Brand new Techish! Hosts Abadesi and Michael dive into: Starbucks and Apple are in their flop era Women on Bumble no longer have to make the first move Bank of America employees to strike following death from overwork The decline of the UK Listen on Spotify or Apple podcast also. Watch On YouTube
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed a lawsuit against SoLo Funds, an online lending platform, over its lending practices. According to the CFPB, SoLo Funds used deceptive tactics to ensure almost every borrower paid hidden fees despite advertising zero-cost loans. Misleading Tactics and Hidden Fees SoLo Funds markets itself as a consumer-friendly alternative to high-cost, short-term loans. However, the CFPB alleges that SoLo’s practice of requesting borrowers pay “tips” and “donations” hides the actual cost of their loans. The lawsuit alleges that from March 2018 through December 2022, SoLo received
Donna Summer’s estate has reached a settlement with Kanye “Ye” West and Ty Dolla $ign over claims that they unlawfully used Summer’s classic hit “I Feel Love.” According to Rolling Stone, the settlement comes after the estate accused the artists of “blatant theft” in their song “Good (Don’t Die)” from the album Vultures 1. Legal Battle and Settlement The lawsuit, filed in February by Summer’s estate, alleged that West and Ty Dolla $ign, whose legal name is Tyrone Griffin Jr., copied significant portions of Summer’s iconic track without permission. The legal complaint detailed
El Salvador, the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, has mined nearly 474 Bitcoins worth approximately $29 million using geothermal energy from the Tecapa volcano, according to Nasdaq. Harnessing Volcanic Power for Bitcoin Mining Since September 2021, El Salvador has been leveraging the geothermal power of the Tecapa volcano to fuel its Bitcoin mining operations. This initiative, a collaboration with prominent mining firms like Foundry USA, Antpool, ViaBTC, F2Pool, and Binance Pool, taps into the 102 megawatts generated by the state-owned geothermal power plant. Of this, 1.5 megawatts are
Break Through Tech AI, the largest program of its kind in the U.S., aims to support college students from underrepresented backgrounds into top tech careers. Specifically, the program helps underrepresented groups, including lower-income, Latina and Black women and nonbinary students, gain the skills they need to get jobs in data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Expanding Access to Elite Tech Opportunities Hosted and supported by institutions such as MIT, UCLA, and Cornell Tech, Break Through Tech AI is free and focuses on students from public institutions and historically Black colleges.
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly becoming a vital tool for U.S. microbusinesses, particularly among Black owners who are adopting these technologies at impressive rates. According to GoDaddy’s Venture Forward 2024 survey, approximately 50% of microbusiness operators have experimented with GenAI tools recently. This statistic is even more significant among young and Black microbusiness owners, who are 50% more likely to leverage GenAI compared to their white counterparts. A Tool for Leveling the Playing Field The Venture Forward survey highlights that 44% of micro businesses see GenAI as a game-changer, allowing
British legal tech company Definely has raised a $7 million (£5.6 million) Series A investment round to advance its GenAI proposition that helps draft, edit, and understand legal documents. Last year, the Microsoft- and Google-backed company released Vault. This tool leverages AI and OCR technology to analyze and extract key information and clauses from an organization’s internal contract repository. Vault then makes this information readily available to users directly within their documents, exactly when and where it’s needed. One Of The 50 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies In The UK Founded by two former
Backpack Healthcare, an online pediatric mental healthcare provider, has announced a $14 million Series A funding round. Backpack Healthcare Backpack Healthcare, formerly Youme Healthcare, is a tech company that offers an app and teletherapy services designed to provide accessible and inclusive mental health support for young individuals. Led by founder and CEO Hafeezah Muhammad, Backpack Healthcare aims to make a positive impact on the lives of children and adolescents struggling with mental health challenges. With studies finding that 1 in 6 children have a mental, emotional or behavioural health disorder, along with more than
Black-owned music tech startup AudioStrip has won grant funding from the British government’s ‘AI in the Music Industry‘ Innovate UK fund. AudioStrip AudioStrip is a free online tool musicians use to split vocals from the backing music in audio files. It uses AI and Deep Learning, trained on large music datasets, to give users the best results and allow them to separate music quickly. The website uses the music source separation results from research. It is intended to make the AI models easier to use for musicians without requiring them to have
Professor Rose-Margaret Ekeng-Itua has become the world’s first Black woman to hold a PhD in Cybernetics, according to The Citizen. A PhD In Cybernetics Ekeng-Itua earned a degree in Cybernetics from the University of Reading in the UK under the supervision of her first PhD supervisor, Prof. Kevin Warwick, also known as Captain Cyborg. Cybernetics is the science of how information is communicated in machines and pieces of electronic equipment, compared with how information is communicated in the brain and nervous system. “Every challenge became fuel for my determination,” she said in an
