Author: TechBrunch
India-based audio platform Pocket FM has over 200,000 hours of content on its service. However, CEO Rohan Nayak believes the platform still has room to grow in terms of creating original content and expanding its library into multiple genres and subgenres. The quickest way to do that is by leveraging AI tools that can help with audio production, writing strategies, and adapting stories for different regions. “We feel that our content catalog is still not good enough for our users. There are many genres and subgenres that are not in our library. I don’t think there’s any content,” Nayak told…
A new AI model family is in the works, and this is one of the few that can be recreated from scratch. On Tuesday, Ai2, a nonprofit AI research organization founded by the late Paul Allen, released OLMo 2, the second model family in the OLMo series. (OLMo stands for “Open Language Model.”) While there is no shortage of “open” language models to choose from (see Meta's Llama), OLMo 2 builds on the Open Source Initiative's definition of open source AI: Meet the tools and data you need. The tools to develop it are publicly available. The Open Source Initiative,…
Amid increased scrutiny around the world over Apple and Google's app store fees, gaming platform Roblox is offering 25% more in-game currency Robux for web and gift card purchases compared to mobile platforms. started. Essentially, the company is encouraging users to buy Robux from the web to avoid Apple and Google's increased in-app purchase fees. The company confirmed the move and said it is exploring ways to provide more value to its user and creator communities. “Apple and Google are valued partners, and we're always looking for ways to deliver more value to our community of users and creators while…
President-elect Donald Trump is considering appointing an “AI czar” to the White House, Axios reported. If President Trump appoints such policymakers, they would be responsible for helping coordinate federal regulation and the government's use of AI. Importantly, Axios notes that AI czars would not require Senate approval, allowing them to address the administration's goals more quickly. The AI czar role could eventually be combined with the “crypto czar” role, which the White House is also reportedly considering, and the government established under President Joe Biden's AI executive order. It will complement the agency's chief AI officer. Of course, President Trump…
Amazon Web Services (AWS)'s biggest conference of the year is just around the corner, and all signs point to it being an eventful one. AWS re:Invent 2024 kicks off in Las Vegas on Sunday, with sessions scheduled to run until December 6th. The keynote featuring AWS CEO Matt Garman will be held on December 3rd at exactly 8am Pacific Time. AWS will be livestreaming the keynote on YouTube and will be covering everything presented on stage. Pay attention to that as well as the stories that pop up over the course of re:Invent. Notably, this is Garman's first time at…
When ServiceTitan filed papers for an IPO last week, aiming to debut by the end of 2024, the tech industry wondered if the stalled IPO market would finally open up. Unfortunately, probably not. However, ServiceTitan may actually be a harbinger of something else entirely. That means a series of late-stage companies will be forced to IPO or expose other ugly terms they agreed to after the VC funding market crashes in 2022 and valuations plummet. “Yes, we will see more of this as ZIRP companies launch IPOs. Hiding these details in the S-1, even if it is hard to understand…
Uber is expanding its fleet of gig workers and creating a new category: AI annotation and data labeling. The ride-hailing company has begun hiring contractors for a new AI and data labeling division called Scaled Solutions. According to a report from Bloomberg, these employees not only complete projects for Uber's internal business units, but also provide services to external customers such as self-driving car company Aurora Innovation and video game developer Niantic. It is said that there is. According to a report from Bloomberg, Uber has begun recruiting contractors in countries including the United States, Canada, and India. Uber's move…
Security researchers have discovered two previously unknown zero-day vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are being actively exploited by Russia-linked hacking group RomCom, targeting Firefox browser users and Windows device owners in Europe and North America. RomCom is a cybercrime group known for carrying out cyberattacks and other digital intrusions on behalf of the Russian government. The group was linked to a ransomware attack targeting Japanese technology giant Casio last month, but is also known for its aggressive stance against organizations allied with Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2014. There is. Researchers at security firm ESET found that in order for rom-coms to…
This week, Dom and Becca are speaking with the co-founders of Alloy Women's Health. The startup just closed a new round of funding to expand its mission to solve menopause care. Alloy founders Monica Molenaar and Anne Fulenwider believe in raising capital in a competitive medical technology environment, choosing to bypass traditional insurance models, and using this funding to scale their telemedicine platform nationally. We talked about how it could help. They also discuss: How the co-CEO model was a natural fit for their leadership style How the company's platform addresses supply and demand issues in specialty care Systematic issues…
Bluesky, a rapidly growing social networking startup that is an alternative to Twitter/X built on open web principles, said in a livestream Monday that its approach to user account authentication is similar to Meta and X. We clarified how it differs from existing services. With a verification payment model, where users pay a fee for the privilege of a blue check to verify their identity, Bluesky envisions a system where there will be multiple verification providers to serve the needs of the broader community. . Currently, the only way to authenticate your account with Bluesky is by adopting a custom…