Deepgram’s Aura gives AI agents a voice

March 12, 2024

Deepgram has made a name for itself as one of the go-to startups for voice recognition. Today, the well-funded company announced the launch of Aura, its new real-time text-to-speech API. Aura combines highly realistic voice models with a low-latency API to allow developers to build real-time, conversational AI agents. Backed by large language models (LLMs), […]

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Polar Signals wants to help companies cut cloud costs with more efficient code

March 12, 2024

A young startup is setting out to help enterprises cut their cloud costs by writing “more efficient” code — and it has secured $6.8 million in fresh funding from notable backers including Alphabet’s GV, Spark Capital, and Lightspeed. Polar Signals, as the company is called, kicked off its seed round back in 2021 with $4 […]

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Bluesky scoops up the developer of popular third-party app, Graysky

March 12, 2024

Decentralized Twitter/X rival Bluesky is adding to its ranks by scooping up a member of its developer community. London-based software engineer Samuel Newman, who built the well-received third-party Bluesky client, Graysky, is joining the startup, where he will now help develop Bluesky’s official app along with the rest of the frontend team. Given his change […]

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Apple to allow web distribution for iOS apps in latest DMA tweaks

March 12, 2024

Apple will allow iOS developers located in the European Union to distribute apps from the web, rather via its App Store. The option, which it says will be made available to qualifying developers “later this Spring”, is being offered in response to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) which puts obligations on how Apple can […]

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Empathy closes $47M for AI to help with the practical and emotional bereavement process

March 12, 2024

Death, as the famous saying goes, is one of the inevitable certainties of life. But that doesn’t make coping with it any easier — not least because while loved ones are grieving, they must also handle a dizzying number of practical tasks, from organizing funerals through to settling finances for the deceased. A startup called […]

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The Download: hacking VR headsets, and contrails to cool the planet

March 12, 2024
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 VR headsets can be hacked with an Inception-style attack In the Christoper Nolan movie Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character uses technology to enter his targets’ dreams to steal information and insert false details into…