OpenAI says it won’t release a model called Orion this year
OpenAI says that it doesn’t intend to release an AI model code-named Orion this year, countering recent reporting on the company’s product roadmap. “We don’t have plans to release a model code-named Orion this year,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch via email. “We do plan to release a lot of other
Read moreTechcrunch Disrupt 2024 starts Monday — our partners have helped us create an unforgettable experience that you shouldn’t miss
We’d like to thank SAP for their support. Make sure to catch their Roundtable session: “Visionary Companies Embrace Innovation to Thrive in the Fast-Paced Economy” on Tuesday and Wednesday. Speakers from The Webby Awards and Silicon Zombies will be on panels at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 Breakout sessions, and we thank
Read moreYC startup Pharos lands a $5M seed led by Felicis to bring AI to hospital quality reporting
Medical and administrative staff are increasingly overwhelmed with piles of paperwork they have to fill out every day. Dozens, if not hundreds, of startups, are seeing opportunities to make those bureaucratic processes less burdensome with the help of generative AI. These companies are building AI medical scribes, platforms for pre-authorizing
Read moreUnitedHealth data breach leaked info on over 100 million people
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Insurance company UnitedHealth Group is confirming a ransomware attack earlier this year affected the private data of over 100 million people. The number was published in the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Breach Report on
Read moreApple upgrades TestFlight with redesigned invites, testing criteria, and more
Alongside the Apple Intelligence-powered iOS 18 updates for consumers and developers, Apple is rolling out a sizable refresh to its app testing platform for developers, TestFlight. Developers will have more control over who can join their beta and how an app’s new features are shared with testers. They’ll also be
Read moreWaymo raises $5.6B from Alphabet, a16z, Silver Lake, and more
Waymo has closed a $5.6 billion Series C funding round led by parent company Alphabet and joined by a who’s who of Silicon Valley venture firms. Alphabet had previously announced in July that it was pledging another $5 billion to Waymo, but was mum on the specifics, saying only that
Read moreGoogle Cloud & Prudential’s Introduce MedLM Initiative
Google Cloud and Prudential plc (“Prudential”) announced that Prudential is using MedLM, Google’s family of foundation models fine-tuned for healthcare industry use cases, to improve the accuracy and efficiency of medical insurance claim decisions. Prudential is one of the first insurance providers globally to use MedLM, which is typically used
Read morePerplexity says it’s now serving 100M search queries a week
Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, says that the AI-powered search engine is now performing 100 million queries each week. Extrapolated out to a month, that’s roughly 400 million queries — up from 250 million queries in July. Perplexity’s rapid rise comes as the company teases ecommerce features, including the
Read more3 days left: TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 kicks off and ticket prices increase
Only 3 days to go! Moscone West in San Francisco will host 10,000 startup and VC leaders at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 from October 28-30. This event promises to inspire, spark new ideas, and cultivate meaningful connections. Final days to lock in your savings! Don’t miss your chance — you have
Read moreScreenable’s app turns any iPhone into a starter phone for kids
A new app called Screenable will help parents introduce their children to technology by turning an iPhone or iPad into a starter phone. The app is designed to grow over time with a child, as it offers different modes for kids of different ages. For starters, the app’s “Dumb Phone”
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