Birthday Countdown On Instagram: Why To Use It And How To Use It?
The article discusses the countdown feature on Instagram stories. It explores in detail the meaning, benefits, and uses of the feature. We also discuss how one can use this countdown feature easily on Instagram.
Instagram has numerous features that make social media connection a lot easier. Whether it is uploading photos or creating a reel, Instagram has got it all. One of its most loved features is the countdown stickers. It can be used to pre-announce or share anything of your choice. So, to learn how to effectively use this feature to share your next big event, read this article.
What is the countdown feature on Instagram?
The countdown feature is an Instagram story feature that notifies your followers of an event. Not only this, they can decide whether they want to be reminded of it in the near future. In simple words, your followers also get the option to interact with the countdown sticker. They can get reminders or share them on their Instagram accounts. Nonetheless, they will be reminded of such events through Instagram or phone notifications.
What are the benefits of using the countdown feature on Instagram?
It is one of the most used features by many Instagrammers, whether it is for personal celebrations or business announcements. When you announce something so exclusively, people tend to see it. You must agree that people would do anything to attract attention on social media. In the professional arena, it can be used to promote an event or make consumers aware of the launch of a new product. This way, it could boost the signups and sales within your company.
Talking about personal purposes, you can use this countdown feature to share the major details of your life with your dear followers. It could be used to announce a vacation or holiday or to make someone feel special. Consider this: the birthdays of your loved ones are around the corner. You want to make them feel special, even before the big day. What could you possibly do better than a birthday countdown on Instagram?
Also Read – Here’s How To Fix ‘Video File Cannot Be Played’ Error Code 232001
Ideas for using the countdown feature for businesses
- Announce a product launch, event, or a new branch opening.
- To invite the followers to your Instagram live.
- Promote an article or post.
- To note the work anniversaries, celebrations, or festivals.
- Advertise the product or service.
- To announce giveaways, pre-orders, and pre-bookings.
Ideas for using the countdown feature for individuals
- You can start someone’s birthday countdown on Instagram.
- Announce a holiday or a trip.
- Celebrate a personal milestone.
- To announce limited bookings for your performances.
How to do birthday countdown on Instagram
- Open Instagram and log in to your account.
- Take a new picture or choose an existing one for your Instagram story.
- Open the Instagram stickers.
- Scroll down to find the countdown option on it.
- You can type birthday or whatever you want to wish.
- Set a date and time for the occasion.
- You can also change the appearance of the feature.
- Mention another Instagram account if you wish to.
- Post the story for the Instagram birthday countdown.
Final words
Among numerous features available on Instagram that can be used for professional and personal fun, the countdown feature stands out from the rest. They are not only captivating to the audience but also register your name in the minds of others. We hope that this article has given you a detailed overview of the countdown feature on Instagram.
Here’s How To Fix ‘Video File Cannot Be Played’ Error Code 232001
The article discusses what the error code 232001 is. It is a common problem that many people face while video streaming. In this article, we also explore the reasons behind this error and some of the best ways to fix it.
Are you also having problems loading or playing a video? Well, you are not alone. Obviously, it gets frustrating after a point. In this fast-paced world, facing such error messages is a setback. It not only creates disruptions but also ruins the whole vibe of your video-streaming experience. In this article, we discuss in detail why this error occurs when streaming video. Its causes and the ways to solve this problem are also discussed.
What Is The 232001 Video Error Code?
There’s nothing serious about this error code. It just indicates that your ‘video file cannot be played.’ Usually, it happens when the browser is unable to connect with the server. There could be numerous reasons for this.
Why Does The Video Error 232001 Occur?
This is a network or playback issue. Two of the main and most common reasons why this error 232001 message is displayed are listed below.
Internet-related Problems
First of all, the error code 232001 can prompt your screen for a lack of stability in your internet connection. When the internet speed is slow or lagging, you face such disruptions in the middle of the video. Thus, we recommend you check the data connection or your wifi router. If the problem persists, try changing your internet connection.
