If a Samsung device isn’t mentioned in this guide, it may be due to its limited accessibility in the US, making it challenging to evaluate. Nevertheless, here are several other Samsung phones we’ve assessed.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra for $2,100: An upgrade from the Z Fold7, the Z Fold8 Ultra is designed for foldable phone aficionados willing to pay for excellence. Its book-style layout features a 6.5-inch cover display and unfolds to reveal an 8-inch tablet-sized screen with a less prominent crease and improved hinge durability. It provides top-notch performance, extended battery life, and features Samsung’s best camera in a folding format, boasting a 200-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens.
Samsung Galaxy S26 FE for $700: The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is a capable phone providing robust battery life, a large display, and a dependable triple-camera system; however, the added $100 over the nearly identical S25 FE is hard to rationalize. The only significant enhancement is a marginally better processor, while Samsung even downgraded the USB-C port to USB 2.0 in the S26 FE. You might be better off choosing the S25 FE while it’s still available.
Z Fold7 for $2,000 or Z Flip7 for $1,100: For a Samsung foldable that’s budget-friendly, consider the 2025 Galaxy Z Fold7 or Galaxy Z Flip7, particularly if available at a discount. The Fold7 is marginally thicker, features a more prominent screen crease, and has average battery life, but the differences from the Fold8 Ultra are not significant. Likewise, the Flip7 only has slight variations compared to the Flip8, which includes minor hinge upgrades, a more refined design, a more efficient processor, and enhanced software for the external display.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for $1,300: Have you ever desired an exceptionally slim and lightweight phone? The Galaxy S25 Edge attempts to fulfill that need with its 5.8-mm thickness, sacrificing certain features like a stylus, a telephoto camera, and battery size for its sleek profile. While the thin design is striking, its 3,900-mAh battery life is short-lived – regular charging was essential. Nonetheless, if you are often near a power source and lean toward a slender design, it may suit you.
Samsung Galaxy A17 5G for $249: On paper, the Galaxy A17 seems to provide excellent value, featuring six years of software updates, an AMOLED display, expandable memory, and a decent camera; however, its performance is curtailed by the 4 GB RAM in the US variant. The insufficient RAM leads to a less stable user experience, making it inadequate for urgent needs. If your needs are minimal, it could be a viable choice.
If saving money is your aim, the Galaxy S24 series from 2024 may be worthwhile, provided their prices are significantly reduced from the original retail values. These products will continue to receive support and remain relevant. Older models are not advised.
Investing in Samsung’s Ecosystem
Samsung provides an ecosystem comparable to Apple, with hardware that includes smartphones, the <a href="https://cna.st/affiliate-link/HJ99Tbj4dgEhtDLnr
Comma.ai, the venture established by hacker George Hotz, is under federal scrutiny following five reported incidents involving the company’s aftermarket hands-free driving assistance technology, with two of those resulting in three fatalities.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) reported this week that the incidents involved Comma devices that failed to identify or react to slow or stationary vehicles in the same lane. In four of the incidents, up to 11 individuals sustained injuries, some of them severe.
Some of these incidents, including at least one of the fatal occurrences, may have involved “forked” or altered versions of Comma.ai’s software, according to the ODI.
Comma.ai was not immediately available for comment. Hotz, who stepped back from the startup’s daily operations in 2022, did not promptly respond to a request for comment.
Established in 2015, Comma.ai produces devices that can be fitted to a variety of contemporary vehicles. The devices — along with Comma.ai’s software, “openpilot,” — are capable of managing a vehicle’s Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Automated Lane Centering (ALC) systems to execute functions “akin to Tesla Autopilot and GM Super Cruise,” based on the startup’s website. The aim is to “make driving relaxed.”
According to Comma.ai’s website, “openpilot can steer, accelerate, and brake automatically for other automobiles within its lane.” Nevertheless, similar to Tesla and GM, Comma.ai cautions drivers that they “must always be ready to regain manual control of the vehicle at any moment, by pressing either pedal or the cancel button.” The company’s device includes a camera-based driver monitoring system to detect distracted or drowsy drivers.
One of the two fatal incidents reportedly occurred in February 2026 in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. A 2022 Toyota RAV4, which was operating FrogPilot, a third-party variant of openpilot, collided with a stationary first responder vehicle.
The Louisiana State Police provided details of a February crash that seemingly aligns with the report in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s database. In its account of the incident, the agency noted that two rear-seat passengers of the Toyota lost their lives.
This story is ongoing…
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Ema, a startup utilizing teams of AI agents to streamline corporate processes in HR, IT, and finance, has secured $77 million in a fresh funding round as it seeks to assume more responsibilities traditionally managed by enterprise software and IT services.
The Series B funding round was spearheaded by Bengaluru-based venture capital firm Creaegis, with current investors Accel, Section 32, and Prosus increasing their holdings. This financing elevates the startup’s total funding to $140 million and more than quadruples its valuation since its last funding round in 2024. (Ema chose not to reveal its latest valuation.) The round was entirely composed of primary equity, without any debt or secondary transactions, as confirmed to TechCrunch by the startup.
The investment comes at a time when AI is starting to vie for funds that businesses have historically allocated to enterprise software and IT services. Startups, prominent AI labs, and well-established software firms are all competing to secure a share of that expenditure.
Founded in 2023 by former Google and Coinbase executive Surojit Chatterjee and ex-Okta executive Souvik Sen, Ema is looking to strengthen its presence in that sector. The startup implements its technology, referred to as “AI employees” — systems that manage various AI agents. These assist in executing multi-step business processes across a company’s existing applications, rather than tackling just one task at a time.
Chatterjee envisions that model leading to a reduced dependency on traditional software products for companies, including those offered as software-as-a-service (SaaS). Ema initially “wraps” around an enterprise’s current applications, he stated, before clients can decrease their reliance on some of those products — and, in certain instances, eliminate them completely.
“Numerous customers are already on the path to entirely replace [large SaaS applications], minimizing their dependence on them, as they are becoming akin to mere databases,” Chatterjee remarked.
Capitalizing on AI labs’ initiatives
Recently, leading AI firms have increasingly advanced into the enterprise sector where Ema operates. Anthropic has intensified its efforts to integrate Claude into the fundamental operations of companies, encompassing financial and legal tasks. Likewise, OpenAI has formed teams of forward-deployed engineers who collaborate with clients to implement AI into production.
Nevertheless, Chatterjee does not perceive the cutting-edge AI labs as direct adversaries. He informed TechCrunch that Ema’s software can leverage over 150 models, including cutting-edge and open-source models, while the startup concentrates on the domain expertise, integrations, and orchestration necessary to automate business processes comprehensively.
“Advancements in frontier models are genuinely advantageous to us,” Chatterjee asserted.
Ema’s methodology is already making headway. The startup has secured more than 50 active enterprise agreements, along with over 1 million active enterprise users, and has managed over 5 million actions and inquiries. Its clientele includes NTT DATA, Hitachi, ADP, PwC, Google, KPMG, Wipro, and Microsoft.
Over the last two years, Ema reported a 50-fold revenue increase, with revenue bookings exceeding $150 million. Chatterjee clarified that the bookings figure represents the total value of multiyear contracts, including contracts spanning two and three years, rather than indicating annual recurring revenue. He, however, opted not to share the startup’s current annualized revenue run rate.
Chatterjee shared with TechCrunch that more than 90% of Ema’s clientele has expanded beyond their original use case, with some employing the technology across numerous workflows. The startup’s net dollar retention rate is approximately 180%, he mentioned, indicating that existing clients are increasing their spending with Ema over time.
Ema is also shifting its focus beyond the software itself. AI, Chatterjee noted, can assume control over some of the implementation, integration, and consulting tasks historically assigned to IT services firms regarding enterprise software.
“Many of the service firms are collaborating with us,” Chatterjee stated. “They are also significantly altering or disrupting their business models as they recognize that the human-centric model may not be the most effective approach moving forward.”
Despite undertaking responsibilities traditionally managed by software and service providers, Chatterjee noted that Ema has sustained gross margins of nearly 80%. The startup, he pointed out, necessitates less human assistance as its AI systems adapt from deployments, which helps enhance margins over time.
Ema also does not bill clients based on the number of software seats or AI tokens utilized. Instead, Chatterjee explained, its pricing is linked to task completion and business results.
