‘Intentions’ badges also launched, as dating app sector sees drops in share prices and moves to diversify “In the end it was the data that killed me,” says Penny* about her decision to leave the dating app Bumble. If she opened the app she might receive 100 likes, 25% of which she might be interested in. She would look at their profiles and write individualised messages; a few would respond, perhaps one would result in a date.“That’s a lot of effort to get one date,” she says. “It’s exhausting.” Continue reading...
Victoria Shi is modelled on Rosalie Nombre, a singer and former contestant on Ukraine’s version of the reality show The BachelorUkraine on Wednesday presented an AI-generated spokesperson called Victoria who will make official statements on behalf of its foreign ministry.The ministry said it would “for the first time in history” use a digital spokesperson to read its statements, which will still be written by humans. Continue reading...
Researchers and Silicon Valley are using tools powered by AI to read what had long been thought unreadableMore than 2,000 years after Plato died, the towering figure of classical antiquity and founder of the Academy, regarded by many as the first university in the west, can still make front-page news.Researchers this week claimed to have found the final resting place of the Greek philosopher, a patch in the garden of his Athens Academy, after scanning an ancient papyrus scroll recovered from the library of a Herculaneum villa that was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79. Continue reading...
iPhone sales fell 10% compared with the same time period last year, but the company still beat Wall Street’s expectationsApple released its earnings report on Thursday, revealing a drop in overall revenue fueled by slackening iPhone sales.Earnings exceeded market expectations, however, and Apple’s shares rose in after-hours trading. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in a statement released before the call that “Apple is reporting revenue of $90.8bn for the March quarter, including an all-time revenue record in services”. Continue reading...
Andy Jassy said employees in a union would ‘find it harder to get things done quickly and would be better off’ without oneA federal administrative law judge ruled that the the Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy, violated labor law by making certain anti-union comments during media interviews two years ago.Jassy said in 2022 that unions make workplaces “much slower” and “more bureaucratic”. Continue reading...
Company says it is aware of issue as users complain alarms are playing too quietly or not going offApple is working to fix a problem that has resulted in some users complaining that their iPhone alarms are not going off – or playing too quietly.The company said it was aware of the issue, which has been picked up by TikTok users, who have complained about incidents where their alarm has failed to sound. Continue reading...
Challenger to market leader OpenAI says it wants to ‘meet users where they are’ and become part of users’ everyday lifeOpenAI’s ChatGPT is facing serious competition, as the company’s rival Anthropic brings its Claude chatbot to iPhones. Anthropic, led by a group of former OpenAI staff who quit over differences with chief executive Sam Altman, have a product that already beats ChatGPT on some measures of intelligence, and now wants to win over everyday users.“In today’s world, smartphones are at the centre of how people interact with technology. To make Claude a true AI assistant, it’s crucial that we meet users where they are – and in many cases, that’s on their mobile devices,” said Scott White at Anthropic. Continue reading...
Revenue at Amazon Web Services increases to $25bn as retail giant releases earnings report surpassing Wall Street expectationsAmazon profits soared once again in the first quarter of 2024, the company announced on Tuesday – the latest in a series of robust earnings reports for the retail giant. The company attributed the boost to artificial intelligence and advertising sales.Amazon reported overall revenue of $143.3bn in the first three months of the year – up 13% from the same period in 2023 and surpassing Wall Street expectations of $142.65bn. The e-commerce giant reported an increase of more than 200% to $15bn, with net income more than tripling to $10.4bn from $3.17bn at the same time in 2023. Continue reading...