[[{“value”:” Researchers from TikTok owner ByteDance have demoed a new AI system, OmniHuman-1, that can generate perhaps the most realistic deepfake videos to date. Deepfaking AI is a commodity. There’s no shortage of apps that can insert someone into a photo, or make a person appear to say something they didn’t actually say. But most deepfakes […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
LogicStar is building AI agents for app maintenance
[[{“value”:” Swiss startup LogicStar is bent on joining the AI agent game. The summer 2024-founded startup has bagged $3 million in pre-seed funding to bring tools to the developer market that can do autonomous maintenance of software applications, rather than the more typical AI agent use-case of code co-development. LogicStar CEO and co-founder Boris Paskalev suggests […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Two space startups have merged to create the next generation of telescopes
[[{“value”:” On a clear spring evening in Michigan, the stars aligned — just not in the way Upfront Ventures partner Nick Kim expected. He’d just led a $9.5 million seed round for OurSky, a software platform for space observational data, and was eager to see what its telescope partner PlaneWave Instruments could do. But when they […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Spotify reports its first full year of profitability, adds 35M monthly active users
[[{“value”:” On Tuesday morning, Spotify announced its fourth-quarter earnings, marking its first full year of profitability since its inception 17 years ago. The operating income for the quarter reached a record €477 million ($509.48 million) and amounted to €1.4 billion ($1.495 billion) for the 2024 fiscal year. Spotify also reported an addition of 35 million monthly […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
OpenAI’s Operator agent helped me move, but I had to help it, too
[[{“value”:” OpenAI gave me one week to test its new AI agent, Operator, a system that can independently do tasks for you on the internet. Operator is the closest thing I’ve seen to the tech industry’s vision of AI agents — systems that can automate the boring parts of life, freeing us up to do the […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Team behind Twitterrific launches a multi-feed app called Tapestry
[[{“value”:” After Elon Musk took over Twitter, the company blocked third-party clients in 2023, including ones like Twitterrific, Tweetbot, and Fenix. Iconfactory, the company behind Twitterrifc, on Tuesday is finally launching its multi-feed app called Tapestry on Tuesday, which allows you to add sources like RSS, YouTube, Bluesky, Podcasts, Mastodon, Reddit, Tumblr, Micro.blog, GO Comics, and […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Sotira lands $2M to help brands offload and monetize their surplus inventory
[[{“value”:” An estimated 20% to 30% of all inventory in the U.S. is surplus, with much of it ending up in landfills. A startup called Sotira wants to help address this problem: It leverages AI to help companies offload and monetize their surplus inventory. Sotira partners with brands to offload millions of pounds of surplus grocery, […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Snap unveils AI text-to-image model for mobile devices
[[{“value”:” Snap has unveiled an AI text-to-image model for mobile devices that will power some of Snapchat’s features in the coming months. The company said on Tuesday that the model can produce high-resolution images in around 1.4 seconds on an iPhone 16 Pro Max. The new diffusion model runs entirely on the device, which reduces computational […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
LinkedIn amps up vertical video tools as uploads jump 36%
[[{“value”:” Video reigns supreme on social media like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. And now, video is becoming a bigger business for LinkedIn. The Microsoft-owned social network for the working world has yet to go full TikTok. But with a big boost of usage — today it said that video uploads jumped by 36% compared to last […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Walkstar is a new iOS app that pauses songs when you stop moving
[[{“value”:” There are plenty of pedometer and step counter apps in the world, but this new app has a fun twist. Walkstar, which launched Tuesday in the App Store, enhances your workout by syncing your tunes with your movement. The moment you pause, the music fades away, making it a perfect motivator for those looking to […] © 2024 TechCrunch….