DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ This startup, founded by ex-Google and Palantir staffers, uses AI to generate realistic voiceovers. Here's the 14-slide pitch deck ElevenLabs used to raise $2 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

London-based ElevenLabs has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding from Credo Ventures. The startup has developed an AI voice tool that can generate realistic speech in different languages. A startup that has developed an AI-based voice tool that creates realistic speech output has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding from Credo Ventures. The company also conducts research into AI voice intelligence, so it can hone its product offering and provide realistic speech synthesis tools across a range of languages. With the fresh funds, the startup will launch its beta platform, and hone in on its product offering.

When shopping for products to help address issues like under-eye puffiness, dark circles and fine lines, it’s important to buy items specifically designed for the under-eye area, said Dr. Karen Burke, a board-certified dermatologist and research scientist. According to the medical experts we consulted, under-eye patches work by targeting dark circles, crow’s feet, wrinkles and fine lines. The best under eye patches and masks of 2023Below are a handful of expert-recommended under-eye patches that are formulated to nourish the under-eye area. The experts we spoke to gave these eye patches a thumbs up when it comes to combating puffiness thanks to a cooling cucumber extract. These under-eye patches can be reused up to 10 times, according to the brand.

☆ China, a Pioneer in Regulating Algorithms, Turns Its Focus to Deepfakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Karen Hao | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Cyberspace Administration of China will begin enforcing new regulations on deepfakes starting this week. HONG KONG—China is implementing new rules to restrict the production of ‘deepfakes,’ media generated or edited by artificial-intelligence software that can make people appear to say and do things they never did. Beijing’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, will begin enforcing the regulation—on what it calls “deep synthesis” technology, including AI-powered image, audio and text-generation software—starting Tuesday, marking the world’s first comprehensive attempt by a major regulatory agency to curb one of the most explosive and controversial areas of AI advancement.

☆ China is about to get tougher on deepfakes in an unprecedented way. Here's what the rules mean
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

China will introduce rules governing the use of deep synthesis technology in January 2023. The tech can be used to alter an existing video, for example by putting the face of a politician over an existing video or even creating fake speech. Beijing announced its rules governing "deep synthesis technologies" earlier this year, and finalized them in December. Here are some of the key provisions:Users must give consent if their image is to be used in any deep synthesis technology. Earlier this year, China introduced a rule governing how technology firms can use recommendation algorithms, in another first-of-its-kind law.

☆ China's rules for "deepfakes" to take effect from Jan. 10
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, Dec 12 (Reuters) - China's new rules for content providers that alter facial and voice data will take effect from Jan. 10, its cyberspace regulator said, as it looks to more tightly scrutinize so-called "deepfake" technology and services. The regulations from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued late on Sunday provide for people to be protected from being impersonated without their consent by deepfakes - images that are virtually indistinguishable from the original, and easily used for manipulation or misinformation. The CAC said the move was aimed at curbing risks that might arise from activities provided by such platforms that use deep learning or virtual reality to alter any online content, what the regulator calls "deep synthesis service providers", and to also promote the industry's healthy development. Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ What is stiff person syndrome?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Raenu Charles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Stiff person syndrome is a rare neurological condition that can take years to diagnose and tailor treatment. What is stiff person syndrome? The first case of stiff person syndrome was reported in the 1950s, according to Newsome, and the disease was historically referred to as “stiff man syndrome.”Since then, it has been found to affect twice as many women than men, and the name was changed to stiff person syndrome to avoid confusion. On average, it takes about seven years for someone to receive a diagnosis of stiff person syndrome, Newsome says. “Sometimes, [patients] get labeled crazy,” he said, “because on exam early on, there aren’t the hallmark features of stiff person syndrome.”How is stiff person syndrome treated?

☆ Lensa, the AI portrait app, has soared in popularity. But many artists question the ethics of AI art.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Morgan Sung | Morgan Sung Is A Trends Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

Social media has been flooded with Lensa AI portraits, from photorealistic paintings to more abstract illustrations. In a lengthy Twitter thread posted Tuesday morning, Prisma addressed concerns of AI art replacing art by actual artists. For some artists, AI models are a creative tool. While the value of art is subjective, the crux of the AI art controversy is the right to privacy. Without decades of examples to learn from, he said, the AI images that looked just like his illustrations would never exist.

