ElevenLabs, an AI startup that just raised a $180 million mega funding round, has been primarily known for its audio generation prowess. The company took a step in another technological direction by launching its first standalone speech-to-text model called Scribe. The startup, valued at $3.3 billion, has aided many other companies in providing speech-to-text services […]

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Google announced on Wednesday that it has received FDA clearance for the Pixel Watch 3’s “Loss of Pulse Detection” feature and will be launching it in the U.S. at the end of March. The feature can detect when a user’s heart stops beating due to an event like primary cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, […]

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Dating app Hinge launched a new feature called “Match Note” on Wednesday, allowing users to privately share information with matches that they haven’t shared publicly on their profile.  Users can add a Match Note by going to their profile, similar to how they can add a text prompt. The note is always visible to new […]

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At Amazon’s annual Devices & Services event on Wednesday, the company introduced Alexa+, an enhanced version of its voice assistant, now powered by generative AI.  During the demonstration, Amazon showcased how users can share documents with Alexa+, allowing it to recall important details and answer questions about those documents. Mara Segal, director of Alexa, provided […]

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Amazon is not giving up on making its Alexa a virtual shopping assistant, On Wednesday, the company announced that Alexa+, its revamped Alexa experience, will be able to help consumers grocery shop from home using more natural conversations and requests. The feature will work with Amazon Fresh or any other grocery partner working with Amazon, […]

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Amazon’s new and improved Alexa experience, Alexa+, starts at $19.99, or free for Amazon Prime subscribers. It’ll roll out in early access beginning next month in the U.S., and then will come to a wider group of users in waves over the subsequent months, Amazon said. Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 devices will […]

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As part of the reveal of Amazon’s new AI-powered Alexa+ assistant, the tech giant announced that it’s launching two new features designed for kids called “Explore with Alexa” and “Stories with Alexa.” The features, which leverage Alexa’s new AI capabilities, will be available to Amazon Kids+ subscribers. The company demonstrated the new features at a […]

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Amazon says that Alexa+, the new and improved Alexa unveiled on Wednesday, is powered by a “model agnostic” system that always uses the “best” AI model for a given task. On stage at a New York City press event, Amazon VP Daniel Rausch explained that Alexa+ draws on Bedrock — the company’s cloud platform designed […]

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A new startup wants to help developers create customized, contextual coding assistants that can connect with any model and integrate seamlessly with their development environments. Founded in June 2023 by CEO Ty Dunn and CTO Nate Sesti (pictured above), Y Combinator alum Continue has already garnered some 23,000 stars on GitHub and 11,000 Discord community […]

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TechCrunch Sessions: AI, taking place on June 5 at Zellerbach Hall in UC Berkeley, will feature a panel discussing how startups can compete against established rivals in the AI industry. The panel, “How to Launch a Product Against Entrenched Incumbents,” will look at ways small companies are managing to stay relevant in a fast-paced and […]

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Capim, a startup offering Brazilians the option to buy now, pay later (BNPL) for dental services, has raised $26.7 million in Series A funding, it tells TechCrunch exclusively. Founded in July 2021 by Marcelo Lutz and Roberto Biselli, who serve as co-CEOs, São Paulo-based Capim describes itself as a vertical SaaS company specializing in the […]

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As part of the new Alexa+ experience Amazon introduced on Wednesday, the smart assistant will gain the ability to navigate through movies on Prime Video on your behalf. Thanks to integrations between Alexa, Prime Video, and Fire TV, Alexa+, as the upgraded assistant is called, will be able to “jump to a scene” in a […]

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Security researchers found evidence that Cellebrite was used by Serbian police to hack into the cellphones of a local journalist and an activist.

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At an event in New York on Wednesday, Amazon announced an upgraded Alexa experience — Alexa+ — powered by generative AI technologies. Onstage, Amazon’s devices and services chief Panos Panay called it a “complete re-architecture” of the AI assistant. “While the vision of Alexa has been ambitious and remains incredibly compelling, until right this moment […]

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YouTube continues to assert its dominance in the podcasting space, presenting significant competition to both Spotify and Apple Podcasts. In an announcement on Wednesday, the company revealed YouTube has surpassed 1 billion monthly active podcast viewers.  This milestone highlights YouTube’s popularity in the podcast industry and emphasizes consumer preference for video-first formats. Last year, YouTube […]

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Microsoft says that it has completed a multi-year project to allow Europe-based customers using its cloud services to store and process data in the EU. The project, the EU Data Boundary for the Microsoft Cloud, began in January 2023, went on for two more years, and finally wrapped up this February, Microsoft said. With its […]

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Google announced on Wednesday that it’s updating its “Results about you” tool to make it easier for users to protect and remove their personal information from Search results. The company says it’s improved the sign-up process and simplified requesting removals directly from Google Search. The tool can be used to proactively monitor and delete things […]

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Tick-tock! The last three days to save up to $1,130 to TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 are winding down! Get your tickets today for massive savings on Disrupt 2025 individual passes and up to 30% on group tickets. These offers end February 28 at 11:59 p.m. PT, so don’t miss out on major savings of the year. […]

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The hub of AI awaits — don’t miss out! You have 5 more days to secure your spot at TechCrunch Sessions: AI with savings of up to $325. This offer ends on March 3 at 11:59 p.m. PT. As AI continues to be the biggest topic of conversation in the tech world, TechCrunch has you […]

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Apple will be able to resume its iPhone 16 smartphone sales in Indonesia after the two sides came to an agreement, the Industry Ministry said during a press conference Wednesday, per a Reuters report. The ban was lifted five months after Indonesia blocked the U.S. iPhone maker from selling its iPhone 16 phones in Indonesia […]

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