Technology

AI dominated both YC Demo Day and startup news

Published

5 hours ago

September 28, 2024

AI dominated both YC Demo Day and 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.

This week was a busy one for the startup and VC world, with its fair share of funding news and, of course, the latest edition of YC’s Demo Day.

Most interesting startup stories from the week

OpenAI CTO Mira Murati unveiling ChatGPT's advanced voice mode — **Image Credits:** OpenAI

Yes, AI, AI, AI. But it’s more eventful than it sounds.

Departures: Several key people are leaving OpenAI — CTO Mira Murati, as well as the company’s chief research officer and a research VP. There’s more context than we can sum up here, so go have a read if you are so inclined.

Ive mind: It is now confirmed that former Apple designer Jony Ive is working on an AI device startup with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. The unnamed venture could be seeking to raise up to $1 billion by the end of the year.

AltGPT: Letta, an AI startup founded by the researchers behind MemGPT and positioning itself as “the open alternative to OpenAI,” has come out of stealth to much anticipation.

Pipelines: Data startup Airbyte launched Airbyte 1.0 with a focus on AI use cases. It also made its self-managed enterprise service generally available.

Most interesting fundraises this week

Two people converse amid Egym equipment (Image Credits: EGYM) — **Image Credits:** EGYM

COVID-19 almost killed some companies and boosted others. Now companies from both groups are finding their footing, and other trends are getting confirmed.

Working out: German connected fitness startup EGYM closed a $200 million Series G round of funding that confirms investor interest in the broader trend of preventative healthcare.

Digital transformation: Whatfix, a San Jose-based company whose platform demonstrates how to use third-party software, raised a $125 million Series E round led by Warburg Pincus.

AI power: Open source developer platform Supabase raised an $80 million Series C round. The company now positions itself as Postgres-centric and has been enjoying AI tailwinds; 10% of active databases on the service power AI use cases.

Beaming: Marvel Fusion raised €62.8 million in a Series B round to work on making commercial fusion power a reality thanks to lasers.

In the spotlight: British startup Raycast raised $30 million to bring its Mac productivity app to Windows and iOS, with a focus on “prosumer” users.

Most interesting VC and fund news this week

Acurio Ventures team — **Image Credits:** Acurio Ventures

Exit time: Peak XV Partners, the largest India and Southeast Asia-focused VC fund, realized about $1.2 billion in exits since its split from Sequoia last year, TechCrunch learned from sources.

Skyrocketing: European defense tech will attract $1 billion in VC funding this year, according to a new Dealroom report. This significant increase compared to previous years also goes along rising interest for dual-use technologies.

Sailing: Spanish VC firm All Iron Ventures rebranded as Acurio Ventures and closed a third fund of $166 million that will exclusively make “follow-on” investments.

Last but not least

Lisbon , Portugal - 2 November 2022; Garry Tan, Initialized Capital, on Venture stage during day one of Web Summit 2022 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images) — **Image Credits:** Harry Murphy/Sportsfile for Web Summit / Getty Images

Taking place on September 25 and 26, Y Combinator’s online Demo Day for its Summer 2024 batch was once again dominated by AI use cases, some particularly exciting. The format itself is changing: Going forward, there will be four Demo Days a year, and YC CEO Garry Tan said that the next one on December 4 will include an in-person element.

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Servers computers

Server Rack – 42u APC Server Rack in Detail

Published

5 mins ago

September 28, 2024

NewsAdmin

Server Rack - 42u APC Server Rack in Detail

Similar server racks are available here:
https://www.computerstructures.com/
This APC, 42 U 19 in inch server rack is usually used to house computer server equipment, allowing for dense hardware configurations without occupying excessive floorspace or requiring shelving.

This particular rack is heavy-duty and may be a seismic rated unit. .

A server rack such as this can also be used for professional audio and video equipment, including amplifiers, effects units, interfaces, headphone amplifiers, and even small scale audio mixers..

A third way to use this 42u rack is to house rack mounted equipment. This can be for industrial power, control, and even automation hardware.

This four post server rack is open in construction similar to the more traditional open-style two-post 19 inch racks.

Four square-holed mounting rails allow for support the equipment at the front and rear. Fastening equipment to the mounting rails may require cage nuts. .

