Technology news from around theworld. Find out what’s happening and why it matters
Video games are some of most lucrative apps in the world, thanks in part because of how they lure people into spending money on credits to play games and buy digital goods, to the tune of more than $50 billion annually worldwide. But a powerful consumer group in Europe believes games publishers are “purposefully tricking […]
WhatsApp is now letting small businesses in India sign up for a Meta Verified badge and giving them the ability to send customized messages to customers. India is home to more than 65 million small and medium-sized businesses, but only about 5 million of them sell online, according to a joint report by Meta and
WhatsApp brings Meta Verified, customized messages to small businesses in India Read More »
OpenWeb, a New York startup whose tools help publishers engage users, has a unique problem. Its co-founding CEO reportedly won’t leave, even though it announced a new CEO. According to CTech, on Tuesday, OpenWeb’s chairman, Tim Harvey, sent an email to employees, saying he’s becoming CEO and thanking longtime CEO Nadav Shoval for his “incredible
Drama at OpenWeb, as a new CEO is announced – and the founding CEO says he’s staying Read More »
In a development that will surprise few, former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann’s climate/crypto/carbon-credit startup Flowcarbon appears to be in the process of curling up to die, Forbes reported today. Buyers of its “Goddess Nature Token,” pitched as the first step in putting carbon credits on the blockchain, have reportedly been contacted about receiving refunds over
Adam Neumann’s crypto comeback company is reportedly refunding investors Read More »
Rufus, Amazon’s recently launched, shopping-focused chatbot, is getting ads soon. That’s according to a changelog published by Amazon this week (first spotted by AdWeek), which states that sponsored ads could soon start appearing in placements for Rufus users in the U.S. Ads will be shown based on Amazon search and conversational context, Amazon says, and
Amazon starts testing ads in its Rufus chatbot Read More »
No one likes standing in line. I was reminded of just how awful the experience can be last Saturday, while being herded like cattle through a two-hour queue for a nightclub in unseasonably cold weather. I’d not soon repeat the experience. Fortunately, there’s a startup for that. LineLeap, backed by Y Combinator, lets people pay
LineLeap lets users pay to skip the line at bars Read More »
OpenAI is reportedly in talks with investors to raise $6.5 billion in new funding, valuing the startup at $150 billion, according to Bloomberg and the Financial Times. That’s significantly higher than OpenAI’s previously reported valuation from earlier this year, $86 billion, and far higher than any other AI startup today. The funding round will reportedly
OpenAI reportedly in talks to raise at $150B valuation Read More »
Cornell University researchers this week unveiled tiny “metasheet” robots capable of transforming into pre-determined shapes and crawling around when electricity is applied. Along with biological organisms, the robots were inspired kirigami, a variation of origami wherein objects are cut in addition to folded. The “metasheet” bit of the name, meanwhile, is based on the word
These sub-1mm robots morph and crawl with an electric zap Read More »
YouTube confirmed on Wednesday that its collaborative “Add Yours” sticker for YouTube Shorts is now fully rolled out. The Google-owned company first announced the feature back in July. The sticker works just like Instagram’s feature of the same name, as it prompts users to share their own take on a creator’s video. Both platforms’ “Add
YouTube Shorts’ collaborative Add Yours sticker is now available to all users Read More »
Bluesky, the social networking startup now nearing 10 million users thanks to X’s ban in Brazil, will now allow users to share videos of up to 60 seconds in length on its platform, the company announced on Wednesday. Designed as a decentralized version of X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky allows users to post text and images,
Bluesky catches up to X with native support for video Read More »
