An Atlanta-area Black-owned tech company founded by Derek Bailey hopes to change the delivery industry with the Exceeder app. Atlanta’s All-Electric Vehicle Delivery Service Exceeder is an all-electric vehicle delivery service offering sustainable electric SUVs, pickup trucks, and scooters for rent. At the heart of its innovation is the Proteus Generator, a patented gas-to-electric-circulation generator that transforms fuel into low-carbon electricity, redefining recharging for electric vehicles. “The Proteus generator basically puts the power plant onboard the vehicle, eliminating the need to plug into an external power source,” Bailey told Digital
Amazon-owned Ring will stop allowing police departments to request user doorbell camera footage without a warrant or subpoena following concerns over privacy and racial profiling. Ring’s police partnerships The Ring Doorbell Cam is a wire-free video doorbell that can be installed into people’s front doors and homes. Amazon acquired Ring in 2015 for a reported $1 billion. In 2019, Amazon Ring partnered with police departments nationwide through their Neighbors app. Police could access Ring’s Law Enforcement Neighborhood Portal, which allowed them to view a map of the cameras’ locations and directly
Grammy-award-winning producer Jermaine Dupri and his label So So Def Recordings have announced a new multi-year partnership with Create Music Group. Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def Recordings So So Def Recordings was founded by Dupri in 1993, and since then, he has worked with many successful artists at the start of their careers. He produced Usher’s diamond-certified album “Confessions” and Mariah Carey’s platinum album “Emancipation of Mimi.” As part of the new deal, So So Def Recordings will bring all of its recordings, publishing, and back catalog to Create Music
Ingenium has opened applications for its new Black and African Canadian Scientific and Technological Innovations Fellowship. Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation Ingenium, Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, is responsible for Canada’s national scientific and technological collection, which includes over two million archival items and more than 150,000 artifacts. It also oversees three national museums in Ottowa, including the Canada Science and Technology Museum, where the fellowship will occur. The fellowship was developed in partnership with the Black Canadian Studies Association with the help of founding donors Dr. Gervan Fearon
Paul Judge And Marcelo Claure Are Raising $200M For Their Open Opportunity Fund For Diverse Startups
After buying SoftBank’s Open Opportunity Fund, Paul Judge and Marcelo Claure have announced plans to raise a $200 million fund. SoftBank Group is a Japanese multinational investment holding company focusing on investment management. Judge and Claure recently acquired the firm’s $100 million Open Opportunity Fund 1, $150 million Fund 2, and the entire portfolio. They initially planned to increase Fund 2 to $200 million, which they are now doing. A New $200M Fund The two are now raising the second Open Opportunity Fund, as they want to replicate the same winning recipe with an eye toward
Two computer science majors, Leslie Jones-Dove and Devshi Mehrotra from the University of Chicago, have raised $3 million for their AI platform, JusticeText. Making the criminal justice system fairer Jones-Dove and Mehrotra developed their idea during a class project that they both worked on during their university years. Following protests after the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, the duo decided to interlink their interest in technology and the criminal justice system. “Across the country, there are a number of public defender’s offices where they’re underpaid and overworked,” James-Dove told AfroTech. “It means that they have a
Byron Allen, the owner of Allen Media Group (AMG), has announced he plans to appeal a judge’s dismissal of his lawsuit against McDonald’s. The Lawsuits Allen first filed a $10 billion federal lawsuit against McDonald’s in 2021, alleging its advertising practices perpetuate racial stereotyping and violate civil rights laws at the federal and state levels. Allen then sued McDonald’s again in 2023, claiming the corporation had lied about its commitment to Black-owned media. In May 2023, Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks Inc. and Weather Group LLC filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s seeking damages
Billionaires Mark Cuban and Michael Rubin agreed to invest $300,000 in Black-owned AI startup Bot-It, on a recent episode of ABC’s Shark Tank. Founded by Maurice Bachelor and Joel Griffith, Bot-It lets users automate online tasks like booking appointments, making restaurant reservations, and even securing concert tickets. Bot-It Bot-It is a new service that introduces web automation to everyday people without requiring any coding or technical skills to set up. Bachelor conceived the idea after seeing a friend struggle with completing an online task, and after searching the internet for
After Elon Musk’s comments criticizing diversity initiatives, Tesla has removed language about having a majority-minority workforce. Tesla has omitted a line from its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In its 10-K filing last month, a comprehensive report on Tesla’s activities throughout 2023, the company removed a line it used a year ago. The original line read, “With a majority-minority workforce, empowering our employee resource groups to take charge in driving initiatives that attract, develop, and retain our passionate workforce is vital to our continued success.” What Has Musk Said?
In recognition of this year’s Black History Month theme, African Americans and the Arts, we will explore the intersection of Black arts and tech throughout February. The origins of digital art can be traced back to ideologies present in the first half of the 20th century. While artists were keenly interested in innovations, the rich potential of modern technologies as tools in art only began to be explored as access increased in the 1950s and beyond. Digital art is a term used to describe art that is made or presented
