Jack Dorsey's Block announced an AI model called Dessa that's trained "from scratch on nothing but human conversation," and to show off the model, Block shared chats it has had with humans that can occasionally be a little awkward and uncanny. Take this one, for example, shared by Dessa lead Ragavan Thurairatnam. The conversation between […]
Jack Dorsey’s Block made an AI model that talks to you like an awkward new friend
Source: The Verge
Original reporting
The Verge: read the full reportRelated stories
TechCrunch
VCs, Superhuman Mail founder share red flags about product market fit
Top investors from Iconiq and Sapphire Ventures, along with Rahul Vohra, the founder of Superhuman Mail share the do's and don'ts for building hit products.
Ars Technica
Hegseth warns prediction market bets warp military judgment, endanger troops
Pentagon memo: Insider trading gives US enemies key intel on military operations.
Ars Technica
Updated Google privacy policy says your Gmail might be used for advertising
Turning on Personal Intelligence gives the company more data for ad targeting.
TechCrunch
TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 roundtables: Go deeper on the challenges founders are solving right now
TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 is coming to SoWa Power Station in Boston on November 4, bringing founders, investors, and operators together for a full day of candid conversations, practical sessions, live pitching, networking, and smaller roundtables built for deeper discussion.
The Verge
Abandoned Popcorn Time apps had to be disabled to prevent a zombie army
Remember Popcorn Time, the app that served as an easy-to-use front end for streaming torrents of movies and TV shows? Development of the MPAA's least-favorite app of the 2010s has been abandoned for years, but the "Netflix of Piracy" software is still installed on millions of devices that are just waiting to join a bot […]
Ars Technica
Inside the Pentagon, the pressure is on to find a home for a new spaceport
Space Force considering options: public-private, federal installation, state land.