News

Zoë Schiffer / Platformer: Sources detail Grindr’s push to monetize, including plans for an AI chatbot that can engage users in sexual conversations and may be trained on opt-in user data  —  The company’s bet on AI boyfriends and other… Read More »Sources detail Grindr’s push to monetize, including plans for an AI chatbot that can engage users in sexual conversations and may be trained on opt-in user data (Zoë Schiffer/Platformer)

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg: How MowPod, which sells podcast advertising tools, uses mobile game ads to incentivize gamers to follow shows on Apple Podcasts in order to earn in-game tokens  —  At least nine of the current top 50 shows… Read More »How MowPod, which sells podcast advertising tools, uses mobile game ads to incentivize gamers to follow shows on Apple Podcasts in order to earn in-game tokens (Ashley Carman/Bloomberg)

Meir Orbach / CTech: Cybersecurity startup Zafran, which develops risk mitigation services, emerges from stealth with a $25M Series A co-led by Sequoia Capital and Cyberstarts  —  Zafran, founded in 2022 by Yashar (CEO), Ben Seri (CTO) and Snir Havdala… Read More »Cybersecurity startup Zafran, which develops risk mitigation services, emerges from stealth with a $25M Series A co-led by Sequoia Capital and Cyberstarts (Meir Orbach/CTech)

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: AI21 Labs launches Jamba, an AI model that integrates two architectures: transformer and Mamba, which is based on the Structured State Space model  —  Increasingly, the AI industry is moving toward generative AI models with longer… Read More »AI21 Labs launches Jamba, an AI model that integrates two architectures: transformer and Mamba, which is based on the Structured State Space model (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)

Washington Post: Scammers are using sample videos of influencers with modest social media presence to create AI deepfake ads that often push offensive products and ideas  —  Artificial intelligence is spurring a new type of identity theft — with ordinary… Read More »Scammers are using sample videos of influencers with modest social media presence to create AI deepfake ads that often push offensive products and ideas (Washington Post)

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC: Reddit shares plunge almost 25% in two days, after soaring 30% on Monday, and finish the week at $49.30, below the first trading day close of $50.44  —  The trading floor of the New York Stock… Read More »Reddit shares plunge almost 25% in two days, after soaring 30% on Monday, and finish the week at $49.30, below the first trading day close of $50.44 (Jonathan Vanian/CNBC)

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch: YouTube now lets creators share exclusive Shorts with paying viewers, says Shorts average 70B+ daily views and 25%+ of creator partners monetize via Shorts  —  YouTube is launching a version of Shorts that’s only for members,… Read More »YouTube now lets creators share exclusive Shorts with paying viewers, says Shorts average 70B+ daily views and 25%+ of creator partners monetize via Shorts (Aisha Malik/TechCrunch)

The Information: Bolt told investors that it had revenue of $19.4M for the nine months ending in October 2023, essentially flat YoY; Bolt’s troubles grow with a Fanatics lawsuit  —  Bolt, the checkout startup that rocketed to an $11 billion… Read More »Bolt told investors that it had revenue of $19.4M for the nine months ending in October 2023, essentially flat YoY; Bolt’s troubles grow with a Fanatics lawsuit (The Information)

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg: A researcher finds that X is testing a feature that lets users create or join communities focused on “adult content” or other “not safe for work” material  —  – Screenshots show that people can label communities… Read More »A researcher finds that X is testing a feature that lets users create or join communities focused on “adult content” or other “not safe for work” material (Kurt Wagner/Bloomberg)

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors: Apple sues an ex-employee for allegedly leaking details about the Journal app and more to journalists, to “kill” products and features with which he took issue  —  Apple this month sued its former employee Andrew Aude… Read More »Apple sues an ex-employee for allegedly leaking details about the Journal app and more to journalists, to “kill” products and features with which he took issue (Joe Rossignol/MacRumors)