Crowded, a fintech startup streamlining financial management for nonprofits, has secured $7.5 million in Series A funding, bringing its total raise to $13.5 million. The round was led by Flashpoint, a $500 million transatlantic VC firm known for backing companies [β¦]
When asked about Chinese AI firm DeepSeek on todayβs investor call, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained how the disruptive new model is a positive development for the iPhone maker.
Google took the low-key route for the launch of its next-gen flagship AI model, Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental. Instead of a splashy announcement, the AI model was revealed in the changelog for the companyβs Gemini chatbot app. The launch of Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental β the successor to the Gemini 1.5 Pro model that Google [β¦]
Intel is effectively killing Falcon Shores, its next-generation GPU for high-performance computing and AI workloads. The move comes as Intel tries to correct course after a number of disappointing product launches and historic losses, while competitors like AMD and Nvidia gain ground. Intel co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus said during the companyβs fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday [β¦]
Apple fell slightly short of investor expectations when it reported its first-quarter earnings today. While sales were up 4 percent overall, the iPhone showed signs of weakness, and sales in the Chinese market slipped by just over 11 percent.
CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that the iPhone performed better in countries where Apple Intelligence was available, like the USβseemingly suggesting that the slip was partially because Chinese consumers do not see enough reason to buy new phones without Apple Intelligence. (He also said, "Half of the decline is due to a change in channel inventory.") iPhone sales also slipped in China during this same quarter last year; this was the first full quarter during which the iPhone 16 was available.
In any case, Cook said the company plans to roll out Apple Intelligence in additional languages, including Mandarin, this spring.
If you've been paying careful attention to YouTube recently, you may have noticed the rising trend of so-called "faceless YouTube channels" that never feature a visible human talking in the video frame. While some of these channels are simply authored by camera-shy humans, many more are fully automated through AI-powered tools to craft everything from the scripts and voiceovers to the imagery and music. Unsurprisingly, this is often sold as a way to make a quick buck off the YouTube algorithm with minimal human effort.
YouTuber F4mi, who creates some excellent deep dives on obscure technology, recently detailed her efforts "to poison any AI summarizers that were trying to steal my content to make slop." The key to F4mi's method is the .ass subtitle format, created decades ago as part of fansubbing software Advanced SubStation Alpha. Unlike simpler and more popular subtitle formats, .ass supports fancy features like fonts, colors, positioning, bold, italic, underline, and more.
Tensions were high inside Meta ahead of Mark ZuckerbergΓ’ΒΒs first all-hands meeting of the year.
Employee-submitted questions for the CEO touched on a couple of big themes: concerns about his announcement that Γ’ΒΒlow-performersΓ’ΒΒ would be let go on February 10th, his MAGA-fueled changes to MetaΓ’ΒΒs content moderation policies and DEI programs, and his comment to Joe Rogan about wanting more Γ’ΒΒmasculine energyΓ’ΒΒ in the workplace. Γ’ΒΒAre the changes weβre seeing (in any way) influenced by the new U.S. president?Γ’ΒΒ asked one employee ahead of the internal meeting. Γ’ΒΒIf so, why are we making changes based on these factors?Γ’ΒΒ
With a lot of the rank and file clearly on edge, Zuckerberg made sure there would be fewer opportunities for drama during todayΓ’ΒΒs Q&A. Before it started, HR notified employees that Γ’ΒΒwe will skip questions that we expect might be unproductive if they leak.Γ’ΒΒ For the first time, the most upvoted employee questions were no longer ranked for everyone to see and comments were disabled during the livestream.
Before jumping into the Q&A, Zuckerberg addressed the changes head on: Γ’ΒΒWe try to be really open and then everything I say leaks. It sucks.Γ’ΒΒ
Apple disclosed today that its global install base has reached a new high. However, the active device growth rate is down compared to the previous year.
Appleβs latest earnings were a mixed bag filled with slipping iPhone sales and countered by rising revenue. Reporting after the bell Thursday, the iPhone makerβs overall revenue in the first quarter of 2025 beat Wall Street expectations, with a 4% bump to $124.3 billion over the same time last year. Apple reported net income of [β¦]
For nearly nine years, Elon Musk has promised Tesla vehicles had the hardware needed to support a self-driving car. This week, he made his latest admission that many are not. Musk said on a conference call Wednesday evening that Tesla cars equipped with so-called Hardware 3 will need an upgrade before they can support unsupervised [β¦]
Are you looking for a solution to store and secure your many passwords? The renowned NordPass is slashing the price of its subscription, with a discount you wonβt want to miss for anything in the world.
