A founder who has carved out a name for himself building products to help restaurants connect better with would-be diners has raised $50 million for his latest startup: a new take on the idea of customer loyalty.  Blackbird Labs has built a payments-meets-loyalty-meets-blockchain platform for restaurants to grow repeat business while reducing some of the friction around transactions. Now, with with some 1,000 restaurants signed up, CEO Ben Leventhal said Blackbird plans to use the money to launch its newest product, a cross-restaurant “points” service it’s calling Blackbird Club, as well as to expand into more markets outside of New York (its Homebase), San Francisco and Charleston, South Carolina.  (Charleston, you ask? “Charleston punches above its class,” Leventhal said in an interview. “It’s a great restaurant city for its size.” It also appears to the be Blackbird’s equivalent of New Zealand for Meta, with Leventhal calling it “a good test market for us.”) Spark Capital, a new backer, is leading this latest round, with participation also from Coinbase Ventures, Amex Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, three investors that backed Blackbird in its $24 million Series A in 2023. Valuation is not being disclosed but for a point of reference, PitchBook notes that the startup was valued at around $124 million in that last round. The startup has raised $85 million to-date. Coinbase and Amex are strategic names in that list.  Amex acquired Resy, a reservations platform that Leventhal previously founded, in 2019. The two companies — Resy and Blackbird — are not integrating now but “It’s fair to say we will,” Leventhal said. Previous to Resy, the third restaurant-focused startup Leventhal founded, the food blog Eater, was also acquired: it’s now part of Vox. No plans on how and if to partner there. Meanwhile, Blackbird describes its Flynet payment service as an layer-three transaction protocol built on Coinbase’s BASE. Diners can use it to pay for meals at the table via Blackbird’s app, as well as to redeem loyalty points when they visit restaurants.  It’s worth asking whether blockchain was strictly a necessary part of the mix? There are plenty of other loyalty and payment programs in the market — include a number that are direct competitors to Blackbird like Punchh, Toast, Lightspeed, etc. — that are built on more conventional financial structures.  “I don’t think it necessarily ‘has to be built on blockchain,’” Leventhal said. “Visa’s network, more or less, was created using the same principles that we’re using for Flynet, and obviously they didn’t have blockchain.” But he pointed out too that “there are a few things that we do believe that over time will be important opportunities, and those opportunities will be based on being on-chain.” These include how Blackbird and restaurants hold customer profiles and activity, he said. “Consumers will be able to continue to own that profile.” It also relates to how Blackbird envisions its engagement with restaurants, he said: each restaurant customer ultimately will be a shareholder of Blackbird. You might think that with two startups dedicated to the consumer-facing side of the restaurant trade that Leventhal might have had his fill of the business. As it turns out, he’s still hungry for more.  Owning restaurants has long been a challenging enterprise, but the economy and changing consumer habits have especially knocked the world of restaurants around a lot in the last few years. Leventhal cites figures from the National Restaurant Association that note that the average profitability of restaurants these days is under 5%, compared to an average of around 20% in the early Noughties. While platforms like Instagram and TikTok have turned the world into armchair foodies, producing legions of people who virally flock to the latest and coolest cafe, they are doing this amid a time of rapidly declining margins and heightened price sensitivity. These are areas that are only going to get tougher if the U.S. really locks down on its latest tariff hikes. “There is a disconnect in the restaurant industry between the popularity and the intensity of consumer love for restaurants and ultimately the profitability of the industry,” he said.  That disconnect, of course, in startup thinking means opportunity.  “The restaurant industry is made up of millions of local, small business owners around the world. Those restaurants are at the mercy of tech platforms that can charge a large, and often growing, percentage of a restaurant’s margin,” Arianna Simpson General Partner at a16z crypto, told TechCrunch over email. She believes this is specifically where blockchain can play a role: improving that margin structure. “Ben’s vision is for a network that is owned by the restaurants and the diners themselves, which is something that only blockchains enable.” Today, Blackbird is already saving its restaurant customers 3-4% in payment processing fees, she added.

