Author: TechBrunch

WhatsApp on Thursday updated its cross-device video calling experience by introducing screen sharing with audio support and a new speaker spotlight feature, while also increasing the limit on the number of participants in a video call to up to 32. Last August, WhatsApp introduced screen sharing support for video calls, and now the instant messaging app has enhanced that experience by enabling support for sharing audio along with your screen, allowing you to watch videos along with your contacts on a WhatsApp call. Another important update that WhatsApp has made to video calling is the increased limit, which now allows…

Amazon has announced that it will invest up to $230 million in startups developing generative AI-powered applications. About $80 million of the investment will go toward Amazon's second AWS Generative AI Accelerator program, aimed at positioning AWS as an attractive cloud infrastructure option for startups developing generative AI models to power products, apps, and services. The majority of the new funding (including the full amount set aside for the accelerator program) will be provided in the form of AWS infrastructure compute credits, which cannot be transferred to other cloud service providers such as Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure. Additionally, Amazon…

SoftBank-backed photo editing startup PixArt said on Thursday it's partnering with Getty Images to develop a custom model to serve AI imagery to its 150 million users. The company said the model will provide responsible AI imagery to creators, marketers and small businesses that use its platform. The model will be built from the ground up and trained exclusively on creative content licensed by Getty Images. The company said the partnership will enable PicsArt subscribers to generate their own images with full commercial rights. Users can add to and customize the assets using any of PicsArt's editing tools. By creating…

Yahoo's AI efforts aren't over yet. The TechCrunch parent company recently launched AI-powered features for Yahoo Mail, including Priority Inbox in Gmail and a unique AI-powered email summary. It also released an AI-powered version of its Yahoo News app today, leveraging technology from its recent acquisition of Artifact. Yahoo has more AI plans in the works, including for its Yahoo News properties on the web. Code references on the newly redesigned Yahoo News website indicate that Yahoo is testing an AI summarization feature, presumably to help visitors get a quick grasp on news without having to read the entire article.…

If there's one thing that's holding back batteries from becoming more widespread, it's cost. Lithium-ion, the most popular type of battery, still costs about $140 per kilowatt-hour per pack, low enough to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, but even the cheapest lithium-ion chemistry is still too expensive to install large batteries in every home to protect against power outages. Instead, manufacturers are beginning to research sodium-ion batteries as a complement to lithium-ion, rather than a replacement. “At the same scale, sodium-ion should cost about half as much to produce as lithium iron phosphate, because the raw materials are 100…

Today's tech zeitgeist is centered around artificial intelligence, and LinkedIn announced a series of new AI-powered services on Thursday in an effort to drive more users and usage. The company is betting big on AI and how people want it woven into their experiences on the platform, introducing tools that do everything from helping people find and apply for jobs (yes, there are tools that will write all of your applications and cover letters for you), to suggesting relevant learning materials (AI-related, of course), to searching across LinkedIn to find what you need more quickly. We'll discuss some of the…

Byju's is struggling to raise the full $200 million in a rights issue that its founders previously claimed was oversubscribed, sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, and now India's National Company Law Tribunal has stayed the company from proceeding with a second rights issue, citing allegations of shareholder oppression and mismanagement. The court on Thursday ordered the company to maintain its existing shareholdings until a petition filed by investors General Atlantic and Sofina is disposed of. Byju's first rights issue was held in late January, but a court ordered the company not to use the proceeds from the rights…

Earlier this year, BASF was forced to postpone the opening of a battery materials plant in Finland after a court ruled in favor of environmental groups that the company did not have an adequate plan for wastewater treatment. As battery factories spring up around the world, wastewater issues have been a hindrance, but one startup claims the solution lies in recycling wastewater rather than disposing of it. Wastewater from these factories contains high amounts of sodium sulfate, a by-product of sulfuric acid and caustic soda, two chemicals used in battery manufacturing, copper smelting and other industries. “You can build an…

The European economy is in a precarious position, but there's a silver lining for enterprise startups: Companies building tools to help companies run their finances in a more stable and predictable way are seeing growth. In the latest development, Dublin-founded accounting technology company AccountsIQ has raised €60 million (about $65 million) to build the “treasury function of the future” for mid-sized businesses: a cloud-based, AI-powered automation service that will help accounting departments work faster and more intelligently. AccountsIQ was founded by accountants who had been in business (mostly bootstrapped) for almost 20 years and saw an opportunity to build the…

Android is losing one of its longtime engineering leaders: Android vice president of engineering Dave Burke announced Thursday that he is stepping down after 14 years in the role, but he is not leaving Alphabet and will instead explore “AI/bio” projects within the company. Burke has worked on significant Android projects, including the development of Nexus and Pixel smartphones, Chrome for mobile, the launch of Android TV, and leading the effort to build and ship developer tools. Burke's move follows a series of layoffs and restructurings at Alphabet this year. The company laid off more than 1,000 employees in January,…