Lagos-based health tech company Platos Health raised a 1$.4 million pre-seed round to scale its AI-driven metabolic health platform, Platos Monitor. The startup allows people to monitor their body fat and other health metrics from their homes, according TechCrunch. Google led the round for Startups with help from Invest International and a group of angel investors from Google, Tesla, and Unicredit. The company will use the funding to roll out its hardware medical-grade device, Plato’s Body Monitor, in Nigeria. What is Platos Health? Platos Health is a preventive health platform
Google has agreed to pay $50 million in a racial bias lawsuit against Black staff workers. On Thursday evening, a preliminary settlement covering over 4,000 Google employees in California and New York was filed in Oakland, California federal court, which requires a judge’s approval, according to Reuters. The lawsuit In 2022, the plaintiff, April Curley, proposed a class action lawsuit from the California Civil Rights Department, stating that management gave opportunities only for lower-ranked roles, paid them less, gave them lower performance ratings, and stopped them from opportunities for development
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
Kenyan logistics startup Leta has secured $5 million in seed funding to expand its AI-powered platform, which helps businesses move goods more efficiently across Africa, TechCrunch reports. The round was led by European venture capital firm Speedinvest, with backing from Google’s Africa Investment Fund and Africa-focused climate tech fund Equator. Streamling Logistics with AI Founded in 2021 by Nick Joshi, Leta is tackling Africa’s logistics challenges by streamlining supply chains, reducing inefficiencies, and helping businesses save time and money. Its platform integrates with businesses’ sales and ordering systems, pulling real-time data
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
DEI Under Fire is our monthly series that keeps you up-to-date on the latest DEI announcements and changes from the nation’s leading companies. This month, Reuters reported that some retailers, including Target, Amazon, and Tractor Supply, have ended their DEI initiatives in writing but are quietly maintaining select efforts, like funding LGBTQ+ Pride and anti-racism events and backing resource groups for underrepresented staff workers. Here are some of the latest changes we think you should know about. Remember to revisit this page throughout March for updates. Companies are listed in
Michael and Abadesi are back for this week’s Techish! Abadesi shares the highs and lows of writing and producing her first play, including crowdfunding on Kickstarter. They also chat about Google’s push for 60-hour workweeks in the race to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), why entrepreneurship is now all about distribution, and how social media is shaping the publishing industry. Chapters00:00 Fundraising on Kickstarter03:48 Google Pushes 60-Hour Workweeks In AI Race09:51 Corporate Bosses Hate Their Home Lives?15:48 Vibe Coding And Why Audience Wins in Business19:53 Social Media Has Changed The Publishing
Apple Maps will rename The Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America to adhere to executive orders made by President Donald Trump, as stated by Bloomberg. The company will also introduce the name change to all users globally. This change was part of a series of over 100 directives and executive actions signed on Inauguration Day. One of these orders included renaming the Gulf of Mexico, which is made up of the US, Cuba, and Mexico, the Gulf of America. This came after Google made similar changes. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had
DEI Under Fire is our monthly series that keeps you up-to-date on the latest DEI announcements and changes from the nation’s leading companies. The landscape of DEI has changed significantly over the past couple of months in the US. Some companies have succumbed to political pressure to roll back their DEI initiatives, while others stand firm in their diversity and inclusion stances. With so many changes to DEI in a short matter of time, it isn’t easy to keep up with where companies stand with DEI. This is why POCIT
