Tech Meme

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg: Some video podcasts are using AI-generated product placements from a company called Rembrand to supplement their typical host-read ads  —  A startup backed by United Talent Agency and L’Oreal is aiming to give podcasters a new line of revenue  —  Hello and welcome back to Soundbite. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: A look at the reasons why Artifact failed, including not growing its user base outside the US and user confusion about its ever-growing set of features  —  Last week, Artifact, a buzzy news app from Instagram’s co-founders, announced it was shutting down after failing to gain critical mass … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Rocky Swift / Reuters: AWS says it plans to invest $15.24B in Japan by 2027 to expand facilities in the metropolises of Tokyo and Osaka to meet growing customer demand  —  Amazon Web Services (AWS) said on Friday it plans to invest 2.26 trillion yen ($15.24 billion) in Japan by 2027 to expand its cloud computing infrastructure. Lees verder op Tech Meme

TechCrunch: Analysis: the total number of US startups with a $1B+ valuation grew 14x from 39 in 2013 to 532 in 2023, 78% today are B2B, 93% are privately valued, and more  —  Aileen Lee is the founder of Cowboy Ventures.  She partners at the earliest stages with enterprise and consumer-oriented startup teams … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Taylor Soper / GeekWire: Bellevue, WA-based Oleria, which helps companies manage employee access to applications and data, raised a $33.1M Series A led by Evolution Equity Partners  —  GeekWire’s in-depth startup coverage tells the stories of the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Julian Nabil / Forbes Middle East: Dubai-based online business travel service Tumodo raised a $35M pre-seed co-led by MENA-focused angel investors and plans to expand to 25 more countries by 2026  —  The UAE’s online business travel platform Tumodo raised $35 million in a pre-seed round, co-led by MENA-focused angel investors. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Jessica Hagen / MobiHealthNews: Forta, which combines AI and a training course for parents to offer personalized therapy for autistic children, raised a $55M Series A led by Insight Partners  —  The company will use the funds to grow its autism therapy practice, continue AI and LLM research, and develop clinical algorithms. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Ryan Broderick / Fast Company: Former and current Twitch employees describe how Twitch never understood what its users wanted, failed to go mainstream, alienated its top creators, and more  —  Four years after Twitch took over the livestreaming world, its future is more uncertain than ever. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Emilia David / The Verge: TikTok is testing AI Song, a tool powered by the LLM Bloom that generates songs from text prompts and allows users to toggle the song’s genre  —  TikTok has launched many songs that have gone viral over the years, but now it’s testing a feature that lets more people exercise their songwriting skills… with some help from AI. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Wall Street Journal: Sources: the European Union’s competition watchdog intends to block Amazon’s $1.7B bid to purchase iRobot; IRBT drops ~40% after hours  —  European Union’s competition watchdog is weighing the tech giant’s $1.7 billion bid to purchase Roomba maker iRobot  —  The European Union’s competition … Lees verder op Tech Meme