Author: AI News First

Welcome to TechCrunch’s regular AI newsletter! We’re going on hiatus for a bit, but you can find all our AI coverage, including my columns, our daily analysis, and breaking news stories, at TechCrunch. If you want those stories and much more in your inbox every day, sign up for our daily newsletters here. This week, billionaire Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI, released its latest flagship AI model, Grok 3, which powers the company’s Grok chatbot apps. Trained on around 200,000 GPUs, the model beats a number of other leading models, including from OpenAI, on benchmarks for mathematics, programming, and more. But…

Get ready to streamline your PMP preparation! Join us for an exclusive webinar designed to guide you through a proven, step-by-step roadmap to achieve PMP certification in just 90 days. Whether you’re a working professional balancing a busy schedule or someone preparing for your next career milestone, this webinar is tailored for you! During this comprehensive session, Bryan Campbell, an esteemed project management expert, will share actionable insights to help you: Develop a clear, achievable 90-day study plan. Leverage essential resources like books, online courses, and practice tools. Balance your study schedule with work commitments effectively. Gain insider tips to…

Chemonics spokesperson Payal Chandiramani says USAID has indicated that Fews Net should qualify for a waiver, and it is working with the agency to determine how it should apply. USAID and the US State Department did not respond to requests for comment.From the beginning, Fews Net was notable for the sheer range of variables that it factored into its analyses. In addition to looking at more obvious signals—such as drought levels and current grain supplies in different countries—it also examined tertiary causes. “Like locusts,” says historian Christian Ruth, whose forthcoming book on the history of USAID will be published later…

Investors on the lookout for startups working at the frontiers of technology are casting their nets ever further into unchartered territory, sometimes literally as well as figuratively. In one of the latest examples, a startup called Karman+ with ambitions to build autonomous spacecraft that can travel to asteroids and then mine them for materials has now raised $20 million in a seed round that it will be using to get itself to its next stage of hardware and software development.  Karman+’s initial target is very out-there. It aims to build a vessel that can travel to asteroids potentially millions of…

Dreading your next performance appraisal? Are you wondering how to highlight your achievements or handle unexpected feedback without feeling defensive? Performance reviews can be stressful, but they’re also a golden opportunity to showcase your contributions, set career goals, and take control of your professional growth. This webinar will teach you proven strategies for preparing, communicating effectively, and turning feedback into actionable career progress. Whether facing your first review or looking to refine your approach, this session will help you make the most of it. Meet the Speaker With over 30 years of leadership excellence across the Indian Armed Forces and…

On the final day of my visit to Japan, I’m alone and floating in some skyscraper’s rooftop hot springs, praying no one joins me. For the last few months, I’ve been using ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode as an AI language tutor, part of a test to judge generative AI’s potential as both a learning tool and a travel companion. The excessive talking to both strangers and a chatbot on my phone was illuminating as well as exhausting. I’m ready to shut my yapper for a minute and enjoy the silence.When OpenAI launched ChatGPT late in 2022, it set off a…

The demand for voice and speech recognition technologies is massive — and growing. An analysis by market research firm Markets and Markets found that the sector could be worth over $28.1 billion by 2027. There’s no shortage of vendors providing voice and speech recognition solutions, but some newer upstarts have managed to carve out niches. Sanas is a good example. Founded in 2020, the company develops software that uses AI to adjust a speaker’s accent in real-time. “At Sanas, we believe that while technology is transforming the industry, it shouldn’t replace human connection, but rather, enhance it,” Sharath Keshava Narayana,…

AI is evolving faster than ever, but not everything you hear is as groundbreaking as it seems. That’s why I’m here—to help you separate what’s real from what’s just hype when it comes to DeepSeek AI and the future of artificial intelligence. In this live session, I’ll take you behind the scenes of DeepSeek AI, showing you what it can actually do, where it stands in today’s AI ecosystem, and what it means for the future of tech and business. Why You Should Attend This Session Get Clarity, Not Clickbait – I’ll break down what DeepSeek AI truly offers and…

Apple has launched a new iPhone, but what was expected to be a new iPhone SE announcement this morning has turned into a completely new product line: the iPhone 16e. This isn’t exactly a follow-up to the iPhone SE from three years ago, though it officially replaces it. Also gone is the iPhone 14, meaning Apple’s iPhone lineup now consists of the iPhone 16e, iPhone 15, and iPhone 16 series. Apple announced the new device online without much fanfare.The iPhone 16e is available for preorder starting on February 21 for $599, which effectively eliminates the option of a sub-$500 iPhone.…

A couple of weeks after the initial release of Mistral’s AI assistant, Le Chat, the company told Le Parisien that it has reached one million downloads. In particular, Le Chat quickly reached the top spot for free downloads on the iOS App Store in the company’s home country, France. “Go and download Le Chat, which is made by Mistral, rather than ChatGPT by OpenAI — or something else,” French president Emmanuel Macron said in a TV interview ahead of the recent AI Action Summit in Paris. Of course, this isn’t the first AI app that has taken off. Back in…