Library e-book and audiobook app Libby is adding AI, much to the disappointment of some readers and librarians, who would prefer not to have AI inserted into their favorite apps. The new feature, “Inspire Me,” allows users to get book recommendations by using prompts or from their previously saved titles in Libby. To use the…
Alphabet’s life sciences arm Verily laid off staff and eliminated its entire devices program Monday. CEO Stephen Gillett announced the “difficult decision” to wind down the program in a staff memo, according to Business Insider. “Over the years, Verily has built a legacy in developing world-class, innovative medical devices,” Gillett wrote, noting that the “path…
SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket lifted off on its tenth test flight Tuesday evening, hitting two long sought milestones and putting an end to a string of failures. The 403-foot vehicle lifted off from Starbase, SpaceX’s launch facility and recently incorporated city, at 7:30 pm ET after two scrubs earlier in this week. The rocket ascended…
Assort Health, a startup that uses AI to automate patient communication for specialty healthcare practices, has raised about $50 million in a Series B round at a valuation of $750 million, according to three sources familiar with the deal. The latest round, which comes just four months after the company raised its $22 million Series…
Protesters stormed Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters on Monday and made it into president Brad Smith’s office in Building 34, forcing a temporary lockdown. The “No Azure for Apartheid” group reportedly live-streamed their sit-in on Twitch, hoisting banners, chanting ‘Brad Smith, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide!’ and posting a mock legal summons charging Smith with “crimes…
The Trump administration made an unprecedented, and confusing, move last week when it announced plans to convert money Intel was supposed to receive through Joe Biden-era government grant programs into a 10% equity stake. While it remains unclear if converting those government grants into equity is even possible — that’s up for debate — it’s…
Anthropic has settled a class action lawsuit with a group of fiction and nonfiction authors, as announced in a filing on Tuesday with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Anthropic had won a partial victory in a lower court ruling and was in the process of appealing that ruling. No details of the settlement were…
Anthropic is launching a research preview of a browser-based AI agent powered by its Claude AI models, the company announced on Tuesday. The agent, Claude for Chrome, is rolling out to a group of 1000 subscribers on Anthropic’s Max plan, which costs between $100 and $200 per month. The company is also opening a waitlist…
Thanks to an unexpected surge in popularity on TikTok, Radiohead now has its fourth-ever song on the Billboard Hot 100: the morosely gorgeous track “Let Down” from the 1997 album OK Computer. “Let Down” never broke through to mainstream attention like Radiohead’s “Creep” or “Karma Police,” but it’s by no means a deep cut, like…
Meta plans to launch a super PAC to support California candidates favoring a light-touch approach to AI regulation, Politico reports. The news comes as other Silicon Valley behemoths, like Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI’s Greg Brockman, pledge $100 million for a new pro-AI super PAC. Meta will pour tens of millions into its new group, dubbed…
