Author: GT

Midjourney, one of the most popular AI image generation startups, announced on Wednesday the launch of its much-anticipated AI video generation model, V1. V1 is an image-to-video model, in which users can upload an image — or take an image generated by one of Midjourney’s other models — and V1 will produce a set of four five-second videos based on it. Much like Midjourney’s image models, V1 is only available through Discord, and it’s only available on the web at launch. Introducing our V1 Video Model. It’s fun, easy, and beautiful. Available at 10$/month, it’s the first video model for…

In late 2022, Noah Pepper, a former Stripe business lead for the Asia Pacific region, founded Multiplier, a startup that aimed to sell software to tax accountants. But soon after ChatGPT was released, it occurred to him that AI can change how professional service firms use technology. “I realized I was barking up the wrong tree by trying to build a SaaS business, and instead I should figure out how to make these people more effective,” he told TechCrunch. The startup acquired Citrine International Tax, a boutique provider of cross-border tax accounting services, and enhanced the firm with AI capabilities…

There’s a lot of talk in the startup world about how AI makes individuals so productive that it could give rise to a generation of “solo unicorns” — one-person companies worth over $1 billion. While an actual solo unicorn remains a mythical creature, Israeli developer Maor Shlomo provided compelling evidence Wednesday that the concept might not be impossible.  Shlomo sold his 6-month-old, bootstrapped vibe-coding startup Base44 to Wix for $80 million, Wix announced Wednesday. And the deal was cash, Wix confirmed to TechCrunch.  Admittedly, this wasn’t a billion dollars or close to it. And Shlomo wasn’t truly solo — he…

LONDON (AP) — Google faced a big setback Thursday in its attempt to overturn a multibillion-dollar European Union antitrust penalty involving Android after a top court’s legal adviser sided with regulators. The European Court of Justice’s advocate general, Juliane Kokott, recommended in a non-binding opinion that Google’s appeal against the fine worth more than 4 billion euros ($4.7 billion) should be dismissed. The case dates back to 2018, when the EU’s executive Commission slapped Google with a 4.134 billion euro fine after finding that the U.S. tech company used the dominance of its mobile Android operating system to throttle competition…

Apple is beginning to use generative artificial intelligence to help design the chips that power its devices. The company’s hardware chief, Johny Srouji, made that clear during a speech last month in Belgium. He said Apple is exploring AI as a way to save time and reduce complexity in chip design, especially as chips grow more advanced.“Generative AI techniques have a high potential in getting more design work in less time, and it can be a huge productivity boost,” Srouji said. He was speaking while receiving an award from Imec, a semiconductor research group that works with major chipmakers around…

Across hundreds of thousands of years of human existence, an impossible question has befuddled our species: Why is the baby crying?! Sam Altman, who is both the father of a 3-month-old and CEO of OpenAI, hopped on OpenAI’s new podcast today to talk about how his company is impacting his experience with fatherhood. Altman, who describes himself as “extremely kid-pilled,” said he was “constantly” using ChatGPT to ask questions about the behavior of babies during the first few weeks of his son’s life — now that he’s a bit more settled, he’s using ChatGPT to ask more general questions about…

LONDON (AP) — “Have you seen the cats?” That’s a common refrain in my household because our two felines, Maple and Juniper, can venture outside through a flap in the backdoor. Like many other London house cats, they’re free to come and go, roaming the surrounding backyards and beyond, equipped with microchips to identify them if they get lost. If your cat likes to prowl outdoors for long stretches, or your dog has a tendency to run off, it can be distressing when they don’t return as expected. If you’re worried about your furry friend’s whereabouts, technology can help you…

Last year was monumental for the AI industry in the U.S. and beyond. There were 49 startups that raised funding rounds worth $100 million or more in 2024, per our count at TechCrunch; three companies raised more than one “mega-round,” and seven companies raised rounds that were $1 billion in size or larger. How will 2025 compare? It’s still the first half of the year, but so far it looks like 2024’s momentum will continue this year. There have already been multiple billion-dollar rounds this year, and more AI mega-rounds closed in the U.S. in Q1 2025 compared to Q1…

AI has moved beyond experimentation to become a core part of business operations, but deployment challenges persist.Research from Zogby Analytics, on behalf of Prove AI, shows that most organisations have graduated from testing the AI waters to diving in headfirst with production-ready systems. Despite this progress, businesses are still grappling with basic challenges around data quality, security, and effectively training their models.Looking at the numbers, it’s pretty eye-opening. 68% of organisations now have custom AI solutions up and running in production. Companies are putting their money where their mouth is too, with 81% spending at least a million annually on…

It’s been over four years since Spotify first announced its plans to launch a lossless audio tier that has yet to arrive. After numerous leaks and teases from company execs, we know better than to start hoping that the long-delayed service could be finally nearing arrival. But newly added references in the music app’s code suggest the lossless service is at least still under development and could even be getting closer to launch. According to technologist and reverse engineer Chris Messina, a number of references to “lossless” have popped up in Wednesday’s build of the Spotify desktop app. Image Credits:screenshot…