Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who opened fire in a classroom at Virginia’s Old Dominion University had been granted an early release from federal prison in 2024 after completing a drug treatment program, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on the condition of anonymity.Mohamed Bailor Jalloh was sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2017 to providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State group, and was released about 2½ years early, according to prison records.It wasn’t…

Nvidia kicks off its annual GTC developer conference in San Jose, California, next week with CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote scheduled for Monday at 11am PT / 2pm ET. GTC — which stands for GPU Technology Conference — is Nvidia’s flagship annual event, where the chipmaker typically uses the spotlight to announce new products, champion partnerships, and lay out its vision for the future of computing. Huang’s keynote will focus on Nvidia’s role in the future of computing and AI. You can watch the two-hour address in person at the SAP Center or livestream the talk on the event’s website. The…

Rox, a startup developing autonomous AI agents to boost sales productivity, has raised a new funding round valuing the company at $1.2 billion, according to multiple sources. The funding included a lead investment from returning backer General Catalyst, two of the people said. Rox and General Catalyst did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. At the time of the fundraise, which closed last year, Rox was projected to close 2025 with $8 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), according to two people familiar with the deal. In November 2024, Rox announced it had raised a total of $50 million,…

Several months before Palantir moved its headquarters to Miami, an entity with ties to the company’s billionaire CEO, Alex Karp, put down roots in the city.In June, Hibiscus East LLC purchased a home on Miami’s San Marino Drive for $46 million, according to property records.Like several of Karp’s other properties, the LLC is registered in Delaware. It is connected to an attorney’s office in Manchester, New Hampshire, and an accounting office in Bedford, New Hampshire, both of which appear on documents from previous real estate transactions that are linked to Karp.The nearly 10,000-square-foot newly built home sits on San Marino…

One-third of Americans are cutting back on everyday living expenses — even skipping meals — and stretching their prescription medications so they can afford health care, according to new polling from the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America.About 82 million Americans across low-, middle- and high-income brackets say they are spending less on utilities, driving less to save on gas and taking other steps to afford health care, according to the research center. They also report borrowing money and cutting back on utilities to afford medical care, the study said.The findings were released as Americans are facing sharply higher…

Pop stars, you can breathe easy. The debut single from AI-generated triple-threat Tilly Norwood is evidence that your jobs are safe — for now. Loading audio narration… The single’s 4-minute music video, which first hit streaming services on Tuesday, is a montage of obviously AI-generated scenes, often intentionally over-the-top, depicting Norwood’s imaginary path to global superstardom. At one point, she is hounded by paparazzi. At another, she performs for a sold-out stadium.”When they talk about me, they don’t see/The human spark, the creativity/Behind the code, behind the light/I’m just a tool, but I’ve got life,” Norwood sings in “Take the…

Facebook Marketplace is rolling out new Meta AI features, including one that automatically replies to messages from interested buyers, Facebook announced Thursday. The social network is also using AI to help sellers list items faster and summarize profiles, and is giving sellers the option to offer shipping on their listings. The company says that since sellers receive a lot of buyer inquiries, it’s making it easier to respond to initial messages with auto-replies powered by Meta AI. Now, when buyers inquire about an item’s availability, sellers can use Meta AI to automatically draft replies using information from their listing, such…

On a recent weekend, I was playing with my new puppy when my phone rang. On the other end was the CEO of a major public software company with a warning: the industry was headed for painful financial reset. Loading audio narration… I can’t say who this is because he doesn’t want to be identified, talking about sensitive topics — and he wanted to speak honestly, without the usual restrictions of his company’s public relations department. These are the times you really listen!The topic was broadly about how AI is disrupting software and impacting the business models of companies that…

Tinder held its inaugural product keynote on Thursday, unveiling an ambitious slate of updates designed to reinvigorate its product, bolster safety, and harness AI. This comes on the heels of Match Group’s $50 million investment in product development, announced last August, as the parent company looks to re-engage its user base and win over younger Gen Z daters.  Among the updates are innovative features for discovering in-person events and meeting people in real life, alongside a new virtual speed dating experience being tested in Los Angeles. Additionally, a series of AI enhancements were introduced to improve the matching algorithm and…

Australian productivity software company Atlassian held layoffs as the company looks to funnel more money into AI. Atlassian announced it’s cutting 10% of its workforce, around 1,600 people, on March 11. The company said this decision allows it to spend more funds on AI and enterprise sales and to strengthen its finances. More specifically, Atlassian said that it’s doing well but is choosing to adapt to market conditions. “The bar for what ‘great’ looks like for software companies — on growth, on profitability, on speed, on value creation — has gone up,” Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes wrote in a press…