Breakdown & Showreels Secret Level – The Queen’s Cradle: Making of by Unit Image By Vincent Frei - 08/04/2025 What does it take to create a truly terrifying dragon? Unit Image reveals the secrets behind their spectacular work for The Queen’s Cradle, part of the animated anthology Secret Level. Don’t miss this really cool making-of! WANT TO KNOW MORE?Unit Image: Dedicated page about Secret Level: Dungeon & Dragons on Unit Image website.Tim Miller: Here’s my interview of Tim Miller – Creator and Executive Producer – Blur Studio. © Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2025

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There has been turmoil across global financial markets following the introduction of the new US tariffs, and datacentre equipment providers that source parts and electronic components and manufacture their products globally are facing hikes in costs that may end up being passed onto IT buyers. In January, analyst IDC reported that the server market grew by 100.8% in spending in the third quarter of 2024, driven by the continued mass deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) servers by hyperscalers and other large IT buyers. There was also fairly strong demand for traditional datacentre servers, which it said experienced a strong unit growth of 18.7% year over year. The growth in server sales, according to IDC, had occurred in spite of high inflation, a slowdown in economic activity, supply chain disruption and geopolitical conflict. This was before the US administration’s policy to impose tariffs on almost every country it trades with. A complex, intertwined global supply chain is involved in the manufacture of datacentre equipment such as servers, networking and storage products. Servers that run datacentres for governments and major businesses, and provide cloud computing for hyperscalers, rely on sourcing key semiconductor components, which are soldered on printed circuit boards and slotted into server chassis and cases in a manufacturing process that is spread across the world. The Trump tariffs will impact every US business that trades either directly or indirectly with a country outside of the US. If they are based outside of the US, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and manufacturers of parts used by an OEM will face a tariff on those products and materials. Beyond retaliatory counter-measures being taken by other countries, individual businesses, wherever they are located, may realign their sourcing and manufacturing capabilities to limit the effect of the new US tariffs. As part of their sustainability reporting, the leading server companies list all of their suppliers and the countries these are based in. For instance, HPE’s list of final assembly suppliers include businesses in China, Mexico, Singapore, Germany, Czechia, the Netherlands, Taiwan and the US. Storage supplied by Hitachi may come from the Netherlands or the US; it also uses a Foxconn company for storage, which puts together servers for HPE in its facilities in China, Mexico and Czechia. HPE’s networking products are manufactured in various locations including the Philippines, Vietnam and China. Meanwhile, Dell’s supplier list includes American-Canadian multinational Celistica for final assembly, which has plants in China, Laos and Mexico. Like HPE, its servers require components from a multitude of companies. Well-known parts makers listed by Dell include IBM for storage, Intel, LG, Samsung and Seagate, among others. The list also shows which facilities these firms are using to supply Dell. For instance, while IBM is a US incorporated business, Dell gets its IBM storage products from IBM facilities in China, Japan and Mexico – which, at the time of writing, are countries that are being hit hard by the new US tariffs. Server maker Lenovo, which is regarded as a Chinese manufacturer, is set to see a significant rise in the cost of its products imported into the US as a result of a trade war now brewing between the US and China. While no one knows how these tariffs will play out, what is clear is that every economy is striving to become more digital, and this requires hardware such as servers, which need parts from all over the world. For instance, looking at the server processor, which is seeing an evolution as demand for AI workloads increases, Intel recently announced it would be expanding its portfolio of semiconductor technology development and sustainable manufacturing capabilities through what it calls the Intel Foundry. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said: “Our supplier ecosystem is essential to collectively deliver these capabilities sustainably, at scale.” In the US, Intel said it has been expanding existing operations in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon, and building a new manufacturing campus in Ohio. It also announced expansion plans in Ireland, Israel, Germany and Poland. Publicly listed companies are required to state the risks to the business that could impact their performance. Looking at Intel rival AMD’s January 10K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where it posts its quarterly results, the company said: “We rely on third parties to manufacture our products, and if they are unable to do so on a timely basis in sufficient quantities and using competitive technologies, our business could be materially adversely affected.” Just as the server manufacturers leverage a global supply chain of parts manufacturers and final assembly companies, the processors at the heart of every