Intel, Salesforce, eBay, Sony, SAP, McKinsey & Company, Zalando and Cogitai are joining the Partnership on AI, a collection of companies and non-profits that have committed to sharing best practices and communicating openly about the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence research. The new members will be working alongside existing partners that include Facebook, Amazon, Google,… Read More
In 1999, while traveling through Eastern Europe, I was robbed in a relatively remote area of the Czech Republic. Someone called the police, but we quickly realized we couldn’t communicate: They didn’t speak English and I could offer no Czech. Even the local high school English teacher, who offered her assistance, didn’t speak English well enough for me to effectively… Read More
Rumor has it that Apple is about to unveil a brand-new iPad in just a few weeks. But what about the iPad mini? According to a new report from BGR, the iPad mini is not going to receive an update. In fact, the iPad mini could be reaching the end of the road. At WWDC, Apple could be unveiling a new iPad with a 10.5-inch display and smaller bezels. This iPad is going to be roughly the footprint… Read More
Google’s annual I/O developer conference starts on Wednesday, and the 2017 edition of the show should be full of news and announcements, just like every year before now. Typically, we see lots in the way of new versions of Google apps, new software features and even major operating system updates – all of those are likely to be revealed during tomorrow’s keynote at 10 AM… Read More
A startup called Lisnr wants to replace NFC and QR codes with a new technology that sends data over audio — a communication protocol it’s calling Smart Tone. The technology it’s invented can be used across a number of applications, including point-of-sale transactions, ticketing and authentication, offline messaging, device to device connectivity and more. Read More
Loji, which is competing in the Battlefield competition at TechCrunch Disrupt New York, wants to bring much-used information and snippets of the web into iMessage conversations without forcing users to leave the app. Read More
SoFi was founded on the business of helping high-earning graduates refinance their student loans. But perhaps ironically, CEO Michael Cagney thinks today’s record amount of student loan debt is a bad thing. “I wish there were a lot less student loan debt out there,” Cagney said in an interview at Disrupt NY today. Part of the reason he believes so much debt exists is… Read More
Oscar Health CEO Mario Schlosser came on stage with me at Disrupt yesterday at our annual New York conference to talk about his company and the more than $200 million it took in net losses last year. Though he mentioned the Feds still owed his company the equivalent amount in Obamacare subsidies it still wasn’t a good look for a startup struggling among bigger insurance firms with… Read More
You’re working late at the 7-Eleven when a guy comes through the door with a mask and a gun. You raise your hands, follow his instructions, empty the cash register and throw some burners in the bag. As he runs out the door, you collect yourself and call 911. Unless you don’t need to because the mask tipped off your store’s AI, and the police are already on their way with a… Read More
Last month, Apple announced its plans to offer an expanded set of educational sessions at its stores, which will now feature more in-depth training on how to use its devices and products, along with more community involvement ranging from having artists host talks on how they’re using Apple products to having customers venture outside for things like photo and sketch walks. This… Read More
What DefinedCrowd offers isn’t particularly easily to distill into a quick elevator pitch. Taking the stage today as part of the Disrupt New York Battlefield, the Washington state-based company deals in complex concepts of machine learning, providing rich data sets for speech and natural language processing systems. Read More
Today at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017 three startups took the stage to talk shoes with TechCrunch Editor in Chief Matthew Panzarino. Josh Luber of StockX, John McPheters of Stadium Goods and Ryan Babenzein from Greats all gave their thoughts on the current state of shoes. They first discussed why the secondary sneakers market has had such a resurgence recently. The panel agreed that the rise… Read More
We hear a lot about the potential and implications of the gene-editing technique CRISPR, but it’s not like just anyone can open up an app, pick a gene they don’t like, and build the molecular machinery needed to snip it out. That’s the goal, though, and Synthego is one of the companies pursuing it by creating a sort of ready-made CRISPR sandbox to start new researchers off. Read More
For when a screen shot just won’t cut it, Slack’s paid users can now share live video of their screens during video calls. The addition of the feature comes a slow two years after Slack bought Screenhero, a startup that offered enterprise screenshare, in a cash-and-stock deal for its tech and six employees. The feature will roll out on Slack’s latest Mac and Windows apps over… Read More
That’s Instagram’s VP of Product Kevin Weil’s perspective about cloning Snapchat. He’s the man in charge of bringing Snap CEO Evan Spiegel’s vision to a much larger audience, reforging his features for the mainstream, and then taking Instagram a step further. But rather than showing guilt, remorse, or reluctance about copying what’s worked for Snap, he sees… Read More
Pinterest offers advertisers a unique opportunity for its audience of 175 million users: the ability to catch them at all points of their purchasing lifetime. Brands can advertise against moments of discovery and people searching for and saving products, eventually pushing them down to the point of actually buying a product. But since it fired up its ads business, it’s had to give… Read More
Like Tesla’s Powerwall, Watts is a big battery that can power your home. One Watts cell can support a few small appliances including computers and refrigerators and a few units can power TVs and electric washers. The units can charge via the grid or with solar panels and the Watts units include an app that shows discharge and battery remaining. The batteries, which were designed in… Read More
Biz Stone, one of the co-founders of Twitter, just announced that he’s returning to the company he helped start. Stone left Twitter to pursue new projects in 2011. Read More
There’s the $90 Fire TV, the $40 Fire TV Stick and now, for the dongle-averse, Amazon is giving the world its first set with the company’s streaming media offering built-in. It’s up now for pre-order, debuting on the internet’s most powerful billboard, Amazon’s own homepage. The simply named Amazon Fire TV Edition starts at $449 for the 43-inch model. Read More
The government of Thailand has backed down on a threat to ban Facebook if it did not block content deemed to be illegal in the country. The ruling military junta last week said it would ban the U.S. social network if it did not disable Thailand-based users from being able to access a selection of 131 “illicit” posts, including content that violates lese majeste laws that… Read More
