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Sequoia marks up its 2020 fund by 25%

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 23:54:40 +0000

Sequoia says no exits, no problem. The Silicon Valley titan of venture marked up the value of its 2020 Sequoia Capital U.S. Venture XVII fund by 24.6% in June, at the end of a 12-month period, according to PitchBook, which ran analysis on data from the Regents of the University of California’s endowment. Sequoia’s markup […]

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Illumen Capital doubles down on supporting underrepresented funds

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 23:33:00 +0000

Illumen Capital is doubling down on its support for fund managers and founders from underrepresented communities.  The firm is an impact fund of funds that has previously supported ways to address racial bias in investing. Yesterday, the firm, founded by Daryn Dodson, announced the raise of a $32.75 million “Catalyst Fund “to once again support […]

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Gilroy, former Coatue fintech head, and angel investor Rajaram launch VC firm

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 23:17:45 +0000

Michael Gilroy, a former head of fintech investments at Coatue, and Gokul Rajaram, a longtime tech executive and prolific angel investor, are forming a yet-to-be-named venture firm and plan to begin fundraising toward a $400 million to $500 million debut fund early next year, Bloomberg reported. The firm will invest in U.S.-based early-stage fintech and […]

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Tour the new Hyundai Ioniq 9

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 22:45:17 +0000

Emme Hall takes a closer look at the new Hyundai Ioniq 9, an all-electric three-row SUV.

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ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbot

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 22:30:00 +0000

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to hyper-charge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth used by more than 92% of Fortune 500 companies. That growth has propelled OpenAI itself into […]

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OpenAI is funding research into ‘AI morality’

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 22:25:27 +0000

OpenAI is funding academic research into algorithms that can predict humans’ moral judgements. In a filing with the IRS, OpenAI Inc., OpenAI’s nonprofit org, disclosed that it awarded a grant to Duke University researchers for a project titled “Research AI Morality.” Contacted for comment, an OpenAI spokesperson pointed to a press release indicating the award […]

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Y Combinator often backs startups that duplicate other YC companies, data shows — it’s not just AI code editors

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 22:05:00 +0000

An analysis of all nearly 5,000 companies YC has backed to date reveals a surprising truth: YC startups don’t have to be unique. Far from it. 

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Hyundai and Kia recall 208,000 EVs

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 21:17:56 +0000

Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis are recalling about 208,000 EVs in the United States due to an issue that could cause the vehicles to suddenly lose power, according to several filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The recall was first reported by Reuters. The problem originates with the integrated charging control unit (ICCU), which […]

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Money for tech that matters

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 20:04:00 +0000

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. If you’d like to receive this newsletter in your inbox every Friday, sign up here! The week before Thanksgiving is typically busy with announcements of all sorts, but this week has been particularly interesting. Money was flowing to big problems, like defense, cybersecurity, and […]

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Fondo wants to mitigate the American accountant shortage with its AI bookkeeping service

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 19:59:00 +0000

Despite all the talk of doom and gloom about the economy, entrepreneurship is actually on the rise in the U.S.: In 2024, an average of 430,000 new business applications were submitted every month, marking a 50% rise from 2019. But the number of accountants these new businesses will need to maintain their books, file taxes, […]

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LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman warns against Elon Musk’s ‘conflict of interest’ in setting AI policies

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 19:57:28 +0000

Reid Hoffman, co-founder at LinkedIn and Inflection AI, shared his expectations for the incoming Trump administration in an opinion piece for the Financial Times. And while he appears hopeful that President-Elect Donald Trump could clear the way for more competition and faster innovation in the technology industry, Hoffman also expressed concerns around Trump providing certain […]

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How to turn a Bluesky Starter Pack into a List

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 19:30:47 +0000

A new tool for the rapidly growing X competitor Bluesky helps you quickly create new feeds that you can pin to the app’s home page to follow your various interests. If you’re daunted by the prospect of having to rebuild your Twitter/X lists on Bluesky’s app, you can use the Pack2List web app to take […]

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AI chip startup MatX, founded by Google alums, raises Series A at $300M+ valuation, sources say

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 18:54:00 +0000

MatX, a startup designing chips that support large language models, has raised a Series A of approximately $80 million, three sources say, less than a year after raising its $25 million seed round.  Spark Capital led the investment, valuing the company at a pre-money valuation in the mid-$200 million range and a post-money valuation in […]

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Revolut to launch mortgages, smart ATMs, and business credit products

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 17:55:31 +0000

Revolut, the London-based fintech unicorn, shared a few items on the company’s 2025 roadmap at a corporate event in London on Friday. One of its main focuses for next year will be the introduction of an AI-enabled assistant to help its 50 million customers navigate the financial app, manage their money, and customize the software. […]

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Italian food delivery app Foodinho eats another privacy fine

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 17:43:15 +0000

Not for the first time, food delivery firm Foodinho has been spanked by Italy’s privacy watchdog. Per Reuters, the Glovo-owned on-demand delivery app has been fined €5 million ($5.20 million) after it was found to have unlawfully processed the data of more than 35,000 riders registered on the platform. Issues identified included riders’ geolocation data […]

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EU closes antitrust probe into Apple’s e-book and audiobook rules after complaint withdrawn

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 16:51:50 +0000

The European Commission (EC) has quietly closed a longstanding antitrust investigation into Apple over rules it enforces against third-party e-book and audiobook app developers. The EC opened the probe back in 2020 after receiving complaints over how Apple forced competing e-book and audiobook app developers to use Apple’s own in-app payment system, while also preventing […]

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Tesla Superchargers: GM, Ford, Rivian, and other EV brands with access

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 16:19:00 +0000

EV owners of GM vehicles like the Chevrolet Silverado EV and Cadillac Lyriq will now officially have access to Tesla’s Superchargers.

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Plex redesigns its app to look more like a streaming service

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 16:06:57 +0000

Streaming service and media software maker Plex on Friday introduced a redesign of its software that puts more emphasis on discovery, easily accessing your watchlist, and other personalization features — including those for home media enthusiasts who still use the app to organize their media libraries. Over the years, the company has tried to balance […]

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Battery unicorn Northvolt files for bankruptcy, co-founder and CEO resigns

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 16:06:50 +0000

The company chose Chapter 11 in an effort to right its listing finances. 

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Taking a cue from X, Threads tests AI-powered summaries of trending topics

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 15:45:19 +0000

As the Twitter-like social network Bluesky sees a significant surge in users this month, Meta’s own X competitor Threads has been rapidly building out its platform. On Friday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that Threads will start testing AI-powered summaries of what people are discussing on the platform in the app’s “Trending now” section in […]

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