Author: GT

Electric aviation startup Beta Technologies has priced shares for its initial public offering between $27 and $33, in hopes of raising as much as $825 million, according to a regulatory document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. If the company attracts investors at the top of that range it will debut with a valuation of about $7.2 billion. The Vermont-based company, which was founded in 2017 by its enigmatic CEO Kyle Clark, filed the paperwork Wednesday despite the government shutdown. The SEC issued guidance earlier this month that allows companies in IPO limbo to allow their statements on certain…

Meta is adding parental controls for kids’ interactions with artificial intelligence chatbots — including the ability to turn off one-on-one chats with AI characters altogether — beginning early next year. But parents won’t be able to turn off Meta’s AI assistant, which Meta says will “will remain available to offer helpful information and educational opportunities, with default, age-appropriate protections in place to help keep teens safe.”Parents who don’t want to turn off all chats with all AI characters will also be able to block specific chatbots. And Meta said Friday that parents will be able to get “insights” about what…

South Korea is nearing a decision on whether to allow Google and Apple to export high-resolution geographic map data to servers outside the country. The detailed maps, which use a 1:5,000 scale, would show streets, buildings, and alleyways in far greater detail than currently available on these platforms. However, several regulatory and security hurdles remain unresolved. Earlier this week, South Korea’s National Assembly Defense Committee held a parliamentary audit of Google Korea. Lawmakers questioned the company’s requests for local map data, raising concerns over national security and digital sovereignty. The session comes two months after Seoul postponed its decision on…

In the last few years, photo-sharing apps have capitalized on the idea that Instagram has become too curated, creating spaces for users to share unfiltered photos from their camera rolls. Locket tapped into lockscreen-based sharing, Retro took a photo journaling route, and Yope is building Instagram for private groups. Now, Mayank Bidawatka, co-founder of Indian social network Koo, which was shut down last year after collapsed buyout talks, is releasing a new photo-sharing app called PicSee. The app, released Thursday on both on iOS and Android, aims to automatically detect and share photos of friends that are in your camera…

Kuku, an Indian storytelling platform backed by Google, has raised $85 million in fresh funding as it aims to scale its audio and video content offerings amid intensifying competition in the South Asian nation’s mobile-first content market. The Series C round, led by Granite Asia (formerly GGV Capital), values Kuku at more than double its previous valuation to around $500 million, Kuku founder and CEO Lal Chand Bisu confirmed to TechCrunch. The round also saw participation from Vertex Growth Fund, Krafton, IFC, Paramark, Tribe Capital India, and Bitkraft. The latest round also included secondary transactions, with some of Kuku’s early…

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian government has begun a public education campaign with tips on how to wean children off social media ahead of a world-first national 16-year age limit taking effect in December.Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Friday that information on her agency’s website, esafety.gov.au, explained the new laws and how to navigate them.Starting Dec. 10, platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube could be fined up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) if they don’t take reasonable steps to prevent Australians younger than 16 from holding accounts.Messages raising awareness will also be…

Indian quick-commerce startup Zepto said it has raised $400 million in a funding round led by a new investor, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), a U.S.-based pension fund. The round, which is a mix of primary and secondary investment, also has participation from existing investors, including Avenir, Avra, Lightspeed, Glade Brook, The StepStone Group, and Nexus Venture Partners. After this funding, the company plans to go public next year. Zepto competes with other quick-commerce players such as Eternal’s (formerly Zomato) Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Tata-owned BigBasket — all part of publicly listed companies. The startup has been on a…

It’s been almost a decade since Omar Darwazah and Kyle Hendrick launched AAF Management and its first fund of $25 million in 2017.  Rather than racing to dramatically increase their assets under management like many funds have in recent years, the partners have intentionally kept their fund sizes small, even as their reputation and returns have grown.  Their latest vehicle — a $55 million early-stage hybrid fund, dubbed the Axis Fund, that recently closed — brings the Washington-based venture firm’s total assets to roughly $250 million across four funds. The firm raised a $39 million Fund II in 2021 and…

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — On a scorching hot Saturday in San Antonio, dozens of teachers traded a day off for a glimpse of the future. The topic of the day’s workshop: enhancing instruction with artificial intelligence.After marveling as AI graded classwork instantly and turned lesson plans into podcasts or online storybooks, one high school English teacher raised a concern that was on the minds of many: “Are we going to be replaced with AI?”That remains to be seen. But for the nation’s 4 million teachers to stay relevant and help students use the technology wisely, teachers unions have forged an…

Between infinitely scrolling job boards and the puzzling rise of fake applicants using AI to apply en masse, job-searching has quickly become one of the most bewildering experiences the internet has to offer. Listings are posted and reposted across different platforms as applications go unanswered, creating a spam-like flood of activity on both sides. “If you put a job on LinkedIn, you might get 1,000 people applying for that job within the first six hours,” says Matt Wilson, a London-based serial entrepreneur. “Some companies don’t even review the applicants that apply for those jobs, because the signal to noise ratio…