-minute all-hands meeting video on X, making it publicly accessible. Details of the Tuesday night meeting were previously reported by The New York Times, which may have influenced xAI’s decision to post the video online. The full video reveals significant new details about Musk’s … Read more

AI inference startup Modal Labs in talks to raise at $2.5B valuation, sources say|EXCLUSIVE:

Modal Labs, a startup specializing in AI inference infrastructure, is in the process of raising a new round at a valuation of about $2.5 billion, according to four people with knowledge of the deal. Should the deal close at these terms, the funding round would more than double the company’s valuation of $1.1 billion announced … Read more

OpenAI disbands mission alignment team, which focused on ‘safe’ and ‘trustworthy’ AI development

OpenAI has disbanded a team that focused on — as the company itself described — ensuring that its AI systems are “safe, trustworthy, and consistently aligned with human values.” At the same time, the team’s former leader has been given a new role as the company’s “chief futurist.” OpenAI confirmed to TechCrunch that the team’s … Read more

Apple’s Siri revamp reportedly delayed… again|EXCLUSIVE:

Apple has been promising a new-and-improved, cutting-edge, AI-powered Siri since it first unveiled Apple Intelligence in 2024. Over about a year and a half since then, the release date for this new era of Siri has been continuously pushed back. According to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, we’ll likely have to wait even … Read more

Microsoft says hackers are exploiting critical zero-day bugs to target Windows and Office users|EXCLUSIVE:

Microsoft has rolled out fixes for security vulnerabilities in Windows and Office, which the company says are being actively abused by hackers to break into people’s computers. The exploits are one-click attacks, meaning that a hacker can plant malware or gain access to a victim’s computer with minimal user interaction. At least two flaws can … Read more

Who will own your company’s AI layer? Glean’s CEO explains|BREAKING:

Enterprise AI is shifting fast from chatbots that answer questions to systems that actually do the work across an organization. But who will own the AI layer that powers all of it?  Glean, which started as an enterprise search product, has evolved into what it calls an “AI work assistant,” aiming to sit underneath other AI … Read more

How to get into a16z’s super-competitive Speedrun startup accelerator program|BREAKING:

Without a doubt, one of the hottest new startup accelerators in tech right now is Andreessen Horowitz’s Speedrun program. Launched in 2023, the accelerator has an acceptance rate of less than 1%. In a January blog post, the program said that over 19,000 startups pitched and fewer than 0.4% were accepted into the latest cohort.  … Read more

Cash App adds payment links so you can get paid in a DM|EXCLUSIVE:

It’s already quite easy to use Cash App. However, on Wednesday, the payment platform owned by Block, Inc. introduced a new feature designed to make its user experience significantly easier: payment links. The feature allows app users to send payments via a hyperlink that can be attached to a variety of communications. Users can access … Read more

Amazon’s new eero Signal keeps you connected to the internet when outages occur|BREAKING:

Amazon-owned eero‘s new $99.99 eero Signal 4G LTE, announced Wednesday, serves as an instant backup when your internet goes down, provided you have an eero subscription. Customers plug the new eero Signal into any compatible USB-C powered eero device that has Wi-Fi 6 or higher. The eero Signal automatically switches to cellular when an outage … Read more