Timnit Gebru, a former leading artificial intelligence computer scientist that worked at Google before the firm fired her, has just set up her own firm, the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR). Google had fired Gebru when she published academic papers denouncing the tech giant’s AI’s work on large language models that help retrieve answers to controversial search inquiries. The firm, an independent artificial intelligence research institute, was awarded $3.7 million in funding from the MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kapor Center, Open Society Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Her company is
In response to a Black entrepreneur who said VCs are racist, venture capitalist and entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale attributed disparities in venture capital investing to “average black culture” and urged the Black community to step up their game. Funding to Black entrepreneurs in the U.S. hit nearly $1.8 billion through the first half of 2021 — a more than fourfold increase compared to the same time frame last year. Led by funding to early-stage startups, 2021’s half-year total has already surpassed the $1 billion invested in Black founders in all of 2020 and the
The lack of diversity in the tech world continues to garner headlines and raise questions about the lack of gender representation in the tech workforce. For Latina engineers, the path to success continues to be an uphill battle. Here’s a list of Latina engineers that need to be celebrated Scarlin Hernandez Hernandez is an aerospace engineer working on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. As a spacecraft engineer, an important part of her work is to test the ground systems that will command and control the telescope after it has been
Purdue University, the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research and a coalition of other schools have launched the Blue Integrated Partnerships in a bid to support minority researchers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Blue Integrated Partnerships will round up underserved minority students and provide them an opportunity to partake in research projects and workshops at Purdue University and other participating institutions. The overarching goal is to ensure students are ready to pursue their academic ventures. Through the program, more minority students will be given support with the aid of a $2.8 million
Yesterday, we learned that Kimberly Bryant, the founder of Black Girls Code, had been removed from leading the nonprofit. In fact, she allegedly learned that she had been pushed out of her company after she lost access to her computer and email account. In a statement, its board said it’s currently investigating allegations of “workplace impropriety,” but Bryant remains a staff member. Not many news outlets were covering the situation, and we came to this shocking revelation from a series of tweets that Bryant tweeted out herself. She wrote: “Press
Alhaji M. Sow, an 18-year-old sophomore studying aeronautical science at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), was shot and killed during a confrontation with officers on December 3. Now his family is reportedly questioning the use of force on their son. Here’s a breakdown of what we know so far: Around 10 p.m. on Friday, December 3, Melbourne police reported officers were called to the campus after news of the sophomore brandishing a knife and allegedly assaulting students with it. Authorities report Florida tech campus security confronted Sow inside the Roberts Hall, where investigators say he refused
A new report has found that the number of S&P 500 seats held by Black women has increased by more than 25% this year, following a 16% gain in 2020. The report conducted by the ISS Corporate Solutions, the data and analytics provider that advises companies on corporate governance matters, also found that the increase for Black women is twice the rate for women overall. Despite this, they still only hold 4% of S&P 500 board seats, the data shows. In November, Etsy Inc., Caesars Entertainment Inc., and HP Inc. were among companies adding Black
Black Girls Code founder Kimberly Bryant has been removed from leading the nonprofit. In a statement, its board said it’s currently investigating allegations of “workplace impropriety,” but Bryant still remains a staff member. In a tweet published on Tuesday, the tech leader said: “Press release: so it’s 3 days before Christmas and you wake up to discover the organization YOU created and built from the ground up has been taken away by a rogue board with no notification.” Many have rushed to her support with some people asking how they
Paylend, a Kenyan fintech startup focused on providing access to finance and digitizing MSMEs in Kenya, announced it has raised $2 million seed investment. The funding came from Next Chymia Consulting HK Limited, an Asian-based company that provides global entities with blockchain applications, consultancy services, and training. Paylend’s mission is to support MSMEs across Africa to solve access to continuous capital while bridging the consumer data gap by connecting consumers to products and services. Paylend’s model enables consumer data collection that allows for a thorough understanding of consumer needs and
The technology industry has long been criticized for overlooking Black and Latino founders, but it seems that since George Floyd’s death some companies and investors have taken action. Black and Hispanic tech startup funding ticked up in Florida and Georgia this year, following an influx of investors jumping on the bandwagon of supporting diverse communities. Data from Crunchbase compiled for Reuters showed startups with a Black or Hispanic founder got 3.5% of the record $311 billion U.S. venture funding in the year to Dec. 16, up from an average of 2.5%
