Author: GT

Meta is launching a new program to incentivize startups to adopt its Llama AI models. The program, Llama for Startups, provides companies “direct support” from Meta’s Llama team, as well as funding in certain cases. Any U.S.-based firm that is incorporated, has raised less than $10 million in funding, has at least one developer on staff, and is building generative AI applications is eligible to apply by the May 30 deadline. “Members may receive up to $6,000 per month for up to six months to help them offset the costs of building and enhancing their generative AI solutions,” Meta wrote…

There is a new accounting software in town, coming in with a fresh $17.2 million raise and a desire to shake things up. The company, Filed, hopes to automate the grunt work. “The tax industry is facing a genuine crisis,” Leroy Kerry, Filed’s co-founder CEO, told TechCrunch. Many CPAs are approaching retirement while a dwindling number of students are entering the field, he said, citing much-quoted research from a 2021 report on the topic from the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. “Firms simply don’t have enough people to process returns efficiently. Meanwhile, professionals are drowning in paperwork, spending nearly…

OpenAI is acquiring io, the device startup that CEO Sam Altman and famed Apple designer Jony Ive have quietly been working on for two years, in an all-equity deal that values that startup at $6.5 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. As part of the unusual deal announced Wednesday, Ive and his design firm, LoveFrom, will now lead creative and design work at OpenAI. “thrilled to be partnering with jony, [in my opinion] the greatest designer in the world,” said Altman in a post on X Wednesday. “excited to try to create a new generation of AI-powered computers.” thrilled…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala, (AP) — A federal judge said Wednesday that she is considering sanctions against lawyers with a high-priced firm hired to defend Alabama’s prison system after ChatGPT was used to write two court filings that included nonexistent case citations.U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco held a hearing in Birmingham to question attorneys with the Butler Snow firm about the filings. She said there were five false citations in two filings in federal court. Manasco said that nationally, there have been broad warnings from courts about the use of artificial intelligence to generate legal filings because of the potential for inaccuracies.Manasco…

The Middle East is pulling in more attention from global tech investors than ever. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are rolling out billions of dollars in deals, working with top US companies, and building the kind of infrastructure needed to run large-scale AI systems.It’s not just about the money. There are new laws, startup activity, and plans for growth that are turning heads in Silicon Valley and beyond.Strategic deals anchor US tech tiesUS President Donald Trump recently visited the region and announced more than $2 trillion in investment agreements. These included major partnerships between Gulf states and American firms…

Spotify is launching a new hub dedicated to keeping users informed about soon-to-be-released albums, the company announced on Wednesday. The hub, called “Upcoming Releases,” will feature personalized recommendations based on a user’s listening history. Users will be able to access it through the Search tab on mobile in the “Browse all” section. The hub will also feature the top 10 global Countdowns, which are the most anticipated upcoming releases based on the number of pre-saves. The hub will allow users to pre-save upcoming releases and view Countdown Pages, which showcase the track lists of future albums and released singles. These pages…

Hinge Health’s TrueMotion feature.Courtesy: Hinge HealthHinge Health priced its IPO at $32 per share on Wednesday, at the top end of the expected range.The digital physical therapy startup sold 8.52 million shares in the offering, raising about $273 million. The total offering was for 13.7 million shares, with the balance being sold by existing shareholders.Hinge, founded in 2014, will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “HNGE.” The company filed its initial prospectus in March and updated the document earlier this month with an expected pricing range of $28 to $32.At the IPO price, Hinge Health is worth…

Sen. Ron Wyden sent a letter to fellow senators on Wednesday, revealing that three major U.S. cellphone carriers did not have provisions to notify lawmakers about government surveillance requests, despite a contractual requirement to do so.  In the letter, Wyden, a Democrat and longstanding member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that an investigation by his staff found that AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon were not notifying senators of legal requests — including from the White House — to surveil their phones. The companies “have indicated that they are all now providing such notice,” according to the letter. Politico was first…

Tech and music industry leaders testified about the dangers of deepfakes made with artificial intelligence on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to pass legislation that would protect people’s voices and likenesses from being replicated without consent, while allowing use of the tech responsibly.Speaking to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s panel on privacy, technology, and the law, executives from YouTube and Recording Industry Association of America as well as country music singer Martina McBride, championed the bipartisan No Fakes Act, which seeks to create federal protections for artists’ voice, likeness and image from unauthorized AI-generated deepfakes. The group argued that Americans across…

U.S. President Donald Trump sits next to Crypto czar David Sacks at the White House Crypto Summit at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 7, 2025.Evelyn Hockstein | ReutersPresident Donald Trump’s top crypto and AI advisor David Sacks said Wednesday that the administration expects the stablecoin legislation moving through the Senate to pass with “significant bipartisan support,” and claimed it could unlock demand for U.S. Treasuries.”We already have over $200 billion in stablecoins — it’s just unregulated,” Sacks told CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime.” “If we provide the legal clarity and legal framework for this, I think we could…