Author: Anderson Sawyer
Snapchat is introducing its first-ever video generative AI Lenses, the company told TechCrunch exclusively. The Lenses are powered by Snap’s in-house-built generative video model. The three new AI Video Lenses are available to users on the app’s premium subscription tier, Snapchat Platinum, which costs $15.99 per month. The launch comes as Snap unveiled an AI video-generation tool at its Partner Summit last September. A spokesperson for Snap said the new AI Video Lenses leverage later versions of this underlying technology. Snap has been seen as a leader in AR, but has also been investing in AI over the past few years…
Spotify on Tuesday released its annual Loud & Clear report, detailing information about the music streaming service’s royalty payments. While Spotify revealed earlier this year that it paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024, the new report offers more in-depth numbers about its payments in an effort to dispel reports that the company doesn’t reward artists properly for their work. For the first time ever, an artist who received one in every million streams on Spotify generated over $10,000 on average in 2024, which is 10x what the same streamshare would have generated a decade ago, the report…
Pocket Casts, the podcast app acquired by Automattic in 2021, is now making its web player free. The company says the move offers an alternative to the big platforms’ closed ecosystems, where algorithmic-driven content is prioritized and podcasts are kept behind paywalls. Podcasts were built on open technology — the open, decentralized standard RSS, which was designed to make online audio as well as other content, like news and blog posts — available to anyone on the web for free. Starting Tuesday, Pocket Casts will honor the open nature of podcasts by making its web player free to use. That…
On Tuesday, OpenAI released new tools designed to help developers and enterprises build AI agents — automated systems that can independently accomplish tasks — using the company’s own AI models and frameworks. The tools are part of OpenAI’s new Responses API, which lets businesses develop custom AI agents that can perform web searches, scan through company files, and navigate websites, much like OpenAI’s Operator product. The Responses API effectively replaces OpenAI’s Assistants API, which the company plans to sunset in the first half of 2026. The hype around AI agents has grown dramatically in recent years despite the fact that…
TikTok announced on Tuesday that it’s rolling out new features to protect teens on its app. The social network is giving parents the ability to block their teen from using TikTok during certain hours and see their teen’s following and followers lists through new Family Pairing features. TikTok is also going to encourage young users to put their phones away at night and go to sleep. With the new “Time Away” feature, parents can block their teens from accessing TikTok during times that they control. For instance, they can choose to block access during family time, school, at night, or…
Bluesky now allows videos that are up to 3 minutes long, the decentralized social network announced on Monday. The platform launched support for video back in September with a 60-second time limit. With the new expanded time limit, Bluesky is bringing its user experience more in line with its competitors, X (formerly Twitter) and Meta’s Threads. X allows nonpaying users to upload videos up to two minutes and 20 second in length, while Threads lets users videos up to five minutes long. The change is also welcome news for all of the apps working to become the “TikTok for Bluesky,”…
Surf, the new app from Flipboard for browsing the open social web, is expanding its support for Bluesky’s social network. On Monday, the company announced a new version of its beta software (dubbed “Blue Wave”) which allows users to log into the app using their Bluesky credentials and then see all their Bluesky feeds in Surf, including their following feed, discover feed, and any of the custom feeds they’ve pinned in the Bluesky app. The new integration will also allow users to access other Bluesky sources when building their own custom feeds — like Bluesky’s Starter Packs, which are lists…
TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the U.S. for four years now due to concerns about user data potentially being accessed by the Chinese government. Just this past month, the app experienced a temporary outage in the U.S. that left millions of users in suspense before it was quickly restored. TikTok returned to the App Store and Google Play Store last month. Nonetheless, TikTok’s future remains uncertain, and a number of investors are competing for the opportunity to purchase the app. The platform’s U.S. business could have its valuation soar to…
From October 27-29, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 will bring together over 10,000 startup pioneers, VC leaders, and tech enthusiasts at Moscone West in San Francisco — the epicenter of innovation set to reshape the future of technology. What’s in it for your startup? A golden opportunity to put your innovation in front of an eager audience for all three days. The process is easy — simply visit this exhibit page and reserve your booth today! Why exhibiting at Disrupt 2025 is a game-changer Expand your reach: Showcase your innovative solutions in the bustling Disrupt Expo Hall for three full days, with…
Manus, an “agentic” AI platform that launched in preview last week, is generating more hype than a Taylor Swift concert. The head of product at Hugging Face called Manus “the most impressive AI tool I’ve ever tried.” AI policy researcher Dean Ball described Manus as the “most sophisticated computer using AI.” The official Discord server for Manus grew to over 138,000 members in just a few days, and invite codes for Manus are reportedly selling for thousands of dollars on Chinese reseller app Xianyu. But it’s not clear the hype is justified. excellent https://t.co/TfeV9QZ1d0 — jack (@jack) March 9, 2025…