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Crypto payments mobile app Oobit raises $25M led by Tether
Oobit Technologies UAB, a mobile crypto payments app, said today that it has raised $25 million in an early-stage funding round to support its development and expansion into more markets. The Series A round was led by stablecoin issuer Tether Ltd. and joined by other cryptocurrency venture capital contributors such as CMCC Global’s Titan Fund, 468 Capital ...
Google Maps adds generative AI to maps for local search
Google Maps is adding generative AI features to help users find destinations using conversational search in a limited experiment for users in the United States that is rolling out this week. Detailed in a blog post published Thursday, the enhanced search in maps uses large language models that analyze map data from 250 million places and “trusted ...
Google powers up Bard with Gemini Pro and releases new AI tools
Google LLC today announced that its Bard artificial intelligence chatbot is getting fully upgraded with Gemini Pro, the company’s most powerful large language model to date, which is also now available with image generation capabilities powered by its Imagen 2 model. The company also introduced ImageFX, a new image generation tool, and an upgrade to MusicFX, which ...
Okta to cut 400 employees a year after its last round of layoffs
Identity access management company Okta Inc. said today in a message to employees that it will lay off 7% of its staff, or about 400 employees, in a cost-cutting measure, according to an email message. “In order to grow profitably, we need to run the business with greater efficiency,” Okta Chief Executive Todd McKinnon said ...
TrueMedia.org aims to use AI to fight political deepfakes
A new nonprofit, nonpartisan organization called TrueMedia today announced it’s developing a tool that will use artificial intelligence to detect deepfakes with an aim to protect the 2024 U.S. election cycle from misinformation. Deepfakes are a type of fake video, photo or audio recording produced by AI that has been designed to trick a person into thinking that someone ...
Report: Humanoid robot startup Figure AI seeks $500M raise led by Microsoft and OpenAI
Figure AI Inc., a startup developing humanoid robots, is reportedly in talks to raise $500 million in new funding led by Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI, according to a report from Bloomberg. Although the principal investors and Figure declined to comment, the Jan. 30 report cited an anonymous source with knowledge of the matter who said ...
Kore.ai rakes in $150M to build generative AI tools for global brands
Enterprise generative artificial intelligence platform developer Kore.ai Inc. today announced it has secured $150 million in strategic growth investment funding led by FTV Capital to accelerate market expansion for its chatbot builder technology. Kore.ai targets enterprise customers and global brands in need of AI tools such as chatbots and workflow tools . It offers an enterprise-grade no-code ...
Portal raises $34M for secure decentralized bitcoin exchange
Portal, a financial technology startup building a bitcoin-based cross-chain decentralized exchange and wallet, today launched with $34 million from a seed funding round to build out its cryptocurrency products and services. According to the company’s announcement, investors participating in the round included notable crypto venture capital firms such as Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures and ...
AR glasses maker Xreal raises $60M to expand production
Xreal Inc., the Chinese maker of augmented reality glasses, today announced it has raised $60 million in a confidential strategic funding round to expand its consumer line of wearable AR devices. The company said that it would use the new funding to scale up its manufacturing capabilities, research and development aimed at bringing affordable AR ...
Amazon ends $1.7B acquisition deal for iRobot amid regulatory issues
Amazon.com Inc. announced today that it has called off its planned acquisition of robot vacuum Roomba maker iRobot Corp. after the deal faced increased attention from regulatory agencies in the United States and the European Union. Both companies released a joint statement noting that the deal signed in August 2022, which would have seen iRobot acquired by Amazon ...