Much of Ema’s newly acquired capital will be allocated toward augmenting its go-to-market operations, particularly sales and marketing, after dedicating its initial years primarily to product development, Chatterjee stated. The Mountain View-based startup has expanded to nearly 200 employees and maintains offices in Bengaluru, London, and Vancouver.
Ema has primarily concentrated on clients in the U.S. and Europe thus far. However, it now intends to extend into new markets within the next year, especially across Asia-Pacific, South America, and certain regions of the Middle East.
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On Monday evening, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrived in San Francisco to advocate for Greece, engaging in an activity not commonly practiced by state leaders on trade trips. Speaking to an audience of around 250 founders, investors, and operators, he candidly admitted that he lacks answers to numerous AI-related queries that leaders globally are discussing more discreetly.
During our conversation at an event organized by Endeavor Greece, the local branch of a global nonprofit supporting entrepreneurs in developing and growth economies, the prime minister characterized his visit to the Bay Area as, in part, a mission to gather information. He spent the morning visiting Tesla and Sequoia Capital, among other locations, while planning to proceed to this week’s U.N. General Assembly in New York. However, the journey also aimed to foster connections; indeed, he was appealing to anyone in the tech sector who might consider establishing a presence in Greece, which is expected to regain its developed market status from MSCI next year, an influential index provider.
“This reflects another sign that the economy is performing well and that Greece is no longer seen as an exceptional case,” Mitsotakis remarked.
Calling the trip “a homecoming,” Mitsotakis, who holds a master’s degree from Stanford, emphasized the economic narrative during our discussion. Greece is reducing its debt at an unprecedented rate and is also borrowing at lower rates than the United States. “I’m not sure if I should mention this,” he said with a smile to the audience.
Image Credits:Daniel Vegera for Endeavor Greece /
This isn’t a like-for-like comparison. The eurozone has lower interest rates, which partially explains the discrepancy. However, it serves as a compelling point for discussion. Currently, Greece’s 10-year bond yield hovers around 4.3%, compared to roughly 5% for U.S. Treasuries. This was entirely unthinkable during the debt crisis, when Greek yields soared past 40% in 2012.
Mitsotakis was keen to discuss Greece’s financial expenditures as well. He mentioned that a significant portion of the approximately €36 billion Greece acquired from the EU’s post-COVID recovery fund was invested in digital infrastructure, which includes an online platform allowing Greeks to manage government paperwork without queuing, and a new supercomputer developed in collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise in Lavrio, which he indicated would be operational within months to enhance AI and scientific research in Greece.
As expected, he also highlighted policy changes that could be even more beneficial to tech companies. Greece has restructured the taxation of stock options, relaxed labor regulations, and provides returning Greeks much lower tax rates for up to seven years.
Additionally, we discussed the nation’s expanding range of visa options, although when queried about how he gauges the success of these, Mitsotakis indicated that the government “still [has] work to do” regarding processing speed.
He also noted a remarkable transformation in Greece’s public universities, which he claimed previously adopted a “radical leftist approach,” disparaging corporations, but are now fostering startup initiatives.
Image Credits:Daniel Vegera for Endeavor Greece /
Mitsotakis aims to reclaim the talent Greece lost during its debt crisis when many young citizens departed due to a lack of options. He also recognizes an opportunity: as obtaining American work visas becomes more challenging, he encouraged more founders to contemplate hiring talent in Greece.
I noticed a shift in tone when the discussion turned to the societal impacts of AI. Mitsotakis was refreshingly open about his lack of a comprehensive strategy.
For instance, Greece is planning a ban on social media for children under 15 starting this January, a measure that many nations are also considering or implementing. However, he remarked that this ban might already be outdated, given the seemingly addictive qualities of AI chatbots.
“At times, I feel as though we’re fighting a battle from the past,” he noted. “What implications does it have for our children to grow up with digital companions or romantic partners?”
He expressed similar reservations regarding AI in educational settings. Greece has been piloting an education initiative with OpenAI aimed at alleviating teachers’ administrative burdens, and he sees potential in personalized AI tutors. Nonetheless, he emphasized that these advantages are contingent upon AI complementing rather than substituting “the hard work of mastering fundamental skills.” He cautioned that students are already resorting to chatbots for homework assistance, stating: “complacency is a human characteristic.”
