Good morning! This is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.
In today's Techpresso:
💥 AI Pin maker Humane seeks billion-dollar sale
🤖 Microsoft’s new Copilot AI agents act like virtual employees to automate tasks
🧠 Neuralink’s first user is ‘constantly multitasking’ with brain implant
🤔 Amazon Alexa’s big AI upgrade could require a new subscription
🕊️ Minicomputer pioneer Gordon Bell dies at 89
🎁 + 9 other news you might like
🔮 + 6 handpicked research papers and tools
💥 AI Pin maker Humane seeks billion-dollar saleLINK
Humane, the startup behind the AI Pin wearable computer, is seeking a buyer after the device's poor reviews and slow performance fell short of expectations.
Despite pitching the AI Pin as a way to reduce dependence on smartphones, the device's slow responses and inconsistent user experience led to widespread criticism from reviewers.
Humane, which has raised $230 million from investors and was valued at $850 million, is now looking to sell for between $750 million and $1 billion, although it faces challenges in finding a buyer willing to pay that price.
🤖 Microsoft’s new Copilot AI agents act like virtual employees to automate tasksLINK
Microsoft's new Team Copilot is a virtual team member designed to help with administrative tasks, such as running meetings and managing projects.
Team Copilot can handle online meetings by managing agendas, taking notes, summarizing discussions, and answering questions from team members.
While Team Copilot can perform many tasks, it may not replace human expertise in project management, and it will be available for preview later this year with a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license required.
🧠 Neuralink’s first user is ‘constantly multitasking’ with brain implantLINK
Before getting the Neuralink implant, the first user spent most of his days lying in bed, trying to improve his life through learning languages and other activities.
The screening process for the Neuralink trial was extensive, including medical exams, psychological tests, and a full day of assessments to ensure eligibility.
After receiving the implant, the user found it intuitive and easy to use, allowing him to multitask and control devices with minimal mental effort, although he experienced some functionality issues three weeks post-surgery.
🤔 Amazon Alexa’s big AI upgrade could require a new subscriptionLINK
Amazon is set to launch a new generative AI version of Alexa later this year, which will require a separate monthly subscription fee aside from Amazon Prime.
The upgraded AI Alexa will be more conversational and feature state-of-the-art capabilities, with potential costs around 2 cents per query and an internally discussed price of about $20 per month.
Amazon aims to revitalize Alexa, which has become less competitive over the years, by making it more engaging and useful, despite internal challenges and lowered prioritization by CEO Andy Jassy.
🕊️ Minicomputer pioneer Gordon Bell dies at 89LINK
Gordon Bell, a pioneer in the computer age and a key architect in the minicomputer and personal computing revolution, passed away at 89 from aspiration pneumonia.
Bell's groundbreaking work began at Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1960s, where he designed the PDP-8, a seminal minicomputer that shifted the market away from expensive, room-sized mainframes.
Throughout his career, Bell held multiple roles and received several accolades, including the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1991, and he significantly influenced future technologists, leaving a lasting legacy in the computing industry.
Other news you might like
Some of the biggest tech companies around are teaming up to fight online scams.LINK
Meta introduces Chameleon, a state-of-the-art multimodal model.LINK
Microsoft reveals the Phi Silica AI small language model for NPU-based Copilot+ PCs.LINK
Microsoft and Khan Academy offer a free AI assistant to all US teachers.LINK
Microsoft Edge will use AI to translate and dub YouTube and other videos in real time.LINK
Suno raises $125M to become the ‘ChatGPT’ of music creation.LINK
Farcaster, a crypto-based social network, raised $150M with just 80K daily users.LINK
H, a new Paris-based AI startup, raises $220M from prominent investors.LINK
New results in AI research: Humans barely able to recognize AI-generated media.LINK
Latest research and tools
Openpanel: an open-source analytics tool designed for web, apps, and backend event logging, offering data visualization, complete visitor history, and data ownership, inspired by Mixpanel and Plausible.LINK
Alacritty: a fast, cross-platform, OpenGL terminal emulator that emphasizes performance and integration with other applications.LINK
Microsoft Phi-3 Cookbook: a manual on using the Phi-3 family of open AI models by Microsoft for enhanced language, reasoning, coding, and math applications.LINK
Tillywork: an open-source work management platform designed for dynamic teams that supports customization and encourages community contributions.LINK
Adblock for Podcasts: delivers an ad-free version of podcasts by starting a server that tries to register an mDNS record, allowing users to subscribe to podcasts in their app by appending the RSS to the 'rss' endpoint.LINK
mactop: a terminal-based tool for monitoring real-time metrics on Apple Silicon chips, offering insights into CPU and GPU usage, core types, power consumption, and more.LINK
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