Author: TechBrunch
As generative AI tools become more widely available and cheaper or even free to use, a variety of actors, including state actors, are using them to create deepfakes and spread disinformation online. is being exploited by In this session of Disrupt 2024, CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed, Brandie Nonnecke, director of the CITRIS Policy Lab at CITRIS UC, and Pamela San Martin, co-chair of the Oversight Committee, will discuss the types of deepfakes currently circulating on the web. , hear about some possible ways to counter that threat. Subscribe for more on YouTube: https://tcrn.ch/youtube Follow TechCrunch on Instagram: http://tcrn.ch/instagramTikTok: https://tcrn.ch/tiktokX: tcrn.ch/xThread:…
The old idea that you need $100 million worth of final revenue to go public or $1 million worth of annual recurring revenue to raise a Series A is effectively sitting on President Lincoln's head. It's about as old as it gets. In today's market, what a startup needs to get a raise depends on its sector, the founder's profile, and of course the momentum. So what does it take to raise that Series A? In this session at Disrupt 2024, Nikhil Basu Trivedi, co-founder and general partner of Footwork, Dayna Grayson, co-founder and general partner of Construct Capital, Bessemer…
In its latest camp, VC and accelerator Betaworks focused on startups building native applications enabled by AI. The program was first announced in May. Explaining this focus, managing partner John Borthwick said at the time that while things like AI chatbots and writing assistants exist, “we are still not living in the future we imagine. “No,” he wrote. In other words, despite advances in AI technology, Borthwick said: “When end users like us are faced with a task or project, we believe we can do it faster, better, and smarter by leveraging the power of off-the-shelf tools: AI.” There is…
Apple wrapped up Macweek (Mac half week) on Wednesday by announcing an updated MacBook Pro. Apple's most premium laptop has caught up with its peers with the addition of the M4 chip. The Pro and Mini are the first two Macs with the new chip. The Pro will be the first to feature the just-announced M4 Max as an upgradable option. The new Pro comes with 14-inch and 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR displays with up to 1,000 nits of brightness. Both sizes come with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max options and a 12-megapixel webcam. M4 Pro and Max models…
Apple wrapped up a half-week of Mac announcements Wednesday by announcing the latest in its M-series chips. A day after announcing the M4 Pro along with the smaller new Mac Mini, the company is showcasing the M4 Max, which joins the MacBook Pro series. Like other members of the M4 line, the Max is built on a second-generation 3-nanometer architecture. This is also Apple's second chip (after the M4 Pro) to support Thunderbolt 5 transfer speeds. These are just over twice as many as Thunderbolt 4. The company also claims that the new Neural Engine makes the M3 twice as…
Hummingbirds is a woman-founded startup that connects hyperlocal content creators with homegrown brands like coffee shops and grocery store chains to share and market their products to small, engaged communities through social media. Reward those who help. The company announced a $5.4 million seed round on Wednesday, bringing its total funding to $10 million. The new capital will support the platform's expansion to 20 additional cities by 2025, including Atlanta, Georgia. Charlotte, North Carolina. and Denver, Colorado. Launched last year, the platform is betting on localized word-of-mouth marketing for brands to build trust with local customers. Small business owners often…
Welcome to the third and final day of TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 at Moscone West in San Francisco! The excitement here is still at its peak and shows no signs of slowing down. If you thought it was too late to join, think again. There's still time to register and get involved. Today we bring you some of our most anticipated stage sessions, with insights from trailblazers like Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and founder and CEO of Automattic. Colin Kaepernick, former NFL quarterback and Lumi CEO. Aravind Srinivas, co-founder and CEO of Perplexity, and others. Plus, we'll soon find out…
People are generally skeptical of customer service chatbots, and many openly despise them. In a recent Gartner survey, 64% of consumers said they prefer companies not to use any type of AI, including chatbots, in customer service. 53% even said that if a company were to consider replacing human agents with AI, they would consider switching to a rival. Alex Levin, a former product manager at Thomson Reuters and former senior vice president of growth at Handy, believes most people dislike chatbots because they've had bad experiences with them in the past. “Contact center teams are often given only cost-cutting…
Archon Biosciences, a biotech startup that uses AI to design new biomolecules, just emerged from stealth with an impressive $20 million in seed funding. The company aims to enhance antibody treatments using specially designed protein “cages” that double their effectiveness and open new opportunities for drug development. It is the first company to be formed independently of the Baker Institute, a research institute at the University of Washington directed by pioneering computational biologist and recent Nobel Prize winner David Baker. His team's research into generative protein design using AI and other means is fundamental to a rapidly evolving industry, and…
Swiggy, one of India's largest food delivery and quick commerce startups, is seeking a valuation of up to $11.3 billion in its initial public offering, which would represent a 57% discount to Zomato's market capitalization. The loss-making Bengaluru-based company has set an IPO price band of 371 to 390 rupees ($4.41 to $4.64) per share for next month's IPO. At the high end, this valuation represents only a small premium to the company's private market value of $10.7 billion in early 2022, and falls short of recent valuations by mutual fund investors Invesco and Baron. Swiggy aims to raise $1.34…