On Thursday, Spanish startup Multiverse Computing announced that it raised an enormous Series B round of €189 million (about $215 million) on the strength of a technology it calls “CompactifAI.” CompactifAI is a quantum-computing inspired compression technology that is capable of reducing the size of LLMs by up to 95% without impacting model performance, the […]
Wool: Organic wool mattress toppers are filled with wool batting. The batting is (usually) a sheet of wool that lays flat and won’t shift inside the cover, even when you roll around on it. It is sometimes quilted between fabric, sometimes not. Wool makes an excellent topper thanks to its natural thermoregulating properties; wool manages […]
In a $30 million mansion perched on a cliff overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, a group of AI researchers, philosophers, and technologists gathered to discuss the end of humanity. The Sunday afternoon symposium, called “Worthy Successor,” revolved around a provocative idea from entrepreneur Daniel Faggella: The “moral aim” of advanced AI should be to create […]
As traditional media shrinks, storm streamers are growing; Schuster recently hired his first full-time employee—Reilly Dibble, who used to work for Hall. Unlike a traditional broadcast, YouTube allows Schuster to go live before there’s a tornado warning, so he can warn viewers if a storm is likely to produce a tornado. When Hurricane Milton hit […]
Democratic senators have concerns that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could break the Social Security Administration’s tech infrastructure. In a new letter addressed to SSA commissioner Frank Bisignano, senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden say that DOGE’s plans to “hastily upgrade” Social Security IT systems could disrupt the delivery of benefits or result […]
TechCrunch is turning 20. I’ve been here half that time. I worked previously at numerous major media properties, including Time Inc, Dow Jones, and Reuters; this has been the best job of my life, which is maybe why the time has gone so fast. There’s nothing like the culture here. Contrarian, smart, hilarious, and hard-working. […]
A new machine learning approach that draws inspiration from the way the human brain seems to model and learn about the world has proven capable of mastering a number of simple video games with impressive efficiency. The new system, called Axiom, offers an alternative to the artificial neural networks that are dominant in modern AI. […]
Disney and Universal have filed a lawsuit against Midjourney, alleging that the San Francisco–based AI image generation startup is a “bottomless pit of plagiarism” that generates “endless unauthorized copies” of the studios’ work. There are already dozens of copyright lawsuits against AI companies winding through the US court system—including a class action lawsuit visual artists […]
Waymo declined to answer questions from WIRED about how many cameras are inside its vehicles, exactly how long footage is retained, and whether the company has ever turned over footage to US federal law enforcement or a branch of the military. Karp did note, however, that the company’s engineering team sometimes uses information from sensors, […]
Unlike most dating apps, which charge monthly or annual fees for their paid tiers, there is only a one-time payment of €9 to sign up granting users unlimited matches; a free option limits users to five matches. Depoorter says he doesn’t want to exploit users by having them pay on a recurring basis. When I […]