TECHNOLOGY
Threads starts testing TweetDeck-like pinned columns on Web
Meta's pinned columns pilot from Threads comes nearly nine months after X CEO Elon Musk rebranded TweetDeck as X Pro and brought it under a paywall.
TECHNOLOGY
Netflix to launch in-house adtech platform by the end of 2025
Netflix's ad-supported tier now has 40 million global monthly active users, up from 23 million users in January
TECHNOLOGY
Google's Project Astra provides a glimpse at the future of AI assistants
At Google I/O 2024, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said some of Project Astra's capabilities are coming to the company's products, like the Gemini app.
TECHNOLOGY
Google unveils Gemini 1.5 Flash, an AI model for fast, low-latency applications
At Google I/O 2024, the tech giant also announced the next generation of its open source model Gemma 2 and a vision language model PaliGemma, as competition heats up.
BUSINESS
Google introduces text-to-video AI model Veo to take on OpenAI's Sora
Unveiled at Google I/O 2024, Veo can generate high-quality 1080p resolution videos that can go beyond a minute.
BUSINESS
Google's AI-powered search experience starts rolling out to consumers
Google expects to make generative AI search available to over a billion consumers by the end of the year, the company said at its annual developer conference Google I/O 2024.
TECHNOLOGY
Google’s Gemini Live now lets you have human-like voice conversations with the AI assistant
At Google I/O 2024, Gemini also rolled out an immersive trip planner, more extensions and the ability to create personalised AI agents.
TECHNOLOGY
Google DeepMind unveils next-gen AlphaFold AI model to accelerate drug discovery
Scientists and academic researchers will be able to access majority of AlphaFold 3's capabilities through a newly launched AI tool AlphaFold Server.
TECHNOLOGY
Meta's latest generative AI features make it easier for advertisers to create ads
Facebook parent Meta is also expanding its paid verification service for businesses by adding new subscription tiers and extending to new markets.
TECHNOLOGY
Disney+ Hotstar's paid subscriber base drops 2.3 million to 36 million
Walt Disney's global entertainment streaming businesses, which include Disney+ and Hulu, posted a profit in the second quarter. However, it expects a softer Q3 driven by Disney+ Hotstar.
TECHNOLOGY
Bhavish Aggarwal's AI startup Krutrim launches Android app; to unveil developer offerings
Krutrim’s mobile app launch comes as the country’s first AI unicorn gears up to launch its developer offerings, which includes cloud infrastructure and mapping solutions.
TECHNOLOGY
LinkedIn forays into gaming with the launch of 3 new puzzle games
LinkedIn has launched three new puzzle games - Pinpoint, Queens, and Crossclimb - that people across the world can play on mobile and desktop.
TECHNOLOGY
Instagram updating its recommendation algorithms to promote small, original content creators
In the coming months, Instagram will remove aggregators from recommendations and change its ranking to prioritise original content from small creators.
TECHNOLOGY
General Catalyst’s Anand Chandrasekaran quits, to focus on his AI startup Crescendo
General Catalyst has invested an estimated $250 million across 25-30 startups in India over the past 3-4 years.
TECHNOLOGY
Ads, cloud, subscriptions: How Google parent plans to monetise its AI offerings
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai outlined plans to make money from artificial intelligence at a time when investors are scrutinising Big Tech's massive spending on the rapidly-growing technology.
WORLD
YouTube, Google Cloud to hit $100 billion in annual run rate in 2024: Sundar Pichai
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said strong performance of YouTube and Google Cloud along with the flagship search business drove the Q1 revenue growth.
TECHNOLOGY
Threads now has over 150 million monthly active users, says Mark Zuckerberg
Threads, designed as rival to Elon Musk's X, has been steadily building a range of new features to attract people onto its platform
TECHNOLOGY
Meta to spend billions more on AI; CEO Mark Zuckerberg vows long-term gains
Meta is ramping up its AI spends as it competes with other tech giants Microsoft, Google and upstarts such as OpenAI for supremacy in the rapidly-growing technology.
BUSINESS
Zomato pilots priority delivery feature for extra fees in some locations
This comes days after Zomato increased its platform fees by 25 percent to Rs 5 per order and paused its inter-city food delivery service called Intercity legends
TECHNOLOGY
Elon Musk's X to launch a television app, challenging YouTube
X's TV app launch comes as CEO Linda Yaccarino looks to position the social media firm as a video-first platform to bolster its advertising revenue
TECHNOLOGY
Spotify jumps back to profit in Q1 2024; paid subscribers rise 14% to 239 million
Spotify's user growth slowed down during the quarter due to lower marketing activity. The company is also taking a range of measures to cut costs in a push for monetisation.
TECHNOLOGY
Meta opens up Horizon OS to third-party device makers, escalating battle with Apple
Meta has roped in device makers Lenovo, Microsoft and Asus ROG as its first set of partners who will be building devices based on Meta Horizon OS.
TECHNOLOGY
Meta AI starts limiting responses to election-related queries in India
Meta AI limiting responses to election-related queries comes shortly after Google placed similar restrictions on its AI chatbot Gemini last month.
TECHNOLOGY
Netflix's password-sharing crackdown drives Q1 subscriber growth; adds 9.3 million paid members
Netflix plans to stop reporting quarterly paid membership additions and average revenue per member from the first quarter of 2025
