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Showing posts from May, 2024

Mill’s redesigned food waste bin really is faster and quieter than before

The design brief was simple: each grind and dry cycle had to be completed before breakfast. Here's how Mill made it happen. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/FIvjuif

Google admits its AI Overviews need work, but we’re all helping it beta test

Google is embarrassed about its AI Overviews, too. After a deluge of dunks and memes over the past week, which cracked on the poor quality and outright misinformation that arose from the tech giant’s underbaked new AI-powered search feature, the company on Thursday issued a mea culpa of sorts. Google — a company whose name […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/SR4tesg

a16z-backed ZeroMark wants to give soldiers guns that don’t miss against drones

The product, which ZeroMark calls a “fire control system,” has two components: a small computer that has sensors, like lidar and electro-optical, and a motorized buttstock. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/WMUH8e5

You’ve spoken! Meet the Disrupt 2024 breakout session audience choice winners

TechCrunch Disrupt showcases cutting-edge technology and innovation, and this year’s edition will not disappoint. Among thousands of insightful breakout session submissions for this year’s Audience Choice program, five breakout sessions have soared to the top and were selected by thousands of people from around the globe to speak at this year’s event. Without further ado, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/JIjv1bd

Misinformation works, and a handful of social ‘supersharers’ sent 80% of it in 2020

The studies, by researchers at MIT, Ben-Gurion University, Cambridge and Northeastern, were independently conducted but complement each other well. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/WhYvyGk

The women in AI making a difference

As a part of a multi-part series, TechCrunch is highlighting women innovators — from academics to policymakers —in the field of AI. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/5Szeawm

Mental health insurance platform ifeel raises a $20 million Series B

Ifeel is being offered as part of an employer’s or insurance provider’s healthcare coverage. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/DXszu8I

Creator fintech Slingshot raises $2.2 million

Sanil Chawla remembers the meetings he had with countless artists in college. Those creatives were looking for one thing: sustainable economic infrastructure that could help them scale rather than drown them in paperwork, filings and tracking down receipts.  Chawla thought he might have a solution and launched a music monetization platform in 2020. During the […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Ez8qcw1

Spyware maker pcTattletale shutters after data breach

The spyware maker's founder, Bryan Fleming, said pcTattletale is "out of business and completely done," following a data breach. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/AClERhs

AI models have favorite numbers, because they think they’re people

AI models are always surprising us, not just in what they can do, but what they can’t, and why. An interesting new behavior is both superficial and revealing about these systems: they pick random numbers as if they’re human beings. But first, what does that even mean? Can’t people pick a number randomly? And how […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ABFJru5

Rock band’s hidden hacking-themed website gets hacked

On Friday, Pal Kovacs was listening to the long-awaited new album from rock and metal giants Bring Me The Horizon when he noticed a strange sound at the end of the record’s last track.  Being a fan of solving riddles and breaking encrypted codes, Kovacs wondered: does this sound contain a hidden message?  His hunch […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/XSBZ9LF

MARS doubles down on India’s Infra.Market with new $50M investment

Infra.Market, an Indian startup that helps construction and real estate firms procure materials, has raised $50M from MARS Unicorn Fund. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/x8HnU7h

Cloover wants to speed solar adoption by helping installers finance new sales

Small operations can lose customers by not offering financing, something the Berlin-based startup wants to change. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/CbcqBzD

Ledger starts shipping its high-end hardware crypto wallet

Ledger, a French startup mostly known for its secure crypto hardware wallets, has started shipping new wallets nearly 18 months after announcing the latest Ledger Stax devices. The updated wallet features an E-Ink display and has been designed in partnership with Tony Fadell, one of the main designers behind the iPod. E-Ink technology is generally […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/wWyeJKS

Doly lets you generate 3D product videos from your iPhone

AniML, the French startup behind a new 3D capture app called Doly, wants to create the PhotoRoom of product videos, sort of. If you’re selling sneakers on an online marketplace or need to create Instagram ads for your direct-to-consumer wares, Doly helps you generate 3D models with your phone and turn them into professional-looking product […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ezfNn0P

