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Researchers argue that fear of rising data center usage, accounting for 1% of global electricity demand, is overblown and will be offset by improved efficiency (Maddie Stone/OneZero )

February 28, 2020

Maddie Stone / OneZero : Researchers argue that fear of rising data center usage, accounting for 1% of global electricity demand, is overblown and will be offset by improved efficiency — Researchers argue that new technology and greater efficiency could offset energy demands — The climate impact of the data centers … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2TkGv6V

Clearview said its facial recognition app was only for law enforcement as it courted private companies

February 28, 2020

After claiming that it would only sell its controversial facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies, a new report suggests that Clearview AI is less than discerning about its client base. According to Buzzfeed News , the small, secretive company looks to have shopped its technology far and wide. While Clearview counts ICE, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the retail giant Macy’s among its paying customers, many more private companies are testing the technology through 30-day free trials. Non-law enforcement entities that appeared on Clearview’s client list include Walmart, Eventbrite, the NBA, Coinbase, Equinox, and many others. According to the report , even if a company or organization has no formal relationship with Clearview, its individual employees might be testing the software. “In some cases… officials at a number of those places initially had no idea their employees were using the software or denied ever trying the facial rec...

Latin America roundup: SoftBank adds $1B, Stori raises $10M and Grow Mobility puts on the brakes

February 28, 2020

After investing nearly $2 billion of its Innovation Fund in Latin America in 2019, SoftBank announced this month that it would add an additional $1 billion into the fund to continue supporting tech startups across the region. While the Japanese investor faces the challenge of raising a second global fund after its Vision Fund, SoftBank is still investing heavily in Latin America. One of its early Latin American investments – and the first in Colombia – Ayenda Rooms, is performing particularly well, raising $8.7 million from Kaszek Ventures this month. Ayenda is the local version of Oyo Rooms, one of SoftBank’s biggest bets in India, which has looked to expand into Mexico despite a financial crunch last month. In fact, the fund recently came under scrutiny by the Wall Street Journal for funding similar delivery competitors Uber, Rappi, and Didi, suggesting a conflict of interest. Most recently, SoftBank invested $125 million in Mexico’s lender, Alphacredit, and th...

SeeHow helps cricketers train smarter

February 28, 2020

Like baseball, cricket relies on grass, dirt, wood, cork, spit, spin, drop and rise en route to either victory or loss. And like baseball — and just about any other sport, really — cricket coaching staffs and their players worldwide are looking for more ways to track every move. Tracking statistics is nothing new. With each action, a player produces a stat that can be used to track improvement or struggle over a given period of time. But as players get stronger and stakes — financial and otherwise — get higher, a need for more specific data is proving necessary. India-based SeeHow transforms sports equipment into sensors to do just that, and it does so without having to alter anything on the athlete’s body. Its sensors are baked into cricket balls and bat handles to track very specific types of data that batsmen and bowlers generate. And tracking the behavior of a bowled ball and where and how it lands on a bat all play a role in the story of cricket. “Putting the sensor inside th...