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(Platformer) Days after surrendering to the right on speech issues and issuing new guidelines allowing for dehumanizing speech about trans people and racial minorities, Meta said on Friday that it will end its diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. “The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,”…

(TechCrunch) Last year, police surveillance startup Flock Safety hired the mayor of a California city with over 200,000 residents to promote its products. But the mayor, Ulises Cabrera of Moreno Valley, now claims Flock wrongfully terminated him, partly because he refused to use his position as mayor to benefit Flock, according to a lawsuit Cabrera…

(Wall Street Journal) Social-media companies never wanted to aggressively police content on their platforms. Now, they are deciding they don’t have to anymore. Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that Meta META 2.20%increase; green up pointing triangle Platforms will end fact-checking and remove speech restrictions across Facebook and Instagram shows how Donald Trump’s presidential election and the U.S.…

(TechCrunch) For several years now, technologists have rung alarm bells about the potential for advanced AI systems to cause catastrophic damage to the human race. But in 2024, those warning calls were drowned out by a practical and prosperous vision of generative AI promoted by the tech industry — a vision that also benefited their…

(Financial Times) The number of active venture capital investors has dropped more than a quarter from a peak in 2021, as risk-averse financial institutions focus their money on the biggest firms in Silicon Valley. The tally of VCs investing in US-headquartered companies dropped to 6,175 in 2024 — meaning more than 2,000 have fallen dormant…

(Euro News) The tech giant says it “strongly disputes” the allegations after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) filed criminal complaints in France and Belgium. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has filed criminal complaints in France and Belgium against subsidiaries of Apple, accusing the tech giant of using conflict minerals. Lawyers representing the…

(TechCrunch) Generative AI may look like magic, but behind the development of these systems are armies of employees at companies like Google, OpenAI, and others, known as “prompt engineers” and analysts, who rate the accuracy of chatbots’ outputs to improve their AI. But a new internal guideline passed down from Google to contractors working on…

(TechCrunch) Paragon, an Israeli spyware maker that has largely kept a low profile in recent years, was acquired last week by American private equity giant AE Industrial Partners, according to Israeli news reports.  Tech news website Calcalist reported that the investment firm bought Paragon for $500 million, and depending on how the company grows, the…

(Pitchbook) Over 40% of unicorns have been in venture portfolios for at least nine years, pressuring a hallmark of VC: the 10-year fund structure. Companies with valuations of at least $1 billion now make up two-thirds of the US venture market. Their inability to exit is raising questions about the wisdom of the decade-long fund,…

(TechCrunch) Running a startup can be expensive, requiring a multitude of different subscriptions. Cap table management software, which helps founders organize their funding, can cost thousands of dollars a year. San Francisco-based Carta is the market leader in this industry. But some startup founders say Carta is making it too hard to cancel their subscriptions. The…