Social media company Snap said Tuesday that it plans to add watermarks to AI-generated images on its platform.
Other tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta, and Google have also taken steps to label or identify images created with AI-powered tools.
Currently, Snap allows users to create or edit AI-generated images with Snap AI for paid users and a selfie-focused feature called Dreams.
The company also added context cards with AI-generated images from tools like Dream selfies to better inform the user.
In February, Snap partnered with HackerOne to stress its AI image-generation tools by adapting a bug bounty program.
Apart from testing Meta AI chatbot with users in countries like India on WhatsApp, the company is also experimenting with putting Meta AI in the Instagram search bar for both chat with AI and content discovery.
The search query in the search bar leads you to a conversation in DM with Meta AI, where you can ask questions or use one of the pre-loaded prompts.
Separately, a few users TechCrunch talked to were able to ask Meta AI to search for Reels suggestions.
Meta confirmed its Meta AI experiment on Instagram with TechCrunch.
You can find a ton of posts about the quality of Instagram search.
On Wednesday, the tech giant announced that a handful of enhanced editing features previously limited to Pixel devices and paid subscribers — including its AI-powered Magic Editor — will now make their way to all Google Photos users for free.
But with the growing number of AI-powered editing tools flooding the market, Google has decided to make its set of AI photo editing features available to more people for free.
Previously, these kinds of edits would require Magic Eraser and other professional editing tools, like Photoshop, to get the same effect.
With the expansion, Magic Editor will come to all Pixel devices, while iOS and Android users (whose phones meet the requirements) will get 10 Magic Editor saves per month.
The other tools will be available to all Google Photos users, no Google One subscription is required.
Spotify is building on its AI DJ feature, adding a new AI-powered playlist feature.
Spotify’s AI work nests into its other efforts to differentiate its service from rivals like Apple Music and offerings from Amazon.
Starting in just a few countries, the new AI playlist feature will roll out to more markets over time.
Some Spotify users have complained that the rollout of new products can take longer than they want to reach their home market, it’s worth noting.
But for those of us who aren’t mega-ChatGPT users, AI can seem ever so slightly remote from our regular existence.
EBay on Tuesday launched a new generative AI-powered feature to appeal to fashion enthusiasts: a “shop the look” section within its iOS mobile app that will suggest a carousel of images and ideas, based on the customer’s shopping history.
The idea is to introduce how other fashion items may complement their current wardrobe.
“Shop the look” will appear to any eBay shopper who has viewed at least 10 fashion items over the past 180 days, the company notes.
Google last summer introduced a way for consumers to virtually try on clothes using a new AI shopping feature, for example.
“Shop the look” will initially be available on iOS in the U.S. and U.K., with support for Android coming later this year.
And he would: He’s the co-founder of Read AI, which summarizes video calls across platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.
Shim, previously the CEO of Foursquare, co-founded Read AI with Rob Williams and Elliott Waldron in 2021.
Prior to Read AI, the trio worked together at Foursquare, Snapchat and Shim’s previous startup, Placed (which Foursquare acquired in 2019).
“What makes Read unique is that its AI agents work quietly in the background, enabling your meetings, emails and messages to interact with each other,” Shim said, adding that the average summary from Read AI condenses 50 emails across 10 recipients into a single summary.
“This acceleration in growth can directly be attributed to the quantifiable return users see in terms of time savings when using Read AI in their meetings.”
Yahoo is acquiring Artifact, the AI-powered news app from Instagram’s co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the company announced on Tuesday.
Artifact will no longer operate as a standalone app, and its proprietary AI-powered personalization technology will be integrated across Yahoo, including the Yahoo News app in the coming months.
Although Artifact started off as a simple news app, the end result seemed more like a Twitter replacement.
Artifact’s technology surfaces content users want to see and becomes more attuned to their interests over time.
As a result, users receive a personalized feed of news stories that they want to read.
Hiring portal Indeed has redesigned the profile page for users, allowing individuals to use an AI-powered writer to fill up work experience and also added support for multiple resumes.
The company has also launched a set of smart sourcing suites for recruiters with features like AI-powered candidate summaries and custom messages.
The new AI-powered work experience writer helps people form better descriptions of different projects.
The job seeking portal already had a toggle to make a user’s profile visible to recruiters.
Indeed is also adding AI-powered smart messaging and automated interview scheduling.
Google announced today that it will soon roll out on-device AI-powered features such as recording summaries and smart replies on the Pixel 8.
These features will be based on Gemini Nano, a small-sized model Google released last year, primed to run on devices.
The company announced these features last October during the Pixel 8 launch.
In January, Google introduced “Circle to Search” for select Pixel and Samsung Devices.
The company announced this week that more Pixel and Sasmung phones along with select tablets will get Circle to Search feature.
StealthMole, an AI-powered dark web intelligence startup that specializes in monitoring cyber threats and detecting cybercrime, announced Thursday that it has raised a $7 million Series A funding round.
The startup serves over 50 clients across 17 countries in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
One differentiator from its competitors in the cybersecurity industry is its unique expertise in Asia-related threats, Kevin Yoo, chief operating officer (COO) at StealthMole, told TechCrunch.
“The high demand for Asia-oriented threat information underscores the uniqueness and value of our dataset for customers worldwide, within and beyond Asia,” Yoo said.
Korea Investment Partners led the Series A round with participation from Hibiscus Fund (a joint venture between RHL Ventures, Penjana Kapital and KB Investment) and Smilegate Investment.
