I’ve been keeping an eye on the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe since it showed up on Kickstarter last year, and I was psyched to get the chance to see it in person at CES in Las Vegas this week. In an era where DIY culture and personal manufacturing are rising, Rownd Lathe is an exciting new player. This compact CNC lathe is a fun gateway to creativity, enabling users to effortlessly shape and form a variety of materials, including wood, aluminum and plastic.
For amateur machinists, entry-level CNC mills have been around for a hot minute (Bantam is the brand that immediately springs to mind), but CNC lathes have been conspicuously absent from the market. You can buy a CNC mill for under $10,000, but they tend to be extremely hard to use: They’re cheap tools for machinists with a ton of experience, rather than the user-friendly tools we’ve gotten used to in the same vein as what MakerBot did for 3D printing, what Glowforge did for laser cutting and what Cricut did for vinyl work. rf cavity filter
Spotting a gap in the market, Rownd gathered up mechanical and electronic engineers, a materials engineer, an architect and an industrial designer, and threw itself into a project.
The Round turns a pawn.Image Credits: Round.
The Round turns a pawn.Image Credits: Round.
What sets Rownd Lathe apart is not just its relatively affordable hardware (the machine retails at around $5,000), but the accompanying software that democratizes the design process, enabling beginners to easily create or utilize pre-made designs from the open source Rownd Library.
Ease of use is central to the Rownd Lathe experience. It features a large touchscreen that presents all necessary information about the machine at a glance, including usage time, rotation speed and feed rate. Users can select CAD data directly from the library and start the machine without needing a separate computer connection. This touch interface also allows for manual machine control, or you can upload G-code to run the machine like any other CNC lathe.
There’s also a gamepad controller that users can use to control the tools, creating a manual-esque experience. You don’t quite get the “feel” of turning metal that way, but it’s a great compromise ensuring that this isn’t a CNC-only machine. Given some of the near-accidents I’ve had on engine lathes, I suppose putting a hood and a gamepad between me and the rapidly spinning metal could be a good thing.
Checking out the machine in person, it seems like a solidly built device, although it is a lot smaller than most of the lathes I’ve worked on in the past. The maximum diameter of the workpiece that can be accommodated by the machine is six inches (150 mm). The length of the workpiece can be up to 11.5 inches (300 mm). The chuck diameter is particularly small, with maximum work sizes of 3.25 inches (80 mm). The machine offers an X-axis travel of five inches (125 mm) and a Z-axis travel of 17 3/4 inches (450 mm). All of that translates into a machine that can be useful for machining parts of reasonable sizes, but of course, it depends on what you’re trying to build. The motor is around 1 horsepower (800W), which is pretty solid for a machine this size.
I didn’t have a chance to try it out, unfortunately, but the company says it’s planning to start shipping out to its preorder customers “in three months,” and to have it available for regular orders a couple of months after that.
Google Cloud, Google’s cloud services and products division, is collaborating with Highmark Health, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit healthcare company, on generative AI tools designed to personalize the patient intake experience. Amazon’s AWS division says it’s working with unnamed customers on a way to use generative AI to analyzemedical databases for “social determinants of health.” And Microsoft Azure is helping to build a generative AI system for Providence, the not-for-profit healthcare network, to automatically triage messages to care providers sent from patients.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Prominent generative AI startups in healthcare include Ambience Healthcare, which is developing a generative AI app for clinicians; Nabla, an ambient AI assistant for practitioners; and Abridge, which creates analytics tools for medical documentation.<\/p>\n The broad enthusiasm for generative AI<\/a> is reflected in the investments in generative AI efforts targeting healthcare. Collectively, generative AI in healthcare startups have raised tens of millions of dollars in venture capital to date, and the vast majority of health investors say that generative AI has significantly influenced<\/a> their investment strategies.<\/p>\n But both professionals and patients are mixed as to whether healthcare-focused generative AI is ready for prime time.<\/p>\nGenerative AI might not be what people want<\/h2>\n In a recent Deloitte survey<\/a>, only about half (53%) of U.S. consumers said that they thought generative AI could improve healthcare \u2014 for example, by making it more accessible or shortening appointment wait times. Fewer than half said they expected generative AI to make medical care more affordable.<\/p>\n Andrew Borkowski, chief AI officer at the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ largest health system, doesn’t think that the cynicism is unwarranted. Borkowski warned that generative AI’s deployment could be premature due to its “significant” limitations \u2014 and the concerns around its efficacy.<\/p><\/div>\n “One of the key issues with generative AI is its inability to handle complex medical queries or emergencies,” he told TechCrunch. “Its finite knowledge base \u2014 that is, the absence of up-to-date clinical information \u2014 and lack of human expertise make it unsuitable for providing comprehensive medical advice or treatment recommendations.”<\/p>\n Several studies suggest there’s credence to those points.<\/p>\n In a paper in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, which some healthcare organizations have piloted for limited use cases, was found to make errors<\/a> diagnosing pediatric diseases 83% of the time. And in testing<\/a> OpenAI’s GPT-4 as a diagnostic assistant, physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston observed that the model ranked the wrong diagnosis as its top answer nearly two times out of three.<\/p>\n Today’s generative AI also struggles with medical administrative tasks that are part and parcel of clinicians’ daily workflows. On the MedAlign benchmark to evaluate how well generative AI can perform things like summarizing patient health records and searching across notes, GPT-4 failed in 35% of cases<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n OpenAI and many other generative AI vendors warn against relying on their models for medical advice<\/a>. But Borkowski and others say they could do more. “Relying solely on generative AI for healthcare could lead to misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatments or even life-threatening situations,” Borkowski said.<\/p>\n Jan Egger, who leads AI-guided therapies at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Institute for AI in Medicine, which studies the applications of emerging technology for patient care, shares Borkowski’s concerns. He believes that the only safe way to use generative AI in healthcare currently is under the close, watchful eye of a physician.<\/p>\n “The results can be completely wrong, and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain awareness of this,” Egger said. “Sure, generative AI can be used, for example, for pre-writing discharge letters. But physicians have a responsibility to check it and make the final call.”<\/p>\nGenerative AI can perpetuate stereotypes<\/h2>\n One particularly harmful way generative AI in healthcare can get things wrong is by perpetuating stereotypes.<\/p>\n In a 2023 study out of Stanford Medicine, a team of researchers tested ChatGPT and other generative AI\u2013powered chatbots on questions about kidney function, lung capacity and skin thickness. Not only were ChatGPT’s answers frequently wrong, the co-authors found, but also answers included several reinforced long-held untrue beliefs that there are biological differences between Black and white people \u2014 untruths that are known to have led medical providers to misdiagnose health problems.<\/p>\n The irony is, the patients most likely to be discriminated against by generative AI for healthcare are also those most likely to use it.<\/p>\n People who lack healthcare coverage \u2014 people of color, by and large<\/a>, according to a KFF study \u2014 are more willing to try generative AI for things like finding a doctor or mental health support, the Deloitte survey showed. If the AI’s recommendations are marred by bias, it could exacerbate inequalities in treatment.<\/p>\n However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Prominent generative AI startups in healthcare include Ambience Healthcare, which is developing a generative AI app for clinicians; Nabla, an ambient AI assistant for practitioners; and Abridge, which creates analytics tools for medical documentation.<\/p>\n
The broad enthusiasm for generative AI<\/a> is reflected in the investments in generative AI efforts targeting healthcare. Collectively, generative AI in healthcare startups have raised tens of millions of dollars in venture capital to date, and the vast majority of health investors say that generative AI has significantly influenced<\/a> their investment strategies.<\/p>\n But both professionals and patients are mixed as to whether healthcare-focused generative AI is ready for prime time.<\/p>\nGenerative AI might not be what people want<\/h2>\n In a recent Deloitte survey<\/a>, only about half (53%) of U.S. consumers said that they thought generative AI could improve healthcare \u2014 for example, by making it more accessible or shortening appointment wait times. Fewer than half said they expected generative AI to make medical care more affordable.<\/p>\n Andrew Borkowski, chief AI officer at the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ largest health system, doesn’t think that the cynicism is unwarranted. Borkowski warned that generative AI’s deployment could be premature due to its “significant” limitations \u2014 and the concerns around its efficacy.<\/p><\/div>\n “One of the key issues with generative AI is its inability to handle complex medical queries or emergencies,” he told TechCrunch. “Its finite knowledge base \u2014 that is, the absence of up-to-date clinical information \u2014 and lack of human expertise make it unsuitable for providing comprehensive medical advice or treatment recommendations.”<\/p>\n Several studies suggest there’s credence to those points.<\/p>\n In a paper in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, which some healthcare organizations have piloted for limited use cases, was found to make errors<\/a> diagnosing pediatric diseases 83% of the time. And in testing<\/a> OpenAI’s GPT-4 as a diagnostic assistant, physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston observed that the model ranked the wrong diagnosis as its top answer nearly two times out of three.<\/p>\n Today’s generative AI also struggles with medical administrative tasks that are part and parcel of clinicians’ daily workflows. On the MedAlign benchmark to evaluate how well generative AI can perform things like summarizing patient health records and searching across notes, GPT-4 failed in 35% of cases<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n OpenAI and many other generative AI vendors warn against relying on their models for medical advice<\/a>. But Borkowski and others say they could do more. “Relying solely on generative AI for healthcare could lead to misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatments or even life-threatening situations,” Borkowski said.<\/p>\n Jan Egger, who leads AI-guided therapies at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Institute for AI in Medicine, which studies the applications of emerging technology for patient care, shares Borkowski’s concerns. He believes that the only safe way to use generative AI in healthcare currently is under the close, watchful eye of a physician.<\/p>\n “The results can be completely wrong, and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain awareness of this,” Egger said. “Sure, generative AI can be used, for example, for pre-writing discharge letters. But physicians have a responsibility to check it and make the final call.”<\/p>\nGenerative AI can perpetuate stereotypes<\/h2>\n One particularly harmful way generative AI in healthcare can get things wrong is by perpetuating stereotypes.<\/p>\n In a 2023 study out of Stanford Medicine, a team of researchers tested ChatGPT and other generative AI\u2013powered chatbots on questions about kidney function, lung capacity and skin thickness. Not only were ChatGPT’s answers frequently wrong, the co-authors found, but also answers included several reinforced long-held untrue beliefs that there are biological differences between Black and white people \u2014 untruths that are known to have led medical providers to misdiagnose health problems.<\/p>\n The irony is, the patients most likely to be discriminated against by generative AI for healthcare are also those most likely to use it.<\/p>\n People who lack healthcare coverage \u2014 people of color, by and large<\/a>, according to a KFF study \u2014 are more willing to try generative AI for things like finding a doctor or mental health support, the Deloitte survey showed. If the AI’s recommendations are marred by bias, it could exacerbate inequalities in treatment.<\/p>\n However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
But both professionals and patients are mixed as to whether healthcare-focused generative AI is ready for prime time.<\/p>\nGenerative AI might not be what people want<\/h2>\n In a recent Deloitte survey<\/a>, only about half (53%) of U.S. consumers said that they thought generative AI could improve healthcare \u2014 for example, by making it more accessible or shortening appointment wait times. Fewer than half said they expected generative AI to make medical care more affordable.<\/p>\n Andrew Borkowski, chief AI officer at the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ largest health system, doesn’t think that the cynicism is unwarranted. Borkowski warned that generative AI’s deployment could be premature due to its “significant” limitations \u2014 and the concerns around its efficacy.<\/p><\/div>\n “One of the key issues with generative AI is its inability to handle complex medical queries or emergencies,” he told TechCrunch. “Its finite knowledge base \u2014 that is, the absence of up-to-date clinical information \u2014 and lack of human expertise make it unsuitable for providing comprehensive medical advice or treatment recommendations.”<\/p>\n Several studies suggest there’s credence to those points.<\/p>\n In a paper in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, which some healthcare organizations have piloted for limited use cases, was found to make errors<\/a> diagnosing pediatric diseases 83% of the time. And in testing<\/a> OpenAI’s GPT-4 as a diagnostic assistant, physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston observed that the model ranked the wrong diagnosis as its top answer nearly two times out of three.<\/p>\n Today’s generative AI also struggles with medical administrative tasks that are part and parcel of clinicians’ daily workflows. On the MedAlign benchmark to evaluate how well generative AI can perform things like summarizing patient health records and searching across notes, GPT-4 failed in 35% of cases<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n OpenAI and many other generative AI vendors warn against relying on their models for medical advice<\/a>. But Borkowski and others say they could do more. “Relying solely on generative AI for healthcare could lead to misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatments or even life-threatening situations,” Borkowski said.<\/p>\n Jan Egger, who leads AI-guided therapies at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Institute for AI in Medicine, which studies the applications of emerging technology for patient care, shares Borkowski’s concerns. He believes that the only safe way to use generative AI in healthcare currently is under the close, watchful eye of a physician.<\/p>\n “The results can be completely wrong, and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain awareness of this,” Egger said. “Sure, generative AI can be used, for example, for pre-writing discharge letters. But physicians have a responsibility to check it and make the final call.”<\/p>\nGenerative AI can perpetuate stereotypes<\/h2>\n One particularly harmful way generative AI in healthcare can get things wrong is by perpetuating stereotypes.<\/p>\n In a 2023 study out of Stanford Medicine, a team of researchers tested ChatGPT and other generative AI\u2013powered chatbots on questions about kidney function, lung capacity and skin thickness. Not only were ChatGPT’s answers frequently wrong, the co-authors found, but also answers included several reinforced long-held untrue beliefs that there are biological differences between Black and white people \u2014 untruths that are known to have led medical providers to misdiagnose health problems.<\/p>\n The irony is, the patients most likely to be discriminated against by generative AI for healthcare are also those most likely to use it.<\/p>\n People who lack healthcare coverage \u2014 people of color, by and large<\/a>, according to a KFF study \u2014 are more willing to try generative AI for things like finding a doctor or mental health support, the Deloitte survey showed. If the AI’s recommendations are marred by bias, it could exacerbate inequalities in treatment.<\/p>\n However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
