Accel turns to rural India in hunt for future unicorns

Accel, one of the most prolific e-commerce and marketplace investors in India, is making a contrarian move by turning its focus to smaller towns and villages in search of future unicorns. The venture firm argued on Wednesday that these areas, which it refers to as “Bharat,” represent a significant market ripe with opportunities for entrepreneurs […]

10 of the most exciting digital health startups of 2024, according to VCs

In the post-COVID world, VCs say it’s not as easy to get excited about investing in digital health. Deal activity in healthcare IT was relatively flat in Q1 2024 at 74 total deals, valued at about $1 billion total, up only 3% from the year-ago quarter, according to PitchBook data.  Still, promising startups have grabbed […]

Welcome to the fediverse: Your guide to Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, and more

Once upon a time, in a galaxy not so far away (this one, in fact), a few internet rebels decided that they were tired of the corporate overlords controlling their online lives. Thus, the fediverse was born — an attempt to wrest control of microblogging services, such as Twitter and its ilk, away from centralized […]

This smiling robot face made of living skin is absolute nightmare fuel

Giving robots a human-like exterior has been the standard for years — centuries even. But giving them actual, living skin that can be manipulated horrifying, slimy expressions? That’s new. The new work, published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, is very much just an experiment. This will not be the face of your next […]

OpenAI delays ChatGPT’s new Voice Mode

In May, when OpenAI first demoed an eerily realistic, nearly real-time “advanced voice mode” for its AI-powered chatbot platform ChatGPT, the company said that the feature would roll out to paying ChatGPT users within a few weeks. Months later, OpenAI says that it needs more time. In a post on OpenAI’s official Discord server, OpenAI […]

GM’s Cruise taps Xbox video game veteran as next CEO

GM’s Cruise has appointed Marc Whitten — a video game veteran who was a founding engineer at Xbox and Xbox Live— as CEO.  The Cruise CEO position has been vacant since December when co-founder Kyle Vogt resigned as part of a broader executive shakeup following an October 2 incident that saw a pedestrian run over […]

ChatGPT for Mac is now available to all

You can now more easily use ChatGPT on your Mac computer. OpenAI’s popular AI chatbot is available to all macOS users, the company announced on Tuesday. The app was first announced ahead of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, where the companies jointly announced integrations between OpenAI’s chatbot and Apple’s operating systems for iPhone, […]

VW to invest up to $5B into Rivian in software deal

VW Group said Tuesday it will invest $1 billion into EV startup Rivian as part of a broad software development deal that could expand to as much as $5 billion. The deal, which was announced Tuesday afternoon, sent Rivian’s shares up more than 36% in after-hours trading. Under the deal, VW Group will use Rivian’s […]