Tech Meme

Ethan Millman / Rolling Stone: Over 100 artists including Tom Morello call for a live event facial recognition ban and pledge to boycott venues using the tech, citing privacy and bias risks  —  The artists are among 100 other performers and venues calling for the ban of facial recognition technology at live events Lees verder op Tech Meme

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: EvaluAgent, which is developing quality assurance testing software for call centers, raised a $20M Series A led by PeakSpan, bringing its total funding to $21M  —  After spending more than a decade in the customer experience industry, three friends, Jaime Scott, Michelle Dinsmore and Alex Richards … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Cory Weinberg / The Information: Sources: Reddit’s revenue rose 38% YoY to ~$670M in 2022, a steep drop from 2021’s 100%+ growth, adding to IPO uncertainties and suggesting a $3.3B+ valuation  —  A stark business reality faced Reddit before a user uprising engulfed its site this month: slowing sales growth. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Drew Harwell / Washington Post: Internal records undercut claims that Twitter censored pro-Trump views before the Capitol riot and show a reluctance to suspend Trump’s account until January 8  —  In the internal video call from Jan. 5, 2021, workers were told not to take tougher action against a growing wave of tweets they feared were veiled incitements to violence. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Anna Irrera / Bloomberg: JPMorgan expands its JPM Coin, launched in 2019 for USD transactions, to euro payments; the bank has used the token to process ~$300B in transactions to date  —  JPMorgan Chase & Co. expanded one of the most high-profile projects to bring blockchain technology to traditional banking … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Katie Roof / Bloomberg: Accelerant, which launched a marketplace for insurance underwriters, raised $150M led by Barings at a $2.4B valuation, up from $2.2B in 2022  —  Barings LLC is leading a $150 million investment in Accelerant, valuing the insurance-related business at $2.4 billion. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Ashley Capoot / CNBC: Precision Neuroscience, founded by a Neuralink co-founder, claims to have conducted its first in-human clinical study to map brain signals via a neural implant  —  – Founded in 2021 by a co-founder of Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface startup, Precision Neuroscience … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Bloomberg: A mistakenly released FDIC doc lists SVB customers before its collapse: Sequoia with $1B, Beijing-based Kanzhun with $902.9M, Altos Labs with $680.3M, and more  —  When federal regulators stepped in to backstop all of Silicon Valley Bank’s deposits, they saved thousands of small tech startups … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Sandali Handagama / CoinDesk: Court filing: the US SEC agreed to forego $30M of bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi’s $50M fine, for not registering with the regulator, until investors are repaid  —  The regulator agreed to forego the payment, owed as part of a settlement of charges against BlockFi, to maximize and speed up payments to investors. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Yuka Hayashi / Wall Street Journal: The Biden administration broadens eligibility for federal Chips Act subsidies to include companies providing tools, chemicals, and other semiconductor supplies  —  Biden administration expands eligibility for federal subsidies to semiconductor factory suppliers Lees verder op Tech Meme