Elon Musk’s xAI raises $6B from Valor, a16z, and Sequoia

Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI, has raised $6 billion in a new funding round, it said today, in one of the largest deals in the red-hot nascent space, as he shores up capital to aggressively compete with rivals including OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity, Prince Alwaleed […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/DsKSoRj

Indian EV startup Zypp Electric secures ENEOS backing to fund expansion to Southeast Asia

Indian startup Zypp Electric plans to use fresh investment from Japanese oil and energy conglomerate ENEOS to take its EV rental service into Southeast Asia early next year, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The company aims to be in 15 markets over the next two years. Of those 15 markets, Zypp Electric plans to launch its […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/fak3Mm7

A venture capital firm looks back on changing norms, from board seats to backing rival startups

Last month, one of the Bay Area’s better-known early-stage venture capital firms, Uncork Capital, marked its 20th anniversary with a party in a renovated church in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, where 420 guests showed up to help the firm to celebrate, trade tips, and share war stories. There’s no question the venture scene has changed […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/fuRQmnD

Women in AI: Miriam Vogel stresses the need for responsible AI

Miriam Vogel, profiled as part of TechCrunch's Women in AI series, is the CEO of the nonprofit responsible AI advocacy organization EqualAI. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Drp5OZE

What are Google’s AI Overviews good for?

Google has been taking heat for some of the inaccurate, funny, and downright weird answers that it’s been providing via AI Overviews in search. AI Overviews are the AI-generated search results that Google started rolling out more broadly earlier this month, with mixed results — apparently, a user looking for help in getting cheese to […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/KGbMu3p

The ups and downs of investing in Europe, with VCs Saul Klein and Raluca Ragab

When it comes to the world of venture-backed startups, some issues are universal, and some are very dependent on where the startups and its backers are located. It’s something we talked about this week in London, when TechCrunch took its StrictlyVC series of more intimate, more investor-focused events on the road. Sitting down with Saul […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/RD2bWSU

Scarlett Johansson brought receipts to the OpenAI controversy

Welcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review — TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the week’s biggest news. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. OpenAI announced this week that it’s removing Sky, one of the voices used by its new GPT-4o model, after users found it sounded eerily similar to Scarlett Johansson’s AI character […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Vrbvc0m

AI tutors are quietly changing how kids in the US study, and the leading apps are from China

Evan, a high school sophomore from Houston, was stuck on a calculus problem. He pulled up Answer AI on his iPhone, snapped a photo of the problem from his Advanced Placement math textbook, and ran it through the homework app. Within a few seconds, Answer AI had generated an answer alongside a step-by-step process of […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/cIvU8lz

Startups Weekly: Drama at Techstars. Drama in AI. Drama everywhere.

Welcome to Startups Weekly — Haje‘s weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Well, folks, it looks like Techstars’ drama just got a new plot twist. CEO Maëlle Gavet is making her exit, leaving co-founder David Cohen to swoop […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/PDdS8Jn

From Plaid to Figma, here are the startups that are likely — or definitely — not having IPOs this year

Last year’s investor dreams of a strong 2024 IPO pipeline have faded, if not fully disappeared, as we approach the halfway point of the year. 2024 delivered four venture-backed tech IPOs, Reddit, Astera Labs, Ibotta and Rubrik, in March and April, which made it seem like this year could spur the momentum investors had hoped […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Wld1Bop

Spotify to shut off Car Thing for good, leading users to demand refunds

Spotify is notifying customers who purchased its Car Thing product that the devices will stop working after December 9, 2024. The company discontinued the device back in July 2022, but had said at the time that it would still support the units that had already been sold. The company’s plans for the device have changed, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/6hYKjXS

X should bring back stars, not hide ‘likes’

Elon Musk’s X is preparing to make “likes” private on the social network, in a change that could potentially confuse users over the difference between something they’ve favorited and something they’ve bookmarked. According to new posts by company employees, the decision to hide likes is meant to incentivize engagement, by allowing people to favorite content […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Bk28PoR

