News

Agence France-Presse: Ukraine unveils an AI-generated foreign ministry spokesperson called Victoria Shi, who will make official statements “written and verified by real people”  —  Victoria Shi is modelled on Rosalie Nombre, a singer and former contestant on Ukraine’s version of… Read More »Ukraine unveils an AI-generated foreign ministry spokesperson called Victoria Shi, who will make official statements “written and verified by real people” (Agence France-Presse)

Joanna Stern / Wall Street Journal: Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses are a simple, reliable, and smartly priced AI gadget, whereas Humane’s AI Pin and the Rabbit R1 are more akin to science projects  —  There’s a new WANTED poster in… Read More »Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses are a simple, reliable, and smartly priced AI gadget, whereas Humane’s AI Pin and the Rabbit R1 are more akin to science projects (Joanna Stern/Wall Street Journal)

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch: Sources: Swedish PE firm EQT acquires a “significant majority” stake in WSO2, valuing the enterprise API and identity management company at “more than” $600M  —  WSO2, a company that provides API management and identity and access… Read More »Sources: Swedish PE firm EQT acquires a “significant majority” stake in WSO2, valuing the enterprise API and identity management company at “more than” $600M (Paul Sawers/TechCrunch)

Vikas SN / Moneycontrol: Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s Krutrim launches an Android app for its eponymous AI chatbot as the startup prepares to launch its developer offerings on May 4  —  Krutrim’s mobile app launch comes as the country’s first… Read More »Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s Krutrim launches an Android app for its eponymous AI chatbot as the startup prepares to launch its developer offerings on May 4 (Vikas SN/Moneycontrol)

Manish Singh / TechCrunch: Filing: CRM software maker Freshworks acquires Connecticut-based Device42, which helps companies manage their IT infrastructure and had raised $38.5M, for $230M  —  Freshworks, the publicly listed SaaS firm, is acquiring U.S.-based startup Device42 for $230 million,… Read More »Filing: CRM software maker Freshworks acquires Connecticut-based Device42, which helps companies manage their IT infrastructure and had raised $38.5M, for $230M (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

Wendy Lee / Los Angeles Times: How the AI-generated music video for Washed Out’s The Hardest Part was created entirely using OpenAI’s Sora, a first from a major record label  —  “The Hardest Part,” a new song from indie pop… Read More »How the AI-generated music video for Washed Out’s The Hardest Part was created entirely using OpenAI’s Sora, a first from a major record label (Wendy Lee/Los Angeles Times)

C.C. Weiss / New Atlas: Natron Energy starts production of sodium-ion batteries that it says charge and discharge 10x faster than lithium-ion, initially for use at data centers  —  VIEW 3 IMAGES  —  VIEW GALLERY – 3 IMAGES  —  Two… Read More »Natron Energy starts production of sodium-ion batteries that it says charge and discharge 10x faster than lithium-ion, initially for use at data centers (C.C. Weiss/New Atlas)

Nico Grant / New York Times: Google employees have mostly ignored the DOJ’s antitrust case, and some expect only small business tweaks and some fines; closing arguments concluded on May 3  —  They shrugged off concerns about the company’s fate… Read More »Google employees have mostly ignored the DOJ’s antitrust case, and some expect only small business tweaks and some fines; closing arguments concluded on May 3 (Nico Grant/New York Times)

Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk: Russian national Alexander Vinnik, one of the operators of crypto exchange BTC-e from 2011 to 2017, pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering  —  Vinnik was first arrested in 2017, but faced a lengthy extradition… Read More »Russian national Alexander Vinnik, one of the operators of crypto exchange BTC-e from 2011 to 2017, pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable: Google updates its ad policy to ban the promotion of services that generate, distribute, or store synthetic sexually explicit content, starting May 30, 2024  —  Google Ads, Shopping Ads, Admob, and other Google Ads… Read More »Google updates its ad policy to ban the promotion of services that generate, distribute, or store synthetic sexually explicit content, starting May 30, 2024 (Barry Schwartz/Search Engine Roundtable)