As the election cycle heats up, Instagram and Threads will be cooling down the amount of political content entering many users’ feeds.
These changes, which limit the reach of political content from accounts users don’t already follow, are enacted by default.
If you’re already wondering how to get that kind of content back into your feed, you can follow our guide on changing Instagram’s political settings here.
Threads will host, but not “amplify” news, per remarks from its head Adam Mosseri’s last year.
And what posts and topics will Instagram actually deem to be political?
Google.org, Google’s charitable wing, is launching a new program to help fund nonprofits developing tech that leverages generative AI.
Called Google.org Accelerator: Generative AI, the program is to be funded by $20 million in grants and include 21 nonprofits to start, including Quill.org, a company creating AI-powered tools for student writing feedback, and World Bank, which is building a generative AI app to make development research more accessible.
“Generative AI can help social impact teams be more productive, creative and effective in serving their communities,” Annie Lewin, director of global advocacy at Google.org, said in a blog post.
But there remain significant barriers for nonprofits looking to build their own AI solutions or adopt third-party products — chiefly cost, resources and time.
Nonprofit accelerator Fast Forward said that this year, more than a third of applicants for its latest class were AI companies.
Most recently, the company expanded its offer its virtual therapy sessions to services for adolescents across its footprint.
The virtual clinic’s medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorders is available across 50 states for adults and teens.
Since its Series B, Pelago has experienced an impressive 11x revenue surge and claims to have 100% client retention.
Pelago members have regular sessions with virtual care teams in the app, consisting of health coaches or licensed drug and alcohol counselors.
In addition to its virtual therapy interface, the company is investing in bringing more tech to bear on its business.
Don’t miss out on savings!
Only 48 hours left to claim your early bird ticketThe clock has almost run out!
With just 48 hours left, this is your final opportunity to secure early-bird savings for TechCrunch Early Stage 2024.
Join us on April 25 in Boston for TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 and take your startup to new heights.
Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TechCrunch Early Stage 2024?
Amazon invested a further $2.75 billion in growing AI power Anthropic on Wednesday, following through on the option it left open last September.
The $1.25 billion it invested at the time must be producing results, or perhaps they’ve realized that there are no other horses available to back.
Lacking the capability to develop adequate models on their own for whatever reason, companies like Amazon and Microsoft have had to act vicariously through others, primarily OpenAI and Anthropic.
Right now the AI world is a bit like a roulette table, with OpenAI and Anthropic representing black and red.
We know Anthropic has a plan, and this year we’ll find out what Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and other multinational interests think they can do to monetize this supposedly revolutionary technology.
Robinhood’s new credit card goes after Apple Card with ability to invest cash-back perksEight months after acquiring credit card startup X1 for $95 million, Robinhood announced today the launch of its new Gold Card, with a list of features that could even give Apple Card users envy.
Apple, for instance, offers 3% cash back on all purchases made at Apple, and on purchases made at select merchants when using the Apple Card with Apple Pay.
In general, purchases made on Apple Card with Apple Pay earn users 2% back.
It’s why we started Robinhood…” Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev said in a written statement.
“Today’s announcements…bring us one step closer to the goal of giving everyone better access to the financial system.”Robinhood Gold Card, explained:What are the requirements to apply for a Robinhood Gold Card?
Amazon has been fined in Poland for misleading consumers about the conclusion of sales contracts on its online marketplace.
For Amazon, the conclusion of a sales contract only occurs once it has sent information about the actual shipment.
“Thus, Amazon misleads consumers as to the moment of conclusion of the sales contract,” the authority wrote [in Polish; this is a machine translation].
It also found the e-commerce giant failed to provide information about the “Delivery Guarantee” in the purchase confirmation sent to shoppers.
Amazon was contacted for comment on the sanction but at the time of writing it had not responded.
You could spend it training a generative AI model.
See Databricks’ DBRX, a new generative AI model announced today akin to OpenAI’s GPT series and Google’s Gemini.
Customers can privately host DBRX using Databricks’ Model Serving offering, Rao suggested, or they can work with Databricks to deploy DBRX on the hardware of their choosing.
It’s an easy way for customers to get started with the Databricks Mosaic AI generative AI tools.
And plenty of generative AI models come closer to the commonly understood definition of open source than DBRX.
The study (“Unicorn Founder DNA Report) by Defiance Capital of 845 unicorns and 2,018 unicorn founders set out to look at the “DNA” of unicorn founders, concentrating on the US and UK (no EU/European) from 2013 to 2023, to define the common traits of these kinds of founders.
During the last decade, all top Seed funds were generalist funds, and the market for Seed funds is highly fragmented.
Only 34% of unicorn founders had worked at an elite employer prior to founding a unicorn, suggesting a McKinsey or similar background is not a prerequisite to success.
Dorffer, who intends now to produce a podcast with many of the unicorn founders surveyed, said: “The stories that are coming out show crazy determination.
As a female founder, you have to work twice as hard and take twice as many meetings to raise the money.
PayPal Ventures’ latest investment is in an Indonesian startup that provides personal insurance products covering a variety of risks, including accidents, phone screen damage, and ticket cancellations.
Qoala has secured $47 million in a new round co-led by PayPal Ventures and MassMutual Ventures, the five-year-old startup said Wednesday.
Qoala, headquartered in Jakarta, is an insurance broker that works with top local insurers and e-commerce firms to offer customers personalized and affordable products.
The startup sells these insurance both through its website and app as well as through offline engagements.
“It is commendable to see what Qoala has achieved in a short period of time,” said Alexandros Bottenbruch, Principal at PayPal Ventures in a statement.