Browser-related Problems
Secondly, you can also try solving your browser-related problems. Start by clearing the cookies and cache via the settings of your browser. Try to update it, and ensure that you have the latest version of your browser. It will likely help you solve the error code 232001.
Also Read – How to Reduce Fortnite Lagging: 5+ Effective Tips
How do I fix the error code 232001?
If you have also gotten tired of trying to fix the error and all your efforts have been in vain till now, do not worry. Below, we have listed some of the best ways to solve the ‘video file cannot be played’ error.
1. Clear browser cache and cookies
Let’s start with the basics. Have you tried to clear the cookies and caches from your browser’s settings? Don’t worry, as it will not impose any threat on the data that already exists. Rather, it will clear the unwanted browser history, which could be the potential cause of this error. It could be done by following these steps.
- Go to the top-right corner of your browser. You will see three dots.
- Click on these dots.
- Open the ‘Settings’ option from the drop-down menu.
- Click on ‘Privacy and Security.’
- You will see an option to clear browsing data. Click on that.
- An option for ‘Basic Settings’ will appear.
- Select the ‘Cookies and other site data’ and ‘Cached images and files’ options.
- Lastly, clear the data completely.
2. Using incognito mode
Obviously, you must be aware of the wonders that incognito mode does. It solves almost all the problems when it comes to your browser. Thus, you can also try leveraging this feature to solve the video error 232001. Follow the steps below to enter incognito mode.
- Click on the three dots in the top-right corner of your browser window.
- Choose the ‘New Incognito Window’ option from the drop-down menu.
- Copy the URL that is showing the error and paste it into the search tab.
- Check whether the problem still exists.
3. Change the settings of the browser
In order to avoid this error 232001, you can try to reset your browsing settings. Meanwhile, you need to remember all your saved passwords, as resetting will delete them entirely. The instructions for the same are as follows:
- Click on the top-right corner of your browser.
- You will find the three dots. Click on that.
- Open the ‘Settings’ of the browser.
- Click on ‘Advanced Settings.’
- Reset the tab.
- Lastly, reset the settings.
4. Update your browser
Another possible reason for this error could be an outdated browser. Thus, to enjoy a seamless streaming experience, you should update your browser today. The steps to follow to update your browser are listed below.
- Check the top-right corner of your browser. You will find three dots.
- Select the help option.
- Open the ‘About’ section of Google Chrome.
- Now, you will be able to see whether your browser is outdated.
- Your browser will be updated by clicking on this option.
5. Disabling all browser extensions
If your browser also has many extensions, it might be the root cause of your problems. Disabling them might be helpful to prevent the video error 232001. You can do that by following the steps below.
- Click on the three dots in your browser window.
- Open the ‘Settings’ tab from the drop-down menu.
- Go to the ‘Extensions’ option.
- You can disable the extensions that might be causing you trouble.
Conclusion
In essence, there are many ways to stop the video error 232001. It is not only annoying but also time-consuming to struggle with such kinds of setbacks. But it is good news that many people have found the solution to this problem by following the steps mentioned below. We hope that these instructions will help you prevent the video playback error.
What Is Lifecycle Marketing And Why Is It Important For A Business?
Marketing is a business aspect that would be foolish to ignore. It is not a one-time thing, and constant evaluation and effort are needed to retain your customers. It is also important for one to provide flawless customer experience, that would ultimately make them your fans.
Do you believe that marketing is a one-time process? Experienced marketers know that winning the hearts, let alone money and trust, of people takes time. Thus, the concept of lifecycle marketing arises. It implies the methods used by marketers to ensure that their product remains relevant in the market for the long run. Moreover, it is absolutely necessary for you to stay in discussions with your customers even after they have made the purchase. To learn in detail what lifecycle marketing is, its types, and lifecycle marketing examples, keep reading.
What is customer lifecycle marketing?
Consider this: You have made a purchase from a brand. Their marketing strategy and customer support has been so flawless that you start recommending the brand to your friends as well.