$6M fine for robocaller who used AI to clone Biden’s voice

The FCC has proposed a $6 million fine for the scammer who used voice-cloning tech to impersonate President Biden in a series of illegal robocalls during a New Hampshire primary election. It’s more about robocalls than AI, but the agency is clearly positioning this as a warning to other would-be high-tech scammers. As you may […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/4VZUjty

Peter Thiel-founded Valar Ventures raised a $300 million fund, half the size of its last one

The perception in Silicon Valley is that every investor would love to be in business with Peter Thiel. But the venture capital fundraising environment has become so difficult, that even Valar Ventures, one of the VC firms he helped found, has raised a much smaller fund this year compared to previous ones.  Thiel set up […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/nM147VL

Spyware found on US hotel check-in computers

Several hotel check-in computers are running a remote access app, which is leaking screenshots of guest information to the interne © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/sPHk8Qf

Techstars CEO Maëlle Gavet is out

Gavet has had a rocky tenure at Techstars and her leadership was the subject of much controversy. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/oW7XdQJ

Farcaster, a crypto-based social network, raised $150M with just 80K daily users

Farcaster, a blockchain-based social protocol founded by two Coinbase alumni, announced on Tuesday that it closed a $150 million fundraise. Led by Paradigm, the platform also raised money from a16z crypto, Haun Ventures, USV, Variant, Standard Crypto and others, according to a blog post by founder Dan Romero. Farcaster, the social protocol, invites developers to […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/XOxIMre

Microsoft’s new ‘Volumetric Apps’ for Quest headsets extend Windows apps into the 3D space

Microsoft announced on Tuesday during its annual Build conference that it’s bringing “Windows Volumetric Apps” to Meta Quest headsets. The partnership will allow Microsoft to bring Windows 365 and local PC connectivity to Quest headsets, enabling developers to extend their apps into the 3D space. “We’re deepening our partnership with Meta to make Windows a […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/CyVTzZA

The ‘vote Trump’ spam that hit Bluesky in May came from decentralized rival Nostr

The spam reached Bluesky by first crossing over two other decentralized networks: Mastodon and Nostr. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/DXQBFlL

NYC-Dublin real-time video portal reopens with some fixes to prevent inappropriate behavior

When putting a video portal in a public park in the middle of New York City, some inappropriate behavior will likely occur. The Portal, the vision of Lithuanian artist and entrepreneur Benediktas Gylys, was designed to bring people together and let them share common experiences. After it opened earlier this month, the vast majority of […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/oV73de8

Contour Venture Partners, an early investor in Datadog and Movable Ink, lowers the target for its fifth fund

Longtime New York-based seed investor, Contour Venture Partners, is making progress on its latest flagship fund after lowering its target. The firm closed on $42 million, raised from 64 backers, for Contour Venture Partners Fund V, according to an SEC filing from May 17. The New York-based firm is targeting $70 million for its fifth […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/PSvq1QJ

Meta’s Oversight Board takes its first Threads case

Meta’s Oversight Board has now extended its scope to include the company’s newest platform, Instagram Threads. Designed as an independent appeals board that hears cases and then makes precedent-setting content moderation decisions, the board to date has decided on cases like Facebook’s ban of Donald Trump, Covid-19 misinformation, the removal of breast cancer photos, and […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/SFYfJGw

SeekOut, a recruiting startup last valued at $1.2 billion, lays off 30% of its workforce

The company says it's refocusing and prioritizing fewer initiatives that will have the biggest impact on customers and add value to the business. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/sbzBPrc

OpenseedVC, which backs operators in Africa and Europe starting their companies, reaches first close of $10M fund

Founder-market fit is one of the most crucial factors in a startup’s success, and operators (someone involved in the day-to-day operations of a startup) turned founders have an almost unfair advantage in finding that fit. Data shows that a lack of expertise and business acumen in founders contributes to failed VC investments. The same principle applies […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/YEm1neJ