When I inquired about AI infrastructure — Greece is actively seeking data center investments — he characterized the nation as an exception. In contrast to growing global opposition to data centers due to their significant demand for electricity and water, Mitsotakis commented that “we have not encountered any notable backlash” within Greece. He highlighted that Microsoft is constructing a cluster of data centers near Athens, and that AWS recently publicized an agreement with Greece’s largest utility to develop the country’s most extensive data center in a former coal area. According to him, these projects are received positively.
Differing from many politicians, he didn’t feign knowledge regarding future developments. Job displacement “is an occurrence that is going to take place,” he insisted, “and no government or society is equipped for the rapid pace at which it will unfold.”
Regarding the discussion on whether AI development should be slowed, he aligned himself with the frontier lab leaders advocating for that stance. “If those who create the models are expressing uncertainty about their functionality,” particularly regarding their self-enhancement, he commented, “we must heed their warnings.”
Some form of “intelligent regulation” is unavoidable, he noted, and the U.S. will primarily influence its design. Nevertheless, he added, Greece would be eager to facilitate that dialogue.
Humanity has generated “a kind of intelligence that is rapidly exceeding the capabilities of the most sophisticated organ created through evolution,” Mitsotakis stated, raising profound questions about human existence. He proposed uniting technologists with “social scientists, philosophers, and historians,” asserting, “I can’t imagine a better location to engage in these discussions.”
He has a valid point. Athens is where Socrates engaged his fellow citizens in the agora, the historic public square, discussing the essence of a good life and a just society. Perhaps the debates still occurring in Silicon Valley will also find resolution there?
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Beginning Wednesday, Discord, the messaging platform for communities, will implement age verification protocols for all users.
This initiative follows the company’s prior postponement of age verification plans in February due to backlash from users worried that biometric scanning and ID verification could threaten their privacy. Those concerns were valid; last year, a third-party vendor collaborating with Discord experienced a breach, potentially compromising the data of 70,000 users, including government ID images and selfies used for identity verification.
“Age assurance invites strong opinions and skepticism, particularly when it involves disclosing biometric data or a type of ID,” stated Discord CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy in a blog post published on Tuesday. “Simultaneously, age assurance regulations are evolving, and since my previous post, we’ve had to initiate age assurance in additional regions, including Brazil and Texas.”
Nonetheless, Vishnevskiy mentions that over 90% of Discord users will not need to undergo age verification. He clarifies that Discord will utilize existing account information to identify “signals,” such as account longevity (the duration an account has been active), device metadata, activity data, and other usage indicators, to categorize users into adult, teen, or unverified age brackets.
Discord asserts that it does not deduce users’ ages based on message content, profile information, or demographic characteristics.
“The manner in which a typical 15-year-old interacts on Discord (including the number of communities they join and the way they engage with others) differs substantially from that of a typical 30-year-old,” the company outlined in a separate technical blog post published on Tuesday. “Our [machine learning] model has recognized these patterns to assess if a particular account likely pertains to an adult or a teen.”
This does not indicate that Discord is acquiring any new user data. It is commonplace for social media entities to retain this kind of information about their users, although it may feel discomforting to see it expressed so explicitly.
Due to local laws necessitating Discord to employ age assurance technology in specific areas, the company could educate its model on accurately verified data linking user actions to age.
If Discord lacks confidence in a user’s adult status, that user can still verify their age without undergoing biometric or ID scanning. They can appeal by providing credit card details or age-related information from their Apple App Store or Google Play Store accounts.
For confirmed adults, the platform will remain unaffected. However, teen accounts will automatically be restricted from entering age-limited servers or channels. Message requests from individuals who aren’t their friends will redirect to a distinct message requests inbox, and teens will receive notifications upon accepting friend requests from someone they don’t mutually share friends with.
As governments globally persist in enacting age verification mandates to safeguard children online, experts caution that these age checks could introduce various new privacy and security challenges. This predicament presents platforms like Discord with a tough decision: comply or face penalties.
