Author: TechBrunch
Tiktok announced on Wednesday that it is expanding its suite of accessibility tools by deploying ALT text with AI to support photo, high contrast mode and device-level bold settings. Tiktok introduced support for ALT text on photos a few weeks ago, and authors provide descriptive text on photos to help screen reader users understand visual content through spoken language descriptions. Currently, the company is testing AI-generated ALT text to automatically explain the photos loudly when the creator does not manually add the ALT text. The company says that ALT text generated by AI makes Tiktok more accessible to people with…
AI-driven note-taking tool Granola is falling into the role. The startup has seen a sharp rise since it was used thanks to word of mouth between VCs and founders since it started a year ago, but it appears that the big drivers are using it to do more than its core pitch. Granola co-founder Chris Pedragel told TechCrunch that its users are increasingly using Granola to take personal notes. “[People] They have lots of meetings so they have granola open all day, so that's what […] Where they are starting to live,” he said. According to Pedragel, Granola's organic popularity…
Finally, Digital Consumer Bank Chime moved forward with the IPO by submitting S-1 documents on Tuesday. Chime reportedly submitted paperwork for the Confidential S-1 in December. S-1 filings usually reveal all types of information covering financial, legal, and other risk factors. However, there are still many blank spaces in Chime's S-1 documentation. I don't know how many shares I want to sell, or what price I have. Chime may be aiming to raise $1 billion, IPO expert Renaissance Capital believes. We also don't know how many shares the Insider will sell as part of the IPO. These include billionaire Yuri…
Xai, the AI company of Elon Musk, has missed the voluntary deadline to expose the final AI safety framework, as the WatchDog Group The Midas Project points out. Xai is not known exactly for its strong commitment to AI's safety, as is well understood. A recent report found that Grok, the company's AI chatbot, stripped off a photo of a woman when asked. Grok is much worse than chatbots like Gemini and Chatgpt, and curses them without much restraining their conversation. Nevertheless, in February at the AI Seoul Summit, a global gathering of AI leaders and stakeholders, Xai unveiled a…
The portfolio includes Unicorn Spring Health and Society Workbench has raised $160 million Fund IV to quadruple the New York City backing company. The company announced Raise in a blog post Monday, saying its latest fund will support Seed Stage founder Building Enterprise Software. Checks range from $2 million to $4 million, and the team is looking specifically for companies building AI, cybersecurity, developer tools, and enterprise applications. Jonathan Lehr, the company's co-founder, told TechCrunch that the company would like to invest in 23-25 companies from Fund IV. He said this was the smoothest funding ever for his company due…
On Tuesday, WhatsApp won a big victory over the NSO group, with ju-deciding to order the infamous spyware maker to pay more than $167 million in damages to the meta-owned company. The ruling concluded a legal battle that lasted over five years. This began in October 2019 when WhatsApp accused NSO groups of hacking over 1,400 users by exploiting a vulnerability in the audio call feature of chat apps. The verdict came after a week of ju trial featuring several testimonies, including NSO group CEO Yaron Shohat and WhatsApp employees who investigated in response to the case. Even before the…
As part of a wider app update, Airbnb introduced new features on Tuesday that allow travelers to book services and experiences, including massages, haircuts, chef-prepared meals and participating in activities. These new products can be added to your stay, but you can also book independently, Airbnb says. For example, you can book tours in the city you travel to, but the company suggests that it is a place you have chosen to stay elsewhere. This is not the first time Airbnb has tried this feature. We paused the experience for the early version of 2023 to improve our stay core…
Tiktok has launched AI capabilities from first image to video, the company announced Tuesday. This new feature is called “Tiktok Ai Alive” and allows users to turn static photos into videos within Tiktok Stories. This feature is only accessible via Tiktok's story camera, and uses AI to create short form videos with “movement, atmosphere and creative effects,” says Tiktok. For example, if a static photo has sky, clouds, or sea, Tiktok gradually changes the photo, clouds begin to drift, and the sound of waves crashes. Alternatively, you can animate group selfies that emphasize gestures and expressions. A few years after…
Google has more ways for Android users to find devices and other items. Google announced it on Tuesday at the Android show a week before Google I/O 2025. The company will become known as the “hub” as it finds my device features that allow Android users to find lost phones and other devices and finds more partners, Airline Partnerships, Airline Partnerships support. First introduced in 2013 as an Android-based alternative to Apple's Find My Service, Find My Device was expanded over a year ago, and introduced a crowdsourced discovery network that allows you to find your personal belongings via third-party…
At the Android show leading up to Google I/O, Google provided a brief update on the adoption of the RCS (Rich Communication Services) protocol on Tuesday. This is an upgrade to SMS that offers high-resolution photos and videos, typing indicators, receipt reading, group chat improvements and more. The company shared that messaging standards support over 1 billion messages per day in the US. The metric is based on the average over the last 28 days, Google noted. As Google fought for years to adopt RCS support on iOS, the statistics were notable, allowing better communication between Android devices and Apple…