Author: TechBrunch
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…
Los Angeles is notoriously congested, and with three events expected to draw millions of spectators from around the world — the World Cup in 2026, the Super Bowl in 2027, and the Olympics in 2028 — in the wings, Los Angeles officials are exploring a variety of new mobility solutions to address the congestion problem. But they're already falling behind: Most of the transportation infrastructure efforts planned for the Olympics won't be completed until 2028 or later. Archer Aviation sees an opportunity in this gap. The startup, which is developing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, wants to leverage…
OpenAI's GPT-4o, the generative AI model behind the recently released alpha version of ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode, is the company's first model trained not only on voice but also on text and image data. This sometimes leads to GPT-4o doing odd things, like mimicking the voice of people talking to it or suddenly shouting in the middle of a conversation. In a new “red team” report documenting its examination of the model's strengths and risks, OpenAI uncovers some of GPT-4o's odd quirks, including the aforementioned voice cloning. In rare cases, OpenAI says, GPT-4o “emulates the user's voice,” especially when a…
OpenAI has announced the appointment of Zico Kolter to its board of directors. Colter, professor and chair of the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University, focuses his research primarily on AI safety. [OpenAI’s] “Governance,” OpenAI wrote in an official blog post. Colter will also join the OpenAI Board's Safety and Security Committee, along with board members Brett Taylor, Adam D'Angelo, Paul Nakasone, Nicole Seligman, CEO Sam Altman, and OpenAI technical experts. The committee is responsible for making recommendations on safety and security decisions for all OpenAI projects, but as we noted in our May article, its membership is primarily…
Spotify and Epic Games are among Apple critics unhappy with the iPhone maker's revised plan to newly comply with the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA). Shortly after Apple announced the revised plan on Tuesday, which includes looser restrictions and two additional fees, Spotify released a statement to TechCrunch calling the plan “unacceptable” and claiming that Apple is again ignoring the “fundamental requirements” of the DMA. Meanwhile, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called the revisions another case of “bad compliance” with “junk fees.” In the European Union, where new DMA laws have opened up app store competition, Apple continues its…
Thursday is looking to revolutionize traditional online dating in a competitive market. The app, which recently launched in San Francisco, encourages intentional dating by limiting users' access to Thursdays only. At midnight, all matches disappear. The idea is that by limiting usage to just one day a week, potential matches will be encouraged to set up actual dates sooner. Many singles, especially younger users, are abandoning traditional dating apps due to “swipe fatigue,” the exhaustion felt from swiping through countless profiles. This fatigue, combined with other negative experiences like burnout after talking to too many people and getting caught up…
AI companies are gobbling down investor capital and reaching sky-high valuations early in their lifecycles, leading many to say the industry is a bubble. Nick Frosst, co-founder of Cohere, which builds custom AI models for enterprise customers, recently said on TechCrunch's Found podcast that he doesn't think the AI industry is in a bubble. He acknowledges that the industry is in a bubble, but he believes calling it one discredits companies like Cohere that are building features that are truly useful to customers. “We frequently see people using our model, enabling entirely new capabilities that weren't possible before, or automating…
Instagram is rolling out a feature that lets users add up to 20 photos and videos to their feed carousel as the platform embraces the “photo dump” trend. In 2017, Instagram added the ability to post up to 10 photos and videos in a single swipeable carousel post, allowing you to post twice the amount of content. When Instagram first became popular, the app was focused on getting that one perfect photo to share with your followers. As the years went on, the idea of a “photo dump” gained popularity, where users would post a collection of photos and videos…
Boston-based Flint Capital has closed its third fund with $160 million, four times the size of its first fund in 2013. The capital will be split evenly between early and later stage investments, and the firm will focus more on IT, cybersecurity, fintech and digital health startups. The firm's success is largely due to its unique strategy of who it attracts as limited partner investors. The firm is over 10 years old and was founded by partner Dmitry Smirnov, former CEO of Russia-based investment firm FINAM Global, who quickly made an unconventional decision: rather than pursuing traditional LPs like pension…
Elon Musk has agreed to stop using Europeans' X posts as AI training material for his Grok chatbot for now. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which leads X's privacy oversight under the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), announced the development in a press release on Thursday, saying it welcomed the social media company's decision to “suspend the processing of personal data for the purposes of training its AI tool, Grok.” It was revealed earlier this week that the DPC had filed suit seeking an injunction against Company X for processing data without consent, and Irish national broadcaster…