More top reads You canât ask that: Google confirmed that it started rolling out restrictions on Geminiâs responses as they relate to election queries globally. Coping with death, thereâs a platform for that: Empathy wants to help grieving loved ones manage all the tasks associated with death, from organizing funerals to settling finances for the deceased. It picked up $47 million in new capital toward its larger mission to âredefine bereavement care.â In the driverâs seat with Uberâs CEO: From the SXSW stage, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi explained his vision for the ride-hailing companyâs future, especially now that it has achieved profitability. OpenMeter grabs capital: Where we learned that subscription-based apps donât make money, usage-based billing does. And investors are here for it. OpenMeter raised $3 million to continue developing software to help companies track their usage-based billing. Robot riot: Who knew a little backpack could pack a punch? Verve Motion did. They created wearable robotics that you strap on like a backpack and it enables you to lift heavy things with ease. Meanwhile, meet Rick Faulk. The Locus Roboticsâ CEO gets candid with hardware editor Brian Heater about the companyâs new software, the state of the industry and the future of humanoids. Moâ money, moâ TikTok: The streaming social media company expanded its Effect Creator Rewards monetization program to 33 more regions in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The program is also lowering the threshold to begin reaping those rewards. You have to make 100,000 videos in 90 days, but it used to be 200,000, so youâre welcome. Deepgram finds its voice: Deepgram has long been one of the go-to startups for voice recognition, and today the company launches Aura, a real-time text-to-speech API. Aura combines highly realistic voice models with a low-latency API to allow developers to build real-time, conversational AI agents. Frederic Lardinois had some fun with it. See what he created. Speaking of voices: Tavus, a four-year-old generative AI startup, raised $18 million in new funding to help companies create digital âreplicasâ of individuals for automated personalized video campaigns. Also new is its platform for third parties to integrate their software with the companyâs technology. Appleâs latest DMA tweaks: Those include Apple allowing iOS developers located in the European Union to distribute apps from the web rather than the App Store. This followed outrage from developers who thought lawmakers’ interpretation of rules were self-serving. |