Author: TechBrunch
Welcome to Startups Weekly — Haje's weekly roundup of the must-reads from the startup world. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox every Friday. Hold on to your Apple Watch, everyone! At WWDC 2024, Apple has finally decided to give Siri a brain implant that they are calling “Apple Intelligence” (AI, get it?). Apparently, it's so smart that it knows more about your life than you do. Tim Cook promises that it will be all about privacy and personal context. So intimate that even your diary might feel neglected. And with the Siri makeover, we get Genmoji (yes,…
So when Kinnect released a new app aimed at preserving epic family stories and awkward holiday moments for posterity, I knew I had to take a closer look at its Angel Deck. The app is clever, like a digital family scrapbook on steroids. Not only does it store photos, it also has video and audio recording capabilities and a nifty timeline feature that lets you organize your memories like a pro. Kinnect's grand plan is for the grandkids to hear straight from the source about that time Uncle Bob got stuck in a tree at a family reunion. In a…
Browser company Arc, a web browser that aims for a clean user interface, has introduced a “Live Calendar” feature to help you avoid missing calls or being late to meetings. The feature rolled out on Mac yesterday and is available in the latest Arc update, version 1.47.1. This new feature allows you to pin your Google Calendar to your favourites section for easy access at any time. Once you enable the 'Live Calendar' feature, you will see a countdown timer that will remind you just before the meeting starts and a 'Join' button that allows you to join the call…
Meta confirmed that it was pausing plans to begin training its AI systems with data from users in the European Union (EU) and the UK. The move comes after a backlash from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), Meta's lead regulator in the EU, which acts on behalf of multiple data protection authorities (DPAs) in the bloc. The UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has also asked Meta to suspend its plans until the concerns it has raised are addressed. “The DPC welcomes Meta's decision to suspend its plans to train large-scale language models using public content shared by adults on…
Privacy-focused search engine and web browser company Brave Software is integrating search results into its Leo chatbot. Search results are based on the Brave Search API, and Leo is integrated into the company's browser. The company says the integration helps users find more up-to-date information. This integration allows you to get information like the latest scores, pull more topic-related context when reading an article, and search recent related topics to create social media posts. Image credit: Brave Brave stressed that the integration is privacy-focused, as it doesn't require users to log in. Additionally, it doesn't store conversations with its AI…
For centuries, people have chewed willow bark to relieve pain, but it wasn't until the 1800s that scientists from the chemical company Bayer isolated the active ingredient and eventually patented an improved version of it as aspirin. Aspirin is just one example of a medicine derived from natural sources. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that about 40% of modern medicines are derived from treatments used by our ancestors. Despite this incredible success in harnessing nature's bounty, scientists estimate that only a small number of natural compounds have been discovered that could be developed into powerful medicines. One reason…
Former National Security Agency director and retired Army Gen. Paul Nakasone is joining the board of directors of AI company OpenAI, the company announced Thursday afternoon. He will also serve on the board's “Security and Safety” subcommittee. This high-profile addition is likely intended to satisfy critics who believe OpenAI is moving faster than is wise for its customers, and perhaps humanity, offering models and services without properly assessing or locking down risks. Nakasone has decades of experience with the Army, Cyber Command and the NSA, so regardless of how you feel about the practices and decision-making of those organizations, he…
App developers will have new ways to get their apps noticed and promoted, Apple told developers this week at WWDC 2024. The update, scheduled for September to coincide with the release of iOS 18, will allow developers to notify Apple's editorial team of new content or features in their apps before release for consideration for featuring in the App Store. Currently, the App Store editorial team writes articles about apps and their developers, organizes high-interest apps into collections, and highlights them in different sections of the App Store. But there has been no formal process for notifying App Store editors…
StepStone announced last week that it had raised its largest fund ever dedicated to venture secondaries, a raise that not only speaks to StepStone's venture secondaries expertise, but also to how its LPs think about the current venture market. The fund, StepStone VC Secondaries Fund VI, has raised $3.3 billion, a significant improvement from the fund's predecessor, which closed at a then-record $2.6 billion in 2022. According to StepStone, Fund VI was oversubscribed, raising from both existing and new LPs. Secondary funds like StepStone buy both existing investor shares in individual startups, called direct secondaries, and LP shares in venture…
Spotify on Thursday announced it is expanding further into advertising by launching its first in-house creative agency, Creative Lab, to help brands create custom marketing campaigns, and the company said it will also begin testing generative AI ads. The launch of Creative Lab signals Spotify's increased efforts to attract advertisers to its platform, which could be an attractive offering for marketers because it can reach Spotify's 615 million listeners. Additionally, Spotify is working on a new AI tool for advertisers, “Quick Audio,” that will allow brands to create scripts and narrations using generative AI. A company spokesperson said the tool…