Pine Labs gets Singapore court approval to shift base to India

A Singapore High Court has effectively approved Pine Labs' request to shift its operations to India. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/82f56KI

UK opens office in San Francisco to tackle AI risk

Ahead of the AI safety summit kicking off in Seoul, South Korea later this week, its co-host the United Kingdom is expanding its own efforts in the field. The AI Safety Institute – a U.K. body set up in November 2023 with the ambitious goal of assessing and addressing risks in AI platforms – said […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/06B8RSG

Why companies are turning to internal hackathons

Companies are always looking for an edge, and searching for ways to encourage their employees to innovate. One way to do that is by running an internal hackathon around a theme and having employees attack a problem together. It not only brings in new ideas and new ways to solve problems for the company and […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/VNy4zmk

Hollywood agency CAA aims to help stars manage their own AI likenesses

Creative Artists Agency (CAA), one of the top entertainment and sports talent agencies, is hoping to be at the forefront of AI protection services for celebrities in Hollywood. With many stars having their digital likeness used without permission, CAA has built a virtual media storage system for A-list talent — actors, athletes, comedians, directors, musicians, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/vWGF1zb

OpenAI and Google lay out their competing AI visions

Welcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review. This week had two major events from OpenAI and Google. OpenAI’s spring update event saw the reveal of its new model, GPT-4o, which has voice and vision capabilities that can turn ChatGPT into a virtual assistant seemingly aspiring to be “Her.” Hot off OpenAI’s tail, Google’s I/O conference […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ZC5fH1W

With AI startups booming, nap pods and Silicon Valley hustle culture are back

When Jeffrey Wang posted to X asking if anyone wanted to go in on an order of fancy-but-affordable office nap pods, he didn’t expect the post to go viral. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/6L0IDVj

Adobe comes after indie game emulator Delta for copying its logo

After Apple loosened its App Store guidelines to permit game emulators, the retro game emulator Delta — an app 10 years in the making — hit the top of the App Store’s charts. But the increased attention also brought the threat of legal action, as Adobe targeted Delta for sporting a logo that looked too […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/6ncljtS

Meta’s latest experiment copies BeReal and Snapchat’s core ideas

Meta is once again taking on its competitors by developing a feature that borrows concepts from others — in this case, BeReal and Snapchat. The company is developing a feature for Instagram called “Peek” that would allow users to post authentic pictures that can only be viewed once. While Snapchat popularized the idea of ephemeral […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/rpUdWGh

Startups Weekly: It’s the dawning of the age of AI — plus, Musk is raging against the machine

Welcome to Startups Weekly! We've been drowning in AI news this week, with Google's I/O setting the pace. And Elon Musk rages against the machine. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/T7WErOd

Indiebio’s SF incubator lineup is making some wild biotech promises

IndieBio’s Bay Area incubator is about to debut its 15th cohort of biotech startups; here are a few we took special notice of, making some major, bordering on ludicrous, claims that could pay off in a big way. Biotech has been creeping out in recent years to touch adjacent industries, as companies find how much […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/zGX0FP1

Mark Zuckerberg’s makeover: midlife crisis or carefully crafted rebrand?

For Mark Zuckerberg’s fortieth birthday, his wife got him a photoshoot. Zuckerberg gives the camera a sly smile as he sits amid a carefully crafted recreation of his childhood bedroom. It’s appropriately childish – a lava lamp, a participation trophy, a white stuffed dog – yet the surroundings foreshadow the culture-shifting, technological force Zuckerberg would […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/JAiyFuk

Astronauts fall over. Robotic limbs can help them back up.

