While the much-anticipated unveiling of the $1,799 Pixel Fold is generating headlines after yesterday’s Google I/O developer conference, the company made a slew of other announcements, including the $500 Pixel Tablet, the midrange Pixel 7A, AI functionality for Google Search and Android, an AI-powered editing feature for Google Photos, an improved Wear OS 4 (available later this year), and a redesigned Google Home app (available today). In addition, the company announced that its AI-powered chatbot Bard is now available to everyone, whether you were on the waitlist or not. We’ve compiled a helpful list of new products and features, along with links to reviews and related news. Continue reading Google Announces Wide Range of New Products, AI Features

Amazon has launched a new business-to-business program called Amazon Anywhere that lets makers of video games and mobile apps turn their platforms into e-retailers selling physical merchandise using Amazon’s back-end. “With Amazon Anywhere, you can now discover and buy physical products from Amazon stores without ever having to leave your game or app,” the company said, promising to enable “immersive shopping experiences” for virtual worlds, starting with Niantic’s new augmented reality pet game “Peridot.” Companies like Niantic can invite users to link their Amazon account to their apps to purchase merchandise like toys and apparel. Continue reading Amazon Anywhere B2B Platform Helps Creators Set Up Shop

For those worried about AI creep — the insidious influence of artificial intelligence over everything from school classwork to career aspirations — Princeton University undergrad Edward Tian has an app for that. Tian has received $3.5 million in funding for an invention called GPTZero, which analyzes text to identify the work of generative AI. The 10-person team claims the tool has a 99 percent accuracy rate for human text and can score at about 85 percent when it comes to text written by AI. The company is now talking to media leaders about partnerships for AI detection and analysis. Continue reading GPTZero Fights Online AI Disinformation, School Plagiarism

Meta Platforms is extending immersive experiences to brands. Facebook and Instagram Reels and Facebook Stories will soon have augmented reality brand messaging, Meta announced last week at the IAB NewFronts. Advertisers like Sephora, Tiffany & Co. and others will be able to use AR filters to market on Meta’s social platforms to reach Gen Z users. Meta is rolling out additional improvements, including third-party measurement partners for campaigns on Reels ads. Meta had previously made AR ads available in the Facebook and Instagram feeds and in Instagram Stories with what the company says is great success. Continue reading Meta Rolls Out AR Advertising for Facebook, Instagram Reels

Amazon is rolling out its Inspire shopping feed to all U.S. customers. The short-form video and photo feed, which has drawn comparisons to TikTok, lets customers explore products while shopping from content created by influencers and brands. After logging in to the Amazon Shopping app, the Inspire light bulb icon will connect users to a menu of more than 20 categories, from makeup and skin care to pets, gaming, travel, health and more. Users can vertically scroll the content feed and double-tap on the screen to create “likes” for the content displayed. Continue reading Amazon Expands Its Release of ‘Inspire’ Video Shopping App

Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing search engine has been drawing in excess of 100 million daily active users and logged half a billion chats. With OpenAI’s GPT-4 and DALL-E 2 models driving the action, it has also created over 200 million images since debuting in limited preview in February. Seeking to build on that momentum, Microsoft is adding new features and integrating Bing more tightly with its Edge browser. The company is also ditching its waitlist in a move to open preview. “We’re underway with the transformation of search,” CVP and consumer CMO Yusuf Mehdi said at a preview event last week. Continue reading Microsoft’s Next Generation of Bing AI Interacts with Images

TikTok’s new Pulse Premiere will allow publishers to sell ads alongside their posts and keep half the revenue, a move to engage institutional creators in addition to the influencers and app-savvy individuals that have been the video-sharing platform’s mainstay. An offshoot of TikTok’s Pulse program revenue-sharing plan, available for the top 4 percent of creators’ posts, Pulse Premiere permits ads against all posts from publishers including Condé Nast, NBCUniversal and Vox Media. Advertisers have embraced TikTok to reach Gen Z. Sensor Tower predicts the ByteDance-owned company will secure 2.5 percent of the domestic digital ad market in 2023. Continue reading TikTok Pulse Premiere Gives Publishers a 50 Percent Ad Cut