In a recent Deloitte survey<\/a>, only about half (53%) of U.S. consumers said that they thought generative AI could improve healthcare \u2014 for example, by making it more accessible or shortening appointment wait times. Fewer than half said they expected generative AI to make medical care more affordable.<\/p>\n Andrew Borkowski, chief AI officer at the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ largest health system, doesn’t think that the cynicism is unwarranted. Borkowski warned that generative AI’s deployment could be premature due to its “significant” limitations \u2014 and the concerns around its efficacy.<\/p><\/div>\n “One of the key issues with generative AI is its inability to handle complex medical queries or emergencies,” he told TechCrunch. “Its finite knowledge base \u2014 that is, the absence of up-to-date clinical information \u2014 and lack of human expertise make it unsuitable for providing comprehensive medical advice or treatment recommendations.”<\/p>\n Several studies suggest there’s credence to those points.<\/p>\n In a paper in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, which some healthcare organizations have piloted for limited use cases, was found to make errors<\/a> diagnosing pediatric diseases 83% of the time. And in testing<\/a> OpenAI’s GPT-4 as a diagnostic assistant, physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston observed that the model ranked the wrong diagnosis as its top answer nearly two times out of three.<\/p>\n Today’s generative AI also struggles with medical administrative tasks that are part and parcel of clinicians’ daily workflows. On the MedAlign benchmark to evaluate how well generative AI can perform things like summarizing patient health records and searching across notes, GPT-4 failed in 35% of cases<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n OpenAI and many other generative AI vendors warn against relying on their models for medical advice<\/a>. But Borkowski and others say they could do more. “Relying solely on generative AI for healthcare could lead to misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatments or even life-threatening situations,” Borkowski said.<\/p>\n Jan Egger, who leads AI-guided therapies at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Institute for AI in Medicine, which studies the applications of emerging technology for patient care, shares Borkowski’s concerns. He believes that the only safe way to use generative AI in healthcare currently is under the close, watchful eye of a physician.<\/p>\n “The results can be completely wrong, and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain awareness of this,” Egger said. “Sure, generative AI can be used, for example, for pre-writing discharge letters. But physicians have a responsibility to check it and make the final call.”<\/p>\nGenerative AI can perpetuate stereotypes<\/h2>\n One particularly harmful way generative AI in healthcare can get things wrong is by perpetuating stereotypes.<\/p>\n In a 2023 study out of Stanford Medicine, a team of researchers tested ChatGPT and other generative AI\u2013powered chatbots on questions about kidney function, lung capacity and skin thickness. Not only were ChatGPT’s answers frequently wrong, the co-authors found, but also answers included several reinforced long-held untrue beliefs that there are biological differences between Black and white people \u2014 untruths that are known to have led medical providers to misdiagnose health problems.<\/p>\n The irony is, the patients most likely to be discriminated against by generative AI for healthcare are also those most likely to use it.<\/p>\n People who lack healthcare coverage \u2014 people of color, by and large<\/a>, according to a KFF study \u2014 are more willing to try generative AI for things like finding a doctor or mental health support, the Deloitte survey showed. If the AI’s recommendations are marred by bias, it could exacerbate inequalities in treatment.<\/p>\n However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Andrew Borkowski, chief AI officer at the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ largest health system, doesn’t think that the cynicism is unwarranted. Borkowski warned that generative AI’s deployment could be premature due to its “significant” limitations \u2014 and the concerns around its efficacy.<\/p><\/div>\n “One of the key issues with generative AI is its inability to handle complex medical queries or emergencies,” he told TechCrunch. “Its finite knowledge base \u2014 that is, the absence of up-to-date clinical information \u2014 and lack of human expertise make it unsuitable for providing comprehensive medical advice or treatment recommendations.”<\/p>\n Several studies suggest there’s credence to those points.<\/p>\n In a paper in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, which some healthcare organizations have piloted for limited use cases, was found to make errors<\/a> diagnosing pediatric diseases 83% of the time. And in testing<\/a> OpenAI’s GPT-4 as a diagnostic assistant, physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston observed that the model ranked the wrong diagnosis as its top answer nearly two times out of three.<\/p>\n Today’s generative AI also struggles with medical administrative tasks that are part and parcel of clinicians’ daily workflows. On the MedAlign benchmark to evaluate how well generative AI can perform things like summarizing patient health records and searching across notes, GPT-4 failed in 35% of cases<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n OpenAI and many other generative AI vendors warn against relying on their models for medical advice<\/a>. But Borkowski and others say they could do more. “Relying solely on generative AI for healthcare could lead to misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatments or even life-threatening situations,” Borkowski said.<\/p>\n Jan Egger, who leads AI-guided therapies at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Institute for AI in Medicine, which studies the applications of emerging technology for patient care, shares Borkowski’s concerns. He believes that the only safe way to use generative AI in healthcare currently is under the close, watchful eye of a physician.<\/p>\n “The results can be completely wrong, and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain awareness of this,” Egger said. “Sure, generative AI can be used, for example, for pre-writing discharge letters. But physicians have a responsibility to check it and make the final call.”<\/p>\nGenerative AI can perpetuate stereotypes<\/h2>\n One particularly harmful way generative AI in healthcare can get things wrong is by perpetuating stereotypes.<\/p>\n In a 2023 study out of Stanford Medicine, a team of researchers tested ChatGPT and other generative AI\u2013powered chatbots on questions about kidney function, lung capacity and skin thickness. Not only were ChatGPT’s answers frequently wrong, the co-authors found, but also answers included several reinforced long-held untrue beliefs that there are biological differences between Black and white people \u2014 untruths that are known to have led medical providers to misdiagnose health problems.<\/p>\n The irony is, the patients most likely to be discriminated against by generative AI for healthcare are also those most likely to use it.<\/p>\n People who lack healthcare coverage \u2014 people of color, by and large<\/a>, according to a KFF study \u2014 are more willing to try generative AI for things like finding a doctor or mental health support, the Deloitte survey showed. If the AI’s recommendations are marred by bias, it could exacerbate inequalities in treatment.<\/p>\n However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
“One of the key issues with generative AI is its inability to handle complex medical queries or emergencies,” he told TechCrunch. “Its finite knowledge base \u2014 that is, the absence of up-to-date clinical information \u2014 and lack of human expertise make it unsuitable for providing comprehensive medical advice or treatment recommendations.”<\/p>\n
Several studies suggest there’s credence to those points.<\/p>\n
In a paper in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, which some healthcare organizations have piloted for limited use cases, was found to make errors<\/a> diagnosing pediatric diseases 83% of the time. And in testing<\/a> OpenAI’s GPT-4 as a diagnostic assistant, physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston observed that the model ranked the wrong diagnosis as its top answer nearly two times out of three.<\/p>\n Today’s generative AI also struggles with medical administrative tasks that are part and parcel of clinicians’ daily workflows. On the MedAlign benchmark to evaluate how well generative AI can perform things like summarizing patient health records and searching across notes, GPT-4 failed in 35% of cases<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n OpenAI and many other generative AI vendors warn against relying on their models for medical advice<\/a>. But Borkowski and others say they could do more. “Relying solely on generative AI for healthcare could lead to misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatments or even life-threatening situations,” Borkowski said.<\/p>\n Jan Egger, who leads AI-guided therapies at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Institute for AI in Medicine, which studies the applications of emerging technology for patient care, shares Borkowski’s concerns. He believes that the only safe way to use generative AI in healthcare currently is under the close, watchful eye of a physician.<\/p>\n “The results can be completely wrong, and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain awareness of this,” Egger said. “Sure, generative AI can be used, for example, for pre-writing discharge letters. But physicians have a responsibility to check it and make the final call.”<\/p>\nGenerative AI can perpetuate stereotypes<\/h2>\n One particularly harmful way generative AI in healthcare can get things wrong is by perpetuating stereotypes.<\/p>\n In a 2023 study out of Stanford Medicine, a team of researchers tested ChatGPT and other generative AI\u2013powered chatbots on questions about kidney function, lung capacity and skin thickness. Not only were ChatGPT’s answers frequently wrong, the co-authors found, but also answers included several reinforced long-held untrue beliefs that there are biological differences between Black and white people \u2014 untruths that are known to have led medical providers to misdiagnose health problems.<\/p>\n The irony is, the patients most likely to be discriminated against by generative AI for healthcare are also those most likely to use it.<\/p>\n People who lack healthcare coverage \u2014 people of color, by and large<\/a>, according to a KFF study \u2014 are more willing to try generative AI for things like finding a doctor or mental health support, the Deloitte survey showed. If the AI’s recommendations are marred by bias, it could exacerbate inequalities in treatment.<\/p>\n However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Today’s generative AI also struggles with medical administrative tasks that are part and parcel of clinicians’ daily workflows. On the MedAlign benchmark to evaluate how well generative AI can perform things like summarizing patient health records and searching across notes, GPT-4 failed in 35% of cases<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n OpenAI and many other generative AI vendors warn against relying on their models for medical advice<\/a>. But Borkowski and others say they could do more. “Relying solely on generative AI for healthcare could lead to misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatments or even life-threatening situations,” Borkowski said.<\/p>\n Jan Egger, who leads AI-guided therapies at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Institute for AI in Medicine, which studies the applications of emerging technology for patient care, shares Borkowski’s concerns. He believes that the only safe way to use generative AI in healthcare currently is under the close, watchful eye of a physician.<\/p>\n “The results can be completely wrong, and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain awareness of this,” Egger said. “Sure, generative AI can be used, for example, for pre-writing discharge letters. But physicians have a responsibility to check it and make the final call.”<\/p>\nGenerative AI can perpetuate stereotypes<\/h2>\n One particularly harmful way generative AI in healthcare can get things wrong is by perpetuating stereotypes.<\/p>\n In a 2023 study out of Stanford Medicine, a team of researchers tested ChatGPT and other generative AI\u2013powered chatbots on questions about kidney function, lung capacity and skin thickness. Not only were ChatGPT’s answers frequently wrong, the co-authors found, but also answers included several reinforced long-held untrue beliefs that there are biological differences between Black and white people \u2014 untruths that are known to have led medical providers to misdiagnose health problems.<\/p>\n The irony is, the patients most likely to be discriminated against by generative AI for healthcare are also those most likely to use it.<\/p>\n People who lack healthcare coverage \u2014 people of color, by and large<\/a>, according to a KFF study \u2014 are more willing to try generative AI for things like finding a doctor or mental health support, the Deloitte survey showed. If the AI’s recommendations are marred by bias, it could exacerbate inequalities in treatment.<\/p>\n However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
OpenAI and many other generative AI vendors warn against relying on their models for medical advice<\/a>. But Borkowski and others say they could do more. “Relying solely on generative AI for healthcare could lead to misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatments or even life-threatening situations,” Borkowski said.<\/p>\n Jan Egger, who leads AI-guided therapies at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Institute for AI in Medicine, which studies the applications of emerging technology for patient care, shares Borkowski’s concerns. He believes that the only safe way to use generative AI in healthcare currently is under the close, watchful eye of a physician.<\/p>\n “The results can be completely wrong, and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain awareness of this,” Egger said. “Sure, generative AI can be used, for example, for pre-writing discharge letters. But physicians have a responsibility to check it and make the final call.”<\/p>\nGenerative AI can perpetuate stereotypes<\/h2>\n One particularly harmful way generative AI in healthcare can get things wrong is by perpetuating stereotypes.<\/p>\n In a 2023 study out of Stanford Medicine, a team of researchers tested ChatGPT and other generative AI\u2013powered chatbots on questions about kidney function, lung capacity and skin thickness. Not only were ChatGPT’s answers frequently wrong, the co-authors found, but also answers included several reinforced long-held untrue beliefs that there are biological differences between Black and white people \u2014 untruths that are known to have led medical providers to misdiagnose health problems.<\/p>\n The irony is, the patients most likely to be discriminated against by generative AI for healthcare are also those most likely to use it.<\/p>\n People who lack healthcare coverage \u2014 people of color, by and large<\/a>, according to a KFF study \u2014 are more willing to try generative AI for things like finding a doctor or mental health support, the Deloitte survey showed. If the AI’s recommendations are marred by bias, it could exacerbate inequalities in treatment.<\/p>\n However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Jan Egger, who leads AI-guided therapies at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Institute for AI in Medicine, which studies the applications of emerging technology for patient care, shares Borkowski’s concerns. He believes that the only safe way to use generative AI in healthcare currently is under the close, watchful eye of a physician.<\/p>\n
“The results can be completely wrong, and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain awareness of this,” Egger said. “Sure, generative AI can be used, for example, for pre-writing discharge letters. But physicians have a responsibility to check it and make the final call.”<\/p>\nGenerative AI can perpetuate stereotypes<\/h2>\n One particularly harmful way generative AI in healthcare can get things wrong is by perpetuating stereotypes.<\/p>\n In a 2023 study out of Stanford Medicine, a team of researchers tested ChatGPT and other generative AI\u2013powered chatbots on questions about kidney function, lung capacity and skin thickness. Not only were ChatGPT’s answers frequently wrong, the co-authors found, but also answers included several reinforced long-held untrue beliefs that there are biological differences between Black and white people \u2014 untruths that are known to have led medical providers to misdiagnose health problems.<\/p>\n The irony is, the patients most likely to be discriminated against by generative AI for healthcare are also those most likely to use it.<\/p>\n People who lack healthcare coverage \u2014 people of color, by and large<\/a>, according to a KFF study \u2014 are more willing to try generative AI for things like finding a doctor or mental health support, the Deloitte survey showed. If the AI’s recommendations are marred by bias, it could exacerbate inequalities in treatment.<\/p>\n However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
One particularly harmful way generative AI in healthcare can get things wrong is by perpetuating stereotypes.<\/p>\n
