Snap and Zoom’s mass layoffs have impacted workers in various roles across the company, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) teams at both tech companies. Snap’s Layoffs Snap, the maker of Snapchat and Bitmoji, has laid off around 500 employees this month. The layoffs were most often conducted over brief video calls. According to Business Insider, engineers, content moderation teams, and a small number of people doing trust and safety work were impacted. This included several people working on a team within HR that helped with internal employee analytics, including surveys
Black-owned StatusPRO has reached a historic milestone with a $20 million Series A funding round from Google Ventures (GV), making it one of the largest Series A of any VR gaming company. StatusPRO StatusPRO was founded by Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins and Troy Jones, who each had a unique journey that propelled them into the tech space as Black co-founders of a budding startup. Leaning on their experiences as former athletes, the duo wanted to help others better understand what it takes to compete at the highest levels from an athlete’s first point of view. Their vision manifested
Cardi B, 21 Savage, and Nicki Minaj have voiced their support for the No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas And Unotherized Duplications (No AI FRAUD) Act. Nearly 300 artists, actors, and performers expressed their support for the bipartisan legislation that would protect against nonconsensual AI voice clones and deepfakes, Billboard reports. No AI FRAUD Act The new bill establishes a federal framework to protect Americans’ right to their likeness and voice against AI-generated fakes and forgeries. It was introduced in the US House on January 10th. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar introduced the No
Fearless Fund has urged a US appeals court to allow its grant program to resume, which awards funding to businesses run by Black women. The Fearless Fund Story To Date The American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) attacked Fearless Fund in August 2023 after it claimed the fund’s grant was racially discriminatory. The AAER, founded by Edward Blum, who was behind the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling, accused the grant program of violating Section 1081 of the Civil Rights Act of 1886. The US District, Thomas V. Thrash, initially ruled that Fearless Fund
This year’s Black History Month theme, African Americans and the Arts, invites us to delve into a rich cultural heritage. This month, we will be celebrating the diverse artistic contributions of African Americans across multiple domains and spotlighting the intersection of Black arts and technology. The Origins Of Black History Month Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) and announced Negro History Week in 1925. Woodson had hoped to raise awareness of African Americans’ contributions to civilization, and the event
Team Genius Squad, a toy brand created by 11-year-old entrepreneur and author Ava N. Simmons, has launched its new STEM toy line in Whole Foods Market stores. Team Genius Squad Simmons, also known as the STEM Princess, created Team Genius Squad to promote STEM awareness and encourage individuals to believe in themselves, identify their uniqueness, and pursue their goals. Last year, in 2023, the team decided to start in-person events and designed a STEM Mobile Lab to travel across the country. They then launched their own STEM toys, with 15
Aster has announced its $2.4 million pre-seed round to build a platform to enable women’s health providers to deliver materially better care. Aster The United States is the most dangerous and expensive high-income country for childbirth, especially for Black and Indigenous women. Black women face a nine times higher risk of maternal death than their white counterparts, regardless of wealth. The Aster app was created to help women keep track of their pregnancy, communicate with a care team on the app, and book appointments and remote monitoring. FiFi Kara co-founded the app after witnessing her
A group of Democratic lawmakers has called on the Justice Department (DOJ) to pause funding for predictive policing technology amid discrimination concerns. Predictive policing uses computer systems to analyze large sets of data, including historical crime data, to help decide where to deploy police or identify individuals who are purportedly more likely to commit or be a victims of a crime. In a letter released Monday, Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Yvette Clarke, and five other senators asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to halt all DOJ grants. The Concerns With Predictive Policing Technology The letter
Google has purchased Edlyft’s AI tutor – a generative AI co-pilot for college students studying computer science. Erika Hairston and Arnelle Ansong, two long-time friends, founded Edlyft in 2020 to support Black college students and adults enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Their digital platform connects learners to inclusive mentorship, online group tutoring, live and recorded sessions, and personalized study tools, enabling them to succeed in their classes and secure high-paying jobs. Over the past two years, Edlyft collaborated with Google through their Google Tech Exchange, teaching applied data structures to Historically
OpenAI has responded to Congresswoman Barbara Lee and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) after they flagged the lack of diversity on its board. The CBC’s Letter In mid-December, CBC Chairs Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and Lee sent a letter to OpenAI to diversify its board after the ouster and return of CEO Sam Altman. Altman’s return led to the departure of the board’s only two women, Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley. Thus, the tech company had only white male members on its board. In the letter, the pair outlined A’s increasing advancement, which creates
