Samuel George, Ghana’s minister for communication, digital technology, and innovations, has given Starlink one month to comply with national regulations. The satellite internet service has been operating in Ghana since August 2024. However, it does not have a physical office or customer support system, and the government wants that to change, as stated by Connecting Africa. Starlink in Ghana “Starlink must establish a local office in Ghana to ensure effective communication and decision-making,” George said. “Starlink must comply with Ghana’s regulatory framework, including licensing and tax requirements,” he added. The
The Sidemen, Europe’s largest YouTube collective, has co-founded Upside, a venture capital firm backing consumer tech startups. The group, which includes KSI, Miniminter, Zerkaa, TBJZL, Behzinga, Vikkstar123, and W2S, has amassed over 50 million followers and 50 billion views across all social media channels. The Sidemen’s new venture As stated by The Times, they’ve launched Upside VC, using some of their own mone, and have made 12 investments between £100,000 ($ 133,700) and £500,000 ($666,880) in companies, including Howbout, Mile, and Nimbi. Companies supported by Upside will not only get finance
Fashion-tech startup Doji raised $14 million in seed funding, days after publicly launching on the App Store. Techcrunch reports that the funding led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Seven Seven Six Ventures, will be used to upgrade Doji’s AI models. “At Doji we’re building the most personal way to shop for fashion online. Create your photorealistic AI likeness and try on real clothes. Doji is designed to encourage play – helping you feel confident, explore new looks and find pieces you’ll love,” Doji’s founder, Dorian Dargan, said on LinkedIn. What is Doji?
On Wednesday, May 12, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok repeatedly made references to “white genocide” in South Africa in unrelated posts on X, often bringing up the topic without any prompt from users. While it’s unclear what caused the apparent glitch, Musk, who grew up in South Africa, has a long history of promoting the debunked conspiracy theory of a “white genocide” in the country. Grok tells X users about white genocide The posts originated from Grok’s official X account, which replies with AI-generated responses when tagged by users. The AI
Streamer Kai Cenat has launched Streamer University, a weekend event aimed at aspiring content creators. He first teased the idea during a Twitch stream on February 13, revealing plans to rent out a university campus for the experience. On Tuesday, the 23-year-old unveiled the project with a Harry Potter–themed Instagram video captioned, “Enroll Now.” According to The Independent, the enrollment site received one million applications within minutes, overwhelming the site and causing error messages for some users. Kai Cenat’s Streaming university Applicants successfully enrolled in the university will spend a
Meta is facing backlash in Nigeria after a user found an in-app notification that was described as discriminatory. Techpoint reported that Nigerian Instagram user Daniel Adebowale shared a screenshot of his conversation partner on social media, telling him that the user “appeared to be in Nigeria” and urged the user to avoid sharing personal information unless they knew the person. The post caused an uproar on social media, as several Nigerian users accused Meta of unfairly targeting the country. Meta, however, denied the allegation, explaining that the alert was part
Atlanta-based entrepreneur and activist Kiandria Demone is leading a campaign to prevent a white Minnesota woman from receiving over $750,000 in donations after she was filmed hurling a racial slur at a young Black child. The incident Shiloh Hendrix was caught on camera calling a five-year-old Black boy the n-word while at a playground in Rochester, Minnesota. She later launched a campaign on GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding platform known for hosting fundraisers for Daniel Penny, Luigi Mangione, and Kyle Rittenhouse. She claimed she needed the money for her safety and
A new dataset in the form of maps highlighted how many African workers are indirectly employed in the tech sector. These employees tend to do content moderation, customer service, and data annotation for AI models, as well as other jobs. Tech firms that provide outsourced digital labor for big tech companies tend to be discreet about their staff. This allows tech companies to distance themselves legally and ethically from their employees, experts explained to Rest of World. African workforces building AI The map shows the flow of data and knowledge
Meta is threatening to shut down Facebook and Instagram in Nigeria after losing a court appeal over $290 million in fines tied to regulatory and data privacy violations, the BBC reports. $290M in fines The showdown began in 2021 when Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) launched an investigation into WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy. The agency, along with the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and the national advertising regulator, accused Meta of multiple infractions. These include sharing user data without authorization, discriminating against Nigerian users compared to other
Cluley, an AI tool that helps users “cheat” in real life, raised $5.3 million in seed funding backed by Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures. Chungin “Roy” Lee, CEO of Cluey, went viral in March for creating an AI tool that allegedly “cheats” in job interviews. He was suspended from Columbia for posting content from a disciplinary hearing, as stated by the university. His new venture, Cluely, allows users to analyze what’s on their screens, hear audio, and suggest answers to questions. This is all done without detection from the other
