OpenAI’s Operator agent helped me move, but I had to help it, too

February 4, 2025

OpenAI gave me one week to test its new AI agent, Operator, a system that can independently do tasks for you on the internet. Operator is the closest thing I’ve seen to the tech industry’s vision of AI agents — systems that can automate the boring parts of life, freeing us up to do the […]

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Sotira lands $2M to help brands offload and monetize their surplus inventory

February 4, 2025

An estimated 20% to 30% of all inventory in the U.S. is surplus, with much of it ending up in landfills. A startup called Sotira wants to help address this problem: It leverages AI to help companies offload and monetize their surplus inventory. Sotira partners with brands to offload millions of pounds of surplus grocery, […]

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Snap unveils AI text-to-image model for mobile devices

February 4, 2025

Snap has unveiled an AI text-to-image model for mobile devices that will power some of Snapchat’s features in the coming months. The company said on Tuesday that the model can produce high-resolution images in around 1.4 seconds on an iPhone 16 Pro Max.  The new diffusion model runs entirely on the device, which reduces computational […]

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Team behind Twitterrific launches a multi-feed app called Tapestry

February 4, 2025

After Elon Musk took over Twitter, the company blocked third-party clients in 2023, including ones like Twitterrific, Tweetbot, and Fenix. Iconfactory, the company behind Twitterrifc, finally launched its multi-feed app called Tapestry on Tuesday, which allows you to add sources like RSS, YouTube, Bluesky, Podcasts, Mastodon, Reddit, Tumblr, Micro.blog, GO Comics, and more to unified […]

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LinkedIn amps up vertical video tools as uploads jump 36%

February 4, 2025

Video reigns supreme on social media like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. And now, video is becoming a bigger business for LinkedIn.  The Microsoft-owned social network for the working world has yet to go full TikTok. But with a big boost of usage — today it said that video uploads jumped by 36% compared to last […]

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Walkstar is a new iOS app that pauses songs when you stop moving

February 4, 2025

There are plenty of pedometer and step counter apps in the world, but this new app has a fun twist. Walkstar, which launched Tuesday in the App Store, enhances your workout by syncing your tunes with your movement. The moment you pause, the music fades away, making it a perfect motivator for those looking to […]

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Canada’s StackAdapt snaps up $235M for its AI-based programmatic platform

February 4, 2025

While the U.S. and Canada duke it out over tariffs between the two countries, a tech company based out of Toronto is announcing a major round of funding led by a homegrown VC. StackAdapt, a programmatic advertising startup, says that it has raised $235 million in equity funding, with Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) — the […]

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The Download: understanding deep matter, and AI jailbreak protection

February 4, 2025
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How the Rubin Observatory will help us understand dark matter and dark energy We can put a good figure on how much we know about the universe: 5%. That’s how much of what’s…