Meta reportedly closes deal to buy AI voice replicator PlayAI
13 Jul
Top Stories

Meta reportedly closes deal to buy AI voice replicator PlayAI

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Meta has finalized the agreement to purchase Play AI, a startup based in California providing users with an AI voice cloning tool, according to Bloomberg. The news organization says the "entire PlayAI team" is joining Meta next week, based on the internal memo it has seen. After joining the company, the team will be working under Johan Schalkwyk, who used to oversee speech AI research for Google and who was also a recent hire from another voice AI startup. PlayAI's tool can clone a user's voice and can generate new human-like voices, which can be used on websites, apps and phones. Meta reportedly noted in its memo that the PlayAI team's work is a "great match" for its own work and roadmap across various products, including Meta AI, its AI Characters and its wearables. The company...
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AI is worsening China’s population decline. But is it all bad news?
13 Jul
Top Stories

AI is worsening China’s population decline. But is it all bad news?

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For 32-year-old Tracy Li, marriage and childbearing have never been essential life choices. Instead of following the traditional path of starting a family like most of her elders, the human resources manager at a Beijing-based company prefers the solitary life. “The cost of giving birth is apparently too high for women, which is leading to a low birth rate in contemporary society,” Li said, referring to child care and educational spending, as well as the time and energy required to raise a family. Thanks to technological advancements, her determination and confidence to embrace the challenges of staying single have grown stronger. As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to progress, Li believes it will eventually fulfil needs like emotional companionship and elderly care – traditionally provided in Chinese society through marriage and children. “AI can already provide emotional companionship. In...
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TMC demands apology from Himanta for ‘writing Bengali as mother tongue’ remark
13 Jul
Politics

TMC demands apology from Himanta for ‘writing Bengali as mother tongue’ remark

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Amid allegations by migrant workers from West Bengal of being targeted in BJP-ruled States, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday raised objection to remarks by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma that “writing Bengali as mother tongue in the Census documents will quantify the number of foreigners in Assam”. “Where does this hatred stem from? Why this contempt for Bengalis and Bangla?” the TMC wrote in a social media post. Mr. Sarma had said on Friday that people who seek to replace Assamese with Bengali in the electoral rolls would help the government get an idea about the number of “foreigners” in the State. The TMC in a series of social media posts said the Assam Chief Minister has made an “outrageous claim”. “Let’s remind him: our National Anthem is in Bengali. Our National Song is in Bengali....
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