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Artificial Intelligence

Meta Poaches Apple's AI Models Chief, Ruoming Pang, to Bolster AI Superintelligence Unit

Apple's head of AI models, Ruoming Pang, is departing to join Meta, according to Bloomberg. Pang previously led Apple's team training AI foundation models for Apple Intelligence. His move is the latest in a series of high-profile AI executive acquisitions by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for his AI superintelligence unit.
Apple's AI models have faced challenges, lagging behind competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic. The company has even explored using third-party AI models to enhance Siri. Pang's departure may signal further changes within Apple's AI division.
At Meta, Pang's expertise in designing small, on-device AI models could prove valuable, adding to the talent Zuckerberg has recruited from Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Safe Superintelligence.

Autonomous Vehicles

Waymo Expands Autonomous Vehicle Testing to Philadelphia and NYC

Waymo is expanding its testing operations to Philadelphia and New York City, signaling potential future commercial expansion into the Northeastern region.

The company is conducting "road trips" to map and test its autonomous driving system in complex urban environments, including downtown Philadelphia and Manhattan.

Waymo is seeking approval to test its AVs in New York City with a human behind the wheel, but current regulations restrict fully driverless deployments.

These road trips follow similar initiatives in other cities and are part of Waymo's broader strategy to improve its AI driver's performance and expand its robotaxi services.

Waymo currently offers commercial robotaxi services in several major cities and plans to launch in Miami and Washington D.C. in the near future.

Technology

Apple Adjusts Liquid Glass in iOS 26 Beta 3 Based on User Feedback

Apple has toned down the 'Liquid Glass' design in the third developer beta of iOS 26 after user complaints about readability issues. The update addresses concerns about excessive transparency in the user interface, particularly in areas like the Control Center and Apple Music app. Notifications are now less translucent with darkened backgrounds to increase contrast. While some users feel Apple has gone too far in reverting the glassy look, these changes are part of the beta testing process to gather feedback and refine the design before the final release.

Venture Capital

Drive Capital's Revival: From Internal Strife to Midwest Venture Success

Drive Capital, a Columbus, Ohio-based venture capital firm, has experienced a significant turnaround after an internal split several years ago. Co-founder Chris Olsen highlights the firm's contrarian strategy of focusing on companies outside Silicon Valley, leading to successful exits and a return of $500 million to investors in a single week. Drive's portfolio includes successes like Duolingo and Vast Data, alongside failures like Olive AI. The firm differentiates itself by investing in companies applying technology to traditional industries and maintaining a higher ownership stake compared to Silicon Valley firms. Olsen emphasizes the higher bar for companies outside Silicon Valley, noting that Drive seeks ventures with strong business fundamentals. The recent announcement of Erebor, a crypto-focused bank, establishing headquarters in Columbus further validates Drive's thesis about the city as a legitimate tech hub.

Education Technology

ChatGPT Tests 'Study Together' Mode for Enhanced Learning

Some ChatGPT Plus subscribers are reporting a new feature called 'Study Together.' This mode aims to enhance ChatGPT's educational capabilities by prompting users with questions rather than providing direct answers. It encourages active learning and may discourage academic dishonesty. The official release and potential for group study modes are yet to be confirmed by OpenAI.

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Venture Capital

Drive Capital's Revival: Thriving Post-Split by Betting on Overlooked Markets

Drive Capital, based in Columbus, Ohio, has experienced a significant turnaround after a co-founder split. The firm recently returned $500 million to investors in a single week. Drive's success is attributed to a contrarian strategy of focusing on companies outside Silicon Valley, particularly those applying technology to traditional industries. They target companies overlooked by typical Silicon Valley venture firms, often taking larger ownership stakes. Drive's portfolio includes successes like Duolingo and Vast Data, alongside the failure of Olive AI.
The firm emphasizes investing in areas beyond the hyper-competitive Silicon Valley ecosystem, maintaining offices in multiple cities. Drive's managing partner, Chris Olsen, highlights the firm's focus on companies with strong business fundamentals. He also noted that Erebor, a crypto-focused bank, is launching in Columbus, validating Drive’s early vision of Columbus as a tech hub.

Technology

Jack Dorsey Develops Bitchat: A Bluetooth Mesh Messaging App

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and CEO of Block, has created Bitchat, a Bluetooth-based messaging app designed for use without Wi-Fi or cell service.
The app uses a mesh network to relay messages up to 300 meters, potentially useful in areas with poor connectivity.
Bitchat is end-to-end encrypted, similar to Bridgefy, another Bluetooth messaging app used in pro-democracy protests.
Currently in beta testing via Apple's Testflight, Bitchat has reached its 10,000-user limit and is awaiting review before public release.

Artificial Intelligence

CoreWeave Expands AI Infrastructure with $9B Acquisition of Core Scientific

CoreWeave has announced a $9 billion all-stock deal to acquire Core Scientific, a data center infrastructure provider. This acquisition will provide CoreWeave with over a gigawatt of data center capacity, sufficient to power over 850,000 homes. The increased capacity will be used to support AI training and inference workloads. Core Scientific, which previously offered Bitcoin mining services, will now have its GPUs run and train generative AI models. This move reflects the growing demand for data center capacity driven by AI companies, as seen with OpenAI's recent deal with Oracle for additional data center power.