In a 2023 study out of Stanford Medicine, a team of researchers tested ChatGPT and other generative AI\u2013powered chatbots on questions about kidney function, lung capacity and skin thickness. Not only were ChatGPT’s answers frequently wrong, the co-authors found, but also answers included several reinforced long-held untrue beliefs that there are biological differences between Black and white people \u2014 untruths that are known to have led medical providers to misdiagnose health problems.<\/p>\n
The irony is, the patients most likely to be discriminated against by generative AI for healthcare are also those most likely to use it.<\/p>\n
People who lack healthcare coverage \u2014 people of color, by and large<\/a>, according to a KFF study \u2014 are more willing to try generative AI for things like finding a doctor or mental health support, the Deloitte survey showed. If the AI’s recommendations are marred by bias, it could exacerbate inequalities in treatment.<\/p>\n However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
However, some experts argue that generative AI is improving in this regard.<\/p>\n
In a Microsoft study published in late 2023, researchers said\u00a0they achieved 90.2% accuracy<\/a> on four challenging medical benchmarks using GPT-4. Vanilla GPT-4 couldn’t reach this score. But, the researchers say, through prompt engineering \u2014 designing prompts for GPT-4 to produce certain outputs \u2014 they were able to boost the model’s score by up to 16.2 percentage points. (Microsoft, it’s worth noting, is a major investor in OpenAI.)<\/p>\nBeyond chatbots<\/h2>\n But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
But asking a chatbot a question isn’t the only thing generative AI is good for. Some researchers say that medical imaging could benefit greatly from the power of generative AI.<\/p>\n
In July, a group of scientists unveiled a system called c<\/span>omplementarity-driven deferral to clinical workflow (CoDoC), in a study published in Nature. The system is designed to figure out when medical imaging specialists should rely on AI for diagnoses versus traditional techniques. CoDoC did better than specialists while reducing clinical workflows by 66%, according to the co-authors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
In November, a Chinese research team demoed <\/span>Panda<\/span>, an AI model used to detect potential pancreatic lesions in X-rays. A study showed<\/a> Panda to be highly accurate in classifying these lesions, which are often detected too late for surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n “More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Indeed, Arun Thirunavukarasu, a clinical research fellow at the University of Oxford, said there’s “nothing unique” about generative AI precluding its deployment in healthcare settings.<\/p>\n
“More mundane applications of generative AI technology are feasible in<\/span> the short- and mid-term, and include text correction, automatic documentation of notes and letters and improved search features to optimize electronic patient records,” he said. “There’s no reason why generative AI technology \u2014 if effective \u2014 couldn’t be deployed in<\/span> these sorts of roles immediately.”<\/p>\n“Rigorous science”<\/h2>\n But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n “Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n “Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n “Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
But while generative AI shows promise in specific, narrow areas of medicine, experts like Borkowski point to the technical and compliance roadblocks that must be overcome before generative AI can be useful \u2014 and trusted \u2014 as an all-around assistive healthcare tool.<\/p>\n
“Significant privacy and security concerns surround using generative AI in healthcare,” Borkowski said. “The sensitive nature of medical data and the potential for misuse or unauthorized access pose severe risks to patient confidentiality and trust in the healthcare system. Furthermore, the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding the use of generative AI in healthcare is still evolving, with questions regarding liability, data protection and the practice of medicine by non-human entities still needing to be solved.”<\/p>\n
Even Thirunavukarasu, bullish as he is about generative AI in healthcare, says that there needs to be “rigorous science” behind tools that are patient-facing.<\/p>\n
“Particularly without direct clinician oversight, there should be pragmatic randomized control trials demonstrating clinical benefit to justify deployment of patient-facing generative AI,” he said. “Proper governance going forward is essential to capture any unanticipated harms following deployment at scale.”<\/p>\n
Recently, the World Health Organization released guidelines that advocate for this type of science and human oversight of generative AI in healthcare as well as the introduction of auditing, transparency and impact assessments on this AI by independent third parties. The goal, the WHO spells out in its guidelines, would be to encourage participation from a diverse cohort of people in the development of generative AI for healthcare and an opportunity to voice concerns and provide input throughout the process.<\/p>\n
“Until the concerns are adequately addressed and appropriate safeguards are put in place,” Borkowski said, “the widespread implementation of medical generative AI may be \u2026 potentially harmful to patients and the healthcare industry as a whole.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The broad enthusiasm for generative AI is reflected in the investments in GenAI efforts targeting healthcare. But is healthcare-focused generative AI ready for prime time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574536,"featured_media":2672603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"8eed65fe-be1d-389e-8c08-5d715ce9e429","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_id":"82e89499-bd45-414a-9312-0baf7291404a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-14T14:01:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AguiUmb1FQUqTEguvcpFASg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,577030454],"tags":[14067,576717904,1460,3659],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenerative AI is coming for healthcare, and not everyone's thrilled | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Kyle Wiggers is a senior reporter at TechCrunch with a special interest in artificial intelligence. His writing has appeared in VentureBeat and Digital Trends, as well as a range of gadget blogs including Android Police, Android Authority, Droid-Life, and XDA-Developers. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, a piano educator, and dabbles in piano himself occasionally -- if mostly unsuccessfully.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Kyle-Wiggers.jpg","twitter":"kyle_l_wiggers","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/133574536"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"author":[{"id":133574536,"name":"Kyle Wiggers","url":"","description":"Kyle Wiggers is a senior reporter at TechCrunch with a special interest in artificial intelligence. His writing has appeared in VentureBeat and Digital Trends, as well as a range of gadget blogs including Android Police, Android Authority, Droid-Life, and XDA-Developers. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, a piano educator, and dabbles in piano himself. occasionally -- if mostly unsuccessfully.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/kyle-wiggers\/","slug":"kyle-wiggers","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c444ee74e16b994683cd9c6497173dda?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c444ee74e16b994683cd9c6497173dda?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c444ee74e16b994683cd9c6497173dda?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nKyle Wiggers, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Kyle Wiggers is a senior reporter at TechCrunch with a special interest in artificial intelligence. His writing has appeared in VentureBeat and Digital Trends, as well as a range of gadget blogs including Android Police, Android Authority, Droid-Life, and XDA-Developers. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, a piano educator, and dabbles in piano himself occasionally -- if mostly unsuccessfully.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Kyle-Wiggers.jpg","twitter":"kyle_l_wiggers","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/133574536"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":2672603,"date":"2024-02-29T04:36:18","slug":"a-male-doctor-is-standing-back-to-us-in-front-of-a-big-data-screen","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2024\/03\/18\/want-to-see-an-nhs-doctor-prepare-to-cough-up-your-data-first\/a-male-doctor-is-standing-back-to-us-in-front-of-a-big-data-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"Concept illustration depicting health data"},"author":133574560,"featured_media":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"license":{"source_key":"getty images","person":"Nadezhda Fedrunova \/ Getty"},"authors":[133574560],"caption":{"rendered":"
Concept illustration depicting health data<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"Concept illustration depicting health data","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":2000,"height":1353,"file":"2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg","filesize":375230,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=150,101","width":150,"height":101,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=300,203","width":300,"height":203,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=768,520","width":768,"height":520,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=680,460","width":680,"height":460,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=1536,1039","width":1536,"height":1039,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=1536"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=1200,812","width":1200,"height":812,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?resize=50,34","width":50,"height":34,"filesize":375230,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg","width":1024,"height":693,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"","caption":"A male doctor is standing back to us in front of a big data screen. Diagnosis of diseases, medical tests, effective treatment. Dashboard with patient health information. Vector illustration.","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"A male doctor is standing back to us in front of a big data screen.","orientation":"1","keywords":["advice","business","care","dashboard","data","diagram","dna","doctor","finance","hospital","infographic","medicine","modern","office","patient","pharmacy","report","service","strategy","symptom","therapy","medical exam","medical test","professional occupation","one person","healthcare and medicine","leadership","graphical user interface","genetic research","illness","digital display","analyzing","medical clinic"]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1132225622-e1709210197672.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2672603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2672603"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/133574560"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577047203,"description":"News coverage on artificial intelligence and machine learning tech, the companies building them, and the ethical issues AI raises today. This encompasses generative AI, including large language models, text-to-image and text-to-video models; speech recognition and generation; and predictive analytics.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/artificial-intelligence\/","name":"AI","slug":"artificial-intelligence","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nAI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
This week in Las<\/span> Vegas, 30,000 folks came together to hear the latest and greatest from Google Cloud. What they heard was all generative AI, all the time. Google Cloud is first and foremost a cloud infrastructure and platform vendor. If you didn\u2019t know that, you might have missed it in the onslaught of AI news.<\/p>\n Not to minimize what Google had on display, but much like Salesforce last year<\/a> at its New York City traveling road show, the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n Google announced a slew of AI enhancements<\/a> designed to help customers take advantage of the Gemini large language model (LLM) and improve productivity across the platform. It\u2019s a worthy goal, of course, and throughout the main keynote on Day 1 and the Developer Keynote the following day, Google peppered the announcements with a healthy number of demos to illustrate the power of these solutions.<\/p>\n But many seemed a little too simplistic, even taking into account they needed to be squeezed into a keynote with a limited amount of time. They relied mostly on examples inside the Google ecosystem, when almost every company has much of their data in repositories outside of Google.<\/p>\n Some of the examples actually felt like they could have been done without AI. During an e-commerce demo, for example, the presenter called the vendor to complete an online transaction. It was designed to show off the communications capabilities of a sales bot, but in reality, the step could have been easily completed by the buyer on the website.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say that generative AI doesn\u2019t have some powerful use cases, whether creating code, analyzing a corpus of content and being able to query it, or being able to ask questions of the log data to understand why a website went down. What\u2019s more, the task and role-based agents the company introduced to help individual developers, creative folks, employees and others, have the potential to take advantage of generative AI in tangible ways.<\/p>\n\n Google Cloud Next 2024: Everything announced so far<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n But when it comes to building AI tools based on Google\u2019s models, as opposed to consuming the ones Google and other vendors are building for its customers, I couldn\u2019t help feeling that they were glossing over a lot of the obstacles that could stand in the way of a successful generative AI implementation. While they tried to make it sound easy, in reality, it’s a huge challenge to implement any advanced technology inside large organizations.<\/p>\nBig change ain\u2019t easy<\/h2>\n Much like other technological leaps over the last 15 years \u2014 whether mobile, cloud, containerization, marketing automation, you name it \u2014 it\u2019s been delivered with lots of promises of potential gains. Yet these advancements each introduce their own level of complexity, and large companies move more cautiously than we imagine. AI feels like a much bigger lift than Google, or frankly any of the large vendors, is letting on.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve learned with these previous technology shifts is that they come with a lot of hype and lead to a ton of disillusionment.<\/a> Even after a number of years, we\u2019ve seen large companies that perhaps should be taking advantage of these advanced technologies still only dabbling<\/a> or even sitting out altogether, years after they have been introduced.<\/p>\n There are lots of reasons companies may fail to take advantage of technological innovation, including organizational inertia; a brittle technology stack<\/a> that makes it hard to adopt newer solutions; or a group of corporate naysayers shutting down even the most well-intentioned initiatives, whether legal, HR, IT or other groups that, for a variety of reasons, including internal politics, continue to just say no to substantive change.<\/p>\n Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.<\/p>\n\n AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Not to minimize what Google had on display, but much like Salesforce last year<\/a> at its New York City traveling road show, the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n Google announced a slew of AI enhancements<\/a> designed to help customers take advantage of the Gemini large language model (LLM) and improve productivity across the platform. It\u2019s a worthy goal, of course, and throughout the main keynote on Day 1 and the Developer Keynote the following day, Google peppered the announcements with a healthy number of demos to illustrate the power of these solutions.<\/p>\n But many seemed a little too simplistic, even taking into account they needed to be squeezed into a keynote with a limited amount of time. They relied mostly on examples inside the Google ecosystem, when almost every company has much of their data in repositories outside of Google.<\/p>\n Some of the examples actually felt like they could have been done without AI. During an e-commerce demo, for example, the presenter called the vendor to complete an online transaction. It was designed to show off the communications capabilities of a sales bot, but in reality, the step could have been easily completed by the buyer on the website.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say that generative AI doesn\u2019t have some powerful use cases, whether creating code, analyzing a corpus of content and being able to query it, or being able to ask questions of the log data to understand why a website went down. What\u2019s more, the task and role-based agents the company introduced to help individual developers, creative folks, employees and others, have the potential to take advantage of generative AI in tangible ways.<\/p>\n\n Google Cloud Next 2024: Everything announced so far<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n But when it comes to building AI tools based on Google\u2019s models, as opposed to consuming the ones Google and other vendors are building for its customers, I couldn\u2019t help feeling that they were glossing over a lot of the obstacles that could stand in the way of a successful generative AI implementation. While they tried to make it sound easy, in reality, it’s a huge challenge to implement any advanced technology inside large organizations.