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On November 4, the Founder Summit by TechCrunch will host an essential one-day intensive on building startups at Boston’s SoWa Power Station. Founders shouldn’t have to endure the toughest lessons in the toughest ways, and this event aims to simplify the challenges of launching a business and amplify the rewards.
Rather than spending months on trial and error, you can gain direct insights from the investors and founders who have faced the decisions you’re now navigating. We’re covering everything from securing funding and recruiting to AI strategy and dominating your sector.
Don’t just take our word for it. Check out the complete lineup of speakers and sessions we have arranged for the Founder Summit below, and secure your spot for the event. All tickets are offered at the most affordable rates available, making this the ideal moment to take action.
The TechCrunch Founder Summit Official Agenda Unveiled
Without any more delay, here’s the official agenda. Familiarize yourself with every session and speaker listed on the event agenda page.
Image Credits:Halo Creative
The New Guidelines for Fundraising
Securing funds has never been simple, yet the strategies continue to evolve. Brian Devaney, partner at Underscore, will clarify what investors currently desire, how founders can distinguish themselves in a saturated market, and the areas where founders frequently lose influence without being aware. Expect a straightforward examination of today’s fundraising landscape, covering everything from initial investments to term agreements, and the blunders that can determine the fate of a funding round.
The CEO Role Is Ever-Challenging
While the job title remains constant, the responsibilities shift with every phase of a company’s expansion. HubSpot co-founder and Sequoia partner Brian Halligan will discuss the insights he has gained from mentoring and supporting startups through periods of swift growth, difficult choices, and continuous adaptation.
This session will delve into how founders can transition into effective CEOs, sidestep typical leadership mistakes, and create businesses that will succeed long after their initial launch.
Designed for AI from the Start
Integrating AI features is one thing; establishing an AI-centric business is an entirely different endeavor. Lior Div, co-founder and CEO of 7AI, will assess what adjustments must be made when AI is integrated as the core of a startup rather than just an addition. This session will explore everything from team organization and product innovation to operations and market entry strategies, examining what founders need to reconsider while operating in the AI age.
Not All Dollars Are Created Equal
Raising funds is frequently viewed as a key achievement, but selecting the appropriate investors can influence a company’s trajectory long after the funds are received. Following an $11 million funding round for Cogent Security, co-founder and CEO Vineet Edupuganti gained firsthand knowledge of what differentiates valuable partners from costly distractions. This session will discuss how founders should assess investors, manage compromises, and think past valuation when constructing their investment table.
Identifying the ‘King of the Hill’ Company — Hidden Indicators That Define Market Leaders
Innovation is essential for addressing the world’s greatest challenges, yet only select companies are likely to evolve into market-defining leaders on a large scale. In this session, TDK Ventures investment director Tina Tosukhowong unpacks the firm’s “King of the Hill” model: the rigorous framework the top investors use to assess companies based on their economics, scalability, and market timing.
Using real-world examples, including Tina’s insights into fission and fusion, attendees will gain actionable frameworks for assessing startup readiness, charting competitive landscapes, and recognizing when timing, talent, and technology come together.
Your Company Reflects Your Hiring Choices
Initial hiring decisions can shape a startup’s culture, pace, and execution capabilities. Melissa Taunton, partner at NEA, will offer insights gained from working with founders as they form teams amid rapid growth and ambiguity.
From pinpointing the right initial hires to dodging common recruitment pitfalls, this session examines how founders can develop organizations that are robust, flexible, and ready for whatever lies ahead.
The Boston Founder’s Guide
Silicon Valley often attracts the spotlight, but Chase Garbarino has been steadily creating category-defining companies out of Boston for over ten years. As the co-founder and CEO of HqO, he has secured $200 million from investors and expanded to over 30 countries without ever needing to shift locations.
He will share insights into the genuine advantages and challenges of operating outside the traditional startup landscape, as well as what every founder outside a major entrepreneurial hub needs to know.
Discovering Product-Market Fit Before Scaling
Every founder aspires to achieve product-market fit, but recognizing when you’ve truly found it is considerably more complex. Kent Bennett, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, will clarify how founders can verify demand, create a minimum viable product that addresses key queries, and avoid premature scaling before essential elements are established.
This session will delve into the vital signals, misleading metrics, and choices that differentiate sustainable companies from costly trials.