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Science & Environment

Penguin chicks miraculously survive tearaway iceberg

Published

8 mins ago

September 28, 2024

NewsAdmin

Penguin chicks miraculously survive tearaway iceberg

Mothers of emperor penguin chicks leave them for weeks to hunt for food

Getty Images A mother emperor penguin with a chick at her feet standing on snowy ice — Mothers of emperor penguin chicks leave them for weeks to hunt for food

In May a huge iceberg broke off from an Antarctic ice shelf, drifted, and came to a stop – right in front of “maybe the world’s unluckiest” penguins.

Like a door shutting, the iceberg’s huge walls sealed off the Halley Bay colony from the sea.

It seemed to spell the end for hundreds of newly-hatched fluffy chicks whose mothers, out hunting for food, may no longer have been able to reach them.

Then, a few weeks ago, the iceberg shifted and got on the move again.

Scientists have now discovered that the tenacious penguins found a way to beat the colossal iceberg – satellite pictures seen exclusively by BBC News this week show life in the colony.

But scientists endured a long, anxious wait until this point – and the chicks face another potentially deadly challenge in the coming months.

The A83 iceberg broke away in May and blocked access to the penguin colony

BAS Mapping and Geographic Information Centre/Copernicus Sentinel 2024 The A83 iceberg broke away in May and blocked access to the penguin colony — The A83 iceberg broke away in May and blocked access to the penguin colony

In August, when we asked the British Antarctic Survey if the emperor penguins had survived, they couldn’t tell us.

“We will not know until the sun comes up,” said scientist Peter Fretwell.

It was still Antarctic winter so satellites couldn’t penetrate the total darkness to take pictures of the birds.

This label of “maybe the world’s unluckiest penguins” comes from Peter, who has shared the penguins’ ups and downs for years.

These creatures teeter on the edge of life and death, and this was just the latest in a string of near-misses.

The Brunt Ice Shelf has been the site of several penguin disasters – but the colonies cling on

Getty Images The Brunt Ice Shelf with a large group of emperor penguins in the foreground — The Brunt Ice Shelf has been the site of several penguin disasters – but the colonies cling on

Teetering between life and death

It was once a stable colony and with 14,000 – 25,000 breeding pairs annually, the second biggest in the world.

But in 2019, news came of a catastrophic breeding failure. Peter and his colleagues discovered that for three years the colony had failed to raise any chicks.

Baby penguins need to live on sea ice until they are strong enough to survive in open water. But climate change is warming the oceans and air, contributing to sea ice becoming more unstable and prone to sudden disintegration in storms.

With no sea ice, the chicks drowned.

A few hundred stragglers moved their home to the nearby MacDonald Ice rumples and kept the group going.

That is until A83 iceberg, which at 380 sq km (145 sq miles) is roughly the size of the Isle of Wight, calved off the Brunt Ice Shelf in May.

The Halley Bay penguin colony was once the second largest in the world

Getty Images A mother emperor penguin on ice next to five fledglings — The Halley Bay penguin colony was once the second largest in the world

Moment of truth for chicks

Peter feared a total wipe-out. It has happened to other penguin colonies – an iceberg blocked a group in the Ross Sea for several years, leading to no breeding success, he explains.

A few days ago, the sun rose again in Antarctica. The Sentinel-1 satellites that Peter uses orbited over Halley Bay, taking pictures of the ice sheet.

Peter opened the files. “I was dreading seeing that there wouldn’t be anything there at all,” he says. But, against the odds, he found what he hoped for – a brown smudge on the white ice sheet. The penguins are alive.

The brown smudge seen on satellite pictures is the penguin colony

BAS/Copernicus A satellite picture of an ice sheet with a brown smudge which is the penguin colony — The brown smudge seen on satellite pictures is the penguin colony

“It was a huge relief,” he says.

But how they survived remains a mystery. The iceberg could be around 15m (49ft) tall, meaning the penguins could not climb it.

“There’s an ice crack, so they might have been able to dive through it,” he says.

The iceberg probably extends more than 50m beneath the waves, but penguins can dive up to 500m, he explains.

“Even if there is just a small crack, they might have dived underneath it,” he says.