We all fall down sometimes. Astronauts are no exception. You need to be in peak physical condition for space travel, but bulky space suits and lower gravity levels can be a recipe for disaster, causing them to trip over themselves. The answer to this very specific issue may well be robotic limbs. They won’t prevent […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Ut04rke

Microsoft’s custom Cobalt chips will come to Azure next week

Microsoft will launch its custom Cobalt 100 chips to customers as a public preview at its Build conference next week, TechCrunch has learned. In an analyst briefing ahead of Build, Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s executive VP of the Microsoft Cloud and AI group, directly compared Cobalt to AWS’s Graviton chips, which have been available to developers […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/9atzmF3

FBI seizes hacking forum BreachForums — again

The FBI along with a coalition of international law enforcement agencies seized the notorious cybercrime forum BreachForums on Wednesday.  For years, BreachForums has been a popular English-language forum for hackers and cybercriminals who wanted to advertise, sell, and trade stolen data. Just recently, a threat actor advertised Dell customers’ personal information and data stolen from […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/0E3Orwq

Google still hasn’t fixed Gemini’s biased image generator

Back in February, Google paused its AI-powered chatbot Gemini’s ability to generate images of people after users complained of historical inaccuracies. Told to depict “a Roman legion,” for example, Gemini would show an anachronistically diverse group of soldiers, while rendering “Zulu warriors” as uniformly Black. Google CEO Sundar Pichai apologized, and Demis Hassabis, the co-founder of Google’s […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Ylp4rg1

Google’s image-generating AI gets an upgrade

Veo can generate few-seconds-long 1080p video clips given a text prompt. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/1RzfOFN

Google’s generative AI can now analyze hours of video

At Google I/O, Google announced upgrades to Gemini 1.5 Pro, including a bigger context window. . © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Zv7gKfH

GV’s youngest partner has launched her own firm

Terri Burns, a former partner at GV, is venturing into a new chapter of her career by launching her own venture firm called Type Capital.  © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/yRsPaTU

ChatGPT’s new face is a black hole

The decision to go monochrome was probably a smart one, considering the candy-colored alternatives that seem to want to dazzle and comfort you. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/zc1dDMn

GM’s Cruise ramps up robotaxi testing in Phoenix

A human safety operator will be behind the wheel during this phase of testing, according to the company. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/xgjW8AB

‘Got that boomer!’: How cyber-criminals steal one-time passcodes for SIM swap attacks and raiding bank accounts

Estate is an invite-only website that has helped hundreds of attackers make thousands of phone calls aimed at stealing account passcodes, according to its leaked database. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/oRg5PDm

Permira is taking Squarespace private in $6.6 billion deal

Website building software provider Squarespace is going private in an all-cash deal that values the company on equity basis at $6.6 billion, or a $6.9 billion enterprise valuation. The acquiring company is U.K.-based private equity firm Permira, which acquired a majority stake in Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity firm BioCatch just a couple of weeks ago. Founded in […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/SCL29bO

Google partners with Airtel to offer cloud and genAI products to Indian businesses

Airtel, India's second-largest telco, is partnering with Google Cloud to develop and deliver cloud and GenAI solutions to Indian businesses. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/UJ6xEar

Go on, let bots date other bots

Bumble founder and executive chair Whitney Wolfe Herd raised eyebrows this week with her comments about how AI might change the dating experience. During an onstage interview, Bloomberg’s Emily Chang brought up bots posing as real people, or real people falling in love with bots, as examples of how AI might make online dating worse. […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/YGv1Oc8

Why Apple’s ‘Crush’ ad is so misguided

Welcome to Week in Review: TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the week’s biggest news. This week Apple unveiled new iPad models at its Let Loose event, including a new 13-inch display for the iPad Air, as well as Tandem OLED and a new M4 chip for the iPad Pro. But its ad for the new iPad Pro […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/QAPGEX9

U.K. agency releases tools to test AI model safety

The U.K. Safety Institute, the U.K.’s recently established AI safety body, has released a toolset designed to “strengthen AI safety” by making it easier for industry, research organizations and academia to develop AI evaluations.  Called Inspect, the toolset — which is available under an open source license, specifically an MIT License — aims to assess certain […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/mP59Jdj

At the AI Film Festival, humanity triumphed over tech

AI startup Runway's second annual AI Film Festival showcased movies that incorporated AI tech in some fashion, from backgrounds to animations. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/9RNkSV3

The buzziest EV IPO of the year is a Chinese automaker

Zeekr's market hype is noteworthy and may indicate that investors see value in the high-quality, low-price offerings of Chinese automakers. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Tbu43cq

