TechCapsules

EliseAI, an AI startup founded in 2017, secured $350 million in a Series F round that doubled its valuation to $4 billion. The funding was co‑led by Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Ventures. The company automates administrative tasks for housing and healthcare firms, serving 1 in 6 U.S. apartments and surpassing $200 million in annual recurring revenue. It also unveiled Apollo, an AI teammate integrated into its platform to streamline leasing, maintenance, renewals, and patient paperwork.

Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan warned that Meta’s Muse AI agent could erode Apple’s services revenue by capturing discovery, referral, and transaction flows that currently go through Apple’s ecosystem. Muse, now the top free app on the U.S. App Store with over 3.4 million downloads, can browse the web, book trips, and process payments via Shopify, Expedia, and PayPal. Apple’s shares fell 2.5 % after the note, yet Mohan maintained a “Buy” rating and $370 target, citing Apple’s [...]

The U.S. government unveiled its first public‑facing AI chatbot, America.gov, developed with Google and SpaceXAI. Designed to withstand red‑team testing, the bot has not been easily jailbreaked. When queried about Minecraft, it produced an 1,800‑word monologue that mirrors the game’s “End Poem,” sparking speculation about embedded Easter eggs. The chatbot also confirms Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory, a fact still contested by former President Trump. The incident highlights the bot’s unexpected creative output and the challenges of [...]

Corporate planning in the Philippines is shifting focus as executives prepare 2027 budgets amid inflation, interest rates, geopolitical tensions, and shifting consumer demand. A new priority has emerged: the strategic impact of artificial intelligence. The author argues AI is not merely another tech upgrade but a systemic rupture that reshapes knowledge work across research, coding, marketing, finance, and HR. AI can accelerate, augment, or eliminate tasks, demanding CEOs embed AI considerations into core strategic planning rather than [...]

Meta launched its agentic AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, across WhatsApp, AI glasses and business agents, claiming early consumer reach. Google countered with Gemini, now deployed at scale in its cloud and integrated into Android, Maps, Gmail and Google Pay, giving it an OS‑level advantage. In Q2, Google’s revenue rose 24.2% to $119.8 billion, with Cloud up 82% and nearly 90% of Fortune 100 firms using Gemini Enterprise. Meta’s revenue grew 28% to $117 billion, but earnings per share missed [...]

OpenAI announced a postponement of its upcoming AI model, codenamed Astra, to conduct additional safety testing. The company said the model must meet evolving safety standards before a broad rollout, though it did not disclose the specific risks prompting the delay. The decision arrives amid heightened global scrutiny of AI ethics and regulation, and follows OpenAI’s public apology for mishandling a security breach that exposed an Australian government website. In response, OpenAI is reviewing internal security protocols [...]

In episode 46 of the 9to5Google podcast “The Sideload,” host Will Sattelberg sits down with tech analyst Allison Johnson to evaluate Meta’s newly released agentic AI chatbot, Muse. The conversation probes whether AI agents can genuinely streamline tasks for users, weighing Muse’s conversational abilities against practical productivity gains. Johnson also shares her impressions of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 18 Pro, focusing on its variable aperture system and how it may affect low‑light photography. The duo further discusses the iPhone Duo, a dual‑screen [...]

Pope Francis XIV warned that artificial‑intelligence risks must be taken seriously, criticizing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang for promoting AI safeguards while opposing any government regulation. Speaking aboard his papal plane on 28 September after a four‑day visit to France, the pontiff rejected claims that expert warnings are “fake news” and urged world leaders to agree on common limits. He singled out Huang, noting his recent comments at a Salesforce event that new laws are unnecessary and his alignment with U.S. [...]