This is because of their customer lifecycle marketing. It means an approach that marketers use to sustain their customers for a longer period of time. In simpler words, they should remain loyal to you unless they are not wholly satisfied with your product or service.
This marketing strategy is used so that your customers become your brand ambassadors. It is a cost-effective and most credible method of marketing, as potential buyers would trust the testimony of those who have already tried and tested your product.
Why is customer lifecycle marketing important?
We hope that you would have understood by now what is a lifecycle strategy. Now, you might wonder, is it really crucial? Your concern is justified, as there are multiple marketing strategies that serve the common goal, that is, to increase the sales and growth of a company. Therefore, we have discussed below some of the main reasons why customer lifecycle marketing is important.
Builds customer lifetime value: By maintaining positive customer relations, you inspire them to stay loyal. Thus, their expense and lifetime value increases.
Boosts profit: It helps you maintain your existing customer base, and that is cost-effective as well.
Gives you a competitive advantage: By following a marketing lifecycle, your brand can shine out of its rivals.
What are the stages of lifecycle marketing?
The six stages of lifecycle marketing are discussed below.
Awareness: The foremost step in any marketing strategy is to make your consumers aware that you exist in the market. Not only this, one needs to highlight their USP at this stage.
Interest: While one can see that you exist, it doesn’t necessarily imply that they would be interested in your brand. Thus, developing strategies that would contribute to the audience’s interest is important.
Consideration: At this stage, customers are still considering whether they should make a purchase or not. Nonetheless, they will only choose to buy from you once you highlight your uniqueness.
Purchase: One finally decides to buy your product or service at this stage. However, reaching this stage entirely depends on the brand’s efforts in the previous three stages.
Retention: It would not contribute significantly to the brand’s growth if someone buys the product once. Instead, you need to ensure that your consumers keep coming back to you and choose your brand over others. Thus, B2B lifecycle marketing is about long-term relationships with the customers.
Advocacy: Advocacy, in simple terms, means word of mouth advertising. This means that your satisfied consumers also start to tell others about your competitive advantages.
How to build a lifecycle marketing strategy?
A customer lifecycle marketing software can be used in various ways. Nevertheless, one can also use the methods listed below.
Understand your target audience’s behavior: By identifying the attitude of your target audience, one can develop strategies that purely resonate with their needs and wants.
Define your goals: Having clarity in your goals is always useful, as it gets easier to align your performance with them.
Customer segmentation: Dividing your customers at various levels will help you develop a more personalized marketing strategy.
Overcome the challenges: Undoubtedly, lifecycle marketing jobs are difficult. However, if you identify the points that hinder your customer interaction and growth, you can easily develop plans to get rid of them.
Conclusion
To sum it up, there are various aspects of lifecycle marketing that one can use to attract customers. Not only this, but it can also help you have a loyal fanbase and make them your brand advocates. Afterall, who would not prefer advertising, that too, for free, for their products?
Why Is Office Management Crucial: Definition, Objective, Functions, And More
A lot of things come to mind when we discuss a healthy workplace. Office management has become important for increasing productivity and positivity within the company. Therefore, one sitting in such an influential position should have good management skills. In the long run, it will help the company grow and stand out from the rest.
Being in charge of a workplace is not something that a mere office management course would teach you. If you think it means ensuring your employees are on time or getting their coffee at a fixed time, then you might need to reconsider. Office managers are responsible for ensuring a productive environment without affecting the happiness of their employees. Nonetheless, a person holding such a position should first understand its true meaning. The job is a difficult one, and it comes with many challenges. However, the one who understands the dynamics should be the one who deserves this position. To learn in detail about office management and the steps involved in the process, keep reading.
What is office management?
Before stepping up to take on a leadership role such as this, one must understand it in its true sense. It includes responsibilities such as planning, organizing, designing, and controlling proper conduct in the office. While it is the employee’s duty to remain focused and dedicated in the workplace, the behavior of managers plays an important role. When the staff is happy, it increases productivity in the company, and results in increased revenue.
