News

Flock reportedly tries to shrink workforce with employee buyouts

Published

3 weeks ago

September 19, 2026

Embattled surveillance technology company Flock Safety unveiled a “generous” severance package for voluntary employee departures on Friday, according to a report in Wired.

Flock reportedly expects a significant portion of its 1,500-person workforce to express interest in the buyouts, and said it will grant them to a majority of those who are interested. The company’s internal announcement described these packages as the “most generous” it has ever offered.

By letting employees depart voluntarily, Flock can say goodbye to team members demoralized by the ongoing backlash over the company’s license plate recognition technology. Wired also reports that without buyouts, the company would “almost certainly” need to lay off some staff.

In August, The Washington Post identified 46 cases where police officers have been accused of misusing Flock technology, including cases where they allegedly stalked their wives, girlfriends, or exes. Florida and Texas both said they will stop using the startup’s technology, and an anti-surveillance advocacy group identified 90 cities that dropped Flock in August alone — a fourfold increase from the previous month.

TechCrunch has reached out to Flock for comment. The startup’s CEO Garrett Langley recently told the All-In podcast that the “biggest damage” caused by the backlash has been to “internal morale.”

Related Topics:buyouts employee Flock reportedly shrink workforce

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Business

NPF Pensions Rolls Out Support Programmes for Retired Police Officers

Published

20 minutes ago

October 8, 2026

PlateauReports

NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—Retirement should not mark the start of fresh hardship for police officers who devoted their working lives to safeguarding the public, yet questions about pension adequacy, gratuity payments and the general welfare of retirees continue to feature in conversations on police welfare.

With Police Pension Week underway, the Nigeria Police Force Pensions Board says it is working to strengthen its services and tackle some of the difficulties confronting both serving and retired officers.

The agency says that, in addition to routine pension payments, it runs a Retirement and Resettlement Support Programme designed to help retirees cope while their retirement benefits are being processed.

It also holds pre-retirement seminars that prepare officers for life after service, offering training in areas such as poultry farming and other small-scale ventures.

According to the agency, these efforts are intended to give retired personnel better financial footing and ease their transition from active duty to civilian life.

The post NPF Pensions Rolls Out Support Programmes for Retired Police Officers appeared first on Business Today NG.

News

Robot data startup Mecka AI nabs $60M from Sequoia

Published

25 minutes ago

October 8, 2026

PlateauReports

Mecka AI, a startup that collects and analyzes human motion data to train humanoid robots and other kinds of robots, announced it has raised a $60 million Series B round led by Sequoia, with participation from Nvidia, Microsoft’s venture fund M12, and others. TechCrunch had previously reported that the startup was nearing a new funding round at a $500 million valuation.

Founded in 2024, the startup intends to do for robotics what Scale AI, Mercor, Surge, and other data-labeling companies have done for LLMs. Those companies supply the human-generated data these systems learn from. Mecka pays people to record themselves doing everyday tasks, like making coffee or fixing cars, while wearing body sensors and using smartphones.

Other startups that collect real-world data for robot training include XDOF, which was in talks to raise a Series B round at a $1.2 billion valuation according to TechCrunch’s previous reporting. Human-data platforms that began with LLMs are also expanding into robotics, such as Scale AI and Micro1.