India has waded into global AI debate by issuing an advisory that requires tech firms to get government permission before launching new models.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT issued the advisory to firms on Friday.
It seeks compliance with “immediate effect” and asks tech firms to submit “Action Taken-cum-Status Report” to the ministry within 15 days.
The new advisory, which also asks tech firms to “appropriately” label the “possible and inherent fallibility or unreliability” of the output their AI models generate, marks a reversal from India’s previous hands-off approach to AI regulation.
Less than a year ago, the ministry had declined to regulate AI growth, instead identifying the sector as vital to India’s strategic interests.
MyHeritage announced today that it’s launching OldNews.com, a new website that offers access to thousands of historical newspapers, mainly from the 1800s and 1900s.
The website allows genealogists, educators, researchers, and history enthusiasts to search for articles about people and events throughout history.
At launch, the website includes newspapers from publications across the U.S., Canada, U.K., Austria, the Netherlands, and Australia.
“Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information and provide an unparalleled level of detail about the past,” said MyHeritage CEO and founder Gilad Japhet in a press release.
“We are launching OldNews.com to serve as our focal point for historical newspapers, with a robust content offering.
After adding 15 hours of free audiobooks listening to its subscription plan late last year, Spotify today is introducing a $9.99 per month option that will allow its free users to also access its audiobooks collection.
With the addition, free Spotify users will able to continue to stream music and podcasts via its ad-supported service, but pay to listen to audiobooks without having to buy a Spotify subscription.
However, the move could allow Spotify to upsell audiobooks to customers who aren’t as interested in its music service, or who regularly use another app for that.
15 hours is fairly generous, as it often encompasses more listening time than one audiobook alone, if not two shorter books.
The company today also offered an update on the interest that free users have for audiobooks, noting that since launching audiobooks for its Premium subscribers, it’s seen a 45% increase in free users searching for and interacting with audiobook content each day.
It will be second after the space agency’s existing Satish Dhawan Space Centre, founded in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota in 1971, with two launch pads.
The spaceport will be dedicated to launching smaller launch vehicles and will be ready in about two years, ISRO chairman S Somanath said on the sidelines of the event in Tamil Nadu.
Spread over 2,350 acres, the Kulasekharapatnam spaceport will help save fuel for small rocket launches as the port can launch rockets directly south over the Indian Ocean without requiring crossing landmasses.
“This facility will play an instrumental role in accommodating the increasing launch frequency of both ISRO and the growing private space industry in the coming years.
Bhatt, director general of the Indian Space Association.
The new update has a scan feature, which lets users scan a physical document and import the text to listen to it later.
The company is introducing a feature to let users read their emails by integrating their Gmail accounts.
The app can also help users import their PDF attachments into the Speechify app.
For instance, read later app Pocket, which is owned by Mozilla, has an in-app text-to-speech feature.
Speechify wants to stand out in this market and wants to become a one-stop shop for anyone thinking about reading experiences by offering all kinds of integrations.
Email startup Superhuman is launching an AI-powered instant replies feature today with the company looking to double down in AI-fueled functionality this year.
Instant replies are one more feature to quickly get emails out of your way.
You can think of Instant replies as equivalent to Gmail’s smart replies, but Superhuman said its feature is more contextual and personal.
The company said that users who were part of the beta test of instant replies are sending emails twice as fast.
Last year, it launched Superhuman AI, which helps users draft better emails with options to change the length or tone.
Dubai-based early-stage venture capital firm COTU Ventures is announcing that it has raised $54 million for its inaugural fund to support startups in the Middle East from pre-seed to seed stages.
Founder and general partner Amir Farha revealed in an interview with TechCrunch that COTU Ventures is inclined slightly towards fintech and B2B software.
Noteworthy investments by COTU Ventures include Huspy, a UAE mortgage platform backed by Peak XV and Founders Fund, and Egyptian fintech startup MoneyHash.
While at Beco Capital, Farha and his partner returned the first fund following Uber’s acquisition of Careem.
By fostering such open dialogue, COTU Ventures aims to establish trust and strong connections with founders, enabling informed investment decisions.
Admittedly Apple iWatch uses have had it since October last year, but as of today at Mobile World Congress, the Doublepoint startup has launched the updated version of its popular WowMouse gesture-touch control app for Android smartwatches.
Launched at CES in January, the free app now supports Google’s Pixel Watch 2, having already garnered around 30,000 downloads by Samsung Galaxy users since CES, according to the company.
As with the iWatch gestures, the WowMouse app creates a sort of ‘wrist-based’ mouse, using taps fed via Bluetooth to the watch to allow users to control headsets, phones, tablets, computers and other devices.
On his stand at the Four Years From Now section of MWC, founder Ohto Pentikäinen told me: “Gestures are a big theme nowadays, with Apple Vision Pro coming out.
We see people doing these pinches all over the streets nowadays!
BLKFAM considers its platform the first and only Black-owned and Black-focused family streaming service.
The company’s goal is to serve Black audiences who often feel misrepresented/underrepresented in mainstream media even though it’s the demographic that watches the most TV.
According to Nielsen, Black audiences consume over 81 hours of media on a weekly basis.
BLKFAM aims to release content that “entertains, educates, and celebrates Black American family-friendly content,” the company wrote in its press release.
BLKFAM is now available on Amazon Prime Video Channels, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, YouTube TV, Samsung Smart TVs, Vizio, LG, and iOS and Android devices.
TikTok launches its ‘Add to Music app’ feature available in over 160 countriesTikTok announced today that it is launching its “Add to Music app” feature, which lets users add a song playing on a clip to services like Apple Music and Spotify, in 163 new countries.
The function lets users add the song to Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Spotify depending on the availability in the region.
They can tap on the button and select the music service of their choice the first time.
Last year, ByteDance launched its music service TikTok Music in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, and Indonesia.
The company added it is is working on making the Add to Music App feature available to TikTok Music users soon.
