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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A scramble is underway for some Ohio families over a staple of the back-to-school season: rides on the big, yellow school bus.Public school districts canceled bus transportation for thousands of high schoolers again this year while in some cases still busing students to private and charter schools to avoid steep fines under state requirements. In Dayton, a stopgap effort that gives students public transit passes in lieu of school bus rides was temporarily restored by a judge last week. This came after the district sued, alleging the state illegally restricted the program.The crunch for rides emerged…
For the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch, Disrupt 2025 (taking place October 27–29 at Moscone West in San Francisco) gets real about one of the most pressing founder questions: compensation and equity. On the Builders Stage, a panel of experts who’ve lived it, scaled it, and solved it will tackle the tough questions every startup faces as they grow. Register here to save up to $668! Who’s joining the Builders Stage Meet the panelists Randi Jakubowitz — Head of Operations & Talent at 645 Ventures. From early HR leadership at Seamless through its Grubhub merger and IPO, Randi knows how to…
MILAN (AP) — Hundreds of ordinary admirers and VIPs paid their last respects Saturday to Giorgio Armani, remembered by Milan’s mayor as a “man of extraordinary elegance” who left an indelible mark on the city and the global fashion world.Armani died Thursday at 91 at his home in central Milan surrounded by loved ones. His fashion house said he worked up to the end. One of his final projects was a runway show marking 50 years of his signature Giorgio Armani brand, which is due to close Milan Fashion Week later this month.Mourners filed into the Armani Theater, where Armani…
Common Sense Media, a kids-safety-focused nonprofit offering ratings and reviews of media and technology, released its risk assessment of Google’s Gemini AI products on Friday. While the organization found that Google’s AI clearly told kids it was a computer, not a friend — something that’s associated with helping drive delusional thinking and psychosis in emotionally vulnerable individuals — it did suggest that there was room for improvement across several other fronts. Notably, Common Sense said that Gemini’s “Under 13” and “Teen Experience” tiers both appeared to be the adult versions of Gemini under the hood, with only some additional safety…
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings met with and sent an open letter to OpenAI to express their concerns over the safety of ChatGPT, particularly for children and teens. The warning comes a week after Bonta and 44 other attorneys general sent a letter to 12 of the top AI companies, following reports of sexually inappropriate interactions between AI chatbots and children. “Since the issuance of that letter, we learned of the heartbreaking death by suicide of one young Californian after he had prolonged interactions with an OpenAI chatbot, as well as a similarly disturbing…
Dot, an AI companion app that aimed to be a friend and confidante, is shutting down, the company announced on Friday. On a message published on its website, the startup behind Dot, New Computer, said that the product will remain operational until October 5, giving users time to download their data. Launched in 2024 by co-founders Sam Whitmore and former Apple designer Jason Yuan, Dot waded into what’s now become a more controversial area for AI chatbots. The app they created was described as an AI “friend and companion,” which would become more personalized to you and your interests over…
Around half a million writers will be eligible for a payday of at least $3,000, thanks to a historic $1.5 billion settlement in a class action lawsuit that a group of authors brought against Anthropic. This landmark settlement marks the largest payout in the history of U.S. copyright law, but this isn’t a victory for authors — it’s yet another win for tech companies. Tech giants are racing to amass as much written material as possible to train their LLMs, which power groundbreaking AI chat products like ChatGPT and Claude — the same products that are endangering the creative industries,…
OpenAI is reorganizing its Model Behavior team, a small but influential group of researchers who shape how the company’s AI models interact with people, TechCrunch has learned. In an August memo to staff seen by TechCrunch, OpenAI’s chief research officer Mark Chen said the Model Behavior team — which consists of roughly 14 researchers — would be joining the Post Training team, a larger research group responsible for improving the company’s AI models after their initial pre-training. As part of the changes, the Model Behavior team will now report to OpenAI’s Post Training lead Max Schwarzer. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed…
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Severance” and “The Studio” could bring in a boatload of early Emmys this weekend.Over the next two days, nearly 100 trophies will be handed out to many of TV’s finest at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the annual precursor to the main Primetime Emmy Awards, which will air on Sept. 14 on CBS.“Severance,” the top overall nominee this year with 27, could win as many as 13 for Apple TV+ on Saturday, which will be devoted to scripted shows while Sunday is dedicated to variety and reality TV. “The Studio,” also from Apple, is the top…
San Francisco (AP) — When Ryan Lee first played mahjong two years ago, he got hooked. He dug out sets of the classic Chinese tile game from his parents’ house and brought them to San Francisco, where he started hosting mahjong nights in his apartment.The gatherings became so popular that the 25-year-old Chinese American began hosting pop-up mahjong parties in restaurants, bars and nightclubs around San Francisco.Mahjong, invented in 19th century China, is gaining popularity with a new generation of players looking to get off their phones and socialize in the real world. Lee’s Youth Luck Leisure (YLL) Mahjong Club…