Instagram is lowering video quality for unpopular videos
The popularity of an Instagram video can affect its actual video quality: According to Adam Mosseri (the Meta executive who leads Instagram and Threads), videos that are more popular get shown in higher quality, while less popular videos get shown in lower quality. In a video (via The Verge), Mosseri
Read moreFounders and VCs back a pan-European C corp, but an ‘EU Inc’ has a rocky road ahead
It’s become a common refrain in political discourse: Europe needs to take radical action to remain competitive. On the long list of potential reforms, one that’s gaining particular traction is a new, EU-wide corporate status for innovative companies. Known (somewhat obscurely) as the “28th regime,” the innovation is being billed
Read moreThe next Mac mini might be nearly as small as an Apple TV
The Mac mini will be getting an upgrade this week, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The mini is Apple’s desktop computer (really just a small gray box) positioned between the consumer iMac and the company’s professional-grade desktops. The new mini is reportedly getting smaller — nearly the size of an
Read moreMeta releases an ‘open’ version of Google’s podcast generator
Meta has released an “open” implementation of the viral generate-a-podcast feature in Google’s NotebookLM. Called NotebookLlama, the project uses Meta’s own Llama models for much of the processing, unsurprisingly. Like NotebookLM, it can generate back-and-forth, podcast-style digests of text files uploaded to it. NotebookLlama first creates a transcript from a
Read moreMerlin Solar bets twisty panels will help it land on rooftops everywhere
The startup uses standard silicon solar cells but connects them using bendy materials, giving them better durability and more flexibility. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreArcade, a new AI product creation platform, designed this necklace
Mariam Naficy, the founder of cosmetics retailer Eve and design marketplace Minted, has a long history of supporting independent artists and helping them sell their products. Her latest venture, Arcade AI, is a new type of marketplace that puts creative control directly into the hands of users. The generative AI
Read moreJon McNeill’s insights on Tesla’s robotaxi and why EV startups fail
Jon McNeill — a former Tesla and Lyft executive and current CEO at DVx Ventures — spread the word last week at the World Business Forum on what he calls the “Tesla innovation method” of radical simplification. After his presentation, we sat down to chat about Tesla’s automation goals, its
Read moreGet Ready! TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 kicks off tomorrow and ticket prices increase
We’re just 24 hours away from one of the most highly anticipated tech events of the year! Excitement is building as we prepare to welcome the global tech community to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024! Brace yourself for a week of vibrant energy lighting up San Francisco! Disrupt 2024 runs from October
Read moreNASDAQ CEO Adena Friedman isn’t surprised we haven’t seen a resurgence in startup IPOs yet
While many venture investors, and likely their LPs, were hoping IPOs were going to come back in 2024, that hasn’t happened and isn’t likely to in the next two months. NASDAQ CEO Adena Friedman isn’t surprised. Friedman said at Axios’s BFD event on Tuesday that while on paper the public markets have
Read moreOpenAI’s Whisper transcription tool has hallucination issues, researchers say
Software engineers, developers, and academic researchers have serious concerns about transcriptions from OpenAI’s Whisper, according to a report in the Associated Press. While there’s been no shortage of discussion around generative AI’s tendency to hallucinate — basically, to make stuff up — it’s a bit surprising that this is an
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