Amazon’s new Alexa has reportedly slipped to 2025

Pivot 5: 5 stories. 5 minutes a day. 5 days a week.

1. Amazon’s new Alexa has reportedly slipped to 2025

Amazon's Alexa voice assistant has been pushed back to 2025, according to Bloomberg. The revamped voice assistant, which was expected to have ChatGPT-style intelligence and more natural conversations, has been criticized for its slow responses and lack of functionality.

The new Alexa also messes up smart home integrations and hallucinates. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has yet to provide a compelling vision for an AI-powered Alexa, and there is limited information about what it will bring to users. The company is also working on a new Alexa device.

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2. Apple’s new MacBook Pro features the incredibly powerful M4 family of chips and ushers in a new era with Apple Intelligence

Apple has unveiled the new MacBook Pro, powered by the M4 family of chips, delivering faster performance and enhanced capabilities. The 14-inch model includes the M4 family's blazing-fast performance and three Thunderbolt 4 ports, starting with 16GB of memory.

The 14- and 16-inch models with M4 Pro and M4 Max offer Thunderbolt 5 for faster transfer speeds and advanced connectivity. All models include a Liquid Retina XDR display with a nano-texture display option, an advanced 12MP Center Stage camera, and up to 24 hours of battery life.

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3. Aesthetic launches the ‘Shazam for fashion’

Aesthetic, a fashion company, uses AI to help people identify and shop for clothing they source on social media. The fashion concierge, Alma, allows users to save, shop, and share their fashion inspiration without leaving their favorite social apps.

The company has received investments from Slow Capital and Zeal Capital Partners. Aesthetic's proprietary fashion AI/ML platform is funded by the Google Cloud AI startup program. The company aims to help creators monetize their style and create their own Aesthetic pages for fans.

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4. Not just ChatGPT anymore: Perplexity and Anthropic’s Claude get desktop apps

Mac apps for popular AI services are gaining popularity, with Anthropic launching a desktop app for its Claude chatbot and Perplexity launching a native app for its AI-driven search service. OpenAI has updated its ChatGPT Mac app with advanced voice features, while Perplexity offers a keyboard shortcut for querying and conversation.

Anthropic's Claude is a direct competitor to ChatGPT, offering a free beta version and subscriptions for advanced users. Both apps are being developed by Anthropic.

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5. Archon emerges from stealth with $20M and ‘antibody cages’ to power up drug development

Archon Biosciences, a biotech startup, has raised $20 million in seed funding to develop antibody treatments using specially designed protein "cages" that multiply their effects. The company is the first to be spun out of Baker Lab, a University of Washington research outfit led by computational biologist David Baker. Archon's antibody cages offer a scaffold for modifying and multiplying their effectiveness, potentially improving the chance of a medication working.

The startup's protein design platform uses generative protein creation and simulation tools created at and licensed from Baker Lab, and the resulting AbCs could have various effects. The $20 million round was led by Madrona Ventures, with participation from DUMAC Inc., Sahsen Ventures, WRF Capital, Pack Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Cornucopian Capital. Archon is based in Seattle and will be visiting TechCrunch soon to learn more about this promising spinout.

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