Our news
-
You can make ChatGPT sound like Santa Claus for the holidays
OpenAI is making ChatGPT sound like Santa for the holidays. The startup announced on Thursday that ChatGPT users could access a new “Santa Mode” voice for the month of December. The feature allows users to speak with ChatGPT’s existing real-time voice feature, Advanced Voice Mode, but with a Christmas twist. The voice sounds, well, “merry…
-
RIP, Cruise robotaxi
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! GM’s decision to no longer fund its self-driving car subsidiary Cruise was a surprise to many — and got me thinking about this startup that I’ve come…
-
Tumblr launches its interest-focused Communities out of beta
A year after initial tests began, the web blogging site Tumblr, now owned by WordPress.com parent Automattic, is launching its Communities feature out of beta. Communities offer semi-private spaces on Tumblr where people can network around topics of interest, similar to Reddit’s forums known as subreddits or X’s Communities. The Communities feature first entered public…
-
ChatGPT now understands real-time video, seven months after OpenAI first demoed it
OpenAI has finally released the real-time video capabilities for ChatGPT that it demoed nearly seven months ago. On Thursday during a livestream, the company said that Advanced Voice Mode, its human-like conversational feature for ChatGPT, is getting vision. Using the ChatGPT app, users subscribed to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro can point their phones at…
-
Google wraps ‘blue links’ search test, lobbies for less maximalist application of EU’s DMA
Google has ended a test in which it was returning basic “blue link” search results for hotel-related searches in a handful of markets in the European Union, in response to compliance complaints related to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). These blue links appeared instead of visually richer results, where its search engine will display…
-
Microsoft anchors $9B renewable energy coalition
The coalition, which is organized by Acadia, is seeking to invest $9 billion to build 5 gigawatts worth of renewable power. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
-
Zomato faces $95 million India tax bill
Zomato, India’s top food delivery and quick commerce platform, has been slapped with a tax bill of $94.5 million. The Indian tax authority has ordered the $32 billion firm to pay 401.7 crore in allegedly unpaid gross goods and services tax for the period between October 29, 2019, and March 31, 2022. The order also…
-
Google announces Android XR platform, will launch first on Samsung’s Project Moohan device
Google said that it is launching a new Android-based XR platform on Thursday to accommodate AI features. The company said the platform, called Android XR, will support app development on different devices, including headsets and glasses. The company is releasing Android XR’s first developer preview on Thursday, which already supports existing tools, including ARCore, Android…
-
Google wants to sell those Project Astra AR glasses some day, but it won’t be today
Google is slowly peeling back the curtain on its vision to, one day, sell you glasses with augmented reality and multimodal AI capabilities. The company’s plans for those glasses, however, are still blurry. At this point, we’ve seen multiple demos of Project Astra — DeepMind’s effort to build real-time, multimodal apps and agents with AI…
-
Humba Ventures raises $40M fund to invest in deep tech, defense tech
Humba Ventures is a sister-firm to Susa Ventures, the seed-stage firm that has backed companies like Robinhood, Human Interest and Flexport. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.