Author: TechBrunch
ChatGPT may be the number one app in the US iPhone App Store right now, but it's not Apple's iPhone app of the year. That honor goes to a new app for videographers called Kino. Released this spring by Lux, creators of professional photography app Halide, Kino advances mobile video recording with in-app lessons and features that let iPhone owners get more out of their cameras. The app was one of three finalists for the App Store's top award, along with Runna, an app for adjusting running plans, and Tripsy, an app for planning trips. AI-powered apps did not make…
International donut chain Krispy Kreme disclosed a security incident Wednesday, which the company said caused “certain business disruptions, including online ordering in parts of the United States.” Krispy Kreme disclosed the cyberattack in an 8-K filing with the SEC. The company said on November 29 that it had been “notified of fraudulent activity on some of its information technology systems” and was taking steps to “investigate, contain, and remediate the incident” with the help of cybersecurity experts. He said that he had taken the necessary measures. The company said its stores around the world are open and deliveries to its…
Lumen Orbit, a startup looking to build data centers in space, was able to close its recent seed round in just a few days amid strong investor interest. The Redmond, Washington-based company closed an $11 million seed round at a $40 million valuation, marking the company as one of the hottest startups in Y Combinator's summer 2024 batch. , corroborating TechCrunch's previous reporting that it had raised a competitive double-digit round. The deal was led by NFX (NFX general partner Morgan Beller will join the company's board of directors), with participation from venture capital firms such as Fuse.VC and Soma…
The idea that government should be run like a business is not new. But with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in charge of making government more efficient, it's worth taking a closer look at whether business principles can be applied to government. Today on Equity, Rebecca Beran discusses the intersection of technology, business, and politics with Columbia Business School professor Michael Morris. Morris is also the author of Tribal: How the cultural instincts that disparing us can help be one one, which was shortlisted for the 2024 Financial Times Business Book of the Year award. Listen to the full episode…
Snapchat is rolling out several new features for users and Snapchat+ subscribers for the holiday season, the company announced Wednesday. Features include expanded chat options, new app themes, and more. Snapchat users now have the option to save conversations for seven days instead of deleting them after 24 hours. Snap says this feature will allow users to create holiday lists without worrying about them disappearing. Snapchat also says the feature could be used if you're planning a holiday surprise in a group chat and need to reconsider the details. Image credit: Snapchat Paid users will now have access to new…
Google's next major AI model comes to compete with OpenAI's slew of new products. On Wednesday, Google announced Gemini 2.0 Flash. The company says it can natively generate images and audio in addition to text. 2.0 Flash can also use third-party apps and services, allowing you to use Google search, run code, and more. The experimental release of 2.0 Flash is available starting today through the Gemini API and Google's AI developer platforms, AI Studio and Vertex AI. However, the audio and image generation feature will only launch for “early access partners” ahead of a wider rollout in January. Google…
Google on Wednesday announced Project Mariner, a research prototype from its DeepMind division, the first-ever AI agent capable of performing actions on the web. Gemini-powered agents take control of your Chrome browser, allowing you to use and navigate websites like a human by moving the cursor around the screen, clicking buttons, and filling out forms. Google says the company is starting by releasing the AI agent to a small number of pre-selected testers on Wednesday. Google continues to experiment with new ways for Gemini to read, summarize, and use websites. A Google executive told TechCrunch that this is part of…
AI Overviews, which are AI-generated summaries that Google provides for specific Google search queries, is a collection of AI-generated summaries that Google provides for specific Google search queries. The company says it will be able to process searches soon. This expanded functionality is powered by the newly launched Gemini 2.0 model, which Google says should also improve search speed and quality. Limited testing of the new AI Overview feature began this week and is expected to be broadly rolled out early next year. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post provided to TechCrunch, “Our AI Overview is now…
Google has upgraded its chatbot platform, Gemini, with the ability to “reason” about research questions and create comprehensive reports. The updated Gemini now offers a feature called “Deep Research,” which Google says uses “advanced inference” and “long context features” to generate research summaries. The summary appears in the Gemini app and can be exported to Google Docs for further editing. For now, Deep Research is exclusive to Gemini Advanced, the more sophisticated version of Gemini behind the $20/month Google One AI premium plan. dive deep Google says Deep Research acts as a kind of research assistant, able to analyze information…
Financial advisors have a big hurdle when it comes to finding new clients. Cold lobbying rarely works. Often, the only way to find good leads is to network and get a warm introduction, or search platforms like LinkedIn, Pitchbook, ZoomInfo and hope they'll attend a meeting, but the I don't know if it will lead to conversion or not. Eden Obadiah learned this while helping major financial institutions with their growth strategies at Boston Consulting Group:[Financial advisors] There is no way to identify these leads or reach a specific niche at scale, and as a result, it takes an average…