The website GodisaGeek is owned by Calvin Robinson, a far-right priest who went viral for imitating Elon Musk with a Nazi-like salute at an anti-abortion summit.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has ordered an investigation into NPR and PBS in a move that Democrats described as an attempt to intimidate the media.
"I am writing to inform you that I have asked the FCC's Enforcement Bureau to open an investigation regarding the airing of NPR and PBS programming across your broadcast member stations," Carr wrote in a letter yesterday to the leaders of NPR and PBS.
Carr alleged that NPR and PBS are violating a federal law prohibiting noncommercial educational broadcast stations from running commercial advertisements. "I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials," Carr wrote. "In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements."
Netflix's next Tudum fan event will take place on May 31 in Los Angeles. For the first time, the company will stream the event live on its own platform. Past iterations have been livestreamed on YouTube, Twitch and Netflix's social channels.
Tudum, which is meant to sound like the audio effect that plays at the start of any Netflix program, is the streaming business' showcase of its content lineup. The company has used this event in previous years to share behind-the-scenes tidbits and first looks at upcoming programming. The 2023 Tudum drew 11,000 attendees in SΓ£o Paulo, Brazil and 78 million viewers streamed it, according to the company.
While there will probably be some fun announcements and reveals, the most notable takeaway is that Netflix is pushing more definitively into the live event space. A Chris Rock comedy special in 2023 was the company's first livestream. It also snapped up the rights to livestream the Screen Actors Guild awards on its platform and hosted a flashy boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul in 2024. However, the Tyson/Paul match had extensive technical issues. Airing its own event and keeping those millions of eyeballs on its own platform will be positive steps for the company's ambitions in this space. Assuming everything works.Β
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-will-stream-its-2025-tudum-event-on-netflix-222604357.html?src=rss
Polestar is building one-of-a-kind versions of its EVs that are ready for whatever the winter brings. The company took the long-range, dual motor versions of its newest vehicles, the Polestar 3 SUV and Polestar 4 coupe (with performance packs), and turned them into rally-style vehicles that can rip through snowy terrain. The company is also resurrecting its Polestar 2 Arctic Circle one-off, which it showed off in 2022, to complete the family.
The specially tuned Polestar 3 and 4 come with newly-released 20-inch white OZ Racing Rally Legend wheels sitting on Pirelli Scorpion Winter 2 tires for cold on-road driving. But when taken onto the snowscape, Pirelliβs Scorpion All Terrian Plus with 300 4-mm studs are used. They also get custom 3-way adjustable dampers with external gas reservoirs.
Although these vehicles are lifted for the snow, itβs not by much. The Polestar 3 is given just 40mm to its ride height, and the Polestar 4 is lifted by just 20mm. But the vehicles do get Rally-style mud flaps, Swedish gold tow hooks, Recaro Pole Position bucket seats, Stedi Quad Pro LED front spotlights, and front strut braces. Polestar also gave the three EVs a coat of yellow paint that, along with the wheels, makes them look like the Mustang Mach-E Rally.
After announcing some new experimental features for YouTube Premium subscribers earlier this month β and that multiple experiments can be tested at once β the company has added one it promised was on the way: the ability to watch videos at 4x speed, as reported by Android Police. Iβm personally a 1.5x to 2x sicko when it comes to YouTube videos and podcasts, but 4x is an absolutely blistering speed thatβs more apt for skipping past the cruft than consuming info at a faster clip.
4x playback speed (iOS and Android only, until February 26th)
Shorts Smart Downloads (iOS only, until February 19th)
Shorts Picture-in-Picture (iOS only, until February 19th)
High Quality Audio for 256kbps sound (iOS and Android only, until February 22nd)
Jump Ahead Web (for web browsers, until February 5th)
In similar just-get-to-the-point-already fashion, Jump Ahead gives web users a button to automatically skip to βthe content they care about fasterβ instead of carefully scrubbing through a video. But letβs be honest, this will probably be a button to jump past all the intros and other bloat.
The faster playback speed and Jump Ahead features seem the most useful β if youβre already a YouTube Premium subscriber who doesnβt have to sit through ads, the next frontier is skipping through all the cruft. Though higher quality audio is always welcome. And a picture-in-picture mode for Shorts could be convenient, but as was mentioned on a recent Vergecast, why would you want YouTube to automatically fill your phoneβs storage with tons of Shorts videos?
