Tech

Travel search engine Kayak will now allow users to research trips ahead of booking using AI. The company this week launched an “AI Mode” feature that lets users ask travel-related questions as well as compare and book flights, hotels, and cars, through an AI chatbot integrated on the company’s website. The feature is currently available across both desktop and mobile …

For one week this summer, Taylor and her roommate wore GoPro cameras strapped to their foreheads as they painted, sculpted, and did household chores. They were training an AI vision model, carefully syncing their footage so the system could get multiple angles on the same behavior. It was difficult work in many ways, but they were well paid for it …

Amazon’s surveillance camera maker Ring announced a partnership on Thursday with Flock, a maker of AI-powered surveillance cameras that share footage with law enforcement. Now agencies that use Flock can request that Ring doorbell users share footage to help with “evidence collection and investigative work.” Flock cameras work by scanning the license plates and other identifying information about cars they …

Meta is shutting down Messenger’s stand-alone desktop apps for Windows and Mac on December 15, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday. Starting December 15, users will no longer be able to log into the apps and will be automatically redirected to the Facebook website to access Messenger. “If you’re using the Messenger desktop apps, you’ll get an in-app notification …

Energy startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems said Thursday it’s working with Google’s DeepMind division to fine tune — and even improve — the operation of its forthcoming Sparc reactor using AI. The companies plan will simulate the plasma that will burn inside CFS’s reactor using specialized DeepMind software known as Torax. They also plan on pairing Torax with AI models to …

Francesco Vitali will be the first to admit that when his co-founder Chris Siametis first pitched him on Rent a Cyber Friend, he didn’t quite get the idea. “Who’s going to pay somebody to speak with somebody?” Vitali told TechCrunch. “But Chris was insistent. Chris is a millennial, and I’m Gen X, so it wasn’t easy for me to understand …

Zehra Naqvi recalls the magical days of the early social internet.   She grew up in the One  Direction and Marvel fandoms in the early 2010s. This was back when people posted photos of lattes using the Valencia filter on Instagram, and Twitter was still Twitter, a place where people came together to exchange jokes and cultural analysis.   But now Instagram is full of influencers, and Twitter is …

As entertaining as it’s been for the tech industry to watch rival payroll decacorns Deel and Rippling sue each other over a corporate spying scandal, top-tier VCs are apparently not terribly scared off. Deel on Thursday announced that it has raised a $300 million Series E round co-led by A-list fintech VC firm Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, with participation …

Andrew Lissimore has been running the audio apparel site Headphones.com for nearly a decade now. While audiophiles have a high affinity toward their gear and want to try out new gadgets, Lissimore wasn’t satisfied with continuously spending money on platforms like Meta and Google to acquire new customers; he wanted to find a way to better retain the customers he …

Ke Yang, the Apple executive leading the iPhone maker’s efforts to build AI-driven web search, is heading to Meta, according to a Bloomberg report.   Yang’s departure marks the latest in a string of exits from Apple’s AI unit, putting the company into jeopardy in the lead-up to a much-anticipated Siri revamp scheduled for March. Ruoming Pang, Apple’s former head of …