Y Combinator Faces Backlash For Backing Startup 🍭

Today’s Menu 🥠

Cruise Fined $1.5 Million For Failing To Report Crash
Y Combinator Faces Backlash For Backing PearAI
Meta Won’t Clarify If AI Trains On Photos From Ray-Ban
Everything Else You Need To Know

Fast Snacks 🥡

11x.ai Raises Series B Led By Andreessen Horowitz
AI sales bot startup 11x.ai has secured $50 million in Series B funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, bringing its valuation to $350 million as it continues to develop AI-powered digital workers…

Epic sues Google & Samsung Over App Store Restrictions
Epic Games has filed a second antitrust lawsuit against Google and Samsung, accusing them of colluding to block third-party app stores through Samsung’s “Auto Blocker” feature…

Meet Your New AI Assistant For Work
Sana AI is a knowledge assistant that helps you work faster and smarter. Integrated with your apps, it knows everything about your business…

Cruise Fined $1.5M for Failing to Report Crash Details

Cruise, a GM-backed autonomous vehicle company, was fined $1.5 million by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for not fully disclosing details about a robotaxi crash involving a pedestrian in San Francisco last year.

The incident, in which a Cruise vehicle dragged a pedestrian 20 feet after being initially hit by another car, was not fully reported in two separate filings to the NHTSA.

Cruise failed to mention the pedestrian being dragged, which led to a suspension of its permit and multiple investigations.

Y Combinator Faces Backlash for Backing PearAI

I just quit my 270 000$ job at Coinbase to join the first YCombinator fall batch with my cofounder @not_nang.

We’re building PearAI, an open source AI code editor. Think a better Copilot, or open source Cursor. But you’ve heard this spiel already… 🧵⬇️ pic.twitter.com/nYeycRKRHm

— FRYING PAN (@CodeFryingPan) September 29, 2024

Y Combinator-backed PearAI has sparked controversy after admitting to cloning another open-source project, Continue.

PearAI originally tried to change the license of the copied project to a closed-source one, which violated open-source principles. After public backlash, founder Duke Pan apologized and reverted to the original open-source license.

Despite Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan defending the startup, critics argued that the situation reflects poorly on Y Combinator’s selection process.

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Snack Quiz: Choose The Real Image 🔍

Can you tell which image is real?

Image One 👆
Neither
Image Two 👇

Meta Won’t Clarify If AI Trains on Photos from Its Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses raises privacy concerns as the company refuses to confirm whether images captured by the glasses are used to train its AI models.

The smart glasses, which can capture photos based on verbal commands or AI triggers, collect large amounts of data that Meta won’t definitively say are private.

While other AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have clear policies about not training on user inputs, Meta’s evasive responses have raised serious questions.

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Everything Else You Need To Know

AMD Improves Zen 5 CPU Performance: AMD has released new BIOS updates for Ryzen 9600X and 9700X processors, improving core-to-core latency and offering a new 105-watt mode for a 10% performance boost.

Udemy AI Training Controversy: Udemy gave instructors only three weeks to opt out of its AI training program, causing frustration as many teachers missed the deadline.

T-Mobile Agrees To Cybersecurity Overhaul: T-Mobile settled with the FCC over data breaches, agreeing to a $15.75 million fine and committing to improved security measures.

Google Tests New Call Answer Screen: Google is testing a new call answer screen on Pixel devices, shifting from a swipe-up interface to one with separate decline and answer buttons, similar to Apple’s iPhone.

Epic Games Store Reaches 10M Mobile Installs: The Epic Games Store has been installed 10 million times on mobile in its first 1.5 months, and the company aims for 100 million by year-end.

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