TechCrunch Industry News

Google responds to claims that its AI search features are harming website traffic, asserting that only a few sites are affected. The discussion delves into how user behavior is shifting, yet overall organic click volume remains stable. It highlights the changing landscape for traditional web publishers as they navigate competition from newer content platforms.

In a debate likely to get louder as AI agent usage grows, some people say Perplexity crawling blocked websites isn't a simple matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the first time in more than five years, OpenAI is launching a new open language model that appears to be state-of-the-art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joby is buying the Blade brand and the company's passenger business, which includes operations in the United States and Europe, for as much as $125 million. In other news, Mastercard seemingly denied playing a role in a recent marketplace crackdown on games with adult content, while Valve says the pressure was indirect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

North Korean IT workers are increasingly using generative AI to draft resumes and "deepfake" their appearances to make money for North Korea's sanctioned nuclear weapons program. Also, Apple is reportedly working to create a lightweight competitor to ChatGPT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dribbble is enforcing its terms of service that lets it take a cut of designers' work, and kicking out those who don't comply. One top designer has had enough, and is building his own startup instead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google DeepMind has revealed Genie 3, its latest foundation world model that the AI lab says presents a crucial stepping stone on the path to artificial general intelligence, or human-like intelligence.  Also, enterprise security company SonicWall is urging its customers to disable a core feature of its most recent line-up of firewall devices after security researchers reported an uptick in ransomware incidents targeting SonicWall customers.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google released its first publicly available "multi-agent" AI system, which uses more computational resources, but produces better answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple is open to M&A to accelerate its AI strategy, and says it's made seven acquisitions this year so far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Space Force is leveraging commercial competition for the next phase of its PTS program. Also, Adobe is adding an improved background removal tool to Photoshop using AI, so the app doesn't leave weird artifacts in your images. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices