Author: TechBrunch

Just as Mastodon offers an open source decentralized version of X, Fediverse is getting its own TikTok competitor. This week, an app called Loops started accepting sign-ups for a new platform for sharing short, looping videos. Loops is still in its infancy, not yet open sourced, and not fully integrated with ActivityPub, the protocol that powers Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube, and other federated apps. But both of these efforts are ongoing, and once completed, Loops will join the growing open social web known as the Fediverse, which currently has over 11.6 million users and over 1 million monthly active users. It…

OpenAI has disputed recent reports about its product roadmap, saying it does not intend to release its AI model, codenamed “Orion,” this year. “We have no plans to release a model codenamed Orion this year,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch via email. “We have a lot of other great technology coming out.” The Verge reported Thursday that Orion, expected to be OpenAI's next frontier model, will be available by December and trusted partners will be the first to preview it ahead of deployment through ChatGPT. According to The Verge, Microsoft, a close OpenAI collaborator and investor, expects to have access to…

We would like to thank SAP for their support. Listen to our roundtable session, “Visionary Companies Leverage Innovation to Thrive in a Fast-Paced Economy,” on Tuesday and Wednesday. TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 breakout sessions will include speakers from The Webby Awards and Silicon Zombies on panels, and we thank these companies for their support. Check the Disrupt app for details on breakout session dates and times. For even more great Disrupt content, check out the following partners who bring their wisdom to our roundtable sessions: Women's Tech Network computer science girls Bentley Aishwarya Srinivasan better technology Stroll through the Expo Hall…

In the decades since its 1958 release, Brenda Lee's rockabilly-flavored “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree” has earned its place as a timeless holiday classic. Sixty-six years later, Spanish has been fixed thanks to “responsible” AI. Universal on Friday announced the release of “Noche Buena y Navidad,” which uses SoundLabs AI's MicDrop technology to reimagine the Spanish vocals based on the then-13-year-old Lee's original. Lee, now 79, seems to agree. “Throughout my career, I have performed and recorded many songs in different languages, but I had never recorded 'Rockin'' in Spanish, and I wanted to do that,” says the singer. “It's…

Medical and administrative staff are increasingly overwhelmed by the mountains of paperwork they must fill out every day. Dozens, if not hundreds, of startups are seeing an opportunity to reduce the burden of these bureaucratic processes with the help of generative AI. These companies are building AI medical scribes, platforms for pre-authorizing health insurance payments, and products that automatically extract medical codes from patients' electronic medical records (EMRs). But Pharos, a company in Y Combinator's Summer 2024 cohort, is applying AI to another, somewhat less obvious administrative function for hospitals: quality reporting to external clinical registries. Organizations such as the…

Alongside the iOS 18 update for consumers and developers powered by Apple Intelligence, Apple is rolling out a major update to TestFlight, its app testing platform for developers. Developers will have more control over who can participate in betas and how new features in their apps are shared with testers. You'll also be able to see metrics related to your beta's success, such as how many people viewed your invite and opted in, and why others didn't. This change will make it easier for developers to target beta versions and get more feedback before their apps' public debut on the…

It's no secret that Stripe has doubled down on its cryptocurrency offerings, enabling crypto purchases in the EU in July and announcing its Pay with Crypto feature earlier this month. This week, the fintech giant further made its dedication clear with its biggest deal to date, acquiring stablecoin platform Bridge for an eye-watering $1.1 billion. Today on TechCrunch's Equity Podcast, hosts Kirsten Kolosek, Anthony Ha, and Devin Caldwee opened the show with their thoughts on the deal. Mainly how surprising it is that people will spend over $1 billion on cryptocurrencies in 2024. But of course, there was a lot…

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas says the AI-powered search engine currently performs 100 million queries every week. That's an estimated 400 million queries per month, up from 250 million queries in July. Perplexity's meteoric rise came as the company teased e-commerce features, including the ability for subscribers of its Perplexity Pro service to make purchases with one click. Perplexity is also reportedly planning a new advertising model. According to the Financial Times, the company is in talks with brands including Nike and Marriott for sponsored queries. One of the complications for Perplexity is its legal battles with publishers. News Corp's Dow…

Only 3 days left! San Francisco's Moscone West will host 10,000 startup and VC leaders at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 from October 28th to 30th. This event promises to inspire, generate new ideas, and foster meaningful connections. Last day to finalize your savings! Don't miss your chance. Until October 27th at 11:59pm PT, you can save up to $400 on individual tickets or buy two Expo+ passes for half the price of one. Act now to secure your discounted tickets or Expo+ 2-for-1 pass. Why attend Disrupt 2024? Connect with 10,000+ startup and VC leaders Connect with 10,000 technology pioneers, startup…

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022. The Wall Street Journal reported that the conversation raised national security concerns among some intelligence officials. At one point, Putin reportedly asked Musk not to launch his satellite-based internet service, Starlink, in Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. As the WSJ points out, Musk's and Russia's interests have increasingly overlapped over the past year. Russia is using Musk's social network X to run a disinformation campaign about vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and the federal government's response to…