Following the collapse of its electric car project, Apple reportedly shuffled a number of employees into its internal generative AI efforts.
iOS 18 with more AIImage Credits: Darrell EtheringtonAlong with that partnership, expect iOS 18 to be the centerpiece of the event.
Siri will be getting a long-awaited refresh, courtesy of Apple’s generative AI work.
Generative AI is even coming to emojis, allowing users to customize and create their own in Messages.
A lot of the iOS updates should also make their way to macOS, including those in Siri, Notes and Safari.
Read More“The Future Unveiled: Previewing WWDC 2024 and its Revolutionary Offerings: iOS 18, macOS 15, and the Power of AI”
Apple will kick off its weeklong Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2024) event today with the customary keynote at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT.
There’s a stream on YouTube as well, but that has a tendency to lag a bit.
The latest reports have put a name to Apple’s AI efforts: Apple Intelligence, along with the caveat that not all recent Apple devices will be able to use the new system.
And you can bet that many of iOS 18’s AI features will make their way to macOS 15, as well.
TechCrunch will be reporting on the ground at Apple Park, bringing you the news as it happens.
Read MoreExperience Apple’s Mesmerizing Kick-Off to WWDC 2024 – Live!
The UAE is home to most of its customers, and people from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait form the bulk of its international customer base.
Entering Saudi ArabiaStake claims it has surpassed Dubai-based fractional property investment platforms like Smartcrowd, but it will be starting afresh in Saudi Arabia.
Property investment companies therefore set up special purpose vehicles through which they let investors buy real estate.
“Saudi Arabia has properties that are recently completed and under development that are worth billions.
We are going to use [our] experience to offer a similar unified product for investment in Saudi Arabia within the same app,” Mahmassani said.
Read More“Raising $14M: Fractional Property Investment Platform Set to Expand into Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi”
The folks at Collaborative Fund certainly like a challenge.
Oh, and they decided to raise their sixth flagship fund at a time when limited partners have grown more miserly.
Collaborative recently raised $125 million for its sixth flagship fund, the firm exclusively told TechCrunch, completing the process in just over 90 days.
“This fundraising environment is tougher than any I’ve seen since starting the firm well over a decade ago,” founder and managing partner Craig Shapiro told TechCrunch.
Part of that could be the fact that Collaborative has recently returned capital to its LPs, Shapiro said.
Read MoreCollaborative Fund Secures $125M Fund to Address Climate, Health, and Food Issues After Success with Reddit and Scopely
It’s been described as “the largest merger in African e-commerce” by both companies.
When the planned merger was first announced, the B2B e-commerce players were active in eight countries.
These recent moves suggest the new entity will likely serve fewer than the 450,000 retailers quoted during the merger announcement.
As the merger nears completion, the CEOs from both companies will continue as full-time executives but function in different roles.
“Regarding our merger with MaxAB, it is important to state that this is progressing as expected and in accordance with the initial terms.
Read More“Delays and Obstacles: Wasoko-MaxAB Merger Challenges Africa’s E-commerce Growth”
While funding for Italian startups has been growing, the country still ranks eighth in Europe by VC investment, according to Dealroom.
Newly created Italian Founders Fund (IFF) hopes to help with the catching up, both in quantity and in quality.
It will use this geographical flexibility to also back Italian founders operating abroad, as well as foreign startups interested in entering the Italian market.
It will also help that some of its LPs are GPs of foreign funds, and that it plans to back Italian founders with global ambitions.
Global Italian startups include Bending Spoons, the owner of popular apps and services like Evernote and Meetup, which is valued at $2.55 billion.
Read More“Exclusive Opportunity: Italian Founders Fund Seeks Visionary Entrepreneurs with €50 Million to Fund Global Endeavors”
William A. Anders, the astronaut behind perhaps the single most iconic photo of our planet, has died at the age of 90.
On Friday morning, Anders was piloting a small plane that dove into the water near Roche Harbor, Wash. His son Greg confirmed his death.
Anders retired from the Air Force Reserve as a major general, but was a major at the time of the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.
Wow, is that pretty!”The resulting photograph, titled “Earthrise,” captured Earth’s loneliness and fragility in a way that no image ever had before.
“Here we came all the way to the moon to discover Earth,” he said.
Read MoreFamed astronaut William Anders, known for “Earthrise” photo, passes away at age 90
New York’s state legislature has passed a bill that would prohibit social media companies from showing so-called “addictive feeds” to children under 18, unless they obtain parental consent.
The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act defines an addictive feed as one where the content is recommended or prioritized based on information about the user or the user’s device — basically, these are the algorithmic news feeds used by most social apps.
“Non-addictive feeds,” a category that includes “feeds listed in chronological order,” would still be allowed.
“New York is leading the nation to protect our kids from addictive social media feeds and shield their personal data from predatory companies,” Governor Hochul said.
It would also prohibit platforms from sending notifications related to these feeds between the ages of midnight and 6am without parental consent.
Read MoreLimiting Children’s Access to ‘Addictive Feeds’ in New York City
You’re running out of time to join the Startup Battlefield 200, our curated showcase of top startups from around the world and across multiple industries.
This elite cohort — 200 companies strong — absolutely owns (and slays) the exhibition floor at TechCrunch Disrupt.
Tomorrow is the last day to apply to Startup Battlefield 200We’re accepting applications from early-stage startups until tomorrow, June 10 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.
A shot at $100,000: TechCrunch editors will select 20 startups from the SB 200 to be Startup Battlefield finalists.
Apply to the Startup Battlefield 200 right now.
Read MoreDeadline Approaching: Last Chance to Submit Applications for Startup Battlefield 200!
Dogs are the most popular pet in the U.S.: 65.1 million households have one, according to the American Pet Products Association.
Sonya Petcavich, the founder of cat-sitting app Meowtel, thinks that cats, and cat people, deserve more.
“Rover had been around for a few years, and Wag was picking up steam, but they were so dog focused.
Meowtel has made it to this point raising just under $1 million in venture capital.
ImpriMed, a dog oncology startup, raised $23 million in November, and Fi, a smart dog collar, has raised more than $40 million in venture capital.
Read More“Meowtel: The Feline-Focused Enterprise That Pounced Through Financial Challenges and Achieved Profitability”
