Author: TechBrunch
For some, AI fatigue is real — but clearly venture investors haven’t grown tired of the category. In the first half of 2024 alone, more than $35.5 billion was invested into AI startups globally, recent Crunchbase data found. Five of the six venture rounds of more than $1 billion raised in the first half of 2024 were raised by AI companies. Since the end of June, another 10 mega-round deals have occurred, with these companies raising over $3 billion; $1 billion of that total went to one company, the new one launched by OpenAI’s co-founder Ilya Sutskever. Here are the…
Apple, which is leaning heavily on its AI capabilities to drive a new wave of hardware upgrades, is set to release macOS Sequoia on September 16, marking the company's earliest major desktop operating system release to date. First announced at WWDC 2024, the new OS introduces a suite of AI-powered features called Apple Intelligence, as well as the popular iPhone Mirroring. Industry analysts see the rapid release as an attempt by Apple to boost hardware sales, with Morgan Stanley's Eric Woodring suggesting in a recent report that the AI capabilities could fuel Apple's “multi-year product refresh cycles” and accelerate device…
Apple, which is leaning heavily on its AI capabilities to drive a new wave of hardware upgrades, is set to release macOS Sequoia on September 16, marking the company's earliest major desktop operating system release to date. First announced at WWDC 2024, the new OS introduces a suite of AI-powered features called Apple Intelligence, as well as the popular iPhone Mirroring. Industry analysts see the rapid release as an attempt by Apple to boost hardware sales, with Morgan Stanley's Eric Woodring suggesting in a recent report that the AI capabilities could fuel Apple's “multi-year product refresh cycles” and accelerate device…
Apple announced that its Voice Memos app for iPhone will now let you add vocals over previously recorded music or instrumental tracks during its 2024 Apple Event on Monday, where it also unveiled new iPhones, Apple Watch models, and more. When the upgraded Voice Memos app is released, you'll be able to sing over a previously recorded track (a guitar track, for example) by tapping a new “Layer” button before recording. Image credit: Apple Voice Memos will play the music track through your iPhone's speakers while it records the second track. When you stop recording, Voice Memos will use “advanced…
Will Siri finally become useful? That was the promise Apple made today at its Glowtime iPhone event on Monday, where the company unveiled the iPhone 16 series, the first new iPhones to ship with AI-powered features, courtesy of Apple Intelligence and then ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. While consumers won't be fully impacted by the Siri upgrade until Apple Intelligence is released, Apple promises it will transform the user experience by turning the iPhone into a miniature, AI-powered personal assistant rather than just a tiny computer that fits in your pocket. In the near future, you'll see more immediate improvements to Siri, like…
Will Siri finally become useful? That's the promise Apple made today at its “Glowtime” event, where the company unveiled the iPhone 16 series, the first new iPhones to feature AI-powered features, brought to you by Apple Intelligence and its subsequent partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI. While consumers won't be able to fully experience the Siri upgrade until Apple Intelligence is released, Apple promises it will transform the user experience by turning the iPhone into not just a tiny computer that fits in your pocket, but a miniature, AI-powered personal assistant. In the near future, Siri will see more immediate improvements,…
Apple announced at its Apple Event 2024 on Monday that visual search, powered by Apple Intelligence, the company's suite of AI features, is coming to iPhone. The new camera control button on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus can activate a feature Apple calls “visual intelligence,” which is essentially a combination of reverse image search and text recognition. For example, when you use visual intelligence to search for a restaurant, Apple says it will show you options to view the restaurant's hours, ratings, and menu, as well as make a reservation. And if you come across an event flyer, you…
Apple's biggest event of the year has arrived, with the unveiling of the iPhone 16 lineup and a slew of AI-related updates for iOS 18. Despite there being a number of highly anticipated hardware announcements, including a new Apple Watch, AirPods, and Macs, Apple Intelligence is expected to take center stage at this year's Apple event, just like at WWDC in June. Broadcast live from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Apple's “Glowtime” event will begin at 10am PST, and you can watch the livestream here. It remains to be seen whether Monday's announcement will spark or delay a “supercycle” of customers…
Apple says its latest flagship wireless earbuds, the AirPods Pro 2, can be used as “clinical-grade” hearing aids. The feature has not yet been cleared by the FDA, but the company said it expects clearance “soon.” The new AirPods were unveiled at Apple's “It's Glowtime” event. When enabled, the Hearing Aid feature amplifies specific sounds in real time, like parts of speech or elements of your environment, and applies a personalized hearing profile (more on that below) to music, movies, and calls across your devices. According to Apple, this will enable wearers to better hear their surroundings and participate in…
More than 90 countries, including the United States and China, are attending a two-day summit in Seoul starting Monday that aims to establish a blueprint for the use of AI in the military. As Reuters reports, participants want to establish minimum guardrails and propose principles for “responsible” AI deployment that are in line with NATO principles. The summit was the second such event, following one in Amsterdam in 2023, at which countries committed to a “call to action” on military AI use — an issue that has taken on new urgency as countries such as Ukraine are keen to deploy…