OpenAI releases ChatGPT’s hyper-realistic voice to some paying users
OpenAI began rolling out ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode on Tuesday, giving users their first access to GPT-4o’s hyper-realistic audio responses. The alpha version will be available to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users today, and OpenAI says the feature will gradually roll out to all Plus users in the
Read MoreSpain’s antitrust watchdog fines Booking.com nearly $450M for unfair terms and restricting rivals
The CNMC opened an investigation of Booking.com back in October 2022, following complaints by the Spanish Association of Hotel Managers and the Regional Hotel Association of Madrid. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read MoreControversial internet bill KOSA passed by Senate
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) has passed in the Senate after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pushed the internet bill to a vote. Proposed in 2022, KOSA requires that online platforms take reasonable steps to protect users from harm, and could become the most significant children’s online safety legislation
Read MoreSpotify expands lyrics access for free users
Back in May, Spotify quietly started putting lyrics behind a paywall, limiting free users to lyrics for three songs per month. The move was a bid to push more users to pay for the service. After receiving numerous complaints, the company is now expanding the monthly limit. Starting today, Spotify
Read MoreFintech giant Stripe keeps on buying
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at Stripe’s easy-peasy acquisition, the role fintech played in Clio’s latest raise, the latest with digital banking startup Mercury, and more. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m.
Read MoreFriend’s $99 necklace uses AI to help combat loneliness
AI hardware is all the rage in startup land — though receptions have thus far been mixed. Two notable examples, Rabbit and Humane, released devices to disappointing results. a16z-backed Limitless and Exor-backed Bee AI, meanwhile, are working on their own screenless AI wearables. Avi Schiffmann, a Harvard dropout who built
Read MoreTechCrunch Minute: Will AI get dumber?
Although AI models have made big breakthroughs in the last few years, there’s now a risk that they could get dumber and even collapse, according to a new research paper published in Nature. The phenomenon is described by researchers as “model collapse.” Think of it as a snake eating its
Read MoreHey, there ARE Growth funds in Europe — Kennet raises $287M for its largest fund to date
Europe is routinely castigated by tech industry observers for having too little ‘growth capital’ funds, and, compared to the US, that’s true. That said, it is nowhere near non-existent on this front. To wit: Growth equity investor Kennet has just announced it’s raised €266 million for its largest fund to
Read MoreIntelmatix raises $20M Series A to enable MENA businesses to tap AI for decision-making
Intelmatix, a deep tech b2b startup that’s targeting businesses in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region wanting help to tap into the power of AI for decision-making, has closed a $20 million Series A funding round – one of the largest such rounds for a regional company of
Read MoreDisinformation may ‘go nuclear’ rather than ‘go viral,’ researchers say
We say something “goes viral” because we tend to think of rumors and disinformation spreading the way that an infection spreads. But these days it may be more accurate to say something “goes nuclear,” according to a new paper that models disinfo as a form of fission reaction. As common
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