Meanwhile, an office manager should be the one an employee respects without having to ask for it. Becoming their inspiration will lead to higher motivation among the staff members. Moreover, one should understand the perspective of his juniors in order to succeed as a team. An efficient work environment will also improve a company’s profitability.
What are the aims and objectives of office management?
Understanding the desired outcome with the help of office management will make it more clear for you. Some of the objectives of office management are listed below.
Making the best of the resources available is an office management skill that not everyone has. In the long run, it will help in cutting costs and reduce the wastage of talent and money within the company.
An office manager should increase the efficiency of their team members. Carefully judging the staff’s behavior will lead to a better and more understanding team. Moreover, utilizing some office management tools can also be beneficial.
Undoubtedly, one of the most important tasks for anyone in a leadership role is driving profit for the company. If this is not possible even after a long period of time, then you should reconsider your abilities.
No company can stand out from its rivals without the personal development of its employees. Therefore, managers should help in the skill development and career growth of those working under them.
The atmosphere of an office and the mood of its employees play a huge role in a company’s success. Managers should bring positivity by interacting and giving feedback to the team members.
What are the functions of office management?
There are some office management roles that every administrative employee should play. We have written some of them below for easy understanding.
Informing and communicating
The foremost duty of an office manager is to inform and communicate with his staff transparently. Whether it is the company’s policy, mission, or vision, clarity in approach is mandatory.
Supervising employee activities
A manager needs to monitor the work of his team members. There are several office management system software that can be used to manage everything from start to end. Not only this, but it will also lead to increased efficiency.
Training and evaluation
A workplace should focus on training employees before assigning them regular tasks. In addition, an office manager should thoroughly evaluate individuals’ performance, possibly through a job trial period, and provide crucial feedback..
Types of office management jobs
An office management job description is not just limited to planning and ensuring a smooth implementation. The tasks and responsibilities vary with the sector in which you work. This will get more clear with the points written below.
Corporate Office Management
A corporate office has a manager at each of its branches. Their duty involves managing the employees and the company. The most important skills they should have are teamwork and communication with stakeholders.
Medical Office Management
The role of a medical office manager is to make sure that all the needed material is available. They should have enough knowledge of healthcare laws, medicines, and clinical procedures. Meanwhile, they also need to maintain patients’ privacy and collaborate with doctors and other healthcare professionals.
Legal Office Management
These managers need to be completely aware of the country’s criminal and civil laws. Their duty is to ensure that there are no illegal activities or law breaches in the workplace. They can also use legal office management software to simplify their tasks.
Virtual Office Management
Companies that do not require an onsite manager employ people in remote jobs to take the position. Meanwhile, they can also choose to work for various companies that do not require much to be overlooked rather than being employed full-time at a company.
Conclusion
To sum it up, some of the most important functions for a person in an office management position are communicating and motivating. With these skills, it gets easier to overcome all the challenges that come your way and contribute to the company’s growth. As the world sees a shift in workplace culture, the need for a compatible office manager also arises.
Telly TV Review: Should You Try This Free TV Or Not?
You must have heard about the free 55-inch TV people have been receiving. We understand that you have come to our page searching for a genuine and helpful product review. Nonetheless, it is entirely normal for you to be doubtful about Telly TV because, obviously, who would give such a product for free without expecting anything significant in return? Thus, this article provides an unbiased Telly TV review, and its pros, cons, alternatives, and more.
What is Telly TV?
Telly is an American startup founded by Ilya Pozin, the co-founder of Pluto TV. Telly has buy-in from many famous companies such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix, Samsung, Roku, Comcast, Sony, and more. Users get a free 55-inch TV delivered to their homes in exchange for watching ads. Further, Telly also collects users’ data to make their experience more personalized.
Is Telly TV legit?
While it is normal for people to doubt Telly TV, we assure you it is entirely legit. Of course, you might think that no one gives away anything for free, certainly not a TV. Moreover, it is not only a 55-inch TV but a TV with a built-in soundbar, webcam, and a far-field microphone array.
