Zoom Adds Single-Use Events for Up to 1 Million Participants

In the wake of having to retool its logistical underpinnings to accommodate the massive numbers participating in fundraising videoconferences for Presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris, Zoom has added large-scale, single-use webinar options to its menu of monthly and annual webinar subscriptions. Customers can now opt for webinars with simultaneous participation of 10K, 50K, 100K, 250K, 500K or 1 million. The single-use packages include support from the Zoom event services team “to ensure hosts deliver a professional, engaging experience.” Continue reading Zoom Adds Single-Use Events for Up to 1 Million Participants

Sam Altman Is Reportedly Seeking ‘Trillions’ to Fund AI Chips

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s ongoing effort to fund a new initiative to produce chips to power artificial intelligence has graduated from a billion-dollar venture to a trillion dollar undertaking that aims at nothing less than “to reshape the business of chips and AI,” per recent reports. The United Arab Emirates has joined the list of sources of potential funding for the global project, which seeks to remedy the tight supply of AI chips that Altman is said to view as an obstacle to OpenAI’s effort to develop artificial general intelligence, which he defines as “systems that are generally smarter than humans.” Continue reading Sam Altman Is Reportedly Seeking ‘Trillions’ to Fund AI Chips

Substack ‘Community Round’ Outperforms Its Funding Goal

Substack, the web-based publishing and discovery platform, has opened an investment round to its writers and potentially other retail investors. Founded in 2017, the company has already raised more than $85 million, most recently from venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and entrepreneur Audrey Gelman. But last year, in a rough economic climate, it reportedly came up dry and is now asking the many writers who rely on it to put skin in the game. Based on early response, Wednesday’s announced goal of $2 million was upped to $5 million the next day. Continue reading Substack ‘Community Round’ Outperforms Its Funding Goal

Facebook Provides Early Global Access to eSports Feature

Facebook Gaming is introducing worldwide early access to tournaments for eSports amateurs. Though the feature had been in development for some time, said Facebook Gaming head engineer Mina Abouseif, the company released it early to help people shut-in due to the coronavirus pandemic cope better with the isolation. The tournaments feature was originally designed for live gaming events, but Facebook shifted it to one that will help people stay connected to friends, family and communities via “friendly competition.” Continue reading Facebook Provides Early Global Access to eSports Feature

Facebook Debuts Payments System For Its Platform, Apps

Facebook unveiled Facebook Pay, a system to enable payments across its own platform as well as Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. The user will be able to send money to people, shop and donate to fundraisers. According to the company, Facebook Pay, which is completely separate from the company’s newly released Calibra wallet and Libra cryptocurrency network, is built on “existing financial infrastructure and partnerships.” Facebook Pay for Facebook and Messenger will debut in the U.S. this week. Continue reading Facebook Debuts Payments System For Its Platform, Apps

Kickstarter Hires Reporter to Investigate Drone Startup Failure

Kickstarter has hired an investigative journalist to look into a recent case in which a successful fundraising campaign led to spectacular failure. British drone startup Torquing Group raised $3.4 million (£2.3 million) and, less than a year later, went down in flames. Its co-founder/chief executive Ivan Reedman left the company for “personal health issues and irreconcilable differences” and, a visit to the company’s Wales headquarters didn’t turn up a working prototype of the product due to ship within months. Continue reading Kickstarter Hires Reporter to Investigate Drone Startup Failure

Kickstarter-Funded Lynx 3D Camera Works as Advertised

Since a group of students from the University of Texas unveiled the Lynx A 3D camera project on Kickstarter earlier this year, it has raised far beyond the project’s $50,000 fundraising goal. And as of last week, Lynx Laboratories was getting ready to ship out the first cameras. At the DEMO Mobile SF event, Engadget had an opportunity to demo a prototype, watching firsthand as the camera scanned a person’s head in real time. Continue reading Kickstarter-Funded Lynx 3D Camera Works as Advertised