Nvidia- Anthropic Clash Over US AI Chip Restrictions on China
Nvidia, a leading player in the AI chip market, has expressed its disagreement with Anthropic's support for proposed US restrictions on AI chip exports to China. Nvidia believes that these restrictions would hurt its global revenue stream and that America cannot manipulate regulators to capture victory in AI. On the other hand, Anthropic suggests that the proposed restrictions are necessary to prevent the misuse of AI chips by countries like China.
Reddit Answers: Expanded AI-Powered Search
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman revealed that the company is expanding its AI-powered chatbot, Reddit Answers, to help seekers find answers and opinions from real people. The feature has already gained traction, with 1 million weekly active users since its launch in beta in December.
Amazon Upgrades Alexa with Generative AI
Amazon has rolled out its upgraded digital assistant, Alexa+, powered by generative AI. The new assistant aims to let users talk with it in a more natural style and eventually have agentic abilities that allow it to use third-party apps on behalf of the user.
Microsoft Announces Xbox Price Increases
Microsoft announced price increases for its Xbox consoles, controllers, and some games. The affected consoles will increase in price between $80 and $100 each, depending on the console model. Additionally, the standard Xbox Wireless Controller will now cost $64.99, while Elite Series 2 controllers will range from $149.99 to $199.99.
TechCrunch Sessions: AI is just over a month away!
TechCrunch is seeking exceptional volunteers to join us in bringing TC Sessions: AI to life. As a volunteer, you'll gain exclusive access to the behind-the-scenes action and receive a complimentary ticket to enjoy the event before or after your shift.
Tesla's Board Quietly Searches for Musk's Successor
Tesla's board has begun searching for a potential successor to CEO Elon Musk, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The move comes as the company faces declining sales and profits, as well as concerns about Musk's divided attention between Tesla and his other ventures.
ChatGPT Issues and Controversies
ChatGPT has sparked both excitement and controversy since its release. Some have praised the AI chatbot for its ability to generate human-like text, while others have raised concerns over its potential impact on traditional writing industries. Additionally, ChatGPT has been accused of generating biased or misleading content.
google expanding access to ai mode
google has announced that it is expanding access to its experimental ai mode feature, which allows users to ask complex questions and follow-ups in search results. the company is also adding new functionality to ai mode, including the ability to pick up where you left off on a search.
Fivetran Acquires Census
Fivetran, a company that helps enterprises move data from various sources into cloud databases, has acquired Census, a reverse ETL platform. The acquisition will enable Fivetran to offer an end-to-end data movement solution.
Anthropic Launches New Way To Connect Apps And Tools To Its AI Chatbot
Anthropic has launched a new way to connect apps and tools to its AI chatbot, Claude. The company has also expanded the capabilities of its deep research tool, Advanced Research. This new feature allows users to search hundreds of internal and external sources for comprehensive reports on a topic.
Epic Games Store to Allow Webshops for Developers
Epic Games has been in a long legal battle with Apple over its iOS App Store fees, which take 30% of a developer's earnings. A judge had ruled in 2021 that Apple couldn't stop developers from directing customers to buy digital goods outside of the Apple ecosystem. Now Epic is bringing its flagship game Fortnite back to the iOS App Store and introducing a new feature called webshops, which will allow developers to sell digital goods directly to players.
May Mobility to Deploy Autonomous Vehicles on Uber
May Mobility, a startup that operates autonomous microtransit services, plans to deploy its vehicles on the Uber platform by the end of 2025. This move allows May Mobility to expand beyond offering shuttles within campuses and planned communities.
Tis the Week for Small AI Models
Ai2, a nonprofit AI research institute, has released Olmo 2 1B, a small AI model that outperforms larger models from Google, Meta, and Alibaba on several benchmarks. The model is available under an Apache 2.0 license and can be replicated from scratch.
Bench Conducts Round of Significant Layoffs
Bench, the accounting and tax startup that was bought in a fire sale last December, has conducted a round of significant layoffs. The company didn't specify how many people were affected, but one person who works there estimated that Bench was eliminating dozens of positions – that's a big chunk of the around 300 people who work for the company.
