Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

Assort Health, a startup that uses AI to automate patient communication for specialty healthcare practices, has raised about $50 million in a Series B round at a valuation of $750 million, according to three sources familiar with the deal. The latest round, which comes just four months after the company raised its $22 million Series A, was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, these people said. The company’s AI voice agents are designed to take over high-volume, repetitive tasks like scheduling, cancellations, and frequently asked questions normally managed by front desk staff, allowing human staff to focus on more complex or…

Meta’s high-stakes bet on “superintelligence” is showing early cracks.At least eight employees, including researchers, engineers, and a senior product leader, have left the company less than two months after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a brand new division called Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) aimed at bringing “personal superintelligence” to everyone.The departing employees are mostly veterans who helped build some of Meta’s core AI infrastructure, along with some newer hires lured by Zuckerberg’s pitch to join MSL.”Some attrition is normal for any organization of this size. Most of these employees had been with the company for years, and we wish them the…

Crossing paths with dogs, cats and other animals is part of campus life for students at Eckerd College, a liberal arts school in Florida that allows pets to live in dormitories.Sophie Nocera, an Eckerd senior, said she probably knows the names of pets better than her fellow students. “That’s the case for a lot of the students,” said Nocera, who lives on the campus in St. Petersburg with her Border collie, Zuko. “When I’m walking my dog, I often hear, ‘Oh my god, hi, Zuko!’ It’s like I’m not even there.”Some colleges and universities around the country welcome pets in…

Protesters stormed Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters on Monday and made it into president Brad Smith’s office in Building 34, forcing a temporary lockdown. The “No Azure for Apartheid” group reportedly livestreamed their sit-in on Twitch, hoisting banners, chanting ‘Brad Smith, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide!’ and posting a mock legal summons charging Smith with “crimes against humanity.” TechCrunch has reached out to Microsoft for more information. According to The Verge, the protest included both active Microsoft workers and former employees who’ve been fired for previous activism. Monday’s escalation follows months of protests over Microsoft’s cloud contracts with Israel, including recent…

Earlier this week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed the first human case of a flesh-eating parasite in the U.S.The patient, a Maryland resident, had recently returned from travel to El Salvador and was found to be infected with New World screwworm, an HHS spokesperson told ABC News.MORE: RFK Jr. claims doctor said parasite ‘ate’ part of his brainIt comes amid an outbreak of the parasite among livestock in Mexico and countries across Central America.Here’s what you need to know about the infestation, including how it spreads, what the signs are and how it can be treated.What…

NEW YORK (AP) — Coco Gauff’s first match since enlisting someone to help with her shaky serving got off to a rocky start at the U.S. Open on Tuesday night. She double-faulted in the very first game — and a total of 10 times. She got broken in that game, too — and a total of six times.The only numbers that truly counted in the end, of course, were the ones on the Arthur Ashe Stadium scoreboard, and those showed that the No. 3-seeded Gauff held on for a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 victory over Ajla Tomljanovic to reach the…

Verily, Alphabet’s life sciences company, has cut staff and closed down its long-running devices program, Business Insider has learned.The cuts were announced internally on Monday, according to a memo sent to staff by CEO Stephen Gillett and obtained by Business Insider.Verily, which began life as a moonshot inside Google’s X lab, has been on a journey to cut costs and streamline projects. The group has refocused its strategy around AI and developing infrastructure for other companies to lean on, Business Insider previously reported.Gillett told staff that a “significant part” of the changes were due to a decision to wind down…

Plainly, people seeking a single-line phone plan should avoid major carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile and opt for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). From a value standpoint, MVNOs like Mint Mobile, Visible Wireless, and others offer the best cell phone plans for one person.As detailed below, major carriers’ prepaid and postpaid plans are significantly less cost-effective for single-line users than comparable MVNO plans that provide essentially the same data allotments, data speeds, and coverage. Major carrier plans generally only make sense when you have three or more lines in an account.From extensive testing, our top pick among the best…

Anthropic is launching a research preview of a browser-based AI agent powered by its Claude AI models, the company announced on Tuesday. The agent, Claude for Chrome, is rolling out to a group of 1,000 subscribers on Anthropic’s Max plan, which costs between $100 and $200 per month. The company is also opening a waitlist for other interested users. By adding an extension to Chrome, select users can now chat with Claude in a sidecar window that maintains context of everything happening in their browser. Users can also give the Claude agent permission to take actions in their browser and…

Emma Heming Willis is sharing new details about her journey as caregiver for her husband, actor Bruce Willis, who was diagnosed more than two years ago with frontotemporal dementia, known as FTD.Heming Willis, 49, is the author of a new book, “The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope and Yourself on the Caregiving Path,” out Sept. 9. She told ABC News’ Diane Sawyer she hopes the book helps give caregivers a roadmap and not feel as alone as she did when her husband was diagnosed with FTD, a type of dementia that impacts one’s personality and ability to communicate and may…