<\/p>\nBig change ain\u2019t easy<\/h2>\n Much like other technological leaps over the last 15 years \u2014 whether mobile, cloud, containerization, marketing automation, you name it \u2014 it\u2019s been delivered with lots of promises of potential gains. Yet these advancements each introduce their own level of complexity, and large companies move more cautiously than we imagine. AI feels like a much bigger lift than Google, or frankly any of the large vendors, is letting on.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve learned with these previous technology shifts is that they come with a lot of hype and lead to a ton of disillusionment.<\/a> Even after a number of years, we\u2019ve seen large companies that perhaps should be taking advantage of these advanced technologies still only dabbling<\/a> or even sitting out altogether, years after they have been introduced.<\/p>\n There are lots of reasons companies may fail to take advantage of technological innovation, including organizational inertia; a brittle technology stack<\/a> that makes it hard to adopt newer solutions; or a group of corporate naysayers shutting down even the most well-intentioned initiatives, whether legal, HR, IT or other groups that, for a variety of reasons, including internal politics, continue to just say no to substantive change.<\/p>\n Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.<\/p>\n\n AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Google announced a slew of AI enhancements<\/a> designed to help customers take advantage of the Gemini large language model (LLM) and improve productivity across the platform. It\u2019s a worthy goal, of course, and throughout the main keynote on Day 1 and the Developer Keynote the following day, Google peppered the announcements with a healthy number of demos to illustrate the power of these solutions.<\/p>\n But many seemed a little too simplistic, even taking into account they needed to be squeezed into a keynote with a limited amount of time. They relied mostly on examples inside the Google ecosystem, when almost every company has much of their data in repositories outside of Google.<\/p>\n Some of the examples actually felt like they could have been done without AI. During an e-commerce demo, for example, the presenter called the vendor to complete an online transaction. It was designed to show off the communications capabilities of a sales bot, but in reality, the step could have been easily completed by the buyer on the website.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say that generative AI doesn\u2019t have some powerful use cases, whether creating code, analyzing a corpus of content and being able to query it, or being able to ask questions of the log data to understand why a website went down. What\u2019s more, the task and role-based agents the company introduced to help individual developers, creative folks, employees and others, have the potential to take advantage of generative AI in tangible ways.<\/p>\n\n Google Cloud Next 2024: Everything announced so far<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n But when it comes to building AI tools based on Google\u2019s models, as opposed to consuming the ones Google and other vendors are building for its customers, I couldn\u2019t help feeling that they were glossing over a lot of the obstacles that could stand in the way of a successful generative AI implementation. While they tried to make it sound easy, in reality, it’s a huge challenge to implement any advanced technology inside large organizations.<\/p>\nBig change ain\u2019t easy<\/h2>\n Much like other technological leaps over the last 15 years \u2014 whether mobile, cloud, containerization, marketing automation, you name it \u2014 it\u2019s been delivered with lots of promises of potential gains. Yet these advancements each introduce their own level of complexity, and large companies move more cautiously than we imagine. AI feels like a much bigger lift than Google, or frankly any of the large vendors, is letting on.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve learned with these previous technology shifts is that they come with a lot of hype and lead to a ton of disillusionment.<\/a> Even after a number of years, we\u2019ve seen large companies that perhaps should be taking advantage of these advanced technologies still only dabbling<\/a> or even sitting out altogether, years after they have been introduced.<\/p>\n There are lots of reasons companies may fail to take advantage of technological innovation, including organizational inertia; a brittle technology stack<\/a> that makes it hard to adopt newer solutions; or a group of corporate naysayers shutting down even the most well-intentioned initiatives, whether legal, HR, IT or other groups that, for a variety of reasons, including internal politics, continue to just say no to substantive change.<\/p>\n Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.<\/p>\n\n AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
But many seemed a little too simplistic, even taking into account they needed to be squeezed into a keynote with a limited amount of time. They relied mostly on examples inside the Google ecosystem, when almost every company has much of their data in repositories outside of Google.<\/p>\n
Some of the examples actually felt like they could have been done without AI. During an e-commerce demo, for example, the presenter called the vendor to complete an online transaction. It was designed to show off the communications capabilities of a sales bot, but in reality, the step could have been easily completed by the buyer on the website.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say that generative AI doesn\u2019t have some powerful use cases, whether creating code, analyzing a corpus of content and being able to query it, or being able to ask questions of the log data to understand why a website went down. What\u2019s more, the task and role-based agents the company introduced to help individual developers, creative folks, employees and others, have the potential to take advantage of generative AI in tangible ways.<\/p>\n\n Google Cloud Next 2024: Everything announced so far<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n But when it comes to building AI tools based on Google\u2019s models, as opposed to consuming the ones Google and other vendors are building for its customers, I couldn\u2019t help feeling that they were glossing over a lot of the obstacles that could stand in the way of a successful generative AI implementation. While they tried to make it sound easy, in reality, it’s a huge challenge to implement any advanced technology inside large organizations.<\/p>\nBig change ain\u2019t easy<\/h2>\n Much like other technological leaps over the last 15 years \u2014 whether mobile, cloud, containerization, marketing automation, you name it \u2014 it\u2019s been delivered with lots of promises of potential gains. Yet these advancements each introduce their own level of complexity, and large companies move more cautiously than we imagine. AI feels like a much bigger lift than Google, or frankly any of the large vendors, is letting on.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve learned with these previous technology shifts is that they come with a lot of hype and lead to a ton of disillusionment.<\/a> Even after a number of years, we\u2019ve seen large companies that perhaps should be taking advantage of these advanced technologies still only dabbling<\/a> or even sitting out altogether, years after they have been introduced.<\/p>\n There are lots of reasons companies may fail to take advantage of technological innovation, including organizational inertia; a brittle technology stack<\/a> that makes it hard to adopt newer solutions; or a group of corporate naysayers shutting down even the most well-intentioned initiatives, whether legal, HR, IT or other groups that, for a variety of reasons, including internal politics, continue to just say no to substantive change.<\/p>\n Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.<\/p>\n\n AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Google Cloud Next 2024: Everything announced so far<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n But when it comes to building AI tools based on Google\u2019s models, as opposed to consuming the ones Google and other vendors are building for its customers, I couldn\u2019t help feeling that they were glossing over a lot of the obstacles that could stand in the way of a successful generative AI implementation. While they tried to make it sound easy, in reality, it’s a huge challenge to implement any advanced technology inside large organizations.<\/p>\nBig change ain\u2019t easy<\/h2>\n Much like other technological leaps over the last 15 years \u2014 whether mobile, cloud, containerization, marketing automation, you name it \u2014 it\u2019s been delivered with lots of promises of potential gains. Yet these advancements each introduce their own level of complexity, and large companies move more cautiously than we imagine. AI feels like a much bigger lift than Google, or frankly any of the large vendors, is letting on.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve learned with these previous technology shifts is that they come with a lot of hype and lead to a ton of disillusionment.<\/a> Even after a number of years, we\u2019ve seen large companies that perhaps should be taking advantage of these advanced technologies still only dabbling<\/a> or even sitting out altogether, years after they have been introduced.<\/p>\n There are lots of reasons companies may fail to take advantage of technological innovation, including organizational inertia; a brittle technology stack<\/a> that makes it hard to adopt newer solutions; or a group of corporate naysayers shutting down even the most well-intentioned initiatives, whether legal, HR, IT or other groups that, for a variety of reasons, including internal politics, continue to just say no to substantive change.<\/p>\n Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.<\/p>\n\n AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
<\/iframe><\/div>\n But when it comes to building AI tools based on Google\u2019s models, as opposed to consuming the ones Google and other vendors are building for its customers, I couldn\u2019t help feeling that they were glossing over a lot of the obstacles that could stand in the way of a successful generative AI implementation. While they tried to make it sound easy, in reality, it’s a huge challenge to implement any advanced technology inside large organizations.<\/p>\nBig change ain\u2019t easy<\/h2>\n Much like other technological leaps over the last 15 years \u2014 whether mobile, cloud, containerization, marketing automation, you name it \u2014 it\u2019s been delivered with lots of promises of potential gains. Yet these advancements each introduce their own level of complexity, and large companies move more cautiously than we imagine. AI feels like a much bigger lift than Google, or frankly any of the large vendors, is letting on.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve learned with these previous technology shifts is that they come with a lot of hype and lead to a ton of disillusionment.<\/a> Even after a number of years, we\u2019ve seen large companies that perhaps should be taking advantage of these advanced technologies still only dabbling<\/a> or even sitting out altogether, years after they have been introduced.<\/p>\n There are lots of reasons companies may fail to take advantage of technological innovation, including organizational inertia; a brittle technology stack<\/a> that makes it hard to adopt newer solutions; or a group of corporate naysayers shutting down even the most well-intentioned initiatives, whether legal, HR, IT or other groups that, for a variety of reasons, including internal politics, continue to just say no to substantive change.<\/p>\n Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.<\/p>\n\n AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
But when it comes to building AI tools based on Google\u2019s models, as opposed to consuming the ones Google and other vendors are building for its customers, I couldn\u2019t help feeling that they were glossing over a lot of the obstacles that could stand in the way of a successful generative AI implementation. While they tried to make it sound easy, in reality, it’s a huge challenge to implement any advanced technology inside large organizations.<\/p>\nBig change ain\u2019t easy<\/h2>\n Much like other technological leaps over the last 15 years \u2014 whether mobile, cloud, containerization, marketing automation, you name it \u2014 it\u2019s been delivered with lots of promises of potential gains. Yet these advancements each introduce their own level of complexity, and large companies move more cautiously than we imagine. AI feels like a much bigger lift than Google, or frankly any of the large vendors, is letting on.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve learned with these previous technology shifts is that they come with a lot of hype and lead to a ton of disillusionment.<\/a> Even after a number of years, we\u2019ve seen large companies that perhaps should be taking advantage of these advanced technologies still only dabbling<\/a> or even sitting out altogether, years after they have been introduced.<\/p>\n There are lots of reasons companies may fail to take advantage of technological innovation, including organizational inertia; a brittle technology stack<\/a> that makes it hard to adopt newer solutions; or a group of corporate naysayers shutting down even the most well-intentioned initiatives, whether legal, HR, IT or other groups that, for a variety of reasons, including internal politics, continue to just say no to substantive change.<\/p>\n Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.<\/p>\n\n AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Much like other technological leaps over the last 15 years \u2014 whether mobile, cloud, containerization, marketing automation, you name it \u2014 it\u2019s been delivered with lots of promises of potential gains. Yet these advancements each introduce their own level of complexity, and large companies move more cautiously than we imagine. AI feels like a much bigger lift than Google, or frankly any of the large vendors, is letting on.<\/p>\n
What we\u2019ve learned with these previous technology shifts is that they come with a lot of hype and lead to a ton of disillusionment.<\/a> Even after a number of years, we\u2019ve seen large companies that perhaps should be taking advantage of these advanced technologies still only dabbling<\/a> or even sitting out altogether, years after they have been introduced.<\/p>\n There are lots of reasons companies may fail to take advantage of technological innovation, including organizational inertia; a brittle technology stack<\/a> that makes it hard to adopt newer solutions; or a group of corporate naysayers shutting down even the most well-intentioned initiatives, whether legal, HR, IT or other groups that, for a variety of reasons, including internal politics, continue to just say no to substantive change.<\/p>\n Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.<\/p>\n\n AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
There are lots of reasons companies may fail to take advantage of technological innovation, including organizational inertia; a brittle technology stack<\/a> that makes it hard to adopt newer solutions; or a group of corporate naysayers shutting down even the most well-intentioned initiatives, whether legal, HR, IT or other groups that, for a variety of reasons, including internal politics, continue to just say no to substantive change.<\/p>\n Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.<\/p>\n\n AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Vineet Jain, CEO at Egnyte, a company that concentrates on storage, governance and security, sees two types of companies: those that have made a significant shift to the cloud already and that will have an easier time when it comes to adopting generative AI, and those that have been slow movers and will likely struggle.<\/p>\n\n AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
AWS is sick of waiting for your company to move to the cloud<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
<\/iframe><\/div>\n He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
He talks to plenty of companies that still have a majority of their tech on-prem and have a long way to go before they start thinking about how AI can help them. \u201cWe talk to many ‘late’ cloud adopters who have not started or are very early in their quest for digital transformation,\u201d Jain told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n
AI could force these companies to think hard about making a run at digital transformation, but they could struggle starting from so far behind, he said. \u201cThese companies will need to solve those problems first and then consume AI once they have a mature data security and governance model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt was always the data<\/h2>\n The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n <\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The big vendors like Google make implementing these solutions sound simple, but like all sophisticated technology, looking simple on the front end doesn’t necessarily mean it’s uncomplicated on the back end. As I heard often this week, when it comes to the data used to train Gemini and other large language models, it\u2019s still a case of \u201cgarbage in, garbage out,\u201d and that\u2019s even more applicable when it comes to generative AI.<\/p>\n
