Your Hub for Tech News and Handy Online Tools.

Technology

Cloudflare Outage Disrupts Major Platforms, Including X, Following Musk's AWS Jibe

A widespread Cloudflare outage on Tuesday disrupted access to several prominent online platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude, Spotify, and X. The outage occurred just a month after Elon Musk, CEO of X, criticized AWS dependencies following a previous outage. Signal President Meredith Whittaker highlighted the risks of the internet's reliance on a few infrastructure services like Cloudflare and AWS. Cloudflare acknowledged the issue and implemented a fix, with services gradually being restored.

Healthcare Technology

Tayla Cannon Secures $1.1M Seed Funding from Slow Ventures to Revolutionize Rehab with Rebuildr

Tayla Cannon, an Australian native, received $1.1 million in seed funding from Slow Ventures' Creator Fund to develop Rebuildr, a HIPAA-compliant mentorship app designed to assist rehab professionals in managing their online businesses. Cannon, a former physiotherapist, transitioned to content creation, amassing a significant online following by sharing proactive and holistic approaches to pain management.

Driven by her experiences in the traditional physical rehab model, Cannon aims to shift towards a proactive, holistic approach with Rebuildr, combining consumer solutions, clinical expertise, education, and software to deliver scalable care. She credits her success to authenticity and unfiltered content, and the funding from Slow Ventures will help her expand Rebuildr's vision and reshape the rehab industry, making high-quality rehab accessible globally.

Autonomous Vehicles

Zoox Opens Robotaxi Rides to Public in San Francisco: A Step Towards Commercial Service

Zoox, an Amazon-owned company, is initiating public robotaxi rides in San Francisco, marking a move closer to commercial operations and competition with Waymo.

The company's custom-built robotaxis, without steering wheels or pedals, have been tested in San Francisco for about a year. Initially, rides were limited to employees and their network.

Now, through the Zoox Explorer program, select individuals from the waitlist will gain free access to the service. Zoox intends to gradually expand the service, aiming to eliminate the waitlist by 2026.

Currently, Zoox operates around 50 robotaxis in Las Vegas and San Francisco, with the service area covering SoMA, Mission, and Design districts in San Francisco.

To launch a commercial robotaxi service, Zoox needs permits from the California Public Utilities Commission and approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Travel Tech

Boop: Transforming Social Travel Recommendations into Bookable Itineraries with AI

Boop, a new AI-powered travel app, aims to revolutionize travel planning by converting social recommendations into bookable itineraries. Founded by Nancy Li Smith, Boop allows users to access and personalize itineraries from real travelers, using AI to efficiently capture and transform trips into shareable plans. The platform enables travel creators to monetize their recommendations through affiliate links, offering a new income stream. Boop tracks user movements to provide tailored recommendations and plans to integrate with calendars for seamless booking. With $3.2 million in pre-seed funding, Boop envisions becoming the go-to platform for travel planning, leveraging social trust and AI to simplify the process.

Advertising & Marketing

Agentio Raises $40M to Expand AI-Powered Creator Marketplace Beyond YouTube

Agentio, a startup connecting brands with YouTube creators for sponsored videos, has raised $40 million in Series B funding led by Forerunner. This brings their total funding to $56 million, valuing the company at $340 million.

The company leverages AI to automate ad buying, matching brands with creators and reviewing content to ensure brand safety and campaign alignment.

Agentio has seen significant growth, with brands experiencing improved return on ad spend and new customer acquisition. They are expanding beyond YouTube to platforms like Meta, TikTok, and Snap.

The funding will be used to further scale the team and platform capabilities, focusing on AI-powered features and multi-platform support.

Technology & Gaming

Roblox Mandates Age Verification for Chat to Enhance Child Safety

Roblox is implementing mandatory facial verification for all users to access communication features, starting in January. The platform introduces age-based chat, restricting communication to similar age groups.

Users can voluntarily verify their age to secure access to communication features. In December, the age-check becomes mandatory in select markets like Australia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

The move follows lawsuits over child safety concerns, with reports of young users being exposed to grooming and explicit content.

The age-check involves facial verification through a third-party vendor, Persona, with deletion of images/videos post-verification. Users will be assigned to one of six age groups: under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, and 21+.

Roblox is also launching a Safety Center for parents with guidance and tools for Parental Controls.

Social Media

Eugen Rochko Departs as Mastodon CEO Amidst Non-Profit Transition

Eugen Rochko is stepping down as CEO of Mastodon as the platform transitions to a non-profit structure. The move aims to ensure Mastodon's long-term sustainability. Rochko will remain involved as an advisor. The new leadership team includes Felix Hlatky as Executive Director, focusing on financial sustainability and stakeholder engagement. Mastodon raised funds to aid the transition and will focus on trust, safety, and technical infrastructure. Interoperability with other decentralized networks like Bluesky will be left to third-party projects. Mastodon aims to remain 'billionaire-proof' amidst competition from platforms controlled by wealthy individuals.

AI Regulation

AI Regulation Showdown: Super PAC Targets NY Lawmaker Alex Bores Over AI Safety Bill

A pro-AI super PAC, backed by Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, is targeting New York Assembly member Alex Bores due to his support for AI regulation.

Bores is the chief sponsor of New York’s bipartisan RAISE Act, which mandates safety plans for large AI labs and imposes penalties for non-compliance. The super PAC, named Leading the Future, aims to counter policymakers who advocate for AI regulation.

Bores stated that AI anxieties are rising among his constituents, who are concerned about issues ranging from data centers increasing utility bills to chatbots impacting mental health. He is coordinating with policymakers in other states to standardize legislation and avoid redundancies with the EU AI Act.

Bores emphasizes that AI regulation is not intended to limit innovation, but to ensure trustworthiness in AI development.

Social Media

Facebook Introduces Content Protection Tool for Reels Creators

Meta has launched a new mobile tool called Facebook Content Protection to help creators protect their original reels from being used without permission. This tool alerts creators when their reels are being used by others, giving them options to block the reel's visibility, track its performance with attribution links, or release their claim. The system, which uses matching technology similar to Meta’s Rights Manager, is available to creators in the Facebook Content Monetization program and those using Rights Manager. It allows creators to manage how matches are flagged, add accounts to an "allow list," and dispute claims against their original work. While currently mobile-only, Meta is testing desktop access via the Professional Dashboard.

Finance

Ramp's Meteoric Rise: Valuation Soars to $32B Amidst Funding Frenzy

Ramp, an expense management fintech company, has experienced rapid growth in valuation, reaching $32 billion.
The company recently raised $300 million led by Lightspeed, following a $500 million Series E-2 at a $22.5 billion valuation and a $200 million Series E at a $16 billion valuation.
In 2025 alone, Ramp's valuation jumped from $13 billion to $32 billion, with total equity financing reaching $2.3 billion.
Ramp offers corporate expense management solutions, including credit cards, software, and travel services, and has surpassed 50,000 customers.
The company has surpassed $1 billion in annualized revenue.