As X discontinues its Communities feature, startup Acorn is launching a decentralized platform that gives organizations full control over their online spaces. The platform includes custom feeds, moderation tools, and analytics.
Acorn's timing capitalizes on X's decision to phase out Communities, a feature that allowed users to create topic-based groups within the platform. The new service lets organizations build and operate independent communities using decentralized technology, eliminating dependence on a single corporate platform.
The platform provides creators with moderation controls, customizable feeds, and built-in analytics to track community engagement. Users maintain ownership of their community data and can implement their own governance rules.
According to Acorn's positioning, the decentralized approach addresses growing concerns about platform dependency and algorithmic control. Organizations can operate communities on their own terms rather than being subject to sudden feature removals or policy changes.
The move reflects broader industry trends toward creator-owned infrastructure and decentralized social platforms. Acorn joins competitors like Mighty Networks and Circle in offering community-building tools outside traditional social networks.
Bumble's paying user base is declining as the dating app prepares a significant redesign later this year. The company is betting that overhauling its core swiping model will convert more matches into actual dates.
Nous Research, an AI agent developer, is securing at least $75 million in new funding at a $1.5 billion valuation. Robot leads the round with participation from Union Square Ventures and other investors.
General Fusion completed its Nasdaq debut through a reverse merger, becoming the first publicly traded fusion company. The listing marks a milestone for the Canadian firm pursuing commercial fusion energy.
Richard Sutton, the 2024 Turing Award recipient and pioneer of reinforcement learning, has founded Oak Lab in Toronto to develop AI agents capable of continuous learning from their environments.