City leaders in Pasadena this week approved a three-year contract for ShotSpotter, a controversial sound recognition system that detects gunfire in the community. Police say that the city experienced an 85% increase in gun violence in 2020 over the year prior. The decision is expected to raise concerns about surveillance and privacy.
Here's what else we're reading in the news:
- Blink Mobility is deploying 300 street side EV charging stations across Los Angeles to expand the city's BlueLA electric car sharing program.
- CourtCall, a Torrance-based company that provides remote video for courthouses, is suing the Los Angeles Superior Court system for breach of contract.
- Jason Ross and a cadre of former executives from AMC and Spotify have launched a new podcast firm in Los Angeles, Fresh Produce Media.
- The fashion brand Pacsun says it will begin accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to pay for products online and at its stores.
- Cannabis Strategic Ventures, an L.A.-based cannabis marketplace, is opening a customer-facing dispensary this fall.
- Former Activision Blizzard Chief Legal Officer Claire Hart has joined Genies to head its legal affairs and expansion into the NFT market.
- Simerse, an L.A.-based geospatial company that enhances AI and computer vision models, is among the 35 recipients of a $1.9 million Arch Grants award.
- Investors appear to have been scammed out of $2.7 million after an NFT developer, Evil Ape, vanished from the internet.
'No One in LA County Is Using This Technology'
By Decerry Donato
With gun violence surging in Pasadena, the city has sought help in a controversial technology that some residents fear will infringe on their privacy. While the contract with ShotSpotter on Monday evening, city leaders were met with some skepticism about the technology.
"No one else in L.A. County is using this technology," one resident said during the public comment portion of the meeting. "If that's not a red flag I'm not really sure what is." Read more...
Exclusive: A Q&A With Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck
By Samson Amore
Rocket Lab is competing in a less talked-about area of the space industry: satellite launches. Just a short time after going public, the Long Beach rocket maker has clinched one of its biggest deals, a $24.4 million U.S. Space Force contract. Read our Q&A with Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck about how he's building a new breed of space company and what the future holds.
Self-Funded, Within Health Launches App to Tackle Eating Disorders
By Keerthi Vedantam
Within Health this week launched an app to help treat eating disorders using a multi-disciplinary approach that includes artificial intelligence and machine learning. And so far, it's bootstrapping it all.