server rely on an intricate set of relationships with global semiconductor partners. Like many chipmakers, AMD relies on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) for the production of all wafers for microprocessor and graphics processor unit (GPU) products at 7 nanometer (nm) or smaller nodes. For the remainder of its chips, AMD uses GlobalFoundries, a company with joint head offices in Malta and New York, which claims its global manufacturing facilities are located in areas that have a low risk of natural disasters. TSMC, along with another Tawanise manufacturer, United Microelectronics, and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, provide AMD with programmable logic devices for its integrated circuits. In its 10K SEC filing, AMD stated: “Our third-party package assembly partners are responsible for packaging technology used to fabricate our products. It is important to have reliable relationships with all of these third-party manufacturing suppliers to ensure adequate product supply to respond to customer demand.” Nvidia is a fabless semiconductor firm, which means it also relies on TSMC and Samsung Electronics for the manufacturing of the GPUs that power many modern AI applications. According to CSI Market.com, it uses memory chips from US-based Micron Technology, as well as South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung. It’s unclear whether datacentre equipment manufacturers will be able to swallow the price hike in components sourced from countries with high US tariffs. If they pass on these costs, IT buyers will have to spend significantly more than they have budgeted for. Lenovo, however, illustrated a potential way to limit the effects. As of March 2024, it had over 12,000 people working at its various Chinese manufacturing sites. However, the site in Hungary has 1,000 workers. While smaller than the China-based workforce, it’s not insignificant. No one expects every company across the global server manufacturing supply chain to become US-incorporated, but there are a number of Chinese ecommerce businesses that locate warehouses in Europe to avoid import duties. They say a week in politics is a long time, but for datacentre equipment manufacturer and its supply chain partners, strategically moving production to facilities located in countries with lower tariffs could reduce the impact of Trump’s decision. Read more about server costs Intel unveils more Xeon 6 chips for AI servers: Intel launches Xeon 6 processors, the 6700P and 6500P, targeting AI systems and multi-socket servers, and enhancing performance for enterprise applications while reducing prices. Prices rise as IT spending trends upward for servers, storage: IT prices increased in December across four key commodities – a pattern that coincides with a revival in demand for servers and storage following a 2023 drop.

Two new bike radars expand Wahoo's entry-level and mid-range options, while a new radar light helps boost visibility and awareness on your rides.

Here is how The Last of Us season 2 is reviewing ahead of its upcoming imminent release date on HBO, this coming weekend.

A hot potato: In another example of the impact AI is having on jobs, Shopify's CEO has issued a warning to the company's managers: show that AI can't do the job better than a human before hiring new workers. Shopify previously laid off staff after it started using generative AI to complete some customer support tasks. Like many CEOs, Shopify boss Tobi Lütke has a passion for using AI in the workforce. In an internal memo to employees sent last month titled AI usage is now a baseline expectation, Lütke writes that before asking for more headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI. "What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team?" Lütke wrote in the memo, which he published on X after it was leaked. "This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects." The promise of increased productivity and fewer workers leaves many CEOs salivating at the prospect of implementing AI into their companies. Lütke is certainly an advocate, waxing lyrical about the technology. Not only does the memo state that using AI is essentially mandatory, but its use will also become part of Shopify's performance and peer review questionnaire. Lütke adds that the AI directive applies to everyone at Shopify, even the CEO himself. Using AI effectively is "now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify," he wrote. // Related Stories "What we need to succeed is our collective sum total skill and ambition at applying our craft, multiplied by AI, for the benefit of our merchants," Lütke says. E-commerce platform Shopify helps people and businesses create and manage online stores, covering everything from initial storefront creation and selling to marketing and analysis. The company has leaned heavily into generative AI tools in recent years. Shopify Magic, its suite of generative AI features built directly into the platform, offers features such as AI-powered product descriptions. There's also Sidekick, a conversational AI built into the admin dashboard. As with many other firms, it appears the more Shopify spends on AI, the more jobs are eliminated. The company laid off 20% of its staff, or around 1,500 people, in December 2023, the same year it started using genAI for some customer service tasks. It also reduced its workforce by 14% in 2022. Masthead: Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine

Samsung’s highly anticipated Galaxy S25 Edge is set to launch in the coming weeks. However, according to leaker Ice Universe, the phone will initially be available in only South Korea and China. Teased by Samsung at the MWC Barcelona conference in January, the Galaxy S25 Edge was already expected to be in short supply. Last month, a report noted that only 40,000 units would be available at launch. By contrast, Samsung sold 1 million regular Galaxy S25 units in Korea within the first 21 days on the market. According to a report from SamMobile, however, Samsung plans to manufacture up to 3 million Galaxy S25 Edge units, ensuring a global launch sooner rather than later. Recommended Videos The Galaxy S25 Edge is expected to compete with the iPhone 17 Air, which is set to launch later this year. This Samsung device could be one of the slimmest phones on the market, potentially featuring a ceramic rear panel for enhanced durability. Speculation suggests it will have a 6.656-inch display and notable camera upgrades, with some reports indicating a 200-megapixel primary camera. Related Like other phones in the Galaxy S25 series, the S25 Edge is expected to feature a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge dual camera array Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends As its name suggests, the Galaxy S25 Edge’s standout feature is expected to be its ultra-thin design, with a reported thickness of just 5.84mm, making it significantly slimmer than the Galaxy S25 (7.2mm) and S25 Plus (7.7mm). Despite this thin profile, it will retain a 6.7-inch display, matching the screen size of the S25 Plus but with thinner bezels similar to those on the S25 Ultra. The phone’s body is expected to be made of titanium, which offers strength, lightness, and scratch resistance. This gives it a premium feel without sacrificing durability. It will reportedly be available in colors including Titanium Icy Blue, Jet Black, and Titanium Silver. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is rumored to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor – the same chip used in the rest of the S25 lineup, including the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It’s expected to come with 12GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage. The S25 Edge has a dual-camera setup on the back, though there are varying reports about the specific configuration. Some sources say it might feature a primary and zoom camera rather than an ultra-wide lens. Some reports suggest more ambitious camera specs, but these vary across sources. The S25 Edge could introduce Samsung’s new camera technology, ALoP (All Lenses on Prism), which is designed to enable a thinner, sleeker look. This innovation places lenses directly on the prism rather than between the prism and sensor, potentially increasing brightness, reducing noise, and shrinking the overall camera module size. Like other S25 series phones, the Edge is expected to have Galaxy AI features. Editors’ Recommendations

Vertical filaments Tuesday Telescope: Does this Milky Way image remind you of Powers of 10? Finding a mystery in Sagittarius C. Eric Berger – Apr 8, 2025 7:15 am | 8 An image of the Milky Way captured by the MeerKAT radio telescope array puts the James Webb Space Telescope’s image of the Sagittarius C region in context. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, SARAO An image of the Milky Way captured by the MeerKAT radio telescope array puts the James Webb Space Telescope’s image of the Sagittarius C region in context. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, SARAO Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Welcome to the Tuesday Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light—a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science. We’ll let other publications offer you a daily horoscope. At Ars Technica, we’ll take a different route, finding inspiration from very real images of a universe that is filled with stars and wonder. When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the Powers of 10 video, which came out in the 1970s. Perhaps you remember it, with the narrator taking us both outward toward the fathomless end of the Universe and then, reversing course, guiding us back to Earth and inside a proton. The film gave a younger me a good sense of just how large the Universe around us really is. What I did not know until much later is that the short film was made by the Eames Office, which was founded by the noted designers Charles Eames and Ray Kaiser. It's the same organization that produced the Eames Lounge Chair. It goes to show you the value of good design across genres (shoutout to Ars' resident designer, Aurich Lawson). Anyway, I say all that because the Power of 10 film continues to live in my head, rent-free, decades later. It was the first thing I thought of when looking at today's image of the Milky Way Galaxy's center. The main image showcases huge vertical filaments, with the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's core clearly visible. This image, captured by a South African radio telescope named MeerKAT, also shows the ghostly, bubble-like remnants of supernovas that exploded over millennia. On the right of the image, there is a zoomed-in box taken in infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope, and showing the star-forming Sagittarius C region. An estimated 500,000 stars are visible in this image of the Sagittarius C region. There is also a large region of ionized hydrogen, shown in cyan, that contains intriguing needle-like structures. We don't really know what those are. Source: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, SARAO, Samuel Crowe (UVA), John Bally (CU), Ruben Fedriani (IAA-CSIC), Ian Heywood (Oxford) Do you want to submit a photo for the Daily Telescope? Reach out and say hello. Eric Berger Senior Space Editor Eric Berger Senior Space Editor Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA policy, and author of two books: Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX; and Reentry, on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston. 8 Comments

