Microsoft Designer, Microsoft’s AI-powered design tool, today launched in public preview with an expanded set of features. Announced in October, Designer is a Canva-like web app that can generate designs for presentations, posters, digital postcards, invitations, graphics and more to share on social media and other channels. It leverages user-created content and DALL-E 2, OpenAI’s…
Meta announced today that it will be phasing out onboarding of new Shops without checkout on Facebook and Instagram enabled. Beginning June 5, onboarding of new shops via Commerce Manager and Shopify will only be with checkout on Facebook and Instagram enabled. By August 10, onboarding of new shops via all other partners will only…
Kakao Pay, the online payment service of South Korean messaging and internet giant Kakao, announced that it has acquired a stake in Siebert Financial, a brokerage firm based in New York. Kakao spent $17 million on this transaction and the company now owns a 19.9% stake in Siebert. This is just the first step as…
Meta shared some updated engagement info around its platforms on its Q1 2023 quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, with Meta CFO Susan Li joining CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg to field questions from analysts about its results. Zuckerberg shared that time spent on Instagram has grown more than 24% since the company launched Reels on…
AI is very much a work in progress, and we should all be wary of its potential for confidently spouting misinformation. But it seems to be more likely to do so in some languages than others. Why is that? The question comes in the wake of a report by NewsGuard, a misinformation watchdog, that shows…
TikTok is experimenting with a new tool that allows users to create generative AI avatars, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The new tool was first spotted by social media consultant Matt Navarra. The tool isn’t broadly available, and is currently being tested in a few select markets, the company said. With this test product, TikTok…
Smile Identity, a KYC compliance and ID verification partner for many African fintechs and businesses, has acquired Inclusive Innovations, the parent company of Appruve, a Ghanaian developer of identity verification software. In a statement shared with TechCrunch, Smile Identity said it is “actively fulfilling regulatory requirements to finalize the transaction for the [Inclusive Innovation] affiliated…
Hyundai Motor Group and General Motors announced separately Tuesday plans to build electric vehicle battery plants in the U.S. in partnership with South Korean battery manufacturing firms. Hyundai will set up a $5 billion battery cell production joint venture in the U.S. with SK On, the company that is also working with Ford to set…
Apple is developing an AI-powered health coaching service codenamed Quartz, according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The tech giant is reportedly also working on technology for tracking emotions, and plans to roll out an iPad version of the iPhone health app this year. The AI-powered health coaching service is designed to help…
Anthemis Group is undergoing a restructuring that resulted in its letting go of 16 employees, or about 28% of its employees, earlier this year, the fintech-focused venture firm has confirmed to TechCrunch. A spokesperson for London-based Anthemis said the move was an effort “to better reflect current market conditions and to set up the business…
