Category: News and Views

AI-Powered Reels recommendations are keeping us on Instagram | Mashable

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Unfortunately, it turns out we actually kind of like watching Instagram Reels.

When Instagram first launched Reels and promised to pivot the social media platform to video, users were livid. We threw fits. Kylie Jenner demanded that we “make Instagram Instagram again.” And, at first, Reels flopped as a lame version of TikTok.

But, at Meta’s earnings call on Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg reported that time spent on Instagram had risen by 24 percent, an engagement increase he blames on Instagram Reels.

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GDP: The US economy grew at a much slower pace in the first quarter | CNN Business

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US economic growth slowed to an annualized and seasonally adjusted rate of 1.1% in the first quarter of this year, as businesses rebalanced their inventories and pulled back on spending amid punishing rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

The increase in the gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — was far below economists’ expectations of 2% and represents a more moderate pace compared to the previous two quarters, according to data released Thursday by the Department of Commerce.

The January-to-March period was also marked in its later weeks by mounting fears that a meltdown in the banking sector and a pending debt ceiling crisis could trigger a recession.

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Adobe Announces Updates to Its Popular Video Tools | Small Biz Trends

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Adobe recently announced industry-first innovations for its range of video applications which are designed to address the workflow needs of today’s professional editors and motion designers.

The new innovations will automate time-intensive tasks including AI-powered text-based video editing and automated color tone-mapping capabilities in Premiere Pro. There will also be significant GPU acceleration as well as dozens of workflow enhancements to make the latest version of Premiere Pro the fastest ever released.

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SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk’s big rocket explodes on test flight | BBC News

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Elon Musk’s SpaceX company’s mammoth new rocket, Starship, has exploded on its maiden flight.

No-one was hurt in the uncrewed test that lifted off from Texas’ east coast on Thursday morning local time.

After two to three minutes into the flight, the rocket – the biggest ever developed – started to tumble out of control and was soon destroyed by onboard charges.

Mr Musk has said his company will try again in a couple of months.

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Snapchat’s AI chatbot is now free for all global users, says the AI will later ‘Snap’ you back | TechCrunch

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Snapchat’s AI chatbot is now opening up to a global audience, the company announced today at its Snap Partner Summit. Initially launched in February, the feature originally allowed Snapchat’s paid subscribers to chat with an AI chatbot powered by OpenAI’s GPT technology directly in its app. Now it will be available for free. To date, users have sent nearly 2 million messages per day using the chatbot, Snap noted. With today’s global expansion, the feature is also being upgraded with new functionality, including the ability to add My AI to group chats, get recommendations for places on Snap Map and Lenses, and share Snaps with My AI and receive chat replies.

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Microsoft kicks Twitter in the teeth | TechCrunch

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Microsoft is dropping Twitter from its advertising platform next week, nearly two months after Twitter announced that it will begin charging a minimum of $42,000 per month to users of its API, which include enterprises and research institutions.

Users began receiving emails about its new pricing details in early March, per a Wired report that observed at the time that the new pricing scheme “prices out nearly everyone.”

With its $2.15 trillion market cap and roughly $100 billion cash on hand at the end of last year, Microsoft obviously has the money to pay Twitter what it wants, so the move appears to be a bit of a statement, even as Microsoft is declining to elaborate further about its decision.

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Trader Joe’s Cashier Goes Viral for Unexpected Act of Kindness | Entrepreneur

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Everyone has had one of those days when nothing seems to go right.

Now, in a teary-eyed video that’s garnered over 57,800 views, a Trader Joe’s employee is being praised by a shopper for an unexpected act of kindness that turned her day around.

TikToker Danielle Blakey tearfully tells viewers that she will only shop at Trader Joe’s grocery stores from now on, explaining how she went into the store to pick up some items at night after having “a really hard couple of days,” although she didn’t specify what was going on.

“I’m normally really good at like masking my feelings,” she explains to viewers. “Clearly I was not tonight.”

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EPA gas car crackdown: Is Biden’s America ready for this many EVs? | Fast Company

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The Environmental Protection Agency’s new car-pollution rules, proposed on Wednesday, represent one of President Biden’s most aggressive policies to tackle climate change to date. If enacted, the tailpipe standards would have the effect of making U.S. emissions standards so strict over the next decade that electric vehicle sales would climb radically—from 5.8% of vehicles sold last year, to an estimate of 64% to 67% by 2032. At a press conference Wednesday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the regulations “the strongest-ever federal pollution standards for cars and trucks.”

Ultimately, the Biden administration claims it could cut car exhaust in half. The proposed regulations are the latest in a yearslong push to make America’s car industry greener. Early in his presidency, Biden declared: “The future of the auto industry is electric. There’s no turning back.” The EPA’s proposed rule change is evidence that the administration is sticking with that—but transforming America into a country where there are no gas engines in two-thirds of all new cars sold will be a bumpy ride, which requires addressing several challenges of EVs.

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Intuit QuickBooks Launches Rest-of-World App Store | Small Biz Trends

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Intuit QuickBooks has launched a dedicated rest-of-world app store, enabling developers to create apps that seamlessly integrate with the QuickBooks platform. The app store aims to serve accountants and small business owners globally by addressing specialized needs and pain points. Developers can now access a customer base in over 200 markets worldwide, tapping into millions of small businesses that can benefit from tailored solutions.

The app store provides resources for all skill levels, offering APIs, a sandbox for testing, and production keys for easy integration. Developers are encouraged to explore the QuickBooks platform and identify gaps or niche areas where apps could offer valuable solutions, including for specific vertical industries. All apps created and submitted to the platform will undergo technical, marketing, and security reviews before going live. This ensures the highest quality solutions for users, as well as developer compliance with the necessary standards

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Elon Musk Admits that Owning Twitter Hasn’t been easy | Digital Trends

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Twitter CEO Elon Musk agreed to an interview with the BBC on Tuesday night. It took place at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco with BBC journalist James Clayton and was streamed live on Twitter Spaces, the platform’s audio chatroom feature.

The interview covered a lot of areas, from Musk’s controversial acquisition of the platform in October 2022 to the mass layoffs of staff to how the company handles misinformation. He also confirmed reports earlier in the day that legacy blue checkmarks on Twitter accounts that aren’t paying for Twitter Blue will be removed on April 20.

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