John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorApril 8, 20255 Min ReadPanther Media GmbH via Alamy Stock PhotoIT development teams are known for their iconoclasts, free spirits, and non-conformists. It's embedded in their DNA. That's what makes developers so good at their jobs. Yet when a team suddenly deviates wildly from its assigned mission, it's time to intervene and issue a course-correction that will get them back on track without bruising egos or killing morale. There's rarely a single goal for any IT development team, says Liz James, managing security consultant at cybersecurity firm NCC Group. "Where there are a few goals, there's a tendency for them to become overly broad and not effectively measurable," she explains in an online interview. Warning Signs When a team starts solving problems nobody asked them to solve, you've got an issue, observes Peter Murphy Lewis, founder of Strategic Pete, a marketing advisory company. "Maybe they're over-engineering, chasing the 'perfect' solution, or adding features no one needs," he says via email. The first sign that an IT team is drifting is when task progress appears strained, says Alex Osmichenko, CEO of website development firm IT Monks. The team is working hard, implementing various changes with good intentions, but these small victories don't add up to the big picture, he notes in an online interview. "It feels like your people are moving, but your company isn't," Osmichenko explains. "If you find yourself going off-topic in meetings and spending most of your time discussing features that weren't originally defined, your team may be struggling to understand what the goal is and how to get there." Related:When an IT team veers off course, the damage isn't just confined to a delayed timeline or blown budget -- there's also a ripple effect, Lewis says. "Stakeholders lose confidence, your users get a half-baked product, and the team itself starts feeling like they’re running on a hamster wheel." Worse yet, if the IT leader lets this behavior slide, it can become accepted culture. "Teams start to believe that wandering is acceptable -- and that’s a disaster waiting to happen." If team drift isn't caught early, deadlines might be missed and products left unfinished. "It can also affect team morale, as people see that their hard work isn't reflected in the big changes," Osmichenko says. "This can lead to burnout and decreased efficiency." Preventative Steps IT teams are often under pressure to innovate and move fast, and that can lead to scope creep or distractions, Lewis says. "Studies show that over half of IT projects fail to meet their objectives, and this is one of the reasons why."  Related:"Divergence from goals and objectives will happen just by meeting with real world constraints and challenges," James adds. The first step toward corralling a runaway team is establishing an open dialog. "As a leader, you should show the team that you're not blaming them for anything -- you're encouraging cooperation, not punishment," Osmichenko says. Give everyone a chance to contribute, and don't reject new ideas that may not be immediately pressing. "Encouraging the team to adjust course together keeps morale high and makes them feel like a part of the solution." "Plan your project clearly," Osmichenko advises. "Break it down into smaller checkpoints so that deviations from the goal are easier to spot," he says. Hold regular meetings for coordination, not just in critical situations. "Your team must understand the importance of feedback and be honest when discussing new challenges." Balance is important, especially in IT where it's very easy to burn out and get lost in an avalanche of large and small tasks. "This doesn't mean that challenges are insurmountable," Osmichenko notes. "In fact, they can make your team stronger." Getting Back on Track Goal diversions happen for a reason, James says. "The first step is understanding what that reason is and being able to understand if it was a missed requirement or goal from the outset, or if it truly is a diversion that doesn't contribute to the final objective." Related:Keep it real and don't place blame. "Most teams want to succeed -- they just need to be pointed in the right direction," Lewis says. "Make sure to note the good things they've accomplished, even if it's off course." It's important to set clear goals and guardrails from day one, Lewis advises. "Make sure everyone knows what success looks like and why it matters." He recommends establishing regular check-ins to catch team drift early. "Create space where the team feels safe to speak up if they see misalignment," Lewis suggests. "A little course correction early beats a full-on rescue mission later." A Final Thought On the bright side, a runaway team is usually a passionate team, Lewis says. "Channel that energy," he advises. "If they're bursting with ideas, carve out some time for structured innovation where they can explore without derailing the main project."About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like