It starts with data. If you don\u2019t have your data house in order, it\u2019s going to be very difficult to get it into shape to train the LLMs on your use case. Kashif Rahamatullah, a Deloitte principal who is in charge of the Google Cloud practice at his firm, was mostly impressed by Google\u2019s announcements this week, but still acknowledged that some companies that lack clean data will have problems implementing generative AI solutions. \u201cThese conversations can start with an AI conversation, but that quickly turns into: \u2018I need to fix my data, and I need to get it clean, and I need to have it all in one place, or almost one place, before I start getting the true benefit out of generative AI,\u201d Rahamatullah said.<\/p>\n
From Google\u2019s perspective, the company has built generative AI tools to more easily help data engineers build data pipelines to connect to data sources inside and outside of the Google ecosystem. \u201cIt’s really meant to speed up the data engineering teams, by automating many of the very labor-intensive tasks involved in moving data and getting it ready for these models,\u201d Gerrit Kazmaier, vice president and general manager for database, data analytics and Looker at Google, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n
That should be helpful in connecting and cleaning data, especially in companies that are further along the digital transformation journey. But for those companies like the ones Jain referenced \u2014 those that haven\u2019t taken meaningful steps toward digital transformation \u2014 it could present more difficulties, even with these tools Google has created.<\/p>\n
All of that doesn\u2019t even take into account that AI comes with its own set of challenges beyond pure implementation, whether it’s an app based on an existing model, or especially when trying to build a custom model, says Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. \u201cWhile implementing either solution, companies need to think about governance, liability, security, privacy, ethical and responsible use and compliance of such implementations,\u201d Thurai said. And none of that is trivial.<\/p>\n
Executives, IT pros, developers and others who went to GCN this week might have gone looking for what\u2019s coming next from Google Cloud. But if they didn\u2019t go looking for AI, or they are simply not ready as an organization, they may have come away from Sin City a little shell-shocked by Google’s full concentration on AI. It could be a long time before organizations lacking digital sophistication can take full advantage of these technologies, beyond the more-packaged solutions being offered by Google and other vendors.<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Not to minimize what Google had on display, but the company failed to give all but a passing nod to its core business \u2014 except in the context of generative AI, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521068,"featured_media":2691178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"5f8e8cab-973b-38ab-9e19-f7d796eb3c29","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T15:00:30Z","apple_news_api_id":"926ab99c-7697-4cfa-83cd-826fbd887392","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T16:46:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akmq5nHaXTPqDzYJvvYhzkg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577047203,449557044],"tags":[17376654,576717904,577240761,98588081],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoogle goes all in on generative AI at Google Cloud Next | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Ron Miller has been writing about the enterprise at TechCrunch since 2014.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Previously, he was a long-time Contributing Editor at EContent Magazine. Past regular gigs included CITEworld, DaniWeb, TechTarget, Internet Evolution and FierceContentManagement.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Disclosures:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ron was formerly corporate blogger for Intronis where he wrote once weekly on IT issues. He has contributed to various corporate blogs in the past including Ness, Novell and the IBM Mid-market Blogger Program.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/diuuw7dfbczpdwmcpldm.png","twitter":"ron_miller"}],"author":[{"id":521068,"name":"Ron Miller","url":"","description":"Ron Miller has been covering the enterprise at TechCrunch since 2014.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/ron-miller\/","slug":"ron-miller","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b82cfe9f0e15c08c5816481c9f383d9?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b82cfe9f0e15c08c5816481c9f383d9?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b82cfe9f0e15c08c5816481c9f383d9?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nRon Miller, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Ron Miller has been writing about the enterprise at TechCrunch since 2014.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Previously, he was a long-time Contributing Editor at EContent Magazine. Past regular gigs included CITEworld, DaniWeb, TechTarget, Internet Evolution and FierceContentManagement.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Disclosures:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ron was formerly corporate blogger for Intronis where he wrote once weekly on IT issues. He has contributed to various corporate blogs in the past including Ness, Novell and the IBM Mid-market Blogger Program.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/diuuw7dfbczpdwmcpldm.png","twitter":"ron_miller","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/521068"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":2691178,"date":"2024-04-12T13:07:22","slug":"googlenext2024_0410_102815-1522_alivecover-max-2600x2600","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2024\/04\/13\/google-goes-all-in-on-generative-ai-at-google-cloud-next\/googlenext2024_0410_102815-1522_alivecover-max-2600x2600\/","title":{"rendered":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600×2600"},"author":521068,"featured_media":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"license":{"source_key":"other","source":"Google"},"authors":[521068],"caption":{"rendered":""},"alt_text":"Stage at Google Cloud Next with logo in Las Vegas, April, 2024.","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":2600,"height":1733,"file":"2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg","filesize":1100317,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=150,100","width":150,"height":100,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=300,200","width":300,"height":200,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=768,512","width":768,"height":512,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=680,453","width":680,"height":453,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=1536,1024","width":1536,"height":1024,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=1536"},"2048x2048":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=2048,1365","width":2048,"height":1365,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=2048"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=1200,800","width":1200,"height":800,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?resize=50,33","width":50,"height":33,"filesize":1100317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GOOGLENEXT2024_0410_102815-1522_ALIVECOVER.max-2600x2600-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcru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coverage on artificial intelligence and machine learning tech, the companies building them, and the ethical issues AI raises today. This encompasses generative AI, including large language models, text-to-image and text-to-video models; speech recognition and generation; and predictive analytics.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/artificial-intelligence\/","name":"AI","slug":"artificial-intelligence","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nAI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
Airchat<\/a> is a new social media app that encourages users to \u201cjust talk.\u201d<\/p>\n A previous version of Airchat was released last year<\/span><\/a>, but the team \u2014 led by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and former Tinder product exec Brian Norgard \u2014 rebuilt the app and relaunched it on iOS and Android yesterday. Currently invite-only, Airchat is already ranked #27 in social networking on Apple\u2019s App Store.<\/span><\/p>\n Visually, Airchat should feel pretty familiar and intuitive, with the ability to follow other users, scroll through a feed of posts, then reply to, like, and share those posts. The difference is that the posts and replies are audio recordings, which the app then transcribes.<\/p>\n When you open Airchat, messages automatically start playing, and you quickly cycle through them by swiping up and down. If you\u2019re so inclined, you can actually pause the audio and just read text; users can also share photos and video. But audio seems to be what everyone\u2019s focused on, and what Ravikant describes as transforming the dynamic compared to text-based social apps.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After joining Airchat this morning, most of the posts I saw were about the app itself, with Ravikant and Norgard answering questions and soliciting feedback.<\/p>\n \u201cHumans are all meant to get along with other humans, it just requires the natural voice,\u201d Ravikant said. \u201cOnline text-only media has given us this delusion that people can\u2019t get along, but actually everybody can get along.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n This isn\u2019t the first time tech startups have bet on voice as the next big social media thing. But Airchat\u2019s asynchronous, threaded posts make for a pretty different experience than the live chat rooms that briefly flourished on Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces. Norgard argued that this approach removes the stage fright barrier to participating, because \u201cyou can take as many passes at composing a message on here as you like, and nobody knows.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, he said that in conversations with early users, the team found that \u201cmost of the people using AirChat today are very introverted and shy.\u201d<\/p>\n Personally, I haven\u2019t convinced myself to post anything yet. I was more interested in seeing how others were using the app \u2014 plus, I have a love-hate relationship with the sound of my voice.<\/p>\n Still, there\u2019s something to be said for hearing Ravikant and Norgard explain their vision, rather than just reading the transcriptions, which can miss nuances of enthusiasm, intonation, etc. And I’m especially curious to see how deadpan jokes and shitposting translate (or don\u2019t) into audio.<\/p>\n I also struggle a bit with the speed. The app defaults to 2x audio playback, which I thought sounded unnatural, particularly if the whole idea is fostering human connection. You can reset the speed by holding down the pause button, but at 1x, I noticed I\u2019d start skimming when listening to longer posts, then I’d usually skip ahead before listening to the full audio. But maybe that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Ravikant\u2019s belief in the power of voice to cut down on acrimony doesn\u2019t necessarily eliminate the need for content moderation features. He said the feed is powered by \u201csome complex rules around hiding spam and trolls and people that you or they may not want to hear from,\u201d but as of publication he hadn’t not responded to a follow-up user question about content moderation.<\/p>\n Asked about monetization \u2014 i.e., when we might start seeing ads, audio or otherwise \u2014\u00a0 Ravikant said there\u2019s \u201cno monetization pressure on the company whatsoever.\u201d (He described himself as \u201cnot the sole investor\u201d but \u201ca big investor\u201d in the company.)<\/p>\n \u201cI could care less about monetization,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll run this thing on a shoestring if we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Airchat is a new social media app that encourages users to \u201cjust talk.\u201d A previous version of Airchat was released last year, but the team \u2014 led by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and former Tinder product exec Brian Norgard \u2014 rebuilt the app and relaunched it on iOS and Android yesterday. Currently invite-only, Airchat is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31035538,"featured_media":1543020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ba4b741-683b-3eb4-9e3f-a8d8a93a9569","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T18:19:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"0237e956-6c95-4ff4-82e3-cb2f05ebeea4","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T18:19:34Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AAjfpVmyVT_SC48svBevupA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577051039,577055593,20429],"tags":[5595493],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037509],"yoast_head":"\nNaval Ravikant's Airchat is a social app built around talk, not text | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
A previous version of Airchat was released last year<\/span><\/a>, but the team \u2014 led by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and former Tinder product exec Brian Norgard \u2014 rebuilt the app and relaunched it on iOS and Android yesterday. Currently invite-only, Airchat is already ranked #27 in social networking on Apple\u2019s App Store.<\/span><\/p>\n Visually, Airchat should feel pretty familiar and intuitive, with the ability to follow other users, scroll through a feed of posts, then reply to, like, and share those posts. The difference is that the posts and replies are audio recordings, which the app then transcribes.<\/p>\n When you open Airchat, messages automatically start playing, and you quickly cycle through them by swiping up and down. If you\u2019re so inclined, you can actually pause the audio and just read text; users can also share photos and video. But audio seems to be what everyone\u2019s focused on, and what Ravikant describes as transforming the dynamic compared to text-based social apps.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After joining Airchat this morning, most of the posts I saw were about the app itself, with Ravikant and Norgard answering questions and soliciting feedback.<\/p>\n \u201cHumans are all meant to get along with other humans, it just requires the natural voice,\u201d Ravikant said. \u201cOnline text-only media has given us this delusion that people can\u2019t get along, but actually everybody can get along.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n This isn\u2019t the first time tech startups have bet on voice as the next big social media thing. But Airchat\u2019s asynchronous, threaded posts make for a pretty different experience than the live chat rooms that briefly flourished on Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces. Norgard argued that this approach removes the stage fright barrier to participating, because \u201cyou can take as many passes at composing a message on here as you like, and nobody knows.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, he said that in conversations with early users, the team found that \u201cmost of the people using AirChat today are very introverted and shy.\u201d<\/p>\n Personally, I haven\u2019t convinced myself to post anything yet. I was more interested in seeing how others were using the app \u2014 plus, I have a love-hate relationship with the sound of my voice.<\/p>\n Still, there\u2019s something to be said for hearing Ravikant and Norgard explain their vision, rather than just reading the transcriptions, which can miss nuances of enthusiasm, intonation, etc. And I’m especially curious to see how deadpan jokes and shitposting translate (or don\u2019t) into audio.<\/p>\n I also struggle a bit with the speed. The app defaults to 2x audio playback, which I thought sounded unnatural, particularly if the whole idea is fostering human connection. You can reset the speed by holding down the pause button, but at 1x, I noticed I\u2019d start skimming when listening to longer posts, then I’d usually skip ahead before listening to the full audio. But maybe that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Ravikant\u2019s belief in the power of voice to cut down on acrimony doesn\u2019t necessarily eliminate the need for content moderation features. He said the feed is powered by \u201csome complex rules around hiding spam and trolls and people that you or they may not want to hear from,\u201d but as of publication he hadn’t not responded to a follow-up user question about content moderation.<\/p>\n Asked about monetization \u2014 i.e., when we might start seeing ads, audio or otherwise \u2014\u00a0 Ravikant said there\u2019s \u201cno monetization pressure on the company whatsoever.\u201d (He described himself as \u201cnot the sole investor\u201d but \u201ca big investor\u201d in the company.)<\/p>\n \u201cI could care less about monetization,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll run this thing on a shoestring if we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Airchat is a new social media app that encourages users to \u201cjust talk.\u201d A previous version of Airchat was released last year, but the team \u2014 led by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and former Tinder product exec Brian Norgard \u2014 rebuilt the app and relaunched it on iOS and Android yesterday. Currently invite-only, Airchat is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31035538,"featured_media":1543020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ba4b741-683b-3eb4-9e3f-a8d8a93a9569","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T18:19:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"0237e956-6c95-4ff4-82e3-cb2f05ebeea4","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T18:19:34Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AAjfpVmyVT_SC48svBevupA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577051039,577055593,20429],"tags":[5595493],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037509],"yoast_head":"\nNaval Ravikant's Airchat is a social app built around talk, not text | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Visually, Airchat should feel pretty familiar and intuitive, with the ability to follow other users, scroll through a feed of posts, then reply to, like, and share those posts. The difference is that the posts and replies are audio recordings, which the app then transcribes.<\/p>\n