VC fund performance is down sharply — but it may have already hit its lowest point

Venture capital has been hit hard by souring macroeconomic conditions over the past few years and it’s not yet clear how the market downturn affected VC fund performance. But recent data from the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) give us something to chew on. SFERS’s venture portfolio recorded a -.9% internal rate of return […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/FsXdZ28

Infighting among fintech players has caused TabaPay to ‘pull out’ from buying bankrupt Synapse

A dust-up between Evolve Bank & Trust, Mercury and Synapse has led TabaPay to abandon its acquisition plans of troubled banking-as-a-service startup Synapse. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/hUqmpKe

Google built some of the first social apps for Android, including Twitter and others

The Twitter for Android client was "a demo app that Google had created and gave to us," says Particle co-founder and ex-Twitter employee Sara Beykpour. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Qo9sIpJ

Plinky is an app for you to collect and organize links easily

Plinky lets you solve the problem of saving and organizing links from anywhere with a focus on simplicity and customization. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/TP7NflG

Reddit tests automatic, whole-site translation into French using LLM-based AI

Reddit — now a publicly-traded company with more scrutiny on revenue growth — is putting a big focus on boosting its international audience, starting with francophones. In their first-ever earnings call, CEO Steve Huffman confirmed the company is now working on automatic translations of the site’s content, in real-time, into French, thanks to advances in […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/506opJz

Axmed raises $2M from Founderful to streamline drug supply chains in underserved markets

It is estimated that about 2 billion people, especially those in lower and middle-income countries, lack access to quality and affordable essential medicines. The situation is exacerbated by low-quality or even killer counterfeit drugs that fill the gap. This shortfall means diseases that are otherwise treatable or preventable end up causing distress and even death. This is the […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/1wLqWQ9

A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffs

The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/vhX7yfu

India’s Oyo, once valued at $10 billion, seeks new funding at 70% discount

Oyo, the Indian budget-hotel chain startup, is negotiating with investors to raise a new round of funding that could cut the Indian firm’s valuation to $3 billion or lower, three sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The startup is engaging with investors, including Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah, for the new funding, the sources […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/WcDmnkJ

Lucid loses longtime Apple and Intel exec who steered software division

Lucid Motors’ senior vice president of digital Mike Bell has resigned from his position. The company said in a filing Monday that the longtime Apple and Intel executive’s resignation is “effective immediately, in order to pursue other opportunities.” Lucid says Bell will serve in an advisory role through mid-August to help “transition” his duties at […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/uYn4hS0

DocuSign acquires AI-powered contract management firm Lexion

As DocuSign reportedly explores a sale to private equity, it’s acquiring a company itself. On Monday, DocuSign announced that it’s buying Lexion, a contract workflow automation startup, for $165 million. The purchase comes as DocuSign makes increasing investments in the contract management space, most recently launching DocuSign IAM, a service aimed at connecting different components of […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/4vFJ9y6

Apple iPad event: What to expect

So far, the biggest surprise about May 7’s “Let Loose” event is that it’s happening at all. We’re just over a month out from Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference, and yet the company determined there was enough news to warrant a stand-alone event, which kicks off tomorrow at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET. iPads (including […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/A6pO5an

Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo talks about AI, chatbot platform Poe, and why OpenAI is not a competitor

Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo talks about the challenges and opportunities in AI today, how to build and support a developer community, and more. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/WhOpcvN

Sequoia’s Jess Lee explains how early-stage startups can identify product-market fit

Lee, a specialist in early-stage investing, explains how Sequioa approaches identifying product-market fit for its startups through three archetypes. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/7j2SUcT

Hyundai antes up $1B for AV startup Motional and Elon unplugs the Tesla Supercharger team

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Before I jump into the all the news — and boy there was a lot! — I have an important update for all of you lovely readers. TechCrunch Mobility is moving to Thursdays! It will be the same […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/gvm12xq

