GM just laid off hundreds of IT employees to hire people with stronger AI skills
General Motors has laid off more than 10% of its IT department, or about 600 salaried employees. This is part of an intentional skills swap to purge employees whose expertise no longer fits and make room for employees with AI-focused backgrounds. GM confirmed to TechCrunch that it had cut jobs. These were first reported by […]
Finally, texts between Android and iPhone users can now be encrypted end-to-end.
Finally, Android and iPhone users will be able to send end-to-end encrypted text messages to each other. On Monday, we will begin rolling out a beta version of end-to-end encrypted messaging for conversations between iPhone and Android users running the latest software. End-to-end encrypted (e2ee) messaging is an important privacy feature that makes users significantly […]
Bravo is creating unscripted microdramas for the Peacock app
The time has come for the microdrama trend to become mainstream. As microdrama apps like ReelShort and DramaBox quietly amass billions of dollars, Peacock announced Monday that it will launch two unscripted Bravo microdramas to stream on its app. These vertical video series are made up of approximately 60-90 second episodes and are designed for […]
Digg is trying again, this time as an AI news aggregator
Dig is back from the dead. Also. The reboot of Kevin Rose’s once-popular link-sharing site was shut down in March after the company changed direction, just months after launching. Originally redesigned as a competitor to the massive community forum site Reddit, the new Digg was unable to effectively manage the bot traffic that entered its […]
‘It’s too early to talk about an IPO,’ says Redwood Materials’ incoming CFO
Redwood Materials has finally found a new chief financial officer, about a year and a half after the last one left. He is a familiar face to former Tesla executives who run battery recycling and energy storage companies. Redwood Materials announced Monday that it has hired former Tesla finance chief Deepak Ahuja as its new […]
NYT’s Wordle becomes TV game show
The New York Times is betting that the Wordle craze isn’t over yet. On Monday, the Times announced that the hit mobile word game will be turned into a game show that will be televised on NBC. “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie will host the affair, with The Times and “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon […]
There is a shortage of rockets for space data centers. Cowboy Space raised $275 million to build them.
With an apparently insatiable demand for AI computing, data center entrepreneurs are excited about the future. I have an important issue. There aren’t enough rockets to put data centers in Earth orbit, and rockets are too expensive. Most officials are hopeful that SpaceX’s Starship, scheduled for its 12th test flight as early as this weekend, […]
Discord launches Nitro Rewards, giving subscribers access to the base level of Xbox Game Pass at no additional cost
Discord announced Nitro Rewards on Monday. This will give Nitro subscribers access to other gaming and lifestyle brand offers at no additional charge. Now, Nitro is offering upgrades to Discord, including more profile customization options, HD streaming, and the ability to upload files up to 500MB. Subscription is optional as you can easily use the […]
Venmo’s biggest transformation in years comes at a very interesting time
Venmo is rolling out a major redesign over the next few months that aims to make the app more useful, social, and easier to navigate. This is the peer-to-peer payment app’s biggest shake-up since 2021. The timing is notable. PayPal, which owns Venmo, is undergoing a reorganization to spin off Venmo as a separate business […]
Antropic claims AI’s ‘evil’ portrayal was the cause of Claude’s blackmail attempt
According to Anthropic, fictional depictions of artificial intelligence can have real-world effects on AI models. The company announced last year that during pre-release testing involving fictitious companies, Claude Opus 4 often attempted to blackmail engineers to avoid being replaced with another system. Anthropic later published research suggesting that other companies’ models had similar issues with […]