Hopeful hearts and other startup news
Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. The week…
Y Combinator alum Nowadays, founded by sisters, raises $2M to automate event planning
Not even the people inventing AI always know what it’s good for besides writing emails. But there are seed-stage companies, like Y Combinator grad and 2024 Disrupt Battlefield participant Nowadays,…
Meta unveils a new, more efficient Llama model
Meta has announced the newest addition to its Llama family of generative AI models: Llama 3.3 70B. In a post on X, Ahmad Al-Dahle, VP of generative AI at Meta,…
A16z-backed Toka wants to help US agencies hack into security cameras and other IoT devices
U.S. government agencies legally hack into cellphones or emails all the time: think of the FBI wiretapping a suspected drug lord or the NSA monitoring emails for terrorism plots. But…
OpenAI 2024 event: How to watch new ChatGPT product reveals and demos
OpenAI is in the holiday spirit, it seems. The ChatGPT creator announced “12 Days of OpenAI,” a series of reveals that will be livestreamed at 10 a.m. PT for the…
Elon Musk donated more than $260 million to elect Donald Trump
Fresh campaign financing data shows that Elon Musk poured more than $260 million into political groups in 2024 that helped Donald Trump win the presidential election and, consequently, secured a…
US appeals court upholds TikTok ban
A federal appeals court has unanimously voted to uphold a law that could ban TikTok in the U.S. unless the social network’s parent company, ByteDance, sells it to an American…
Google Photos launches a ‘2024 Recap’ for a look back at this year’s memories
Spotify Wrapped isn’t the only service offering a year-end recap these days. In addition to the year-end reviews from other streamers and social apps, you can also count Google Photos…
Former LA Lakers star launches VC firm
Former NBA Lakers star Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly known as Metta World Peace), has teamed up with Stephen Stokols, the former CEO of Boost Mobile, to launch Tru Skye Ventures, a…
8 Best Sleep Trackers (2024): Expert Tips and Research
Other Sleep Trackers We Have Tested Photograph: Simon Hill Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen for $90: The second-generation Nest Hub uses radar to track your sleep, which means you don’t…
Finding the Real ‘Midnight Diner’
Every night in the darkest, most depressing depths of the pandemic, one TV show, which I watched over and over, helped get me through. Midnight Diner, a series on Netflix…
Heartcore Capital closes $180M fund to pivot towards infrastructure, synthetic biology, climate
Back in the heady days of 2021, Heartcore Capital planned to focus on consumer technology with a $200 million fund. Fast-forward to 2024, and its latest fund will now ‘leaven…