Category: info1
The Chainsmokers’ Mantis Ventures closes $100M third fund
Mantis Ventures, the venture capital firm co-founded by Alex Pall and Drew Taggart of the electronic DJ group The Chainsmokers, has raised $100 million in commitments for its third fund. At $100 million, the firm’s newest fund is 25% larger than Mantis’ previous $80 million fund, a notable achievement at a time when many venture…
Of course, Grok’s AI companions want to have sex and burn down schools
Elon Musk is a man who named a government agency after a memecoin, designed a robotaxi test network in the shape of a phallus, and once went to court for tweeting weed jokes in relation to Tesla stock. So it’s not surprising that his company xAI’s first AI companions on the Grok app are a…
Mistral releases Voxtral, its first open source AI audio model
As AI systems become more capable, speech is fast becoming the default way we communicate with machines. French AI startup Mistral has jumped into the audio race with its first open model, aiming to challenge the dominance of walled-off corporate systems with open-weight alternatives. On Tuesday, Mistral announced the release of Voxtral, its first family…
DOGE staffer with access to Americans’ personal data leaked private xAI API key
A DOGE staffer with access to the private information on millions of Americans held by the U.S. government reportedly exposed a private API key used for interacting with Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot. Independent security journalist Brian Krebs reports that Marko Elez, a special government employee who in recent months has worked on sensitive systems at…
Meta built its AI reputation on openness — that may be changing
Top members of Meta’s new Superintelligence Lab discussed pivoting away from the company’s powerful open source AI model, Behemoth, and instead developing a closed model, reports The New York Times. Sources told The Times that Meta had completed training on Behemoth, but delayed its release due to underwhelming internal performance. When the new Superintelligence Lab…
Brian Singerman’s new fund has a twist, and Peter Thiel as a backer
Former Founders Fund GP Brian Singerman and co-founder and managing partner of Quiet Capital, Lee Linden, are seeking over $500 million for a new fund called GPx, three people familiar with their strategy told TechCrunch. A meaningful portion of GPx’s fund will come from Founders Fund co-founder Peter Thiel, these people said. GPx uses a…
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe’s voting control slips following divorce settlement
Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has transferred a portion of his ownership stake and voting power as part of a newly settled divorce proceeding, according to a regulatory filing. Scaringe moved about 4 million in shares and 6 million in options to his ex-wife, Meagan Scaringe, on July 9 as part of the settlement,…
Elmo’s X account hacked to publish racist and antisemetic posts
In case it wasn’t obvious, no, that’s not the real Elmo that posted racist and antisemetic posts on Elon Musk’s X. Someone had hacked into the Sesame Street character’s X account. On Sunday, Elmo’s official account published several abusive posts, since removed. It’s not clear how the account was compromised, but the nonprofit Sesame Workshop…
Study warns of ‘significant risks’ in using AI therapy chatbots
Therapy chatbots powered by large language models may stigmatize users with mental health conditions and otherwise respond inappropriately or even dangerously, according to researchers at Stanford University. While recent coverage in The New York Times and elsewhere has highlighted the role that ChatGPT may play in reinforcing delusional or conspiratorial thinking, a new paper titled…
Meta acquires voice startup Play AI
Meta has acquired Play AI, a startup that uses AI to generate human-sounding voices. A Meta spokesperson has confirmed the acquisition, according to Bloomberg, which also reports that an internal memo stated that the “entire PlayAI team” will be joining the company next week. (TechCrunch has also reached out to Meta for confirmation.) Meta’s memo…