All that one has to do is bear some ads for a few seconds, and that’s it. Besides that, all the features and equipment in Telly TV are free. Many users have tried and tested it, and it has received positive responses.
However, some consider its privacy policies a red flag. The company can record your watch data, even your whereabouts. So, one must choose to access the free service with proper consideration. You can visit this Telly TV website to learn more about the product’s features.
Should You Try Telly TV?
You must be aware of the fact that everything has its own pros and cons. Likewise, Telly TV also comes with several benefits and drawbacks in its offerings. Thus, a detailed Telly TV review is mentioned below.
Pros of Telly TV
- Firstly, this 55-inch TV is absolutely free of cost.
- It comes with advanced specifications, such as a soundbar, webcam, and more.
- People can stream NFL matches and weather and stock reports easily.
Cons of Telly TV
- The biggest concern with this free product is its privacy policy.
- One needs to share his data with the startup. Failing to do so would result in a return of the TV or being charged for it.
- Lastly, it comes with loads of ads. It seems like they are force-feeding these advertisements to the viewers.
Also Read – What is Crackstreams? Check Out Best Crackstreams Alternatives
Are there any alternatives to Telly TV?
Now that you have learned about this product’s pros and cons, you might begin to consider its alternatives. First, ask yourself: Do you wish to carry a whole box inside your home to stream free content? It takes up a lot of space, and we have already discussed Telly TV’s privacy concerns. Therefore, we have listed below some free apps that are very popular as Telly TV alternatives.
1. Pluto TV
Pluto TV is a streaming service by Paramount Global that is free of cost. It is one of the best options for those looking to entertain themselves without facing a dip in their pockets. It offers users access to live streams of popular networks such as Comedy Central, AMC, Nickelodeon, and MTV. Meanwhile, we understand you need more certainty about its legitimacy. We assure you of its safety, as this free platform earns money from advertising rather than depending on subscriptions from users. A detailed analysis of Pluto TV is written below.
Pros of Pluto TV
- The first and foremost benefit of using Pluto TV is that it is absolutely free.
- It provides users with an experience similar to that of cable.
- Some of the most popular titles are available for viewers.
Cons of Pluto TV
- Some people find it needing more new and updated episodes of the title.
- It seems to have shorter versions of some of the most popular TV channels.
- Lastly, there is no feature to record live-streaming content for later watch.
2. Tubi TV
This OTT platform is another Telly TV alternative. Fox Corporation owns this service and aims to compete with giants like Netflix and Hulu. Meanwhile, Tubi TV is free and does not require users to pay additional charges. All that one needs to do is tolerate the ads shown. People can access live TV shows such as news and sports matches along with movies and shows. It is important to note that the service does not show original content. Instead, it shows users the content created by MGM, Paramount, and Lionsgate. Some of its merits and demerits are listed below.
Pros of Tubi TV
- It would be evident by now that Tubi TV is free of cost.
- In addition, it lets you watch content from renowned studios.
- Tubi TV has a user-friendly interface.
Cons of Tubi TV
- Some people find the available titles outdated.
- One cannot determine the time of advertisements while streaming.
3. Crackle
This Telly TV alternative is a video streaming platform with a vast collection of series and movies. The service, however, is restricted to regions outside the United States. People from other countries can use VPNs to access the same. Previously acquired by Sony, Crackle is now owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul. It has millions of visitors and is available on devices such as Apple TV, Roku, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Android TV, and Android and iOS devices. More information about Crackle is written below.
Pros of Crackle
- This free platform does not require users to sign in and has a user-friendly interface.
- It provides updated and fresh content that is of high quality, too.
- Lastly, it is available on various devices, with subtitles available.
Cons of Crackle
- One cannot download the content for offline watch.
- People residing outside the United States can only access it with a VPN.
- Besides, it shows a lot of advertisements.
Conclusion
To sum up, Telly TV has its own advantages and disadvantages. One needs to properly consider the actual cost of this free TV, which is compromising your privacy and security. Meanwhile, if you decide not to opt for Telly TV, this article has listed some of its best alternatives that might be helpful for you.