What Awaits Beyond the Sessions of the Founder Summit
The programming constitutes a significant aspect of TechCrunch Founder Summit’s value, but it’s not the entire picture. You’ll also have the opportunity to connect with fellow founders tackling similar fundraising and recruitment challenges, and network with individuals who have already navigated those paths. Or even better…those who have financed those who have endured the startup journey.
A day filled with interactive discussions transforms into months of actionable insights at TechCrunch Founder Summit, and we look forward to having you join us and the broader Boston startup ecosystem on November 4. Register now to seize your ticket savings and participate in the ultimate founder’s bootcamp.
Image Credits:Halo Creative
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Snorkel AI, a company assisting AI laboratories and businesses in creating training datasets and simulated environments, has secured $350 million in a Series E funding round, achieving a valuation of $3.5 billion.
This latest funding round, spearheaded by Insight Partners and S32, values the seven-year-old company at almost three times the $1.3 billion valuation it received after raising $100 million in a Series D round 17 months prior. Current investors, including Addition, Lightspeed, Greylock, GV, and Wells Fargo, also took part in this round.
Initially, Snorkel offered software for automating data-labeling processes, but last year it transitioned to delivering finalized datasets to its customers, branding this service as data-as-a-service. Instead of functioning solely as a marketplace for human expertise, Snorkel employs a combined strategy, employing its software and models to create data synthetically along with input from subject matter experts.
According to Snorkel, its present annualized revenue run rate has reached $375 million, representing an 18-fold increase over the past year. This surge is driven by the unquenchable need for high-quality training data from AI labs.
Other data firms positioning themselves as AI data laboratories are experiencing a similar surge in growth. Mercor has seen its gross annualized revenue grow to $2 billion, Handshake surpassed the $1 billion mark earlier this year, and TechCrunch has reported that Micro1 has expanded to $500 million. Since these companies allocate approximately 60% to 70% of their gross revenue directly to the domain experts performing the tasks, it is crucial to understand that their actual net annual revenue is significantly lower than those reported gross figures.
Given that Snorkel offers reinforcement learning (RL) environments and full datasets instead of human labor, payments to its human experts are incorporated into its cost of goods sold rather than reported annualized revenue figures, as stated by the company.
Snorkel began commercial operations in 2019 after four years of research by co-founder and CEO Alex Ratner and his team at a Stanford AI lab.
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Today, Qualcomm unveiled two new flagship mobile processors named Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, emphasizing enhancements for AI-centric functionalities.
During its yearly Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm highlighted that the latest chips could support enhanced personalization for AI assistants. These processors feature innovative sensing hubs capable of handling compact models with up to 200 million parameters. Thanks to the new sensing hub, smartphones can locally operate a personal assistant and recognize different speakers. Additionally, it can generate user-based memory to improve suggestions for task automation. The company mentioned it could support a complete voice-in and voice-out assistant via the new chip.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 incorporates a new accelerator designed for more effective model execution. The high-end Extreme variant can execute a mixture-of-experts (MoE) model with 30 billion parameters on-site. This implies that although the total model comprises 30B, it activates only a select number of parameters for specific tasks.
In contrast, at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, Apple unveiled a mixture-of-experts model with 20 billion parameters, representing the pinnacle of its third generation of foundation models.
The new Qualcomm CPU also offers pixel-level control for camera systems, enhancing professional-grade experiences, alongside refined stabilization and motion interpretation. The Extreme variant is capable of 8K video recording at 60fps and 4K240 for ultra HD slow-motion. It also introduces the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec for high-quality recordings.
Furthermore, both chips leverage AI technology to enhance vocal clarity and minimize background noise. It also features Qualcomm’s innovative voice bubble technology, which isolates the user’s voice during conversations.
At the event, Motorola revealed its Motorola Signature 27 smartphone, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, with general release expected later this year.
Qualcomm has been developing over 40 AI devices, yet there remains a consensus that many individuals will prefer using their phones for AI applications instead of separate devices. Nothing co-founder Carl Pei has previously indicated this trend, and more recently, new Apple CEO John Ternus echoed the same sentiment during the iPhone Duo introduction earlier this month.
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Apple is currently working on a new fitness tracker that doesn’t have a screen, aiming to compete with Whoop — the fitness technology company whose value has recently exceeded $10 billion.
