Meta apps experience global outage
Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads on Wednesday were all experiencing issues to varying degrees as a result of a global outage affecting Meta’s apps. The cause of the outage was not disclosed, but Meta acknowledged a “technical issue” in a post on X.
The compan
Apple brings ‘Layered Recordings’ to Voice Memos app in iOS 18.2 update
Alongside the release of a host of new AI features, Apple is also updating the Voice Memos app in iOS 18.2. On Wednesday, the iPhone maker announced that iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max users will be able to layer a vocal track on top of an existing instrumental recording in the Voice Memos app, without
How Apple Intelligence changes the way you use Siri on your iPhone
Following years of talk around Apple's lack of innovation when it comes to Siri, Apple promised the launch of a smarter version of its digital assistant. Siri is getting new features and updates with iOS 18 thanks to the addition of Apple Intelligence, the company's generative AI offering,
This Week in AI: Seeking balance in the deluge of news
Hiya, folks, welcome to technewss's regular AI newsletter. If you want this in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.
Longtime readers of the newsletter might’ve noticed that we skipped a week last week. That wasn’t our intent, and we do apologize.
The re
Founder who built Snap’s AI launches a snappy new take on video chatbots
A deep learning scientist whose last startup was acquired by Snap to build its My AI chatbot has raised seed funding for his latest venture: a platform for building and operating real-time, video-based conversational AI agents.
eSelf, as the startup is known, is today coming out of stealth w
Here’s how OpenAI uses your data when you use ChatGPT through Apple's integrations
Following Apple's integration of OpenAI's ChatGPT within iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, OpenAI has detailed how your data is handled when you use ChatGPT through Apple's integration.
You can use ChatGPT through Apple's integrations without logging into a ChatGPT account, b
Stigg makes it easy to change your SaaS pricing
Stigg (not The Stig, just Stigg) describes itself as “the first scalable monetization platform for the modern billing stack.” There’s a lot going on in that sentence, but what it comes down to is that the startup, which on Wednesday announced a $17.5 million Series A round, helps
Russian government spies targeted Ukraine using tools developed by cybercriminals
A Russian-government backed hacking group targeted Ukraine's military using tools and infrastructure developed by cybercriminals, according to new research.
On Wednesday, Microsoft published a report detailing a hacking campaign carried out by a group it calls Secret Blizzard, which the U.S. C
MariaDB spinout SkySQL secures seed funding to ‘bring conversational AI to databases’
Anyone who’s followed the fortunes of MySQL and MariaDB these past 15 years will probably remember SkySQL, another brand that once existed within that same database ecosystem and, a year ago, became a stand-alone company once more.
That company today announced it has raised its first outside
Linux Foundation sets up India entity to boost open source collaboration
The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization promoting open source adoption, has announced the launch of its India entity. The organization is looking to promote open source contributions across the South Asian nation’s ecosystem of enterprises, startups, and the government.
India alread
Video app Kino, from the maker of Halide, is Apple’s iPhone app of the year
ChatGPT may currently be the No. 1 app on the iPhone App Store in the U.S., but it’s not Apple’s iPhone app of the year. That honor goes to a newer app for videographers called Kino. Launched this spring from Lux, the company behind the professional photography app Halide, Kino advances
Krispy Kreme discloses cyberattack that is disrupting online orders
International doughnut chain Krispy Kreme disclosed a security incident on Wednesday, which the company said has caused “certain operational disruptions, including with online ordering in parts of the United States.”
Krispy Kreme disclosed the cyberattack in an 8-K filing with the SEC. The co
200 VCs wanted to get into Lumen Orbit’s $11M seed round
Lumen Orbit, a startup looking to build data centers in space, was able to close its recent seed round in mere days amid intense investor interest.
The Redmond, Washington-based company closed on an $11 million seed round at a $40 million valuation, confirming prior technewss reporting that the c
Snapchat users can now keep messages in a chat for a week
Snapchat is rolling out a few new features for users and Snapchat+ subscribers for the holiday season, the company announced on Wednesday. The features include expanded chat options, new app themes, and more.
Snapchat users now have the option to save their conversations for seven days instead of