Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
When Monik Pamecha co-founded AI voice startup Toma in early 2024, he hadn’t anticipated spending the summer months sweating in Bible Belt car dealerships. He and co-founder Anthony Krivonos were still focused on banking and healthcare customers when the dealers came knocking. “They just called us up and said ‘we are drowning in phone calls,’” Pamecha described that initial contact in an interview with TechCrunch. Seeing an opportunity to pivot into a far less-regulated space than banking or healthcare, Pamecha and Krivonos set up a test: They decided to have their voice agent call essentially every car dealership in the…
Collibra, a data governance platform based in Brussels, is the latest enterprise to acquire a data company in order to expand its offerings in the age of AI. On Thursday, Collibra announced its acquisition Raito, a data access startup founded in 2021. Raito, also located in Brussels, helps companies manage which employees and customers have access to internal data. Collibra declined to comment on the terms of the deal. Raito previously raised $4 million in venture funding from investors, including Dawn Capital, Crane Venture Partners, and Collibra itself. Collibra founder and CEO Felix Van de Maele told TechCrunch that while…
Today’s the day! TechCrunch Sessions: AI is lighting up UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall at 8 a.m. PT on the dot. The stage is set, the speakers are ready, and the AI community is gathering for one powerful day of insight, innovation, and momentum. Local to Berkeley and passionate about AI? There’s still time to join us — grab a pass and immerse yourself in the conversations driving the next wave of innovation, and make the connections to fuel your AI passion and success. Don’t miss a moment — secure your spot at the heart of today’s AI action. What’s in…
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A three-judge federal appellate panel ruled Thursday in favor of NASCAR in the antitrust lawsuit filed by two teams, one owned by Michael Jordan, and vacated an injunction that required 23XI and Front Row be recognized as chartered teams as their case snakes through the legal system.Both race teams sued NASCAR late last year after refusing to sign new agreements on charter renewals. The charter system is similar to franchises in other sports, but the charters are revocable by NASCAR and have expiration dates. 23XI, which is owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny…
Globant, a large tech consulting firm, just ripped up its traditional billing strategy to more fully embrace AI use cases and projects.This is a trend I told you about back in April. The generative AI boom is pushing companies to adopt different pricing models, partly because the latest models have become so expensive to use.This is already taking hold in the SaaS industry. Now it is beginning to happen in consulting.Globant, an IT services specialist that competes with Accenture and other consulting firms, is rolling out AI Pods, a subscription for AI-powered offerings including software engineering, product definition, design, and…
PARIS (AP) — Flecks of rust-colored clay dotted Aryna Sabalenka’s back and caked her white shoes as she ripped big shot after big shot against Iga Swiatek on Thursday, the thud of racket-on-string reverberating off the closed roof at the main stadium at Roland Garros.So used to hearing — and believing — she was a fast-court specialist who couldn’t succeed on the slower red clay used at Roland-Garros, the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka showed just how good she can be on the surface by ending Swiatek’s 26-match unbeaten streak at the French Open and bid for a record fourth consecutive trophy…
CNN — At one point during Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal criminal sex trafficking and racketeering trial, defense attorney Brian Steel asked a witness, who was testifying under a pseudonym, if she retained counsel in order to “join the #MeToo money grab against Mr. Combs.” The question came during one of the three days the woman, referred to on the stand as “Mia,” testified about multiple alleged instances of physical, emotional and sexual abuse by Combs. Though the question was sustained by the judge, the moment speaks to the movement that looms large over two high-profile cases that are taking place…
From coding agents to a Manhattan-sized data center, Meta’s going all in on AI this year — and now plans to put it to work in HR.The company is preparing to use AI to automate key parts of its recruitment process, including testing coding skills and helping interviewers with question prompts, according to an internal document obtained by Business Insider.The document reveals Meta’s plans to lean on AI to carry out several functions in its hiring process in the latter half of this year. Meta aims to use AI for a lot of the administrative work involved in its recruitment…
Demis Hassabis prefers gaming over acid trips.The Google DeepMind CEO said he’s never taken LSD and doesn’t want to. In a recent interview with Wired’s Steven Levy, the AI boss was asked about his pursuit of understanding the “nature of reality,” as his X bio states.More specifically, Hassabis was asked if acid had ever helped him get a glimpse of the nature of reality. The short answer is no.”I didn’t do it like that,” Hassabis said. “I just did it through my gaming and reading a hell of a lot when I was a kid, both science fiction and science.”Hassabis…
Europe’s top official monitoring illegal drugs has a parting message near the end of his tenure: the relentless rise in the trafficking of cocaine and other stimulants is producing more violence than ever before in the heart of the world’s safest societies.Alexis Goosdeel, the Belgian clinician who has run the European Union Drugs Agency since Jan. 2016, has watched it unfold across the continent and spill into his home country. The bulk of drug seizures has shifted from Europe’s southern flank to its northern ports and, with Antwerp now a leading entry point for cocaine and crack, spreading gang violence…