Author: GT

Android users will have more ways to find their devices and other items, Google announced on Tuesday during the Android Show, a week before Google I/O 2025. The company says its Find My Device feature, which allows Android users to locate lost phones and other devices, will become known as “Find Hub” as it rolls out support for more partners, satellite-based finding capabilities, and airline partnerships. Initially introduced as an Android-based alternative to Apple’s Find My service in 2013, Find My Device expanded just over a year ago with the introduction of a crowdsourced finding network that could locate personal…

As serial entrepreneur Joel Milne founded, scaled, and then successfully sold mobile auto repair service startup RepairSmith to AutoNation, he was plagued by a persistent problem.  The automotive retail industry has a communication problem. And it’s an expensive one. Thousands of dealerships and mechanic shops — each one with an array of software systems — lack a common language to make communication with manufacturers and other businesses easier. “We had this problem of, ‘how do you work with dealerships and shops and talk to them as you’re running around repairing cars and trying to refer them business or get parts…

TikTok is launching its first image-to-video AI feature, the company announced on Tuesday. The new feature is called “TikTok AI Alive” and allows users to turn static photos into videos within TikTok Stories. The feature is only accessible via TikTok’s Story Camera and uses AI to create short-form videos with “movement, atmospheric and creative effects,” TikTok says. For instance, if your static photo features a sky, clouds, and the ocean, TikTok could turn the photo into a video where the sky gradually shifts hues, the clouds start to drift, and you hear the sound of waves crashing. Or, you could…

WizardLM, a Beijing-based Microsoft AI research group, appears to have joined Tencent, the Chinese company that owns WeChat and blockbuster games like PUBG Mobile. In a post on X on Tuesday, Can Xu, a senior AI researcher who led a number of projects within WizardLM, said that he and the team left Microsoft to join Hunyuan, one of Tencent’s AI development orgs. Over the past few months, Hunyuan has released AI models, including video and 3D object generators. WizardLM has already released a Hunyuan-branded model, in fact: Hunyuan-TurboS 0416. In an X post, Qingfeng Sun, who claims to be a…

A sign that reads “Epic Intergalactic Headquarters” on campus.Epic SystemsCureIS Healthcare, a managed care services company, filed a civil lawsuit against Epic Systems on Monday night, alleging the electronic health record, or EHR, giant has carried out a “multi-prong scheme to destroy” CureIS’ business.CureIS offers technology and managed services for government programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and other state health initiatives. In a 40-page complaint that was made public on Tuesday, CureIS claims Epic has interfered with its customer relationships, blocked access to necessary data and raised unfounded security concerns, among other anticompetitive practices.Epic, the leader in the EHR market, did…

As part of a broader app update, Airbnb on Tuesday introduced a new feature that allows travelers to book services and experiences, like getting a massage, haircut, or chef-prepared meal, or taking part in some activity. These new offerings can be added to your stay, but they can also be booked independently, Airbnb says. For instance, you can book a tour in a city you’ve traveled to, but where you’ve chosen to stay elsewhere, the company suggests. This is not the first time Airbnb has tried such a feature — it paused an earlier version of experiences in 2023 to…

Amazon says it will work with Humain, the AI company recently launched by Saudi Arabia’s ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, to invest “$5 billion-plus” in a strategic partnership to build an “AI Zone” in Saudi Arabia. The AI Zone will include dedicated Amazon Web Services (AWS) AI infrastructure, servers, networks, and training and certification programs, according to a press release. Humain is pledging to develop AI solutions using AWS technologies and to work with AWS on providing access to tools and programs for Saudi Arabia-based AI startups. AWS joins tech giants Nvidia, AMD, and others in partnering with Humain, which is…

Visual China Group | Getty ImagesGoogle’s stalwart search button has a new neighbor: AI Mode.The artificial intelligence feature is being tested directly beneath the Google search bar beside a “Google Search” button, replacing the “I’m Feeling Lucky” widget. The new feature, though not widely available yet, is being tested in a location where Google rarely makes changes.A company spokesperson confirmed the feature began rolling out to some users over the last week.The spokesperson said the company tests many experiments with its users of “Labs,” Google’s experimental unit that tests new features for those who opt-in. They added that tested products…

Fabled startup investor and accelerator Y Combinator has some choice words for Google in an amicus brief it just submitted in the U.S.’s monopoly case against the search giant. In the brief, YC charged that Google is a “monopolist” that has “stunted” the U.S. startup ecosystem by making VC firms like itself hesitate to fund web search and AI startups in what it calls a “kill zone” around Google. “Google has chilled independent firms like YC from funding and accelerating innovative startups that could otherwise have challenged Google’s dominance,” YC wrote in the filing. “The result is a landscape that…

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal safety regulators have asked Elon Musk’s car company to explain how its driverless taxis will avoid causing accidents when they hit the road in Texas next month before a national “robotaxi” launch that is key to keeping its stock price aloft.Tesla has been told to provide information on how its taxis will operate safely in Austin, Texas, when there is fog, sun glare, rain and other low-visibility conditions that have been tied to accidents involving the company’s driver-assistance software. Those accidents, including one that killed a pedestrian, triggered the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to…