Cross-posting social app Openvibe now supports Threads, too

The decline of X (formerly Twitter) under Elon Musk has boosted engagement with alternative social networks like Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon, but it has also challenged early adopters who now have too many places to post. Naturally, some entrepreneurs are working to solve this problem with apps

Instagram upgrades DMs with focus on creators

Instagram on Friday announced an update to DMs, its direct messages inbox, which will improve the experience for those who receive a lot of inbound messages, like creators and influencers. Now, the app is introducing tools that will allow users to sort and filter their “message requests”

Former Caribou founder launches Further, a fintech that’s focused on helping people buy homes

Buying a home has always been complicated. You have to figure out how much money to put down and how that down payment will affect a monthly mortgage bill. Then there are the closing costs and fees. Kevin Bennett launched Further to try to help make the financial process easier to navigate — 

How to build a company that can save the world and generate a profit

For startups that hope to save the world, or at least make it a better place, balancing impact with profit can be tricky. “Investor and shareholder expectations are often not aligned with how hard and intractable the problems are that we face as a society,” Allison Wolff, co-founder and CEO of

Indonesia blocks Google Pixel sales after ban on iPhone 16

Indonesia has banned sales of Google Pixel smartphones for failing to meet domestic content requirements, days after blocking Apple’s iPhone 16 in Southeast Asia’s largest phone market. The Indonesian Ministry of Industry said Google’s phones cannot be traded until they comply wi

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy hints at an ‘agentic’ Alexa

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on Thursday hinted at an improved, “agentic” version of the company’s Alexa assistant — one that could take actions on a user’s behalf. “I think that the next generation of these assistants and generative AI applications will be better at not j

Decart’s AI simulates a real-time, playable version of Minecraft

Decart, an Israeli AI company that emerged from stealth today with $21 million in funding from Sequoia and Oren Zeev, has released what it’s claiming is the first playable “open-world” AI model. Called Oasis, the model, which is available for download, powers a demo on DecartR

Oura buys Sparta Science, its third acquisition in 2 years

Smart ring maker Oura on Thursday announced that it has acquired Sparta Science, a Bay Area-based health tracking startup. technewss spoke to Sparta back in 2018 at the offices of Playground Global, a key investor. The deal marks Oura's third acquisition in two years. The company purchased di

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says lack of compute capacity is delaying the company’s products

In a Reddit AMA, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted that a lack of compute capacity is one major factor preventing the company from shipping products as often as it’d like. “All of these models have gotten quite complex,” he wrote in response to a question about why OpenAI’s ne

Carl Pei says Nothing could build its own operating system

Two mobile operating systems currently comprise nearly 100% of the global smartphone market. Building one is hard, and for most phone makers, there are better uses of resources, especially when Android is right there for the taking. While it's a potential differentiator, these companies ha

Kalshi secures tens of millions in loans from VCs, eyes $50M+ round amid election betting boom, source says

Investors are rushing to throw millions at a hot startup called Kalshi as loans or even as unusual we'll-figure-it-out later cash. Kalshi is an exchange that allows people to bet, as official commodity trading contracts, on the outcomes of cultural events, from election results to how long Tayl

Ford pauses F-150 Lightning production as Tesla Cybertruck heats up

Ford will pause production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck starting in mid-November for almost two months as it struggles with decreased demand, increased competition, and losses in its electric vehicle business.  “We continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales gr

Zoox robotaxis are finally rolling out, Waymo snags more cash, and Aurora delays its self-driving truck launch

Welcome back to technewss Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click technewss Mobility! technewss Disrupt 2024 is wrapped! And what a whirlwind it was. Some highlights? Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson weighe

Meta is making a robot hand that can ‘feel’ touch

Meta says it’s partnering with sensor firm GelSight and Wonik Robotics, a South Korean robotics company, to commercialize tactile sensors for AI. The new devices aren’t meant for consumers. Rather, they’re intended for scientists. Meta says it envisions them being used to advance