Web browser Mozilla is investing $30 million into launching a startup, called Mozilla.ai, focused on building a "trustworthy, independent, and open-source AI ecosystem."
The company wrote in a blog post about the investment: "This new wave of AI has generated excitement, but also significant apprehension. We aren’t just wondering What’s possible? and How can people benefit? We’re also wondering What could go wrong? and How can we address it? Two decades of social media, smartphones and their consequences have made us leery."
Mozilla said it still sees the potential of AI to enrich peoples' lives, but it doesn't see those positive effects coming from "big tech and cloud companies with the most power and influence."
The company pitched Mozilla.ai as a "counterweight to the status quo" that will make "generative AI safer and more transparent." Moez Draief, who researched AI at Imperial College and LSE, will lead the initiative.
With the release of Apple's iOS 16.4 on Monday, a new batch of 31 emojis are now available to those who like to spice up their texts. The line-up includes new animals such as a donkey, a moose, and a goose; new heart colors, including the much-requested plain pink heart; and other oddities such as a biting lip, a melting face, and a pregnant man.
Apple Pay is getting in on the buy now pay later boom with a feature allowing users to split purchases into four separate payments over six weeks at no additional cost or interest.
San Francisco-based technology startup Illumix just closed a $18 million Series A round of funding, and in a rare move for the Shark Tank star, Mark Cuban contributed.