Mukuru, a pan-African digital payments company, is preparing to expand its strategy across the continent as the rise of online transactions grows. The company currently serves 17 million users in Africa, Asia, and Europe, refining over $3.5 to $4 billion in payments annually across Africa, as stated by TechPoint. “Customers have become more comfortable using digital means, network, and infrastructure,” Chief Executive Officer Andy Jury told Bloomberg. What does Mukuru do? Mukuru Ltd. is a digital payments platform founded in 2004 by Zimbabwean entrepreneur Rob Burrell. It started as a
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Nigeria has announced new plans to collaborate with technology companies to reduce potential harm from AI. NHRC’s Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu SAN, spoke about the duality of AI at a recent webinar hosted by the International Network for Corporate Social Responsibility (IN-CSR) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). Nairametrics reported that Ojukwu, the leader of Nigeria’s human rights agency, said, “the NHRC will leverage tech companies to protect Nigerians from harm and discrimination associated with AI usage.” Working with tech companies
Kevin Hart is working with the Fifteen Percent Pledge to support Black founders using AI. The AI Illumination Grant will teach Black-owned entrepreneurs how to use AI to expand their businesses. The Fifteen Percent Pledge is partnering with Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz’s (A16z) Cultural Leadership Fund to launch the grant, according to AFROTECH. “We know AI can seem intimidating, but these dynamic webinars will break it down and empower you to embrace this powerful technology with confidence,” the Fifteen Percent Pledge website says. The AI Illumination Grant Qualified
Over 400 Hollywood creatives, including actors and directors, have signed an open letter calling for the government not to scale back on copyright laws related to artificial intelligence. Variety reported that the list included names such as Ava Duvernay, Janelle Monáe, Michaela Coel, Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo, and hundreds of others. “We firmly believe that America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries,” they said in the letter to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy last week. Why are Hollywood
Google has agreed to pay $28 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that it favored white and Asian employees over other racial and ethnic groups by offering them higher salaries and placing them on faster career tracks. Reuters reports that the settlement was reached after lawyers agreed to exclude Black workers from the class. A lawyer for the plaintiff told POCIT that a Black employee pursuing a separate pay equity case against Google requested the exclusion so she could pursue those claims independently. The Case Against Google The lawsuit was
Michael Seibel, one of Silicon Valley’s most influential Black entrepreneurs and investors, announced on Wednesday that he is transitioning to a “partner emeritus” role at Y Combinator (YC) after more than 12 years with the startup accelerator. “This role allows me to continue to do office hours with the 1000+ companies I’ve worked with in the past decade while giving me the free time to explore new adventures,” he shared on X. “It also means that the W25 batch was my last batch funding new YC companies.” Garry Tan, CEO
Megan Garcia is seeking to hold Google and AI firm Character.AI responsible for the death of her 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer III. Character.AI, an interactive chatbot platform, lets users design or select lifelike personas with which to communicate. Sewell developed a deep attachment to a chatbot he named “Dany,” inspired by Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen. His mother alleges that his obsessive use of the chatbot, along with the platform’s addictive design, worsened his mental health and led to his suicide in February 2024. “The inventors and the companies, the corporations that
Latine workers in California are at high risk of losing their jobs due to growing automation, the use of technology to perform repetitive tasks without human involvement. According to a new report by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Latine workers are overrepresented in occupations most vulnerable to automation, such as agricultural laborers, construction laborers, landscaping workers and cooks. “Latino workers face significant challenges as their job responsibilities become more technical and analytical,” the report states. “Digital literacy and skills are low among Latino workers, and many
Rocket scientist Aisha Bowe will bring plant samples from Winston-Salem State University to the first Blue Origin all-female mission to space in the spring. Odyssey, WSSU’s space science and operations firm, will launch an innovative suborbital space experiment aboard Blue Origin’s All-Female Mission, NS-31, according to a press release. This is the HBCU’s first suborbital spaceflight experiment for the WSSU’s Astrobotany research program, which is part of the Department of Biological Sciences. Experiment for the Future of Space Agriculture and Food Security Students will analyze crop plants’ early molecular stress
Calaxy, a Black-owned Web3 social marketplace, announced its $1 million fund to give creators more independence. The social marketplace, where users can produce more purposeful experiences to interact with their fans, was founded by tech entrepreneur Solo Ceesay and NBA star Spencer Dinwiddie. Calaxy, short for “The Creator’s Galaxy,” allows each creator to mint their own cryptocurrencies that their fans can buy to interact with their economy or trade value for a social media engagement. In 2022, it raised $26 million in strategic funding co-led by Animoca Brands and HBAR Foundation with
