Author: TechBrunch

Almost two years after the release of Orba 2, Artiphon completes the trilogy. The newly announced Orba 3 sees the Nashville-based startup baking live sampling into its clever handheld device. This functionality is provided through the built-in microphone, allowing users to record their own voices, instruments, and other sounds. All of this can be done on-device, so there's no need to use an external system to load sounds into your instrument. Instead, just record the sound by clicking the big red sample button on the side. Switching Orba to one of four different modes (Bass, Chord, Drum, Lead) assigns different…

One of the only U.S. government agencies dedicated to evaluating the safety of AI is at risk of being dismantled unless Congress chooses to authorize it. The American AI Safety Institute (AISI), a federal agency that studies risks in AI systems, was established in November 2023 as part of President Joe Biden's AI Executive Order. AISI operates within NIST, an agency of the Department of Commerce that develops guidance for the implementation of various categories of technology. However, AISI has a budget, a board of directors, and a research collaboration with its UK counterpart, the UK Institute for AI Safety,…

In its pitch to investors last spring, Anthropic said it would build AI to power virtual assistants that can perform research, respond to emails and handle other back-office tasks on their own. The company calls it a “next generation algorithm for AI self-learning” and believes that if all goes according to plan, it could one day automate large parts of the economy. It took a while, but AI is starting to emerge. Anthropic on Tuesday released an upgraded version of its Claude 3.5 Sonnet model that can understand and interact with any desktop app. Via a new “Computer Usage” API,…

The funding landscape is changing rapidly, and in 2025 the old rules will no longer apply. Startups that survive flat, down, or extended rounds need to be more strategic than ever in securing their next round of funding. Traditional metrics like $100 million in IPO proceeds and $1 million Series A ARR are becoming obsolete. TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 explores the evolving dynamics that founders must understand to succeed in today's challenging capital markets. The Builders stage features a panel of respected experts who have lived through these changes and risen to the top. Nikhil Basu Trivedi, Co-Founder and General Partner…

Although the technology of 3D printing objects using metal is well established, it tends to be too complex, expensive, or imprecise to be adapted to traditional methods at scale. Freeform, which has raised $14 million from Nvidia and Boeing, aims to change that by building a game-changing new metal additive manufacturing process. And yes, there is also an AI perspective. Co-founders Eric Palitsch (CEO) and TJ Ronacher (President) both worked at SpaceX, where they served as lead architect and lead analyst for the Merlin engine and other programs, respectively. While there, they realized the potential of 3D printing parts using…

Following a series of controversies stemming from technical issues and licensing changes, AI startup Stability AI has announced its latest family of image generation models. The company claims that the new Stable Diffusion 3.5 series is more customizable, versatile, and offers improved performance than Stability's previous generation technology. There are three models in total. Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large: The most powerful model with 8 billion parameters that can generate images at up to 1 megapixel resolution. (Parameters roughly correspond to the model's problem-solving skills, and models with more parameters generally perform better than models with fewer parameters.) Stable Diffusion 3.5…

The clock is ticking! 6 days left until TechCrunch Disrupt 2024! Join 10,000 industry leaders from around the world at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28th to 30th for groundbreaking discussions with top industry experts, elite networking, and an exciting show of the latest innovations. Witness cases and more. Time is running out! These remaining six days are your chance to save up to $400 on tickets. Once Moscone West opens, prices will jump to regular prices. This is also the last day to get Expo+ and Plus-1 passes at 50% off the price of a single pass.…

Interface.ai, a customer automation platform for banks and other financial institutions, today announced it has closed a $30 million funding round led by Avatar Venture Partners. $20 million of this round was in equity, with the remaining $10 million in the form of debt. This is Interface's first external capital. The startup was completely bootstrapped. “Interface is trusted by over 100 financial institutions across North America and processes millions of interactions every day,” CEO and co-founder Srinivas Njay told TechCrunch. “We generate tens of millions of dollars in recurring revenue annually.” Njay said the inspiration for Interface came from his…

Spotify is rolling out a feature that lets users design and customize cover art for their own playlists, the company announced Tuesday. Users can already upload custom images for their playlists, but this new feature will allow them to design their own cover art within the app. The feature is rolling out in 65 markets as a beta version of the Spotify mobile app on iOS and Android. Available to both free and premium users. To access this feature, select one of the playlists for which you want to create custom art. Next, tap the three-dot menu on the playlist…

Marc Andreessen, general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, spoke about AI at the Ray Summit conference earlier this month. CFO.com has selected the best quotes so you don't have to watch the entire interview. “All these companies are probably racing to the bottom,” Andreessen said when talking about large-scale language model (LLM) development. While this may be stating the obvious, many aspiring entrepreneurs and veteran investors take notice of Andreessen's story. As a reminder, his company is also an investor in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. The VC participated in a $300 million round that valued OpenAI at…