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Techstars increases startup funding to $220,000, mirroring YC structure

​Techstars, a nearly 20-year-old startup accelerator, announced new terms for startups that enter its three-month program. The organization will now invest $220,000, which is $100,000 more than it offered previously, in companies starting with its fall 2025 batch. The capital will be divided into two components. The group is offering companies $20,000 in exchange for […]  

OpenAI’s new reasoning AI models hallucinate more

​OpenAI’s recently launched o3 and o4-mini AI models are state-of-the-art in many respects. However, the new models still hallucinate, or make things up — in fact, they hallucinate more than several of OpenAI’s older models. Hallucinations have proven to be one of the biggest and most difficult problems to solve in AI, impacting even today’s […]  

Bluesky may soon add blue check verification

​Bluesky may soon get a new blue checkmark verification system, according to changes to the app’s public GitHub repository spotted Friday by reverse engineer alice.mosphere.at. The blue checks may have a similar look to the system pioneered by Twitter, now X, but Bluesky’s version seems like it will work quite differently. Bluesky’s blue check system […]  

White House replaces covid.gov website with ‘lab leak’ theory

​The government-run website covid.gov used to host information about COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and treatment. Now, under President Trump’s purview, the page redirects to a White House website espousing the unproven theory that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese laboratory. The theory, which has been opposed by many virologists, was espoused in a report by House Republicans […]  

Your STEM Challenges, Solved

Your STEM Challenges, Solved

​[[{“value”:” by Kelly Gaier Evans, Director of the Ohio STEM Learning Network The 2025 Ohio STEM Innovation Summit introduces two dynamic new session formats: Solver Sessions for collaborative problem-solving and Networking Sessions for building professional connections. These innovative formats are designed to maximize engagement and provide personalized value for all attendees. Register today to secure your spot at this consistently…

Startups Weekly: Mixed messages from venture capital

​Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week brought us mixed messages. A fresh IPO filing, but a bleak outlook for exits overall. New funding rounds, but founders frustrated over lack of capital. […]  

TikToker sues Roblox over her Charli XCX ‘Apple’ dance

TikToker sues Roblox over her Charli XCX ‘Apple’ dance

​TikTok content creator Kelley Heyer sued the video game Roblox for using her dance to Charli XCX’s “Apple” without permission. Heyer posted the viral dance in June 2024, which fed off of the hype of Charli XCX’s hit summer album Brat. The dance became so popular that Charli XCX incorporated it into her live show […]  

ChatGPT will now use its ‘memory’ to personalize web searches

​OpenAI is upgrading ChatGPT’s “memory” again. In a changelog and support pages on OpenAI’s website Thursday, the company quietly announced “Memory with Search,” a feature that lets ChatGPT draw on memories — details from past conversations, such as your favorite foods — to inform queries when the bot searches the web. ChatGPT release notes were […]