Particle, the AI-powered news aggregator created by a pair of Twitter alums, has launched after a year in beta. The iOS app summarizes current events in quick hits the startup says do not violate the copyrights of publishers whose news it shares. Instead of simply scraping publishers’ work for proprietary use, the startup seeks to compensate publishers and drive traffic to news sites with prominent links to sources accompanying each AI news summary. Developed by Sara Beykpour and Marcel Molina, Particle has raised more than $11 million in early funding led by Lightspeed. Continue reading Particle Launches AI News App That Summarizes in Quick Hits

The AI search wars are officially on, with Google giving Gemini access to its online answer engine just hours before OpenAI launched ChatGPT Search. Google is primarily targeting developers with its new feature, “Grounding with Google Search,” though the Alphabet company used the occasion to also tout its new search return template, AI Overviews. Launched last week, ChatGPT Search offers responses in real time using a conversational format. Initially, it is available only to ChatGPT Plus and Teams subscribers as well as those on the SearchGPT waitlist as part of ChatGPT’s existing interface. Continue reading AI Search Wars Heat Up as OpenAI and Google Add Features

Marking its first news deal in years, Meta Platforms entered into an agreement with Reuters to use its content to answer user questions posed to its Meta AI chatbot. The arrangement comes as Meta has been minimizing news content on its services in response to publisher demands for revenue sharing and regulatory criticism over misinformation. Terms of the partnership were not disclosed, nor were details provided as to whether Meta plans to use Reuters content for model training. Meta AI is available across its Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram and Messenger services. Continue reading Meta, Reuters Sign Multi-Year AI Content Licensing Agreement

OpenAI has added publishing powerhouse Hearst to its formidable list of media partners. The force behind outlets including Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Car & Driver, Popular Mechanics, San Francisco Chronicle and Houston Chronicle will allow more than 20 magazine brands and over 40 newspapers to provide “a vast array of lifestyle content” as well as local news and niche insights to ChatGPT’s professed 200 million weekly users as well as, presumably, on the prototype SearchGPT that launched in July (with a planned ChatGPT integration). Continue reading Hearst Agrees to Content Deal with OpenAI to Fuel ChatGPT

Reuters and CNN are among the global news services that will be charging those who want access to their digital content beyond a free quota. Reuters plans to add $1 per week pricing in the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe in the weeks ahead, while CNN is beginning to ask visitors for $4 a month or $30 per year. Vox Media’s popular tech publication The Verge is also said to be considering subscription fees. The outlets are pursuing digital monetization strategies as ad-supported models are increasingly challenging for those who aren’t Google, Meta or Amazon. Continue reading CNN, Reuters Roll Out Consumer Subscriptions and Paywalls

Business-focused social network LinkedIn says video uploads have increased 45 percent on the platform, year-over-year, so it’s testing the Wire Program for in-stream video ads to run alongside publisher content from Bloomberg, Forbes, NBCUniversal, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal, among others. The B2B social network is also expanding capabilities in Accelerate, its AI campaign creation and optimization offering. The new features are part of LinkedIn’s effort to boost marketer participation in brand-building and engagement among what the company says is a community of one billion global professionals. Continue reading LinkedIn Boosts AI, Joins Publishers on In-Stream Video Ads

The Atlantic and Vox Media are the latest publishers to sign deals with OpenAI allowing its editorial products to be used with its artificial intelligence products. The agreements allow OpenAI to use content from The Atlantic and Vox (owner of The Verge and New York Magazine) to train AI models and display news within ChatGPT. Financial details were not disclosed. The publishers said the deals will expose their content to a broader audience as well as provide access to OpenAI technology to help create new products for readers. Continue reading OpenAI Media Push Continues in Pacts with The Atlantic, Vox

In news rocking the publishing world, two of the largest newspaper chains in the U.S. have drastically downsized their contracts with the Associated Press, eliminating AP journalism from their combined 230 news outlets, including Gannett’s USA Today and McClatchy’s The Miami Herald. Though neither chain disclosed how much the move will save, the AP assesses “it is likely to be in the millions of dollars” for each. Gannett announced it has chosen another newswire partner, Reuters, and says it will continue to subscribe to the AP Stylebook and election results data. AP says its Gannett contract runs through the end of 2024. Continue reading Gannett, McClatchy Cancel Associated Press News Contracts

