Author: TechBrunch
Decentralized social network Mastodon is also seeing some excitement from the “escape” of X, founder Eugen Roszko shared on the platform ahead of the weekend. While Twitter-like startup Bluesky has been garnering headlines and attention for its rapid popularity among former X users, a smaller group appears to be turning its attention to open-source networking platform Mastodon. Mastodon saw a 47% increase in downloads and monthly actives on iOS. Rochko said users have grown to 894,000 across all Mastodon servers. In a post on Mastodon, the founder and CEO said that downloads of the official app are increasing. In addition…
Initiate Ventures co-founders Jessica Owens and Iana Dimkova are launching a new company focused on healthcare/life sciences after raising an impressive $45 million in debut funding. One of the ways they've convinced limited partners to become investors is because they're building companies that are a mix of early-stage companies and incubation companies. So, not only will they invest in early-stage startups at the intersection of technology and life sciences, but they will also seek to incubate some startups internally – finding founders to turn ideas into companies. . Incubation is “a model that has worked very well in life sciences…
AI chatbots have appeared in religious apps before, but a chapel in Lucerne, Switzerland, went a step further by bringing artificial intelligence to its confessional. DW's report shows an “AI Jesus” operating, offering machine-generated spiritual advice via an avatar visible inside a wooden enclosure. Parishioners sitting on the other side interact with the AI by pressing a button and voicing questions or concerns. The technology was developed at a local university and the chapel's theologian describes it as an experiment aimed at provoking debate. He points out that, unlike human pastors, AI has the advantage of being available 24/7. “I…
New York-based event planning app Partiful, which employs older solutions such as Evite, Eventbrite, and Facebook Events, has been named Google's App of the Year, the tech giant announced Monday in its Best Apps on Google list. and as part of the “Games 2024'' list. The list also highlights top game AFK Journey, along with winners in other categories such as best multi-device app, hidden gem, and platform-specific apps like watches and TV. Masu. Partiful was founded in 2020 by Palanitr alumni Joy Tao and Shreya Murthy and raised a $20 million Series A1 round in late 2022. The round…
ElevenLabs, a startup that provides AI voice cloning and text-to-speech APIs, on Monday launched the ability to build conversational AI bots. The company announced that users can now build complete conversational agents on the Eleven Labs developer platform with customizable variables such as tone of voice and response length. Eleven Labs has primarily been engaged in providing various voice and AI tools for text-to-speech services. Sam Sklar, the company's head of growth, told TechCrunch that many customers are already leveraging this capability to create conversational AI agents. However, the most difficult part was integrating the knowledge base and dealing with…
San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie has tapped OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to help run his transition team as part of the administration's efforts to embrace the high-tech industry, his campaign said Monday. It was announced on . Altman, along with nine other San Francisco leaders, will coach Lurie's team on how the city can innovate and help the new mayor build relationships with key partners. “I'm excited to support the city I love and the birthplace of OpenAI as Mayor-elect Lurie begins its next chapter as he steps into his new role,” Altman said in a statement to TechCrunch. Ta.…
As college tuition prices rise and the student loan debt crisis continues, three former executives at language learning app Duolingo are launching a new company aimed at making college education more affordable and accessible. Launching a startup. The company, tentatively named Outsmart Education (the name has not yet been finalized), is led by co-founder Daniel Falabella (CPO), a former senior director of learning products at Duolingo. Gina Gothilf, CMO, former Vice President of Growth and Marketing at Duolingo. and Jorge Mazal (CEO), former chief product officer of Duolingo. Outsmart on Monday announced a $13 million seed funding round led by…
AI-powered search engine Perplexity is moving into e-commerce. The company on Monday debuted new shopping features for paying customers in the U.S., offering shopping recommendations within Perplexity search results and the ability to place orders without visiting a retailer's website. With this move, Perplexity aims to take on Google and Amazon and capture a slice of shopping search results. For shopping-related search queries, the tool presents users with a visual card that includes product details, pricing, seller information, a short description, and the pros and cons of the product in question. Users can click or tap a card to read…
Google has committed $20 million in cash and $2 million in cloud credits to a new funding initiative aimed at helping scientists and researchers use artificial intelligence (AI) to discover the next great scientific breakthrough. Insert dollars. The announcement, made by Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, during a fireside chat at the private AI for Science forum in London today, is a sign of support for young innovators and startups. It contributes to a broader push by Big Tech to gain This includes acquisitions, equity investments, and cloud partnerships, some of which have attracted regulatory attention. This…
Jen Easterly, head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is leaving the agency after more than three years at the helm. NextGov, which first reported the departure, said Easterly and Nitin Natarajan, the agency's deputy director, will leave CISA on January 20, when the new Trump administration takes office, citing sources. CISA spokesperson Antonio Soliz confirmed the executive's resignation in an email to TechCrunch. “All appointees of the Biden administration will leave their positions by the inauguration of the new administration at noon on January 20th,” Soliz said. Easterly will be the second director to lead CISA…