Bloomberg indicates that the iPhone manufacturer is undertaking a “technology investigation” — which, as implied, is a preliminary effort to ascertain whether to advance and launch a product. Multiple prototypes have been created related to this item, according to the source.
The gadget — portrayed as “a slim fabric band with a sensor-laden computing module” — is not expected to launch before at least 2028, Bloomberg revealed.
It’s important to highlight that Apple currently offers a fitness tracker through its Apple Watch (the wearable monitors workouts, heart rate, sleep, and various other metrics). Nevertheless, this new design appears to be quite similar to Whoop, which markets straightforward fitness bands claimed to track numerous health indicators.
TechCrunch has contacted Apple for additional details.
This news comes during a transformative phase for Apple. Tim Cook resigned from his role as CEO in August to take on the role of executive chairman, with John Ternus stepping in as the new CEO. The company has also encountered challenges due to rising expenses stemming from a memory shortage. Regardless, it has committed to releasing a series of new products, including a foldable phone, updated tablets, and a new MacBook Pro. Concurrently, it is embroiled in a legal battle against OpenAI, accusing it of trade theft, as the competition to develop the top hardware for the AI era intensifies.
Initial users of Meta’s Muse have been pondering that the reason for its impressive performance is its underlying foundation in OpenClaw, presented in a more user-friendly format. Meta has acknowledged that these observations are not entirely unfounded. As per an X post by Nat Friedman, head of product at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs (MSL), Muse was “certainly significantly inspired as a product by OpenClaw.”
Nevertheless, he clarified that Muse itself was “developed from the ground up.”
Friedman, the previous GitHub CEO who joined Meta last year together with Meta’s Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, mentioned that the Meta team had become enamored with OpenClaw and aimed to create Muse as “something akin to OpenClaw” capable of scaling to billions of users.
Given that OpenClaw is an open-source initiative, it isn’t surprising that Meta sought inspiration from it, particularly because of its rapid rise, which led OpenAI to acquire its creator earlier this year. However, this aligns with Meta’s established strategy of taking promising innovations and replicating their most effective features — a practice it notably executed with Snapchat’s creation of the stories format.
Friedman’s comment on X came in reaction to a viral post among the AI community, where Ansh Nanda, a co-founder of an AI app, claimed that “Muse is LITERALLY OpenClaw for the average person.”
Nanda’s X post featured a dialogue with Muse, in which the AI agent indicated that the resemblance between its own system files and those from OpenClaw was not merely “a coincidence” but actually “a match.”
Shortly thereafter, this discussion (and X in general) began to gain traction as others shared their own observations and analyses. For example, one user highlighted that Muse also contained a SOUL.md file, the straightforward text configuration file (written in a basic formatting language known as Markdown) that outlines an AI agent’s personality, interaction style and tone, values, limitations, and areas of expertise.
Another user observed that the files were not only identically named between the two assistants; their content was nearly identical as well.
In the wake of his X post, Friedman also addressed a query regarding why Muse had replicated the exact file names characterizing the AI agent’s workspace and had “virtually indistinguishable content” for the SOUL.md file. Rather than contesting these accusations, Friedman simply stated that “we believed Peter [Steinberger, creator of OpenClaw] had those aspects spot on.”
“We constructed Muse from the ground up, but it is unquestionably heavily influenced as a product by OpenClaw. After I experienced OpenClaw in January, I procured hundreds of Mac minis for the MSL team, and many of us became captivated by utilizing OpenClaw (and other personal agents),” Friedman stated on X. (TechCrunch has amended Friedman’s punctuation for clarity.)
“@steipete [Peter Steinberger] is a visionary, and his framework was groundbreaking from the very beginning. I believe many individuals drew inspiration from it. Our aim with Muse was to create something like OpenClaw that we could ensure is safe, secure, user-friendly, and scalable to billions of users,” he added.
The Muse app has proven to be quite successful thus far, having recently achieved the top position on the U.S. App Store. Data suggest that it is now surpassing ChatGPT’s launch when comparing platform and market availability directly.
When contacted for a statement, a Meta spokesperson referred to Friedman’s remarks, stating the company had no further comments beyond that.
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Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.