Author: TechBrunch

Meta's Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have several new AI-powered upgrades, including continuous conversation and the ability to translate between languages. Ray-Ban Meta owners participating in Meta's early access program for the US and Canada can now download firmware v11, which adds “Live AI.” Live AI, first announced this fall, allows wearers to have continuous conversations with Meta AI, Meta's AI assistant, and see what was discussed earlier in the conversation. The wearer can interrupt the Meta AI to ask a follow-up question or change the subject without having to say the wake word “Hey, Meta.” Live AI also works with…

Since Elon Musk took over the company in 2022, a growing number of viewers, old and new, have been eager to try newer social networks as an alternative to Twitter. Mastodon, Bluesky, Spill, and T2 are some of the social media platforms that people use. Meta's Threads platform is no different. What is a thread? How do I create an account? Threads is Meta's text-based Twitter rival. It's tied to your Instagram account, so you can log in and create an account using your Instagram credentials. How is it different from Twitter? Currently, there are no paid quotas or ads…

OpenAI seems to be in the holiday spirit. The series of ChatGPT rollouts, dubbed “12 Days of OpenAI,” will be live-streamed every weekday at 10 a.m. Pacific time through December 23. So far, we've seen the launch of ChatGPT Pro, OpenAI's $200/month subscription plan. The complete version of that “reasoning” o1 model. Text-to-video generator Sora is now available to the public. Deploying Canvas. ChatGPT for Apple Intelligence. ChatGPT's real-time video capabilities. Below, we'll explain how you can watch the event together. OpenAI will live stream the event on its YouTube channel. We'll also be live blogging everything that's announced. So…

Google's flagship AI research lab, Google DeepMind, wants to beat OpenAI in the video generation game. And that may be the case, at least for a while. On Monday, DeepMind announced Veo 2, the next generation video generation AI and successor to Veo that powers a growing number of products across Google's portfolio. Veo 2 can create clips longer than 2 minutes at resolutions up to 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels). Notably, this is more than four times the resolution and six times the duration that OpenAI's Sora can achieve. Admittedly, it's a theoretical benefit at this point. Veo 2…

Paragon, an Israeli spyware maker that has kept a low profile in recent years, was acquired by American private equity giant AE Industrial Partners last week, according to Israeli news reports. Tech news website Calcalist reported that the investment firm is acquiring Paragon for $500 million, and that the deal could reach $900 million depending on the company's growth. The Globes reported that the upfront payment was $450 million, with 20% going to Paragon's 400 employees, 30% going to its five co-founders, and the remaining 50% going to US venture capital fund Battery Ventures. and will be donated to Israeli…

YouTube is experimenting with new ways to engage with fans by giving creators the ability to post voice notes and reply to comments on their videos, the company announced Monday. The ability to post voice memos is currently limited to certain creators in the United States. YouTube says these audio comments can only be posted to your own channel via the iOS YouTube app. Creators who have this feature enabled can tap the new soundwave icon when replying to a comment, record their reply, and post it as a comment. Image credit: Screenshot by TechCrunch Only some creators can post…

Arctic Wolf has acquired Cylance, BlackBerry's struggling cybersecurity business, for $160 million. That's a steep discount from the $1.4 billion BlackBerry paid to acquire the startup in 2018. Under the terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in BlackBerry's fiscal fourth quarter, BlackBerry will sell Cylance assets to Arctic Wolf for $160 million in cash. BlackBerry will receive approximately $80 million at closing and the remaining tranche after one year, as well as approximately 5.5 million shares of Arctic Wolf common stock. “We believe this transaction is a win-win for our shareholders and all other stakeholders,” BlackBerry CEO…

Snapchat is introducing an improved integrated monetization program for creators. The new program rewards creators for content posted on Stories and its TikTok imitator, Spotlight. Previously, Snapchat monetized these two formats through separate programs. The new program allows creators to earn money from ads that appear within eligible Stories and Spotlight posts. “Spotlight viewership is up 25% year over year, and a unique and growing opportunity exists for creators to monetize this format in the same way as Stories,” the company said in a blog post. “Starting February 1, 2025, eligible creators will be able to monetize Spotlight videos longer…

Chinese shopping app Temu is once again the most downloaded free app in the United States, according to a list of top apps and games across the App Store released by Apple on Monday. The shopping app rose to the number one spot last year, dethroning TikTok, which held the title in 2022. Although currently facing a ban in the US, TikTok entered the list this year at number 3 behind Instagram Threads and moved up to number 2 after number 3 for the most downloaded apps in 2023. Apple compiles a list of top apps and games at the…

In a new interview with WWD, Skims co-founder Jens Grede admitted that IPO plans are on the back burner, at least for now. TechCrunch reported in August that investors were expecting the retail darling, which was last valued at $4 billion, to go public, and Information said it could go public in the first half of 2025 at the earliest. It was reported that it would happen. However, in an interview with WWD, Grede clarified. Company IPO plans. “We have never decided to go public,” he told the media. “What I've said all along, and maybe I was wrong, is…