Alternative clouds are booming as companies seek cheaper access to GPUs

The appetite for alternative clouds has never been bigger. Case in point: CoreWeave, the GPU infrastructure provider that began life as a cryptocurrency mining operation, this week raised $1.1 billion in new funding from investors including Coatue, Fidelity and Altimeter Capital. The round brings its valuation to $19 billion post-money, and its total raised to […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/dfigpSG

The Rabbit r1 shipped half-baked, but that’s kind of the point

I finally received the rabbit r1 (the company insists on this lowercase styling) I’ve been writing about since its debut at CES in January. And I was able to tell within about 30 seconds of turning it on that it was shipped a couple months too soon — but honestly…that’s fine? It’s weird, relatively cheap, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Rz3UpNy

Google lays off workers, Tesla cans its Supercharger team and UnitedHealthcare reveals security lapses

Welcome, folks, to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that recaps the week that was in tech. This edition’s a tad bittersweet for me — it’ll be my last (for a while, anyway). Soon, I’ll be shifting my attention to a new AI-focused newsletter, which I’m super thrilled about. Stay tuned! Now, on with […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/1cKutlC

Human composting and timber marketplaces: talking “industrial” VC with investor Dayna Grayson

While the venture world is abuzz over generative AI, Dayna Grayson, a longtime venture capitalist who five years ago co-founded her own firm, Construct Capital, has been focused on comparatively boring software that can transform industrial sectors. Her mission doesn’t exclude AI, but it also doesn’t depend on it. Construct recently led a seed-stage round, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/G9r6Fbm

Despite recent successes, IPO market still won’t fully open until 2025

Experts say macroeconomic factors including the upcoming election and the current state of the economy will deter too many IPOs this year. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/jKCqY0c

EQT snaps up API and identity management software company WSO2 for more than $600M

WSO2, a company that provides API and identity management services for enterprises, has been acquired by EQT for more than $600M. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/wU92KDm

How to play Pokémon and other Game Boy games on your iPhone

Apple finally updated its App Store guidelines to allow global developers to host retro game emulators on iOS. Now, you don’t need to jailbreak your iPhone or download any sketchy software — you can get a sophisticated emulator right in the palm of your hand for free on the App Store. No one is more […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/MoTHeix

10 years in the making, retro game emulator Delta is now #1 on the iOS charts

Video game emulator Delta’s decade-long struggle against the iOS app store began with a school-issued TI-84 calculator. When Riley Testut was a sophomore in high school, he showed his friends how to load illicit software onto their bulky graphing calculators. Such behavior was generally discouraged at school, but he wasn’t plotting to cheat on a […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/k76zSlI

Microsoft bans U.S. police departments from using enterprise AI tool

Microsoft has changed its policy to ban U.S. police departments from using generative AI through the Azure OpenAI Service, the company’s fully managed, enterprise-focused wrapper around OpenAI technologies. Language added Wednesday to the terms of service for Azure OpenAI Service prohibits integrations with Azure OpenAI Service from being used “by or for” police departments in […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/pQdfIYn

Your AI-native startup ain’t the same as a typical SaaS company

It's not building any startup, but building a defensible AI startup presents its own set of unique challenges. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/xHMYGrg

Tiger Global-backed Innovaccer in talks to raise $250M in new funding, sources say

Innovaccer, a health tech startup that aggregates patient data across systems and care settings, is in advanced stages of talks with investors to raise as much as $250 million in a new financing round, three sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The deliberation for the new funding round is ongoing, and the current talks […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/8Ko30tF

Snapchat’s ‘My AI’ chatbot can now set in-app reminders and countdowns

Snapchat is launching the ability for users to set in-app reminders with the help of its My AI chatbot, the company announced on Wednesday. The social network is also rolling out editable chats, AI-powered custom Bitmoji looks, map reactions, emoji reactions, and more. With the new AI reminders feature, Snapchat is hoping users will use […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/VugKHIE

Google lays off staff from Flutter, Dart and Python teams weeks before its developer conference

Google told TechCrunch that Flutter will have new updates to share at I/O this year. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/RbLA2QU