Yahoo Acquires AI News Startup Artifact Built By Instagram Co-Founders
Yahoo announced on Tuesday that it is acquiring the AI-driven news app Artifact, developed by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. The company will now add Artifact’s high-tech features into news services across the United States.
The press release by Yahoo states,
Artifact will no longer operate as a standalone app, but the proprietary AI-powered personalization technology and other features will be integrated across Yahoo, including the Yahoo News app, in the months to come.
Bringing these capabilities into the Yahoo portfolio accelerates the opportunity to connect users with even richer content experiences and tailored personalization,
The commercial terms of the deal are yet to be revealed by either of them. With this deal, Artifact’s features will be helpful for Yahoo News. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s press release indicated that Systrom and Kriege will play advisory roles in this transitioning stage.
Also Read – Microsoft To Separate Office And Teams Amid EU Antitrust Concerns
This deal comes just two months after the news startup published a blog post about Artifact’s future. The post stated,
“We’ve made the decision to wind down operations of the Artifact app. We launched a year ago and since then we’ve been working tirelessly to build a great product.”
“We have built something that a core group of users love, but we have concluded that the market opportunity isn’t big enough to warrant continued investment in this way,” the blog added.
Notably, Artifact first began running as a regular news app. However, by the end, it had become more like Twitter. With already higher competition in that area, including Meta’s Threads, Artifact made the difficult decision to wind down its functions.
The AI-driven platform had a feature that allowed it to personalize itself automatically based on user behavior. Moreover, users could quickly find the content that interests them through Artifact. AI tools were also available for summarizing the news, writing headlines, and more.
Google To Delete Incognito Browsing Data Over $5 Billion Lawsuit
Google has agreed to destroy billions of data records that were collected by the company secretly.
Google has agreed to restrictions on its ability to track users. The deal comes after a class action lawsuit was filed against Google in the United States in 2020.
The suit alleged that Google had compromised the online privacy of users by collecting records of data when people were browsing in private mode, known as incognito.
The proposed settlement was filed on Monday at an Oakland federal court in California. Meanwhile, it is yet to be approved by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
Also Read – Amazon Invests $2.75 Billion In Anthropic; Total Funding Reaches $4 Billion
The court filing states that if the judge approves this settlement, then the tech giant must “delete and/or remediate billions of data records” that were obtained from users’ incognito browsing histories.
The Wall Street Journal reported the plaintiff’s lawyer, David Boies, said in the filing,
This settlement is an historic step in requiring dominant technology companies to be honest in their representations to users about how the companies collect and employ user data, and to delete and remediate data collected.
Reuters reported in December last year regarding the claims of complainants. They stated,
Google’s analytics, cookies and apps let the Alphabet unit track their activity even when they set Google’s Chrome browser to “Incognito” mode and other browsers to “private” browsing mode.
A trial on the case was originally scheduled to be held on February 5, 2024. However, it was stopped due to an initial settlement between both sides in December 2023. The terms of the settlement, however, were not disclosed by either of them.
The lawsuit sought damages worth at least $5 billion. It required $5,000 in damages per user for breaching federal wiretapping and California privacy laws.
OpenAI Announces New Voice Engine That Generates Human Voices
ChatGPT maker OpenAI is continuously advancing its artificial intelligence models in order to shine in this competitive landscape. On Friday, the company announced a new AI model that can replicate synthetic audio output from a person’s voice. This model can generate speeches with a single 15-second audio sample.
OpenAI announced this technology on X by sharing their blog post and writing,
We're sharing our learnings from a small-scale preview of Voice Engine, a model which uses text input and a single 15-second audio sample to generate natural-sounding speech that closely resembles the original speaker. https://t.co/yLsfGaVtrZ
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) March 29, 2024
While this is a game-changing AI model, it poses serious risks. The model has not yet been released to the public, and OpenAI did not fail to address the possibility of potential misuse.
It stated in the blog post,
We recognize that generating speech that resembles people’s voices has serious risks, which are especially top of mind in an election year.
