AI

Zuckerberg: AI increased the time spent on Facebook and Instagram in Q2

Social /

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg credited AI with driving up the time users spent on the company’s apps in the second quarter. While consumers are increasingly complaining about the prevalence of “AI slop” — or low-quality AI-generated content flooding social apps — Meta says that AI systems are getting better at helping users connect with recommended […]

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Zuckerberg signals Meta won’t open source all of its ‘superintelligence’ AI models

AI /

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his vision on Wednesday for “personal superintelligence,” the idea that people should be able to use AI to achieve their personal goals.  Smuggled into the letter is a signal that Meta is shifting how it plans to release AI models as it pursues “superintelligence.” “We believe the benefits of superintelligence

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How 2 UC Berkeley dropouts raised $28 million for their AI marketing automation startup

Startups /

AI-powered marketing automation startup Conversion, founded five years ago by two UC Berkeley dropouts, has raised a $28 million Series A led by Abstract, with participation from True Ventures and HOF Capital. The company’s founding story sounds like it could have been an episode of the HBO show “Silicon Valley.” The story begins all the

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Gen AI apps doubled their revenue, grew to 1.7B downloads in first half of 2025

Apps /

Generative AI apps have seen tremendous growth in both downloads and in-app revenue in the first half of 2025, a report from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower said. Users downloaded Gen AI apps 1.7 billion times, compared to 1 billion in H2 2024. These apps doubled in-app revenue, bringing in $1.87 billion in H1 2025,

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Observe continues to adapt to the changing world of software observability

AI /

Observe, an observability platform, was founded in 2017 in response to the changing nature of software observability. Companies started pushing out new versions of their software more frequently — and producing significantly more data because of it. Now, Observe is responding to the latest big shift in technology: AI. San Mateo-based Observe helps companies get

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Spotify hints at a more chatty voice AI interface in the future

Media & Entertainment /

Spotify has experimented with various voice interfaces in the past, and more recently, added an AI DJ that introduces tunes the company thinks you’ll like and lets you make your own requests. Now, Spotify is teasing that generative AI advances may pave the way for an even more conversational interface with the streaming service in

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Microsoft in talks to maintain access to OpenAI’s tech beyond AGI milestone 

AI /

Microsoft is reportedly in advanced talks with OpenAI for a new agreement that would give it ongoing access to the startup’s technology even if OpenAI achieves what it defines as AGI, or advanced general intelligence. If the deal goes through, it would clear a key hurdle in OpenAI’s transition toward becoming a fully commercial enterprise.

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Why Dispo’s co-founder made the leap from social media to steelmaking

Startups /

Daniel Liss, co-founder of the social network Dispo and the dating app Teaser AI, is convinced he’s onto the next big thing: steelmaking.  It all started, incongruously, with a few op-eds he wrote for TechCrunch about anti-trust enforcement in social media. The commentaries apparently caught the attention of some folks in Washington D.C., Liss told

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