More jeopardy for colony awaits

The sea ice close to the colony has begun to break up, threatening chicks that cannot yet swim

Copernicus Sentinel data processed by ESA A satellite image shows the sea ice close to the colony has begun to break up, threatening chicks that cannot yet swim — The sea ice close to the colony has begun to break up, threatening chicks that cannot yet swim

The team will now wait for higher-resolution pictures that show exactly how many penguins are there.

Scientists at the British research base at Halley will visit to verify the size and health of the colony.

But Antarctica remains a rapidly changing region affected by our warming planet, as well as natural phenomena that make life difficult there.

The MacDonald Ice rumples where the penguins now live is dynamic and unpredictable, and Antarctic seasonal sea ice levels are close to record lows.

As A83 moved, it changed the ice topography, meaning the penguins’ breeding site is now “more exposed”, Peter says.

Cracks have appeared in the ice and the edge with the sea is getting closer day-by-day.

If the ice breaks up under the chicks before they are able to swim, in around December, Peter warns they will perish.

“They’re such incredible animals. It’s a bit bleak. Like many animals in Antarctica, they live on the sea ice. But it is changing, and if your habitat changes then it’s never good,” he says.

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Technology

Cosmic rays can help synchronise the global financial system

Published

21 mins ago

September 28, 2024

NewsAdmin

Cosmic ray particles capable of penetrating even the densest buildings or underground structures can provide an essentially foolproof timing system for synchronising high-frequency trades in the world’s international stock exchanges.

High-frequency trading is a method involving powerful computers that allows traders to analyse markets and make large numbers of profitable transactions each second – and in order to work, the method requires stock exchanges to be synchronised with nanosecond precision. Financial firms currently rely on time servers synchronised by GPS and other global navigation satellite systems to…

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Servers computers

INDORACK WALLMOUNT 8U WR5008S

Published

37 mins ago

September 28, 2024

NewsAdmin

INDORACK WALLMOUNT 8U WR5008S

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Technology

NYT Crossword: answers for Friday, September 27

Published

42 mins ago

September 28, 2024

NewsAdmin

The New York Times crossword puzzle can be tough! If you’re stuck, we’re here to help with a list of today’s clues and answers.

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Technology

Google Messages may get a dedicated folder for international spam

Published

1 hour ago

September 28, 2024

NewsAdmin

Google Messages may get a dedicated folder for international spam

Google has been working hard to make Android a more secure OS for everyone, attacking everything from vulnerabilities to phishing campaigns. Google Messages integrates multiple layers of security to prevent you from being a potential victim of SMS scams. Now, it seems that the company will add an additional shield to Google Messages in the form of a spam folder dedicated to international messages.

Users can receive unwanted international messages for a variety of reasons. Whether you’ve signed up for a specific service, or worse, a database hack has exposed your number. Many times, they are just commercial spam rather than phishing attacks, but that doesn’t make them any less annoying.

Google Messages’ new “cross-country” folder would capture all international spam

As spotted by code researcher Assemble Debug of Android Authority, Google would be working on solving this problem. The Mountain View giant would implement a new folder in Google Messages that would proactively “capture” international spam. According to the report, the system will check if the SMS comes from an unknown source as one of the main factors to determine if it is spam. So, you shouldn’t worry about missing messages from your friends or family in other countries.

The source spotted the folder in the latest Google Messages beta build (messages.android_20240923_01_RC00.phone_samsung_openbeta_dynamic). The name of the APK file suggests that it’s a version running on Samsung Galaxy devices. The new folder, named “cross-country” in the strings, will prevent spam SMS from reaching your main Messages view.

Apparently, you’ll still get a notification when a message reaches the cross-country spam folder. However, you have the option to opt out of receiving any alerts about it. “Conversation is in the blocked/spam/cross-country folder, skipping notification creation,” reads a string.

A new security shield against phishing and spam

Google Messages already had built-in layers of spam protection, including a normal spam folder. However, the new folder in development will be especially focused on catching international phishing or spam. This way, you can keep your main Google Messages view clean of unwanted messages while avoiding potential scams. Lastly, there is still no date for the rollout of the cross-country folder, but let’s hope Google doesn’t take long.

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