Author: TechBrunch
Recipe app Pestle is rolling out a new feature that uses AI to automatically turn your favorite TikTok recipe videos into detailed step-by-step instructions. This new feature handles video captions, where creators tend to document ingredient lists and instructions, but is powered by on-device machine learning rather than using a third-party AI provider. This feature is similar to Pestle, which was released for Instagram Reels earlier this summer. Pestle's recipe app and cooking assistant, launched in 2022 by developer Will Bishop, makes it easy to save recipes you find on the web, just like any other app in its field.…
Anthropic is proposing a new standard for connecting AI assistants to systems where data resides. Anthropic is open sourcing a standard called Model Context Protocol (MCP) today that could help AI models generate better and more relevant responses to queries. says. MCP enables any model, not just Anthropic, to retrieve data from sources such as business tools and software to complete tasks, as well as content repositories and app development environments. “As AI assistants have gained mainstream adoption, the industry has invested heavily in model capabilities and achieved rapid advances in inference and quality,” Anthropic wrote in a blog post.…
The UK is seeking help to establish a new AI security institute aimed at countering Russia and other adversaries in what it calls a “new AI arms race”. The UK government has previously launched a number of funding initiatives to support cybersecurity projects, but the rise in AI-based state attacks is the driving force behind this latest effort. The Institute for AI Security Research (LASR) will initially receive £8.22m ($10.3m) of funding from the government itself, but it employs what it calls a “catalyst model”, with industry We hope that other organizations will contribute to this. pot. In a statement…
Back in 2016, Hammad Syed and former WhatsApp engineer Mahmoud Felfel thought it would be a good idea to build a Chrome extension with text-to-speech functionality for Medium articles. This extension allows you to read Medium stories aloud and was featured on Product Hunt. A year later, it spawned an entire business. “We saw a huge opportunity in helping individuals and organizations create realistic audio content for their applications,” Syed told TechCrunch. “We can now deploy human-quality voice experiences faster than ever before without having to build our own models.” Syed and Felfel's company, PlayAI (formerly PlayHT), bills itself as…
Entrepreneur Marc Lore has already sold both companies for a combined billion dollars. He now plans to take food delivery and takeout business Wonder public within the next few years at an ambitious valuation of $40 billion. We recently spoke with Lore in person in New York about Wonder and its ultimate goal of making meal planning easier, but we also touched on Lore's business philosophy. Below is some of what he had to say about the latter, lightly edited for length and clarity. The lore of so-called founder mode is that founders and CEOs proactively collaborate with their direct…
Looking ahead to 2024, Mike Packer, a partner at fintech-focused QED Investors, predicted that funding for fintech startups in Latin America will bottom out by the end of the year. Although the momentum was not straight to the top right, Packer's prediction may have been correct. With one month left in this year, the amount of venture capital invested in fintech companies based in Latin America has already surpassed that of 2023. According to PitchBook data, $2.6 billion has been invested in 174 deals so far in 2024. This compares to $1.5 billion invested in 241 deals in 2023. Although…
VC Jenny Fielding, co-founder of Everywhere Ventures and former Techstars managing director, was basically trolling X when she posted”Do you guys have strong opinions about pre-seed founders having EAs to help them schedule? Just checking.” Fielding told TechCrunch that she knew the post was “a little mean,” but it generated a lot of buzz. Some have suggested that early-stage founders could simply use an AI executive assistant. Others were upset that venture capitalists implied that they shouldn't hire people to back their companies, even in their early stages. However, Fielding pointed out that founders still harbor misconceptions from the 2020-2021…
There is immense power in being in control of your own data. As ownership and governance of apps and online services becomes more consolidated, it makes sense that you will want to consider your options for where your personal data and records of your daily activities are stored. Fortunately, not all services out there seek to monetize personal data, and many are just as good (and often better) than their commercial or ad-supported rivals. (I can't say it's better.) Take a moment and think about what you want to leave behind. Is it a large technology company storing your data?…
On October 21st, a new ticker was made available to Nasdaq traders. NBIS is part of Nebius, a startup in the AI cloud infrastructure space. The path to IPO for most startups has been devoid of much of the usual fanfare, so it's no wonder casual observers wonder where this company came from. There was no roadshow either. The horn doesn't sound either. There will be no confetti ceremony. Nothing is voyeuristic. That's because Nebius is an unusual company. Although we are a publicly traded company, we are a startup in almost every sense of the word. Nebius has actually…
You can make it look like you're on a Zoom call in the office, even when you're sipping margaritas in a faraway hammock. The proposition, courtesy of a months-old startup called Pickle, is simple. Simply submit a 5-minute training video of yourself to create an avatar and have it ready within 24 hours. Want to call a colleague from your car? No problem. Tired of getting out of bed? no problem. At a beach club? You're probably pushing it, but judging by the demo video, it's also ideal if no one on the call is paying “you” their undivided attention.…