☆ The former assistant to Jack Ma reveals the 'secret sauce' behind Alibaba's meteoric rise in a new book
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Jonathan A. Knee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Brian A. Wong is a long-time Alibaba executive and former special assistant to Jack Ma, the company's founder. to Jack Ma, the company's founder. In a new book, Wong details Alibaba's management ethos and how it can be applied by others to achieve similar success. Brian Wong joined Alibaba as its first American employee shortly after meeting CEO Jack Ma in 1999, the same year the trailblazing e-commerce behemoth was founded. Like Steve Jobs, Jack Ma was haunted by the decline of once great technology companies like Hewlett Packard after the departure of their founding team.

☆ Nikola, KeyState to collaborate on hydrogen supply
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Electric vehicle maker Nikola Corp (NKLA.O) said on Monday it was working with KeyState Natural Gas Synthesis to create Pennsylvania state's first low-carbon hydrogen production supply chain. However, Nikola said it was working on a definitive agreement with the hydrogen producer to expand supply for Nikola's fuel-cell electric vehicles. The truck maker added that KeyState plans to supply the company with up to 100 tonnes per day of low-carbon hydrogen, which can supply fuel for up to 2,500 Nikola Tre FCEVs (fuel-cell electric vehicles). The low-carbon hydrogen will help Nikola maximize value under the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act. KeyState Natural Gas Synthesis is a joint venture between KeyState Energy and Frontier Natural Resources Inc.

☆ Explainer: COP27: what's on the U.N. climate talks agenda
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

FOSSIL FUELS AND BACKSLIDINGCountries at last year's COP26 talks agreed for the first time to "phase down" coal production and trim other fossil fuel subsidies. Voluntary side deals also touted plans to curb fossil fuel financing and to limit planet-warming methane emissions, chiefly from the fossil fuel and agriculture industries. Following a breakthrough at the weekend as this year's summit began, the issue for the first time is part of the U.N. talks' formal agenda. ADAPTING TO A WARMER WORLDHigh-income countries have yet to meet their pledge to deliver $100 billion a year in climate finance. Low-income and climate-vulnerable countries want to ensure that the share spent on adaptation is doubled by 2025 - a pledge made at last year's U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland.

“We’re going to bring a focus, particular focus, on the former president’s state of mind and his involvement in these events as they unfolded,” a committee aide said. Ginni Thomas, who advocated for Trump to remain in power, embraces the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. “What we’re going to be doing is taking a step back,” the aide said of Thursday’s hearing. The panel is working under a time crunch as it gathers and publicizes evidence prior to issuing a final report. If Republicans win control of the House in November’s elections, as most prognosticators predict, the committee will be disbanded in January.

The Jan. 6 committee's ninth and likely final investigative hearing Thursday will feature new testimony and evidence, including Secret Service records and surveillance video. ET, will not include any live witnesses, a committee aide said. All nine committee members are expected to lead segments of the hearing. That’s a departure from this summer when each of the eight hearings featured only a few panel members at a time. Part of the committee's charge is to issue legislative recommendations to prevent another Jan. 6 attack, and some panel members Thursday will present on the ongoing threats to democracy that remain.

☆ James Earl Jones steps back from voicing Darth Vader, signs off on using archived recordings to recreate voice with A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

James Earl Jones, who has voiced Darth Vader for nearly 50 years of “Star Wars” films, seems to be stepping away from the role. “He had mentioned he was looking into winding down this particular character,” Matthew Wood, a Lucasfilm veteran of 32 years, told the outlet. “So how do we move forward?”James Earl Jones and Darth Vader attend the charity premiere of "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" in New York on May 12, 2022. The two also teamed for the voice performance of Darth Vader on the series “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” which debuted on Disney’s streamer this summer. Jones voiced the character on both the big and small screen up until this point.

☆ ‘Renaissance’ Review: America Has a Problem and Beyoncé Ain’t It
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-30 | by ( Wesley Morris | More About Wesley Morris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Miss Honey!” And it’s as close to the B-52’s as a Beyoncé song might ever come. The album’s embrace of house and not, say, trap unambiguously aligns Beyoncé with queer Black folks. On “Blow,” Beyoncé wondered how it felt for her partner when he made love to her. The album’s final song is “Summer Renaissance,” and it opens with the thrum of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” It’s not the first time she’s quoted La Donna. It’s in the album’s rich middle, which includes that sofa song and “Virgo’s Groove,” maybe the most luscious track Beyoncé’s ever recorded.