When you open Airchat, messages automatically start playing, and you quickly cycle through them by swiping up and down. If you\u2019re so inclined, you can actually pause the audio and just read text; users can also share photos and video. But audio seems to be what everyone\u2019s focused on, and what Ravikant describes as transforming the dynamic compared to text-based social apps.<\/p>\n
After joining Airchat this morning, most of the posts I saw were about the app itself, with Ravikant and Norgard answering questions and soliciting feedback.<\/p>\n
\u201cHumans are all meant to get along with other humans, it just requires the natural voice,\u201d Ravikant said. \u201cOnline text-only media has given us this delusion that people can\u2019t get along, but actually everybody can get along.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n This isn\u2019t the first time tech startups have bet on voice as the next big social media thing. But Airchat\u2019s asynchronous, threaded posts make for a pretty different experience than the live chat rooms that briefly flourished on Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces. Norgard argued that this approach removes the stage fright barrier to participating, because \u201cyou can take as many passes at composing a message on here as you like, and nobody knows.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, he said that in conversations with early users, the team found that \u201cmost of the people using AirChat today are very introverted and shy.\u201d<\/p>\n Personally, I haven\u2019t convinced myself to post anything yet. I was more interested in seeing how others were using the app \u2014 plus, I have a love-hate relationship with the sound of my voice.<\/p>\n Still, there\u2019s something to be said for hearing Ravikant and Norgard explain their vision, rather than just reading the transcriptions, which can miss nuances of enthusiasm, intonation, etc. And I’m especially curious to see how deadpan jokes and shitposting translate (or don\u2019t) into audio.<\/p>\n I also struggle a bit with the speed. The app defaults to 2x audio playback, which I thought sounded unnatural, particularly if the whole idea is fostering human connection. You can reset the speed by holding down the pause button, but at 1x, I noticed I\u2019d start skimming when listening to longer posts, then I’d usually skip ahead before listening to the full audio. But maybe that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Ravikant\u2019s belief in the power of voice to cut down on acrimony doesn\u2019t necessarily eliminate the need for content moderation features. He said the feed is powered by \u201csome complex rules around hiding spam and trolls and people that you or they may not want to hear from,\u201d but as of publication he hadn’t not responded to a follow-up user question about content moderation.<\/p>\n Asked about monetization \u2014 i.e., when we might start seeing ads, audio or otherwise \u2014\u00a0 Ravikant said there\u2019s \u201cno monetization pressure on the company whatsoever.\u201d (He described himself as \u201cnot the sole investor\u201d but \u201ca big investor\u201d in the company.)<\/p>\n \u201cI could care less about monetization,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll run this thing on a shoestring if we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Airchat is a new social media app that encourages users to \u201cjust talk.\u201d A previous version of Airchat was released last year, but the team \u2014 led by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and former Tinder product exec Brian Norgard \u2014 rebuilt the app and relaunched it on iOS and Android yesterday. Currently invite-only, Airchat is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31035538,"featured_media":1543020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ba4b741-683b-3eb4-9e3f-a8d8a93a9569","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T18:19:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"0237e956-6c95-4ff4-82e3-cb2f05ebeea4","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T18:19:34Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AAjfpVmyVT_SC48svBevupA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577051039,577055593,20429],"tags":[5595493],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037509],"yoast_head":"\nNaval Ravikant's Airchat is a social app built around talk, not text | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
This isn\u2019t the first time tech startups have bet on voice as the next big social media thing. But Airchat\u2019s asynchronous, threaded posts make for a pretty different experience than the live chat rooms that briefly flourished on Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces. Norgard argued that this approach removes the stage fright barrier to participating, because \u201cyou can take as many passes at composing a message on here as you like, and nobody knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, he said that in conversations with early users, the team found that \u201cmost of the people using AirChat today are very introverted and shy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Personally, I haven\u2019t convinced myself to post anything yet. I was more interested in seeing how others were using the app \u2014 plus, I have a love-hate relationship with the sound of my voice.<\/p>\n
Still, there\u2019s something to be said for hearing Ravikant and Norgard explain their vision, rather than just reading the transcriptions, which can miss nuances of enthusiasm, intonation, etc. And I’m especially curious to see how deadpan jokes and shitposting translate (or don\u2019t) into audio.<\/p>\n
I also struggle a bit with the speed. The app defaults to 2x audio playback, which I thought sounded unnatural, particularly if the whole idea is fostering human connection. You can reset the speed by holding down the pause button, but at 1x, I noticed I\u2019d start skimming when listening to longer posts, then I’d usually skip ahead before listening to the full audio. But maybe that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ravikant\u2019s belief in the power of voice to cut down on acrimony doesn\u2019t necessarily eliminate the need for content moderation features. He said the feed is powered by \u201csome complex rules around hiding spam and trolls and people that you or they may not want to hear from,\u201d but as of publication he hadn’t not responded to a follow-up user question about content moderation.<\/p>\n
Asked about monetization \u2014 i.e., when we might start seeing ads, audio or otherwise \u2014\u00a0 Ravikant said there\u2019s \u201cno monetization pressure on the company whatsoever.\u201d (He described himself as \u201cnot the sole investor\u201d but \u201ca big investor\u201d in the company.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI could care less about monetization,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll run this thing on a shoestring if we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Airchat is a new social media app that encourages users to \u201cjust talk.\u201d A previous version of Airchat was released last year, but the team \u2014 led by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and former Tinder product exec Brian Norgard \u2014 rebuilt the app and relaunched it on iOS and Android yesterday. Currently invite-only, Airchat is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31035538,"featured_media":1543020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ba4b741-683b-3eb4-9e3f-a8d8a93a9569","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T18:19:34Z","apple_news_api_id":"0237e956-6c95-4ff4-82e3-cb2f05ebeea4","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T18:19:34Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AAjfpVmyVT_SC48svBevupA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577051039,577055593,20429],"tags":[5595493],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[577037509],"yoast_head":"\nNaval Ravikant's Airchat is a social app built around talk, not text | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Anthony Ha was a senior writer at TechCrunch, where he covered media and advertising. Previously, he worked as a tech writer at Adweek, a senior editor at the tech blog VentureBeat, and a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance. He lives in New York City.","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/vtobb68s1b8yujb2lsfk.jpg","twitter":"anthonyha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/31035538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"author":[{"id":31035538,"name":"Anthony Ha","url":"","description":"","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/anthony-ha\/","slug":"anthony-ha","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/78f25887baea7e5aa64de0ebcdd0ed78?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/78f25887baea7e5aa64de0ebcdd0ed78?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/78f25887baea7e5aa64de0ebcdd0ed78?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nAnthony Ha, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Anthony Ha was a senior writer at TechCrunch, where he covered media and advertising. Previously, he worked as a tech writer at Adweek, a senior editor at the tech blog VentureBeat, and a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance. He lives in New York City.","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/vtobb68s1b8yujb2lsfk.jpg","twitter":"anthonyha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/31035538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":1543020,"date":"2017-09-18T11:46:18","slug":"naval-ravikant-147a2572","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2019\/06\/27\/the-rise-of-the-new-crypto-mafias\/naval-ravikant-147a2572\/","title":{"rendered":"naval-ravikant-147A2572"},"author":5302483,"featured_media":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"license":"","authors":[5302483],"caption":{"rendered":"
Naval Ravikant at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2017<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":3360,"height":2240,"file":"2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=150,100","width":150,"height":100,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=300,200","width":300,"height":200,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=768,512","width":768,"height":512,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=680,453","width":680,"height":453,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=1536,1024","width":1536,"height":1024,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=1536"},"2048x2048":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=2048,1365","width":2048,"height":1365,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=2048"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=1200,800","width":1200,"height":800,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?resize=50,33","width":50,"height":33,"filesize":3419768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark IV","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1505746471","copyright":"","focal_length":"300","iso":"5000","shutter_speed":"0.00625","title":"","orientation":"1","keywords":[]},"filesize":3419768},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/naval-ravikant-147a2572.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1543020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1543020"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/5302483"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577051039,"description":"The app economy continues to grow, having produced a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores. Keep up with this fast-moving industry in one place, with the latest from the world of apps, including news, updates, startup fundings, mergers and acquisitions, and much more.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/apps\/","name":"Apps","slug":"apps","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nApps | Read the latest app news on TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
Noname Security, a cybersecurity startup that protects APIs, is in advanced talks with Akamai Technologies to sell itself for $500 million, according to a person familiar with the deal.<\/span><\/p>\n Noname<\/a> was co-founded in 2020 by Oz Golan and Shay Levi and is headquartered in Palo Alto but has Israeli roots. The startup raised $220 million from venture investors and <\/span>was last valued at $1 billion<\/span><\/a>in December 2021 when it raised $135 million in a Series C led by Georgian and Lightspeed. While the sale price is a significant discount from that valuation, the deal as it currently stands would be for cash, the person said. The deal is not final and could change or not happen at all.<\/span><\/p>\n Other investors who have backed Noname include Insight Partners, ForgePoint, Cyberstarts, Next47 and The Syndicate Group.<\/span><\/p>\n While the potential deal price is half the valuation than Noname\u2019s last private valuation, those who invested at the early stage will receive a meaningful return from the sale. Meanwhile, the deal should allow the later-stage investors, particularly those who invested in the last round, to get a full return on the capital they put in, if not the profit that they hoped for during those heady days of 2021 when money was flowing and valuations were optimistic.<\/span><\/p>\n The deal values the company at about 15X annual recurring revenue, the person said. Noname\u2019s approximately 200 employees are expected to transition to Akamai if the sale closes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Akamai declined comment. A Noname Security spokesperson told TechCrunch, <\/span>“As a policy, we refrain from commenting on rumors or speculation.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Information <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> in January that Noname was trying to raise another financing round at a substantially lower valuation. <\/span>In February, Israeli news outlet Calcalist reported that Noname was in negotiations with several potential buyers<\/a>, including Akamai.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Many VC-backed companies that raised capital at the height of the tech boom saw their valuations crater after the U.S. Fed raised interest rates. Many are now simultaneously looking for buyers and a new round of funding, known in the finance world as a dual-track process. Meanwhile, many later-stage VCs are looking for liquidity after more than a year of a frozen IPO market. So, the general mood in the venture industry is that, if robust IPOs don’t return soon, it will be bargain shopping time for M&A activity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Akamai Technologies is in advanced acquisition talks with Noname Security, an API cybersecurity startup, according to a people person familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574636,"featured_media":2644680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"c70b0ad1-afe1-3035-b27b-2b5c54878141","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-12T21:54:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"6016f9dd-37fe-4374-974c-e3ed660a8125","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-12T22:20:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYBb53Tf-Q3SXTOPtZgqBJQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20429,577030455],"tags":[577082374,965824,22376,103613,576961586],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nAPI startup Noname Security nears $500M deal to sell itself to Akamai | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Noname<\/a> was co-founded in 2020 by Oz Golan and Shay Levi and is headquartered in Palo Alto but has Israeli roots. The startup raised $220 million from venture investors and <\/span>was last valued at $1 billion<\/span><\/a>in December 2021 when it raised $135 million in a Series C led by Georgian and Lightspeed. While the sale price is a significant discount from that valuation, the deal as it currently stands would be for cash, the person said. The deal is not final and could change or not happen at all.<\/span><\/p>\n Other investors who have backed Noname include Insight Partners, ForgePoint, Cyberstarts, Next47 and The Syndicate Group.<\/span><\/p>\n While the potential deal price is half the valuation than Noname\u2019s last private valuation, those who invested at the early stage will receive a meaningful return from the sale. Meanwhile, the deal should allow the later-stage investors, particularly those who invested in the last round, to get a full return on the capital they put in, if not the profit that they hoped for during those heady days of 2021 when money was flowing and valuations were optimistic.<\/span><\/p>\n The deal values the company at about 15X annual recurring revenue, the person said. Noname\u2019s approximately 200 employees are expected to transition to Akamai if the sale closes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Akamai declined comment. A Noname Security spokesperson told TechCrunch, <\/span>“As a policy, we refrain from commenting on rumors or speculation.