Author: TechBrunch
Late Thursday night, Oprah aired a special on AI titled “AI and Our Future,” with guests including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, tech influencer Marques Brownlee, and current FBI Director Christopher Wray. The prevailing tone was one of skepticism and caution. In her prepared remarks, Oprah noted that, for better or worse, the AI genie is out of the bottle and humanity will have to learn to live with the consequences. “AI is still beyond our control and, to a large extent, beyond our understanding,” she said, “But it is here, and we will live with a technology that can be…
Antonio Moraes, the grandson of a late Brazilian billionaire, had no interest in joining the family conglomerate of construction companies and banks. Shortly after graduating from college, he founded one of Brazil's first impact funds, investing primarily in companies that make health care more accessible and affordable. But while attending Stanford University, where he earned a master's degree in business administration and health policy, Moraes realized that rather than investing in impact companies, he wanted to start his own. As part of an entrepreneurship class, Moraes and co-founder James Wong, a graduate engineering student, visited eyeglass factories in China. They…
Meta is changing how it labels content that's been edited or altered by AI tools on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. For this type of content, Meta will move an “AI Info” label to the post's menu. Previously, the label appeared just below the username. The company said that the labels will still appear under content that it detects was generated by an AI tool — that is, they will be hidden under content that was modified or edited by an AI tool, but will appear prominently under content that was generated entirely by an AI prompt. For content generated by…
Cohost, a rival to X that launched publicly in June 2022, is shutting down, the company announced via the social network's staff account earlier this week. The service worked much like Twitter, offering users the ability to follow other users, view their posts in a feed, and like or repost content shared by others. But Cohost differentiated itself by focusing on a chronological feed with no trending topics, supporting long-form posts, and pursuing a business model that didn't rely on advertising. The startup's premium subscription, Cohost Plus, offers advanced features like increased file size limits for uploads, and also plans…
At Wednesday night's MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), new technology allowed fans to shop the styles of their favorite artists seen on screen. While the drama at last night's event focused on Chapel Roan confronting rude paparazzi and Sabrina Carpenter kissing an alien onstage, fans also raved about the lavish and intricate outfits worn by some of the industry's most beloved singers. Paramount's partnership with technology company Shopsense AI gave viewers the opportunity to purchase similar outfits from the service's suggestions. Shopsense AI, which launched in January, offers software that lets viewers capture images of their favorite outfits projected on…
Keith Rabois, managing director of Khosla Ventures, was having dinner with a “highly successful CEO” in October 2018 when the CEO asked him a question: How many people does it take to create an entirely new Silicon Valley? 10,000? Or 100,000? Unbeknownst to LaBois, he decided to accept the challenge and began working to make Miami the next Valley. And despite other big investors like Andreessen Horowitz pulling out and closing their offices in Miami just two years after setting up shop there, LaBois said he remains bullish on the South Florida city. Speaking at Primary Venture Partners' New York…
The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized startups have also seen a fair amount of cuts, and in some cases, have shut down operations altogether. By tracking these layoffs, we’re able to understand the impact on innovation across companies large and small. We’re also able to see the potential impact of businesses…
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to hyper-charge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth used by more than 92% of Fortune 500 companies. That growth has propelled OpenAI itself into becoming one of the most-hyped companies in recent memory. And its latest partnership with Apple for its upcoming generative AI offering, Apple Intelligence, has given the company another significant bump in the AI race. 2024 also saw the release of GPT-4o, OpenAI’s new flagship omni…
We're excited to announce that we've confirmed a dedicated Space Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. This stage will join industry-specific stages like Fintech, SaaS, and AI, all coming together under one big roof. Additionally, we're excited to announce that this year we'll be running a pitch competition as part of the event: “The Space Challenge, powered by Aerospace.” The full agenda for Disrupt 2024's space stage As the space industry accelerates, new opportunities for founders, investors and customers are proliferating. Not only are the once-astronomical costs of doing business in orbit falling, but so are the technological barriers to entry.…
Online sports apparel retailer Fanatics has agreed to settle and dismiss a lawsuit it filed in March against troubled one-click payment provider Bolt, according to court documents obtained by TechCrunch. The settlement comes as Bolt is in the midst of a new maneuver to raise a big fund, including threats of a “clampdown” against existing investors, and as founder Ryan Breslow seeks to return as CEO. Bolt had no immediate comment on the lawsuit settlement. Fanatics declined to comment. Bolt's partnership with Fanatics was one of the key achievements that Breslow and Bolt's then-CEO Maju Kuruvilla praised in March 2022.…