Rufus, Amazon’s recently launched, shopping-focused chatbot, is getting ads soon.
That’s according to a changelog published by Amazon this week (first spotted by AdWeek), which states that sponsored ads could soon start appearing in placements for Rufus users in the U.S. Ads will be shown based on Amazon search and conversational context, Amazon says, and Rufus may generate text to accompany existing ad copy in certain cases.
“We continue to make enhancements to the Rufus experience, including improving brand and product discovery by introducing relevant sponsored ads that help customers discover selections related to their conversation with Rufus,” a spokesperson said.
The ads in Rufus test recalls Microsoft’s experiments inserting ads into Copilot, the chatbot in Bing and the company’s other properties, including Windows. AI being the costly endeavor that it is, it’s not exactly surprising that companies are looking for tried-and-true methods to generate a return on investment — or at least break even.
OpenWeb, a New York startup whose tools help publishers engage users, has a unique problem. Its co-founding CEO reportedly won’t leave, even though it announced a new CEO. According to…
In a development that will surprise few, former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann’s climate/crypto/carbon-credit startup Flowcarbon appears to be in the process of curling up to die, Forbes reported today. Buyers…
Rufus, Amazon’s recently launched, shopping-focused chatbot, is getting ads soon. That’s according to a changelog published by Amazon this week (first spotted by AdWeek), which states that sponsored ads could…
No one likes standing in line. I was reminded of just how awful the experience can be last Saturday, while being herded like cattle through a two-hour queue for a…
OpenAI is reportedly in talks with investors to raise $6.5 billion at a $150 billion pre-money valuation, according to Bloomberg. The new valuation is significantly higher than OpenAI’s previously reported…
Along with biological organisms, the robots were inspired kirigami, a variation of origami wherein objects are cut in addition to folded.
YouTube confirmed on Wednesday that its collaborative “Add Yours” sticker for YouTube Shorts is now fully rolled out. The Google-owned company first announced the feature back in July. The sticker…
With native video support, Bluesky will be able to better compete with other X rivals, including Instagram Threads and the decentralized service Mastodon, among others.
After a historic presidential debate replete with discourse about eating pets, Taylor Swift ended the evening with a bang. Arguably the most powerful figure in American pop culture, the singer-songwriter…
The home of the Golden State Warriors was packed on Tuesday evening this week, but it wasn’t to watch Steph Curry. Thousands of fans gathered at the Chase Center in…
Hiya, folks, welcome to TechCrunch’s regular AI newsletter. If you want this in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. This week in AI, OpenAI’s next major product announcement is imminent,…
HUSSLUP, the job search and networking app for the entertainment industry, goes on an indefinite hiatus starting Friday.
Google announced on Wednesday that its AI note-taking and research app, NotebookLM, is adding an “Audio Overview” feature. Audio Overview will give users another way to digest and comprehend the…
Apple explains that these offers are designed to reach an app or game’s previous subscribers and encourage them to return.
Fearless Fund has settled its case with the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER), agreeing to shut down its Strivers Grant program.
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Nuro pivots to license self-driving tech to carmakers, mobility companies
After multiple rounds of layoffs in 2022 and 2023, Nuro is pivoting its business strategy to focus more on the startup’s core autonomous driving technology instead of owning and operating a fleet of low-speed, on-road delivery bots. The company said on Wednesday it would start licensing its autonomous vehicle technology…
Stefanos Loukakos, formerly a director at Meta’s business-focused Messenger division and, briefly, the tech giant’s blockchain org, noticed several years ago that online retailers were struggling to connect with potential shoppers. The…
Users will get their first chance to try Adobe’s AI model for video generation in just a couple months. The company says features powered by Adobe’s Firefly Video model will…
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Paymob has evolved into an omnichannel gateway offering over 50 methods for offline and online payments to more than 350,000+ merchants.
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Google co-founder and ex-Alphabet president Sergey Brin said he’s back working at Google “pretty much every day” because he hasn’t seen anything as exciting as the recent progress in AI…
A group of Democratic senators is urging the FTC and Justice Department to investigate whether AI tools that summarize and regurgitate online content like news and recipes may amount to…
