Technology
Google CEO Sundar Pichai announces $120 million fund for global AI education
In a speech Saturday on the United Nations Future Summit, Google CEO Sundar Pichai called artificial intelligence “the most groundbreaking technology ever created” and announced a brand new fund to support AI education and training world wide.
Pichai highlighted 4 broad opportunities he sees for AI and sustainability, in response to the transcription of his prepared remarks — helping people access information of their native language, accelerating scientific discovery, providing alerts and tracking of climate disasters, and driving economic progress.
Pichai admitted that AI also carries some risks, for example in the shape of deepfakes, but didn’t mention the impact of AI on the climate.
He added that he desires to avoid a global “AI divide” that mirrors the present digital divide, which is why Google is making a $120 million Global AI Opportunity Fund through which the corporate will “bring AI education and training to communities around the world,” delivered in local languages, in partnership with local nonprofits and NGOs.
In the identical context, Pichai called for “smart product regulation that mitigates harm and resists national protectionist impulses” — otherwise, he predicted, regulations could “deepen the AI divide and limit the benefits of AI.”
Technology
Outboard motor startup Pure Watercraft is selling for parts
One promising player within the growing electric jet ski market is now not available and is being sold for parts.
Pure Watercraft was founded in 2011 with the goal of replacing gas-powered outboards with all-electric engines. We profiled the corporate in 2016 when it began taking pre-orders for its first industrial outboards, and in 2020, Pure raised $23 million to ramp up production. GM even acquired a 25% stake in Pure as a part of its big investment in electric infrastructure.
The company offered an electrical outboard and battery that may very well be mounted to a ship like several other outboard, or as a package cope with a rigid dinghy or pontoon. With prices starting from $21,600 for just the drive to just about $100,000 for the complete boat, Pure’s products were probably not cheaper than gas options, but they were definitely much cleaner and quieter—something boaters were increasingly opting for. (Not to say the dearth of gas costs.)
But the tough market has seemingly put a damper on Pure’s ambitions. The company entered bankruptcy (a style of alternative type of bankruptcy) in July, filing paperwork in King County, Washington, where it is headquartered. In August, it also announced a planned multimillion-dollar factory in West Virginia we cannot move forward.
The documents list a big selection of creditors, from individual investors to lending banks to the most important, GM, which put in about $35 million. But it wasn’t just money: Pure’s assets included about $25 million in “production support,” “know-how,” name licensing, and other types of noncash assets. (Such tangible investments are fairly common.)
On the assets side, we discover $3.6 million in “finished products,” presumably assembled engines and batteries manufactured by Pure, even though it’s unclear why that wasn’t distributed to the 900-plus individuals who put down the cash (or whether it’s going to be refunded). It also lists $25.5 million in “raw materials,” however it’s unclear what that may be—other documents detailing the sale of assets like boats and batteries don’t come near that quantity.
TechCrunch reached out to each Pure and GM for comment on the matter. GM has not provided any substantive response, and Pure has yet to reply.
The electric jet ski industry is growing but still in its infancy, with startups like Candela, Navier, FleetZero and Zin Boats all working toward cleaner, more efficient waterways and infrastructure.
Technology
Is Your City a Sunset City? This Interactive Map Will Tell You –
Tougaloo College’s interactive map permits you to explore cities and communities across the United States, and discover in the event that they are considered sunset cities.
Some interactive map from Tougaloo College means that you can study cities and communities within the United States and discover in the event that they are considered sunset cities.
According to Britannicasunset in US history is a city that excluded people of color, most frequently African Americans, when the sun went down. The way people enforced these “rules” ranged from collective violence similar to public lynchings, discriminatory laws, and discrimination in open housing.
The map is inspired by a database introduced by the late historian and sociologist James W. Loewen. He is the writer of the classic bestseller. Tougaloo’s History and Social Justice section has included what describes as “the only cities in the world with a twilight register.”
“Sunset Town isn’t just a place where something racist happened,” researchers write on the database’s website. “It’s an entire community (and even a county) that was intentionally ‘all white’ for decades.”
The researchers add that “All white” is in quotation marks because some towns historically “allowed one black family to remain while expelling the rest.” They also indicate that some sunset towns also barred Chinese, Jews, Mexicans, Native Americans, and in some cases, Mormons.
How to read a map
For the interactive map, users should hover over a state to see an alphabetical list. The map key consists of six colours used as dots to discover cities which are definitely, probably, possibly, or unlikely to be sunset cities.
Black dots indicate black cities or municipalities. Places on the interactive map with a red flag indicate places of special importance.
On at first glance, the Midwest and The Plains region seems to have more dots indicating definite, probable, and possible sunset cities. The map shows that there just isn’t a single state in America that doesn’t have a suspected sunset city.
As for black cities and towns, the ten listed are Pembroke and Brooklyn, Illinois. Expose, Mound Bayou, New Africa, Renova, and Winstonville, all in Mississippi. Maryville, South Carolina; Martinsville, Indiana; and North Amityville, New York.
Technology
Adam Neumann’s Flow Startup Launches Co-Living Community in Saudi Arabia
Flow, Adam Neumann’s co-living startup, has opened a 238-apartment complex in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Forbes has some details. The opening included an Aztec-style hot chocolate ceremony and bags reading “holy s— I live.” Rent for furnished units starts at $3,500 a month and includes hotel services like laundry and housekeeping, in addition to amenities like swimming pools, coed gyms (unusual in Saudi Arabia) and bowling alleys. Flow is constructing three other properties with almost 1,000 apartments in Riyadh.
The company’s first, less luxurious properties opened in April in Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
Flow raised $350 million from Andreessen Horowitz in 2022. The funding raised questions given the troubled history of Neumann’s previous startup, WeWork. Once valued at $47 billion, WeWork filed for bankruptcy protection last yr and was eventually acquired by Yardi, an actual estate group, for $450 million.
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