TechCrunch AI
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1 day ago
Whatnot acquired Shaped, a machine learning company specializing in real-time recommendations and search systems, to improve product discovery as its livestream shopping marketplace expands. The company has reduced recommendation latency from roughly a day to minutes over six years and processes more than 500,000 hours of live video weekly. The integration of Shaped's technology is expected to push recommendations closer to real time, addressing live commerce's core challenge of matching shifting buyer demand with constantly changing inventory and auction schedules.
TechCrunch AI
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1 day ago
Apple's generative AI service has received regulatory approval to launch in China through a partnership integrating Alibaba's Qwen AI model into iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS. Apple's Greater China sales reached $20.5 billion in the second quarter, representing 28% growth year-over-year. The deal enables Apple Intelligence features, which debuted in 2024 globally, to finally become available to Chinese users after previous negotiations with Baidu, DeepSeek, and ByteDance fell through.
TechCrunch AI
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1 day ago
Anthropic and Blackstone launched Ode, a $1.5 billion AI implementation company, to deploy engineers who help enterprises integrate AI systems into their operations, following a similar move by OpenAI. Ode currently employs 100 engineers and acquired AI services startup Fractional AI as its foundation, operating on a "Claude-first" principle while remaining open to other AI models. The venture assumes that consulting services for AI deployment—not just model development—represents the next trillion-dollar business opportunity, though it faces competition from OpenAI's Deployment Company and consulting firms like Deloitte and Accenture.
