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May 15 (Reuters) – Hedra, an AI startup that helps businesses generate lifelike videos, said it has raised $32 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s Infrastructure fund to expand operations and deepen its reach among marketers. The Series A fundraise valued the company at $200 million, according to a source involved in the deal. The round brings its total raised funds to $43 million, Hedra said on Thursday. The AI video space has boomed in the past…

CANNES, France, May 15 (Reuters) – Buyers and sellers are heading into this year’s Cannes Film Market under a cloud of uncertainty as the initial shock of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed 100% tariff on foreign-made films has faded into a cautious business-as-usual approach. While the Cannes Film Festival conjures visions of glamorous celebrities on the red carpet and yacht parties, the film market, the world’s largest, is the main attraction, bringing together industry players, big and small, to do business. With over 15,000…

BEIJING, May 15 (Reuters) – Chinese smartphone and electric vehicle maker Xiaomi (1810.HK), opens new tab said on Thursday it would launch a new self developed mobile phone chip, XringO1, in late May. The announcement was made by Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun on his Weibo account. He did not give any further details. The move marks an effort by Xiaomi to develop an advanced mobile processor, as it has been focused on simpler chips such as power management chips and image sensors…

OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 upgrade is more than just hype. Here’s how this model outperforms GPT-4o in software development, long-form tasks, and accuracy, according to developers already using it. OpenAI is now bringing GPT-4.1 to the Plus, Pro, and Team tiers of ChatGPT. GPT-4.1 was previously available only to API users. Since I’m throwing a whole lot of buzzwords at you, let’s spend a minute deconstructing all these terms. OK, so that should bring you up to speed. Back in April, OpenAI released GPT-4.1 for…

The company is reportedly pulling back on some privacy concerns to give its smart glasses lineup a bigger AI boost. 2 min read Meta is reportedly developing what it calls a “super sensing” type of facial recognition technology to its smart glasses lineup. A new report from The Information said that Meta is developing software for the glasses that has the ability to recognize people by name and keep better track of what users are doing throughout the day. The company originally…

What to expect from Google I/O about the company’s AI-infused strategy for AR and VR. 3 min read Google’s future of AI looks like it’s going through glasses and we should know more as soon as next week. A little tease by Android head Sameer Samat, where he put on a pair of smart glasses at the end of Google’s Android 16 showcase this week, pointed toward more to come at the company’s AI-focused IO developer conference next week. The glasses are part of Android…

Uber announced a new type of ride that travels along a set route, comes every 20 minutes, includes up to two other passengers, and costs up to 50 percent less than an UberX ride. In other words, a bus. For years, Uber and its smaller rival Lyft have been gently mocked online for occasionally releasing products that closely resemble public transportation. That’s likely to crop up again with the launch of Route Share, a fixed route car service that requires the customer to walk…

Toyota confirmed today that the all-electric C-HR, previously only available in Europe, will arrive in the US next year. You might recall the C-HR as the gas-powered compact crossover sold in the US from 2018-2022. But now it has been resurrected as a battery electric vehicle with an estimated driving range of up to 290 miles. No pricing information has been released, but I expect we’ll get more clarity closer to the release date. In the US, the C-HR will only…

Universal appears to have confirmed that the next Mario film will be titled Super Mario World. The title was included in a press release about upcoming movies, but apparently by mistake, since it was removed shortly after publication. The title first appeared in a press release about NBCUniversal’s upcoming content slate, listed as part of a selection of films scheduled to stream exclusively on NBC’s Peacock following their theatrical release. Within hours the post had been updated and “Super Mario World” removed,…

Shandong researchers suggest that edible and medicinal fungi contain bioactive components with therapeutic potential for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Findings offer evidence for the potential of these fungi to serve as novel pharmaceuticals or functional foods in the treatment of CNS diseases. Central nervous system (CNS) diseases involve complex pathophysiology, gradual symptom onset, and significant challenges in therapeutic evaluation. Aging populations and increasing life and work stress have contributed to a rising incidence of conditions such as stroke, Alzheimer’s…