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Biden administration proposes sweeping new restrictions on exporting AI chips
With a week left in office, President Joe Biden introduced a new set of guidelines and restrictions for exporting U.S.-made AI chips. On Monday the administration announced its Interim Final Rule on AI diffusion. This ruling is meant to “provide clarity to allied and partner nations about how they can benefit from AI” and streamline…
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Biden admin snubs Tesla’s $100 million big-rig charging funding request — again
The Department of Transportation announced Friday another $636 million in funding that will be awarded to 49 applicants for electric vehicle charging infrastructure — and Tesla’s application for nearly $100 million to fund a big rig charging corridor was once again passed over. Tesla’s name was not among the list of recipients released, and its partner…
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Xiaohongshu, China’s answer to Instagram, hits no. 1 on the App Store as TikTok faces US shutdown
On the heels of TikTok’s looming shut down on January 19 over its ownership in the U.S. (unless the Supreme Court intervenes), it looks like another Chinese app is catching some attention. American users are flocking Chinese short-form video app Xiaohongshu (known as RedNote in English). The app today surged to the number-one spot for…
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Blue Origin delays launch of New Glenn mega-rocket
Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin postponed the inaugural launch of its first orbital rocket, New Glenn, early Monday morning after experiencing an unspecified issue with one of the vehicle’s subsystems. While delays like this happen all the time in spaceflight, this one once again puts the timing of the much-anticipated launch in question. According…
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Moody’s agrees to acquire Cape Analytics, which develops geospatial AI for insurance providers
Financial services firm Moody’s announced on Monday that it has agreed to acquire Cape Analytics, a geospatial AI startup, for an undisclosed sum. The deal, which is expected to close in Q1, subject to customary closing conditions, will give Moody’s access to Cape’s geospatial AI analytics technology for insurance underwriting. With the tech, Moody’s plans…
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eBay acquires Caramel to reduce risk and complexity of online car sales
E-commerce giant eBay has announced plans to acquire Caramel, a startup that helps car sellers and buyers complete the final steps of the transaction — including verification, financing, paperwork, ownership transfer, insurance, and more. Founded out of Los Angeles in 2021, Caramel formally launched last year with some $19 million in funding behind it, from…
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Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is leaving following bungled app update
Speaker manufacturer Sonos is seeing some significant changes. Patrick Spence, the company’s chief executive officer (pictured above), is leaving the company after eight years in the job. Tom Conrad, the co-founder of Pandora and a Sonos board member, is stepping in as interim CEO starting today. Last year was complicated for the speaker manufacturer. The…
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Float Financial, which aims to be the Brex of Canada, lands US$48.5M Series B
Float Financial, an expense management and corporate card startup focused on the Canadian market, has raised $48.5 million in a Series B funding round. The Toronto-based fintech likens itself to U.S.-based fintech giants Brex and Ramp but says it is different in that its sole focus is on Canadian SMBs, which CEO and co-founder Rob…
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A breach of a data broker’s trove of location data threatens the privacy of millions
The company confirmed the breach after a hacker posted millions of location data records online. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
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UK domain giant Nominet confirms cybersecurity incident linked to Ivanti VPN hacks
Nominet, the U.K. domain registry that maintains .co.uk domains, has experienced a cybersecurity incident that it confirmed is linked to the recent exploitation of a new Ivanti VPN vulnerability. In an email to customers, seen by TechCrunch, Nominet warned of an “ongoing security incident” under investigation. Nominet said hackers accessed its systems via “third-party VPN…