Persons: pop’s, “, Moi Renee bellowing, Honey, Kate, Fred, Keith, Beyoncé, It’s, ” Beyoncé, Donna Summer’s “, ” It’s, she’s, Donna, you’ve

☆ What to know about the booming psychedelics industry, where companies are racing to turn magic mushrooms and MDMA into approved medicines
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-30 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

In the early days of the industry, nonprofits and scrappy startups made up the psychedelics space. Research on compounds like psilocybin, the active compound found in magic mushrooms, and MDMA is resurfacing after years of neglect amid the war on drugs. Soon, VC firms focused on psychedelics companies began to emerge. Some psychedelics VCs, however, are still wary about entering the newest psychedelics space: Oregon's soon-to-be-legal magic mushroom market. Insider published a list of the psychedelics startups that raised the most cash in 2020.

☆ Top psychedelics VCs share the key challenges that are keeping them on the sidelines of the first legal magic-mushroom market in the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-23 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

While some companies are laying the groundwork to enter the market, leaders at four venture-capital firms focused on psychedelics told Insider they're skeptical about investing in the state. Palo SantoOne of Palo Santo's portfolio companies, Fluence, is preparing for the Oregon market. Two big reasons that psychedelics clinics could struggle to make money in OregonSchlidt laid out two reasons he thinks that psychedelics clinics in Oregon will struggle to be profitable. Plus, psilocybin clinics would face higher taxes. Burkitbayeva said that the companies she's seeing enter the Oregon market don't seem to have those attributes.

☆ A VC who's raising $30 million lays out why he's betting on cannabis life-science companies to avoid the sector's 'irrational exuberance'
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-03 | by ( Jeremy Berke | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bonaventure Equity is raising $30 million to bet on life-science startups in the cannabis industry. A 'life sciences' approach to cannabisO'Brien says he broadly defines "life sciences" to encompass three different buckets: ag-tech, biotech, and healthcare. Investors poured $2.7 billion into cannabis startups in 2021, up from $1.5 billion in 2020, according to the data provider PitchBook. Bonaventure isn't the only venture firm focused on the life sciences aspect of cannabis. Óskare Capital, a new fund, is raising $170 million to invest in medical and pharmaceutical cannabis in Europe, as Insider has reported.

☆ UNDP Moldova: Procurement Associate - UNDP Moldova Country Office
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-29 | by ( Alte Articole | ) www.civic.md time to read: +13 min

BackgroundUnder the guidance and direct supervision of the Procurement Analyst/Head of Procurement Unit, the Procurement Associate provides leadership in execution of procurement services in CO ensuring their effectiveness, transparency and integrity. CO Procurement business processes mapping and elaboration of the content of internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in Procurement and Logistics, control of the workflows in the Procurement Unit. Organizes procurement processes for CO, NIM/DIM projects and at the request of other Agencies focusing on achievement of the following results:Preparation of procurement plans for the office and projects and their implementation monitoring. Review of procurement processes conducted by projects; submissions to the Contract, Asset and Procurement Committee (CAP) and Advisory Committee on Procurement (ACP). Ensures implementation of sourcing strategy and e-procurement tools focusing on achievement of the following results:Development and update of the rosters of suppliers, implementation of supplier selection and evaluation.

Persons: • Organizations: Procurement Unit, Unit, UNDP HQs, Organization, UN, UNDP, Logistics, Procurement, ., Procurement Committee, Management Systems, Business, Administration, United Nations Locations: Moldova, Republic of Moldova

☆ Кандидат в депутаты из списка PAS является фигурантом уголовных скандалов – Цензура МД
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-15 | by ( ) cenzura.md time to read: +5 min

Политика Кандидат в депутаты из списка PAS является фигурантом уголовных скандаловИнформационный портал Synthesis.org продолжает серию журналистских расследований с интересными данными о кандидате №80 в списке PAS, Георгие Кожок. До недавнего времени Георге Кожок был в Басарабяске одним из местных лидеров Либерально-демократической партии Молдовы, от руководства которой дважды отказывался Влад Филат. Точнее, он изменил содержание Постановления районного совета от 2 сентября 2011 г., по факту которого проводилось расследование в отношении совершения преступления, предусмотренного ст. Чтобы это здание было включено в проект, его необходимо было передать в собственность районного совета Басарабяска, решением, которое было принято 5 декабря 2012 года. Аналогичным образом 2,5 миллиона леев были потеряны от аренды сельскохозяйственных земель и земель государственной собственности, связанных с приватизационными целями.