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Information <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> in January that Noname was trying to raise another financing round at a substantially lower valuation. <\/span>In February, Israeli news outlet Calcalist reported that Noname was in negotiations with several potential buyers<\/a>, including Akamai.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Many VC-backed companies that raised capital at the height of the tech boom saw their valuations crater after the U.S. Fed raised interest rates. Many are now simultaneously looking for buyers and a new round of funding, known in the finance world as a dual-track process. Meanwhile, many later-stage VCs are looking for liquidity after more than a year of a frozen IPO market. So, the general mood in the venture industry is that, if robust IPOs don’t return soon, it will be bargain shopping time for M&A activity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Akamai Technologies is in advanced acquisition talks with Noname Security, an API cybersecurity startup, according to a people person familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574636,"featured_media":2644680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"c70b0ad1-afe1-3035-b27b-2b5c54878141","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-12T21:54:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"6016f9dd-37fe-4374-974c-e3ed660a8125","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-12T22:20:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYBb53Tf-Q3SXTOPtZgqBJQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20429,577030455],"tags":[577082374,965824,22376,103613,576961586],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nAPI startup Noname Security nears $500M deal to sell itself to Akamai | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Other investors who have backed Noname include Insight Partners, ForgePoint, Cyberstarts, Next47 and The Syndicate Group.<\/span><\/p>\n While the potential deal price is half the valuation than Noname\u2019s last private valuation, those who invested at the early stage will receive a meaningful return from the sale. Meanwhile, the deal should allow the later-stage investors, particularly those who invested in the last round, to get a full return on the capital they put in, if not the profit that they hoped for during those heady days of 2021 when money was flowing and valuations were optimistic.<\/span><\/p>\n The deal values the company at about 15X annual recurring revenue, the person said. Noname\u2019s approximately 200 employees are expected to transition to Akamai if the sale closes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Akamai declined comment. A Noname Security spokesperson told TechCrunch, <\/span>“As a policy, we refrain from commenting on rumors or speculation.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Information <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> in January that Noname was trying to raise another financing round at a substantially lower valuation. <\/span>In February, Israeli news outlet Calcalist reported that Noname was in negotiations with several potential buyers<\/a>, including Akamai.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Many VC-backed companies that raised capital at the height of the tech boom saw their valuations crater after the U.S. Fed raised interest rates. Many are now simultaneously looking for buyers and a new round of funding, known in the finance world as a dual-track process. Meanwhile, many later-stage VCs are looking for liquidity after more than a year of a frozen IPO market. So, the general mood in the venture industry is that, if robust IPOs don’t return soon, it will be bargain shopping time for M&A activity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Akamai Technologies is in advanced acquisition talks with Noname Security, an API cybersecurity startup, according to a people person familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574636,"featured_media":2644680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"c70b0ad1-afe1-3035-b27b-2b5c54878141","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-12T21:54:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"6016f9dd-37fe-4374-974c-e3ed660a8125","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-12T22:20:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYBb53Tf-Q3SXTOPtZgqBJQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20429,577030455],"tags":[577082374,965824,22376,103613,576961586],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nAPI startup Noname Security nears $500M deal to sell itself to Akamai | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
While the potential deal price is half the valuation than Noname\u2019s last private valuation, those who invested at the early stage will receive a meaningful return from the sale. Meanwhile, the deal should allow the later-stage investors, particularly those who invested in the last round, to get a full return on the capital they put in, if not the profit that they hoped for during those heady days of 2021 when money was flowing and valuations were optimistic.<\/span><\/p>\n The deal values the company at about 15X annual recurring revenue, the person said. Noname\u2019s approximately 200 employees are expected to transition to Akamai if the sale closes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Akamai declined comment. A Noname Security spokesperson told TechCrunch, <\/span>“As a policy, we refrain from commenting on rumors or speculation.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Information <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> in January that Noname was trying to raise another financing round at a substantially lower valuation. <\/span>In February, Israeli news outlet Calcalist reported that Noname was in negotiations with several potential buyers<\/a>, including Akamai.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Many VC-backed companies that raised capital at the height of the tech boom saw their valuations crater after the U.S. Fed raised interest rates. Many are now simultaneously looking for buyers and a new round of funding, known in the finance world as a dual-track process. Meanwhile, many later-stage VCs are looking for liquidity after more than a year of a frozen IPO market. So, the general mood in the venture industry is that, if robust IPOs don’t return soon, it will be bargain shopping time for M&A activity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Akamai Technologies is in advanced acquisition talks with Noname Security, an API cybersecurity startup, according to a people person familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574636,"featured_media":2644680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"c70b0ad1-afe1-3035-b27b-2b5c54878141","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-12T21:54:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"6016f9dd-37fe-4374-974c-e3ed660a8125","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-12T22:20:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYBb53Tf-Q3SXTOPtZgqBJQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20429,577030455],"tags":[577082374,965824,22376,103613,576961586],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nAPI startup Noname Security nears $500M deal to sell itself to Akamai | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The deal values the company at about 15X annual recurring revenue, the person said. Noname\u2019s approximately 200 employees are expected to transition to Akamai if the sale closes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Akamai declined comment. A Noname Security spokesperson told TechCrunch, <\/span>“As a policy, we refrain from commenting on rumors or speculation.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Information <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> in January that Noname was trying to raise another financing round at a substantially lower valuation. <\/span>In February, Israeli news outlet Calcalist reported that Noname was in negotiations with several potential buyers<\/a>, including Akamai.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Many VC-backed companies that raised capital at the height of the tech boom saw their valuations crater after the U.S. Fed raised interest rates. Many are now simultaneously looking for buyers and a new round of funding, known in the finance world as a dual-track process. Meanwhile, many later-stage VCs are looking for liquidity after more than a year of a frozen IPO market. So, the general mood in the venture industry is that, if robust IPOs don’t return soon, it will be bargain shopping time for M&A activity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Akamai Technologies is in advanced acquisition talks with Noname Security, an API cybersecurity startup, according to a people person familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574636,"featured_media":2644680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"c70b0ad1-afe1-3035-b27b-2b5c54878141","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-12T21:54:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"6016f9dd-37fe-4374-974c-e3ed660a8125","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-12T22:20:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYBb53Tf-Q3SXTOPtZgqBJQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20429,577030455],"tags":[577082374,965824,22376,103613,576961586],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nAPI startup Noname Security nears $500M deal to sell itself to Akamai | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Akamai declined comment. A Noname Security spokesperson told TechCrunch, <\/span>“As a policy, we refrain from commenting on rumors or speculation.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Information <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> in January that Noname was trying to raise another financing round at a substantially lower valuation. <\/span>In February, Israeli news outlet Calcalist reported that Noname was in negotiations with several potential buyers<\/a>, including Akamai.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Many VC-backed companies that raised capital at the height of the tech boom saw their valuations crater after the U.S. Fed raised interest rates. Many are now simultaneously looking for buyers and a new round of funding, known in the finance world as a dual-track process. Meanwhile, many later-stage VCs are looking for liquidity after more than a year of a frozen IPO market. So, the general mood in the venture industry is that, if robust IPOs don’t return soon, it will be bargain shopping time for M&A activity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Akamai Technologies is in advanced acquisition talks with Noname Security, an API cybersecurity startup, according to a people person familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574636,"featured_media":2644680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"c70b0ad1-afe1-3035-b27b-2b5c54878141","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-12T21:54:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"6016f9dd-37fe-4374-974c-e3ed660a8125","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-12T22:20:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYBb53Tf-Q3SXTOPtZgqBJQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20429,577030455],"tags":[577082374,965824,22376,103613,576961586],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nAPI startup Noname Security nears $500M deal to sell itself to Akamai | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The Information <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> in January that Noname was trying to raise another financing round at a substantially lower valuation. <\/span>In February, Israeli news outlet Calcalist reported that Noname was in negotiations with several potential buyers<\/a>, including Akamai.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Many VC-backed companies that raised capital at the height of the tech boom saw their valuations crater after the U.S. Fed raised interest rates. Many are now simultaneously looking for buyers and a new round of funding, known in the finance world as a dual-track process. Meanwhile, many later-stage VCs are looking for liquidity after more than a year of a frozen IPO market. So, the general mood in the venture industry is that, if robust IPOs don’t return soon, it will be bargain shopping time for M&A activity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Akamai Technologies is in advanced acquisition talks with Noname Security, an API cybersecurity startup, according to a people person familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574636,"featured_media":2644680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"c70b0ad1-afe1-3035-b27b-2b5c54878141","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-12T21:54:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"6016f9dd-37fe-4374-974c-e3ed660a8125","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-12T22:20:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYBb53Tf-Q3SXTOPtZgqBJQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20429,577030455],"tags":[577082374,965824,22376,103613,576961586],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nAPI startup Noname Security nears $500M deal to sell itself to Akamai | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Many VC-backed companies that raised capital at the height of the tech boom saw their valuations crater after the U.S. Fed raised interest rates. Many are now simultaneously looking for buyers and a new round of funding, known in the finance world as a dual-track process. Meanwhile, many later-stage VCs are looking for liquidity after more than a year of a frozen IPO market. So, the general mood in the venture industry is that, if robust IPOs don’t return soon, it will be bargain shopping time for M&A activity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Akamai Technologies is in advanced acquisition talks with Noname Security, an API cybersecurity startup, according to a people person familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574636,"featured_media":2644680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"c70b0ad1-afe1-3035-b27b-2b5c54878141","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-12T21:54:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"6016f9dd-37fe-4374-974c-e3ed660a8125","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-12T22:20:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYBb53Tf-Q3SXTOPtZgqBJQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20429,577030455],"tags":[577082374,965824,22376,103613,576961586],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nAPI startup Noname Security nears $500M deal to sell itself to Akamai | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Akamai Technologies is in advanced acquisition talks with Noname Security, an API cybersecurity startup, according to a people person familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574636,"featured_media":2644680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"c70b0ad1-afe1-3035-b27b-2b5c54878141","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-12T21:54:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"6016f9dd-37fe-4374-974c-e3ed660a8125","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-12T22:20:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYBb53Tf-Q3SXTOPtZgqBJQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20429,577030455],"tags":[577082374,965824,22376,103613,576961586],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nAPI startup Noname Security nears $500M deal to sell itself to Akamai | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Conceptual image representing digital software cloud computing technology<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"3D cloud with lock on it symbolizing cloud security.","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":2309,"height":1299,"file":"2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg","filesize":1305445,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=150,84","width":150,"height":84,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=300,169","width":300,"height":169,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=768,432","width":768,"height":432,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=680,383","width":680,"height":383,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=1536,864","width":1536,"height":864,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=1536"},"2048x2048":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=2048,1152","width":2048,"height":1152,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=2048"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=1200,675","width":1200,"height":675,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?resize=50,28","width":50,"height":28,"filesize":1305445,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"GettyImages-1724735466.jpg","width":1024,"height":576,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"Getty Images","camera":"","caption":"Conceptual image representing digital software cloud computing technology","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Cloud computing security digital background","orientation":"1","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1724735466.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2644680"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2644680"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/521068"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":20429,"description":"Tech startup news that breaks down the funding, growth, and long-term trajectory of companies across every stage and industry. Startup coverage includes climate, crypto, fintech, SaaS, transportation, and consumer tech.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/startups\/","name":"Startups","slug":"startups","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nStartups | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