Image-sharing social platform Pinterest has named Amazon as its first third-party ad partner. The multiyear strategic partnership will see the e-commerce giant marketing various brands and products on Pinterest and porting interested shoppers back to its site to complete the sale for “a seamless on-Amazon buying experience.” The integration will begin later this year and roll out over several quarters. The news was timed to Pinterest’s Q1 results, which saw revenue up by 5 percent year-over-year to $603 million. The number of global monthly active users also increased, by 7 percent to 463 million, a gain of 13 million. Continue reading Pinterest Sets Multiyear Deal with Amazon for Third-Party Ads

YouTube is branding itself to advertisers as the “home of Gen Z.” At the streaming platform’s NewFronts event at parent Google’s Pier 57 complex in lower Manhattan, the message was plastered across numerous signs and in videos. The company had creator Jon Youshaei, a former Instagram product marketer, deliver a presentation entitled “What Matters to Gen-Z” at the Monday event. Apparently Gen Z likes quick hits, making them a natural audience for commercials. At the NewFronts presentation, YouTube explained it is expanding its AI-driven video reach campaigns to include YouTube Shorts. Continue reading YouTube Debuts Ad Tech at Gen Z-Themed NewFronts Event

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, applicable as of May 1, finds tech giants scrambling to anticipate regional compliance. The regulatory framework aims to ensure tech giants don’t abuse their clout by taking advantage of consumers and smaller companies. Within two months, companies providing core platform services will have to notify the European Commission and provide all relevant information. The Commission will then have two months to identify companies that fit the DMA definition of “gatekeeper.” Those that do will be subject to DMA rules and have six months to conform. Continue reading Big Tech Braces for Potential Impact of EU Digital Markets Act

Hollywood talent discovery platform HUSSLUP debuted its desktop app this week, staking its claim as the LinkedIn of the entertainment community. With backing from Comcast NBCUniversal’s LIFT Labs accelerator and various venture funds, the job search and networking hub aims to help young professionals who want to break into the world of production for film, television and games. The company launched as a mobile app in December, when it announced a $2.5 million seed round and 4,000 job-seeking members. HUSSLUP has separate logins for creative professionals and entertainment companies, offering functionality catering to each. Continue reading HUSSLUP Aims to Become Entertainment Industry’s LinkedIn

Jack Dorsey’s alternative to Twitter called Bluesky is taking off. Last week, Bluesky had its biggest single-day jump in new sign-ups. Still in beta, the platform has only a few thousand users, but seems to have the right ones. High-profile socialistas including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) model Chrissy Teigen and influencer Dril (Paul Dochney) have joined, and thousands of others are waitlisted. Bluesky began rolling out to iOS devices in February and added Android last month. The app offers some of the same features as Twitter, including the ability to post short text and photo updates, replies and shares. Continue reading Dorsey’s Bluesky Heats Up with Well-Timed Influencer Invites

After three straight quarters of declining revenue, Meta Platforms posted a 3 percent year-over-year gain in Q1, for a total of $28.6 billion. Earnings fell by 24 percent, to $5.7 billion, due in part to restructuring charges. But the bad news was offset by strong user growth, including 37 million daily active users for Facebook, up 4 percent from Q1 2022. The results beat Wall Street expectations and exceeded Meta’s own guidance. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called it “a good quarter,” adding that “our AI work is driving good results across our apps and business.” Continue reading Meta Back on Growth Curve Following Three Tough Quarters

Auto-GPT, an open source app that uses OpenAI’s text-generating models, is currently generating a great deal of social media attention. The program can act somewhat autonomously in that it creates its own feedback loop, asking itself a series of questions to help build a more nuanced and complete response to a text prompt. In short, something that would take a user multiple prompts to produce the desired information using ChatGPT could be accomplished using a single request of Auto-GPT, which could independently explore a subject before spitting back a comprehensive response. Continue reading Auto-GPT Generates Social Sizzle, Ushers in Era of AI Agents

Gen Z creators keen to monetize content are increasingly turning to Fanfix, which has amassed about 10 million users — among them 3,000 creators — since its August 2021 launch. Active creators are said to average about $70,000 per year, and the platform itself reportedly commanded an eight-figure purchase price by beauty accelerator SuperOrdinary in June 2022. Fanfix requires 10,000 followers to start an account, which means creators will have to cultivate a base elsewhere before applying to join. All content is paywalled, with account holders choosing their own rates, between $5 and $50 per month. Continue reading Gen Z Creators Find New Revenue Opportunities with Fanfix