Persons: Георгие Кожок, Георге Кожок, Влад Филат, Кожок, Басарабяска, Георгий Кожок, Иван Ионай, Иван Ионаш, Ионаш, Басарабяски, Николае Прохницкий Organizations: №, PAS, anticoruptie.md, Либеральнодемократическая партия, ЛДПМ, Постановления районного совета, МВД, Банк развития, Совет Европы, ООО «», Счетная палата, Управление общественным достоянием Locations: Басарабяске, Молдова, Басарабяски, Басарабяска

☆ Кандидат из списка PAS симулировал убытки, чтобы не платить налоги
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-09 | by ( ) ehomd.info time to read: +1 min

Кандидат в избирательном списке ПДС под №71 Петру Пуцунтикэ подозревается в неуплате налогов. PAS-овец задолжал государству 5 млн леев, сообщает cenzura.md. Петру Пуцунтикэ является основателем и владельцем SRL LANTAV-PRIM. Согласно официальным данным, годовой оборот компании составляет 80 млн леев. Кроме того, как сообщили Synthesis.ORG источники из близких к кандидату ПДС, у Петру Пуцунтикэ есть судимость.

Persons: SRL LANTAV, PRIM, Петр Пуцунтикэ, Майи Санду, Пуцунтикэ Organizations: PAS, ПДС, ЛДПМ Locations: Калараш

☆ Кандидат из списка PAS подозревается в неуплате налогов на 5 миллионов леев – Цензура МД
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-09 | by ( ) cenzura.md time to read: +2 min

Политика Кандидат из списка PAS подозревается в неуплате налогов на 5 миллионов леевЧисло преступников в списке кандидатов от Партии действий и солидарности (PAS) растет. На этот раз речь идет о Петру Пуцунтикэ, который занимает 71-е место в списке PAS на досрочных парламентских выборах 11 июля. Год спустя, в 2018 году, компания Петру Пуцунтикэ объявила об обороте почти в 80 миллионов леев и прибыли всего в 62 тысячи леев. По информации, сообщенной журналистам некоторыми людьми, близкими к кандидату PAS, Петру Пуцунтикэ имеет судимость. Имеется инфоррмация, что в 1994 году он сфальсифицировал документы и получил ссуду в филиале банка в Калараше в размере 30 000 леев.

Persons: Петр Пуцунтикэ, Пуцунтикэ Organizations: Партия действия и солидарности (), Либеральнодемократическая партия Молдовы (ЛДПМ) Locations: Калараш

☆ Programme Specialist/Effective Governance Cluster Lead-UNDP Moldova CO
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-22 | by ( Alte Articole | ) www.civic.md time to read: +16 min

Duties and Responsibilities Summary of Key Functions: Develops programme strategies in the thematic area of Effective Governance and its sub-areas. Ensures effective management and implementation of Effective Governance country programme portfolio and management of the Effective Governance Cluster team. CO business processes mapping and establishment of internal Standard Operating Procedures in Results Management, control of the workflows in the Effective Governance Cluster. Ensures effective management and implementation of Effective Governance country programme portfolio and management of the Effective Governance Cluster team, focusing on the following results: Design and formulation of country programme within thematic areas of responsibility, translating UNDP corporate priorities into local interventions. Constant monitoring and analysis of the country programme environment, timely re-adjustment of programme.

Organizations: Senior Management, UNDP, UN, Sustainable, Office, Government, UNPFSD, Management, Organization, Atlas, Financial, UNDP Country Office, Global, Administration, Economics, Law, Political Sciences, Social Sciences Locations: South, UNPFSD, Moldova, Republic of Moldova

Search resuls for: "Synthesis"

22 mentions found