We are engaging with U.S. and international partners from across government, media, entertainment, education, civil society and beyond to ensure we are incorporating their feedback as we build,
Notably, they are checking out various options that prevent deep-fake misuse of this AI model. Either the company could include watermarks in synthetic voices or introduce protective measures to avert risks.
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This newly announced voice engine can clone one’s voice quite easily. All a person has to do is record a 15-second clip of their voice, and the AI model will generate synthetic but natural-sounding speech and speak aloud the text prompt typed in by the user. It is interesting to note that the text does not even need to be in the native language of the user, as the voice engine helps change languages.
Meanwhile, OpenAI product manager Jeff Harris, in an interview with TechCrunch, said,
So far, it isn’t open sourced — we have it internally for now. We’re curious about making it publicly available, but obviously, that comes with added risks in terms of exposure and breaking it.
Amazon Invests $2.75 Billion In Anthropic; Total Funding Reaches $4 Billion
Amazon has announced an additional 2.75 billion dollars in investment in the San Francisco-based generative AI startup Anthropic, making it a total of 4 billion dollars.
This is quite surprising, as the investment is one of the biggest from the company over the last few decades; however, in order to stay at the top of the competition, this move could prove to be beneficial.
Anthropic’s foundation model and chatbot, called Claude, aims to compete with OpenAI and ChatGPT.
Amazon’s largest-ever venture investment is a significant addition to the partnership between artificial intelligence and technology giants. For instance, consider Google and Microsoft, who have been striving hard to advance their technologies.
The startup has achieved great milestones, given that it was founded just three years ago. However, it’s no surprise as former OpenAI executives and researchers founded Anthropic.
Reportedly, the company has bagged five investments of more than 7 billion dollars. Thus, it was last valued at 18.4 billion dollars, which is about 4.5 times more than the value in early 2023.
The vice president of Data and AI at Amazon Web Services, Dr. Swami Sivasubramanian, stated in the company’s post,
Generative AI is poised to be the most transformational technology of our time, and we believe our strategic collaboration with Anthropic will further improve our customers’ experiences, and look forward to what’s next.
The deal between Anthropic and Amazon has made AWS the primary cloud provider of Anthropic. Not only this, but from now on, the artificial intelligence company will use Amazon’s custom chips to create, teach and place its AI models.
Meanwhile, Anthropic’s funding worth billions will continue to increase its value even more. It is clear that companies like Microsoft and Amazon, which are unable to develop their own advanced AI models for several potential reasons, are bound to take help from other AI ventures, such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
The US Department Of Justice Sues Apple In Illegal Monopoly Case
The US Justice Department and sixteen state and district attorneys have sued tech giant Apple. With this new antitrust lawsuit, the complainants have accused Apple of having an illegal monopoly in the smartphone industry.
The civil complaint filed in the New Jersey District Court accuses the company of suppressing developers and other rivals in order to eradicate competition.
The federal lawsuit directly targets the company’s most popular product, that is, the iPhone. Notably, the iPhone alone has helped significantly increase Apple’s valuation to over $2.7 trillion, making it a household name among billions.
The lawsuit, which consists of 88 pages, states:
Each step in Apple’s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly.
The cumulative effect of this course of conduct has been to maintain and entrench Apple’s smartphone monopoly at the expense of the users, developers, and other third parties who helped make the iPhone what it is today,
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice said that in order to keep consumers purchasing iPhones, Apple has indulged in a competition that is unethical and illegal. The company blocks cross-platform messaging apps and limits the compatibility of third-party wallet apps and smartwatches. It also negatively impacts non-app store programs and cloud streaming services.
This alleges that Apple’s anti-competitive measures are not only limited to the iPhone and Apple Watch but also to their advertising, browser, and FaceTime features. Soon after the suit was filed, the company’s shares fell by over 4%.
Apple, in response, denied all the accusations made by the US government, according to Reuters.
This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple — where hardware, software, and services intersect,
the company said.
