Category: Gaming
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YouTube apologizes for falsely banning channels for spam, canceling subscriptions
A misfire of YouTube’s systems led to the accidental banning of YouTube channels affecting numerous creators who were informed their channels were removed for “Spam & Deceptive Practices.” YouTube has now apologized for the problem and says it’s rectifying the situation, but did not comment on the cause of the bans, leading creators to wonder…
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Ashton Kutcher, Effie Epstein, and Guy Oseary are coming to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024
Last year, Sound Ventures, the 9-year-old, Beverly Hills, California-based venture firm led by general partners Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, and Effie Epstein, announced a new $265 million AI fund that was betting big on large language model companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Hugging Face. In fact, the plan was to invest in just six companies…
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Investors are scrambling to get into ElevenLabs, which may soon be valued at $3 billion
ElevenLabs, a startup that makes AI tools for audio applications, is being approached by existing and new investors about a new round, which could value the company as highly as $3 billion, TechCrunch has learned. The two-year-old company specializes in making AI tools to generate synthetic voices for audiobook narrations, and for real-time video dubbing…
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A co-lead on Sora, OpenAI’s video generator, has left for Google
One of the co-leads on OpenAI’s video generator, Sora, has left for Google. Tim Brooks, who was heading development on Sora with William Peebles, announced in a post on X that he’ll be joining Google DeepMind, Google’s AI research division, to work on video generation technologies and “world simulators.” “I had an amazing two years…
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Apple plans four new retail stores in India
Apple is planning to open four new retail stores in India and has begun manufacturing the iPhone 16 Pro models domestically, the company said as it deepens its presence in the world’s second-largest smartphone market. The U.S. tech giant plans to launch stores in Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai, building on its first two Indian…
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Even the ‘godmother of AI’ has no idea what AGI is
Are you confused about artificial general intelligence, or AGI? It’s that thing OpenAI is obsessed with ultimately creating in a way that “benefits all of humanity.” You may want to take them seriously since they just raised $6.6 billion to get closer to that goal. But if you’re still wondering what the heck AGI even…
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The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained
The world of WordPress, one of the most popular technologies for creating and hosting websites, is going through a very heated controversy. The core issue is the fight between WordPress founder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine, which hosts websites built on WordPress. WordPress technology is open source and free, and it powers…
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159 employees are leaving Automattic as CEO’s fight with WP Engine escalates
Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg said on Thursday that 159 employees (roughly 8.4% of staff) accepted a severance package that the company had offered to those who disagreed with his direction of WordPress and his handling of the tussle with web hosting provider WP Engine. In a blog post, Mullenweg said the package offered $30,000 or…
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Waymo’s next robotaxi will be the Hyundai IONIQ 5
Waymo has struck a deal with Hyundai to bring the IONIQ 5 EV to its robotaxi network, adding another autonomous vehicle option as it scales up its business. The autonomous vehicle company announced Friday that it expects to start on-road testing a Waymo-equipped IONIQ 5 by late 2025, with the AV becoming available to riders…
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OpenAI also secured a massive credit line
In addition to OpenAI’s new $6.6 billion megaround of funding at a post-money valuation of $157 billion, the outfit has secured a $4 billion revolving line of credit, it disclosed in a post Thursday night. The arrangement gives it “access to over $10 billion in liquidity, which gives us the flexibility to invest in new…