TechCrunch – Page 22

Bing’s app sees a 10x jump in downloads after Microsoft’s AI news

This week’s news about Microsoft’s plan to add ChatGPT-like capabilities to its search engine Bing has sent its companion mobile app into the App Store’s Top Charts as of Wednesday. On the U.S. App Store, the Bing app has surged to the No. 12 spot among all free iPhone apps, while Microsoft’s Edge browser is now the No. 3 Utility app. Globally, the Bing app has seen a 10x increase in new downloads, according to preliminary estimates from app intelligence firm data.ai.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/08/bings-previously-unpopular-app-sees-a-10x-jump-in-downloads-after-microsofts-ai-news/

Microsoft launches the new Bing, with ChatGPT built in

“It’s a new day for search,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said today. For 13 years now, Microsoft has tried to get you to use Bing, but you didn’t want to, so its global market share remains in the low single digits. Now, the company is pulling out all the stops in an effort to better compete with Google. Today, at a press event in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft announced its long-rumored integration of OpenAI’s GPT-4 model into Bing, providing a ChatGPT-like experience within the search engine.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/07/microsoft-launches-the-new-bing-with-chatgpt-built-in/

OpenAI releases tool to detect AI-generated text, including from ChatGPT

Image Credits: OpenAI

“The classifier aims to help mitigate false claims that AI-generated text was written by a human. However, it still has a number of limitations — so it should be used as a complement to other methods of determining the source of text instead of being the primary decision-making tool,” an OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch via email. “We’re making this initial classifier available to get feedback on whether tools like this are useful, and hope to share improved methods in the future.”
https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/31/openai-releases-tool-to-detect-ai-generated-text-including-from-chatgpt/

Three months ago, he was laid off from Twitter. Now, his competing app Spill is funded.

Image Credits: Spill

Like Twitter, Spill will have a live news feed where users can post “spills,” a reference to the phrase “spill the tea.” Spill is also building a feature called “tea parties,” where users can host both online and IRL events, then get in-app bonuses to apply to things like boosting their posts — these bonuses will also be for sale.

“We’re really leaning into meme culture, making it easier to put text on images or gifs — little touches and tweaks like that have been really exciting,” Terrell said.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/30/three-months-ago-he-was-laid-off-from-twitter-now-his-competing-app-spill-is-funded/

Starling Medical’s new urine-testing device turns your toilet into a health tracker

Image Credits: Starling Medical

If you enjoy some good toilet technology, then I think “urine” for a treat. Starling Medical is poised to launch its at-home urine diagnostic patient-monitoring platform, dubbed “StarStream,” that doesn’t rely on the traditional catching containers or dipsticks.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/27/starling-medical-urine-health/

This startup hopes to take on Canva, raising a $11.6M Series A for its design platform

“With Kittl we allow users to create professional-grade designs fast and easily by removing the barrier of a tough learning curve. Our features are designed to make complex design processes simple and accessible with a few clicks. Our competitors either focus on basic tools that only allow a small range of creative freedom, or they take a lot of training and practice to get good at.”
https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/26/this-startup-hopes-to-take-on-canva-raising-a-11-6m-series-a-for-its-design-platform/

Strava acquires Fatmap, a 3D mapping platform for the great outdoors

Image Credits: Fatmap

Strava, the activity tracking and social community platform used by more than 100 million people globally, has acquired Fatmap, a European company that’s building a high-resolution 3D global map platform for the great outdoors. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The ultimate long-term goal for Strava is to integrate Fatmap’s core platform into Strava itself, but that will be a resource-intensive endeavor that won’t happen overnight. And that is why Strava is working to create a single sign-on (SSO) integration in the near-term, meaning that subscribers will be able to access the full Fatmap feature-set by logging into the Fatmap app with their Strava credentials.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/24/strava-acquires-fatmap-a-3d-map-platform-for-the-great-outdoors/