Twitter is tweaking its Birdwatch crowdsourced fact-check feature, adding aliases so contributors can conceal their identities when notating someone’s tweet. The company says its goal in having people append anonymously is “keeping focus on the content of notes rather than who’s writing them,” reducing bias and tempering polarization. To ensure aliases don’t overshadow accountability, all Birdwatch accounts now have profile pages that aggregate past contributions, and the ratings those contributions received from other Birdwatchers, accruing credibility to contributors whose notes and ratings are consistently found helpful by others. Continue reading Twitter Formalizes Its Birdwatch Program with Aliases, Profiles

The premium service Twitter Blue is opening to users in the U.S. and New Zealand, after having launched this summer in Australia and Canada. The Blue program is available for $2.99 per month on iOS, Android and the web. Blue subscribers gain a range of features, including the ability to undo tweets within 30 seconds of posting, categorizing saved tweets into topical bookmark folders, using a reader mode for turning threads into easy-reading text, and adding a custom range of app icons. Additional features available only to iOS users include mobile color themes, a customizable navigation bar, and the ability to pin conversations. Continue reading Premium Twitter Blue Now Available in U.S. and New Zealand

Beginning April 15, TikTok’s policy on personalized ads is changing. According to notices that TikTok users are seeing on their feeds, personalized ads will be mandatory — and users will no longer have the ability to opt out of such ads based on their actions — although the users will still be able to opt out of ads based on data TikTok gets from its advertising partners. Not included in this policy change are users in the European Union who are protected from personalized ads by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that requires user consent for such ads. Continue reading New TikTok Personalized Ad Policy Ends Choice to Opt Out

The free, ad-supported media app Plex just added 80 live TV channels, none of them cable channels like CNN, Lifetime or TBS. Rather, it offers a lineup that includes Reuters, Toon Goggles and the Bob Ross Channel, among others. In the current economic climate, consumers are gravitating to this kind of free linear programming, which harkens back to the early days of television. Plex got its start as a cord-cutting solution with free on-demand video and DVR functionality for on-air TV networks. Continue reading Plex Launches 80 Live TV Channels on Its Ad-Supported App

FLIR Systems and Seek Thermal, two manufacturers of thermal imaging equipment, are working overtime to meet demand for companies preparing to return to work. One essential criterion for reopening has emerged as the ability to detect body temperatures of workers, to prevent spread of the coronavirus. Oregon-based FLIR’s shares rose about 16 percent after Reuters reported that Amazon plans to use thermal cameras at its warehouses and Whole Foods stores, although neither FLIR not Seek were listed as the supplier. Continue reading Pandemic Pushes the Demand for Thermal Imaging Cameras

The United Kingdom proposed that its media regulator Ofcom take on the responsibility of regulating Internet content, in part to encourage Facebook, YouTube and other Internet behemoths to police their own platforms. Ofcom would be able to issue penalties against companies lax in fighting “harmful and illegal terrorist and child abuse content.” Many details have yet to be filled in. Meanwhile, Reuters has formed a new Fact Check business unit, which is poised to become a third-party partner aimed at ferreting out misinformation on Facebook. Continue reading UK Proposes Internet Laws, Reuters to Fact-Check Facebook

To better compete with Amazon, Walmart is reinventing itself from a big box retailer into a tech powerhouse, starting with the 2016 purchase of Jet.com. Other recent deals in this vein include a partnership with Alphabet’s Waymo to provide rides to and from its stores; Uber, Lyft and Postmates deals for grocery delivery; and another with Japan’s Rakuten for Kobo e-readers. Last month, Walmart switched its cloud operations to Microsoft Azure and Office 365 and inked a five-year deal to work with Microsoft on AI projects. Continue reading Walmart Expands Offerings in Growing Rivalry with Amazon