Ad blockers might seem like an unlikely defense in the fight against spyware, but new reporting casts fresh light on how spyware makers are weaponizing online ads to allow governments to conduct surveillance.<\/p>\n
Spyware makers are reportedly capable of locating and stealthily infecting specific targets with spyware using banner ads.<\/p>\n
One of the startups that worked on an ad-based spyware infection system is Intellexa, a European company that develops the Predator spyware. Predator is able to access the full contents of a target’s phone in real time.<\/p>\n
According to documents seen by Israeli news outlet Haaretz<\/a>, Intellexa presented a proof-of-concept system in 2022 called Aladdin that enabled the planting of phone spyware through online ads. The documents included a demo of the Aladdin system with technical explanations on how the spyware infects its targets and examples of malicious ads: by “seemingly targeting graphic designers and activists with job offers, through which the spyware will be introduced to their device,” Haaretz reported.<\/p>\n It’s unclear if Aladdin was fully developed or was sold to government customers.<\/p>\n Another private Israeli company called Insanet succeeded in developing an ad-based infection system<\/a> capable of locating an individual within an advertising network, Haaretz revealed last year.<\/p>\n Online ads help website owners, including this one, generate revenue. But online ad exchanges can be abused to push malicious code to a target’s device.<\/p>\n Delivering malware through malicious ads, often referred to as malvertising, works by injecting malicious code into the ads displayed on websites on computer and phone browsers. Much of these attacks rely on some interaction with the victim, such as tapping a link or opening a malicious file.<\/p>\n But the global ubiquity of online advertising vastly increases the reach that government customers have to target individuals \u2014 including their critics \u2014 with stealthy spyware.<\/p>\n While no phone or computer can ever be completely unhackable, ad blockers can be effective in stopping malvertising and ad-based malware before it ever hits the browser.<\/p>\n Ad blockers \u2014 as the name suggests \u2014 prevent ads from displaying in web browsers. Ad blockers don’t just hide the ads, but rather block the underlying website from loading the ads to begin with. That’s also good for privacy, since it means ad exchanges cannot use tracking code to see which sites users visit as they browse the web. Ad-blocking software is available for phones, as well.<\/p>\n Security experts have long advised using an ad blocker to prevent malvertising attacks. In 2022, the FBI said in a public service announcement<\/a> to use an ad blocker as an online safety precaution.<\/p>\n “Everyone should block ads,” tweeted<\/a> John Scott-Railton, a Citizen Lab senior researcher who has investigated government spyware, in response to the Haaretz report. “It’s a matter of safety.”<\/p>\n\n How to browse the web privately and securely<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spyware makers are reportedly working on targeting individuals with stealthy data-stealing malware using online banner ads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574210,"featured_media":1956880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ad58d46-a520-32fa-a4ce-b3a7792df267","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:36Z","apple_news_api_id":"3e44880f-4167-4a45-846e-68ead8d3edba","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/APkSID0FnSkWEbmjq2NPtug","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[426637499,21587494],"tags":[2979410,1624938,965824,576931637],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment spyware is another reason to use an ad blocker | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
It’s unclear if Aladdin was fully developed or was sold to government customers.<\/p>\n
Another private Israeli company called Insanet succeeded in developing an ad-based infection system<\/a> capable of locating an individual within an advertising network, Haaretz revealed last year.<\/p>\n Online ads help website owners, including this one, generate revenue. But online ad exchanges can be abused to push malicious code to a target’s device.<\/p>\n Delivering malware through malicious ads, often referred to as malvertising, works by injecting malicious code into the ads displayed on websites on computer and phone browsers. Much of these attacks rely on some interaction with the victim, such as tapping a link or opening a malicious file.<\/p>\n But the global ubiquity of online advertising vastly increases the reach that government customers have to target individuals \u2014 including their critics \u2014 with stealthy spyware.<\/p>\n While no phone or computer can ever be completely unhackable, ad blockers can be effective in stopping malvertising and ad-based malware before it ever hits the browser.<\/p>\n Ad blockers \u2014 as the name suggests \u2014 prevent ads from displaying in web browsers. Ad blockers don’t just hide the ads, but rather block the underlying website from loading the ads to begin with. That’s also good for privacy, since it means ad exchanges cannot use tracking code to see which sites users visit as they browse the web. Ad-blocking software is available for phones, as well.<\/p>\n Security experts have long advised using an ad blocker to prevent malvertising attacks. In 2022, the FBI said in a public service announcement<\/a> to use an ad blocker as an online safety precaution.<\/p>\n “Everyone should block ads,” tweeted<\/a> John Scott-Railton, a Citizen Lab senior researcher who has investigated government spyware, in response to the Haaretz report. “It’s a matter of safety.”<\/p>\n\n How to browse the web privately and securely<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spyware makers are reportedly working on targeting individuals with stealthy data-stealing malware using online banner ads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574210,"featured_media":1956880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ad58d46-a520-32fa-a4ce-b3a7792df267","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:36Z","apple_news_api_id":"3e44880f-4167-4a45-846e-68ead8d3edba","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/APkSID0FnSkWEbmjq2NPtug","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[426637499,21587494],"tags":[2979410,1624938,965824,576931637],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment spyware is another reason to use an ad blocker | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Online ads help website owners, including this one, generate revenue. But online ad exchanges can be abused to push malicious code to a target’s device.<\/p>\n
Delivering malware through malicious ads, often referred to as malvertising, works by injecting malicious code into the ads displayed on websites on computer and phone browsers. Much of these attacks rely on some interaction with the victim, such as tapping a link or opening a malicious file.<\/p>\n
But the global ubiquity of online advertising vastly increases the reach that government customers have to target individuals \u2014 including their critics \u2014 with stealthy spyware.<\/p>\n
While no phone or computer can ever be completely unhackable, ad blockers can be effective in stopping malvertising and ad-based malware before it ever hits the browser.<\/p>\n
Ad blockers \u2014 as the name suggests \u2014 prevent ads from displaying in web browsers. Ad blockers don’t just hide the ads, but rather block the underlying website from loading the ads to begin with. That’s also good for privacy, since it means ad exchanges cannot use tracking code to see which sites users visit as they browse the web. Ad-blocking software is available for phones, as well.<\/p>\n
Security experts have long advised using an ad blocker to prevent malvertising attacks. In 2022, the FBI said in a public service announcement<\/a> to use an ad blocker as an online safety precaution.<\/p>\n “Everyone should block ads,” tweeted<\/a> John Scott-Railton, a Citizen Lab senior researcher who has investigated government spyware, in response to the Haaretz report. “It’s a matter of safety.”<\/p>\n\n How to browse the web privately and securely<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spyware makers are reportedly working on targeting individuals with stealthy data-stealing malware using online banner ads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574210,"featured_media":1956880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ad58d46-a520-32fa-a4ce-b3a7792df267","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:36Z","apple_news_api_id":"3e44880f-4167-4a45-846e-68ead8d3edba","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/APkSID0FnSkWEbmjq2NPtug","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[426637499,21587494],"tags":[2979410,1624938,965824,576931637],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment spyware is another reason to use an ad blocker | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
“Everyone should block ads,” tweeted<\/a> John Scott-Railton, a Citizen Lab senior researcher who has investigated government spyware, in response to the Haaretz report. “It’s a matter of safety.”<\/p>\n\n How to browse the web privately and securely<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spyware makers are reportedly working on targeting individuals with stealthy data-stealing malware using online banner ads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574210,"featured_media":1956880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ad58d46-a520-32fa-a4ce-b3a7792df267","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:36Z","apple_news_api_id":"3e44880f-4167-4a45-846e-68ead8d3edba","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/APkSID0FnSkWEbmjq2NPtug","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[426637499,21587494],"tags":[2979410,1624938,965824,576931637],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment spyware is another reason to use an ad blocker | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
How to browse the web privately and securely<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spyware makers are reportedly working on targeting individuals with stealthy data-stealing malware using online banner ads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574210,"featured_media":1956880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ad58d46-a520-32fa-a4ce-b3a7792df267","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:36Z","apple_news_api_id":"3e44880f-4167-4a45-846e-68ead8d3edba","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/APkSID0FnSkWEbmjq2NPtug","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[426637499,21587494],"tags":[2979410,1624938,965824,576931637],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment spyware is another reason to use an ad blocker | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
<\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spyware makers are reportedly working on targeting individuals with stealthy data-stealing malware using online banner ads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574210,"featured_media":1956880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ad58d46-a520-32fa-a4ce-b3a7792df267","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:36Z","apple_news_api_id":"3e44880f-4167-4a45-846e-68ead8d3edba","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/APkSID0FnSkWEbmjq2NPtug","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[426637499,21587494],"tags":[2979410,1624938,965824,576931637],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment spyware is another reason to use an ad blocker | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Spyware makers are reportedly working on targeting individuals with stealthy data-stealing malware using online banner ads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574210,"featured_media":1956880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"4ad58d46-a520-32fa-a4ce-b3a7792df267","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:36Z","apple_news_api_id":"3e44880f-4167-4a45-846e-68ead8d3edba","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-04-13T13:05:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/APkSID0FnSkWEbmjq2NPtug","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[426637499,21587494],"tags":[2979410,1624938,965824,576931637],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment spyware is another reason to use an ad blocker | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Zack Whittaker is the security editor at TechCrunch. You can send tips securely via Signal and WhatsApp to +1 646-755-8849. He can also be reached by e-mail at zack.whittaker@techcrunch.com.<\/p> <\/a>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/zw-profile.jpg","twitter":"zackwhittaker","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/133574210"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"author":[{"id":133574210,"name":"Zack Whittaker","url":"","description":"Zack Whittaker is the security editor at TechCrunch. You can send tips securely via Signal and WhatsApp to +1 646-755-8849. He can also be reached by email at zack.whittaker@techcrunch.com.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/zack-whittaker\/","slug":"zack-whittaker","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c6f2f007a1fadfcf4f9da867130c493?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c6f2f007a1fadfcf4f9da867130c493?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c6f2f007a1fadfcf4f9da867130c493?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nZack Whittaker, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Zack Whittaker is the security editor at TechCrunch. You can send tips securely via Signal and WhatsApp to +1 646-755-8849. He can also be reached by e-mail at zack.whittaker@techcrunch.com.<\/p> <\/a>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/zw-profile.jpg","twitter":"zackwhittaker","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/133574210"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":1956880,"date":"2020-03-10T10:04:23","slug":"data-flowing-through-phone","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/03\/10\/your-vpn-or-ad-blocker-app-could-be-collecting-your-data\/data-flowing-through-phone\/","title":{"rendered":"data-flowing-through-phone"},"author":2414667,"featured_media":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"license":{"source_key":"other","source":"TechCrunch","person":"Bryce Durbin"},"authors":[2414667],"caption":{"rendered":""},"alt_text":"an illustration of a green and blue stream of data flowing through a cell phone","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":3200,"height":1700,"file":"2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=150,80","width":150,"height":80,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=300,159","width":300,"height":159,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=768,408","width":768,"height":408,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=680,361","width":680,"height":361,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=1536,816","width":1536,"height":816,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=1536"},"2048x2048":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=2048,1088","width":2048,"height":1088,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=2048"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=1200,638","width":1200,"height":638,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?resize=50,27","width":50,"height":27,"filesize":1015747,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"data-flowing-through-phone.jpg","width":1024,"height":544,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]},"filesize":1015747},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/data-flowing-through-phone.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1956880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1956880"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":426637499,"description":"Stay up to date on privacy news coverage, from data protection, policy and emerging tech, and how startups are trying to solve some of the biggest data privacy problems for the future.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/privacy\/","name":"Privacy","slug":"privacy","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nPrivacy News | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
I’ve been keeping an eye on the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe since it showed up on Kickstarter<\/a> last year, and I was psyched to get the chance to see it in person at CES in Las Vegas<\/a> this week. In an era where DIY culture and personal manufacturing are rising, Rownd Lathe is an exciting new player. This compact CNC lathe is a fun gateway to creativity, enabling users to effortlessly shape and form a variety of materials, including wood, aluminum and plastic.<\/p>\n For amateur machinists, entry-level CNC mills have been around for a hot minute (Bantam <\/a>is the brand that immediately springs to mind), but CNC lathes have been conspicuously absent from the market. You\u00a0can<\/em> buy a CNC mill for under $10,000, but they tend to be extremely hard to use: They’re cheap tools for machinists with a ton of experience, rather than the user-friendly tools we’ve gotten used to in the same vein as what MakerBot did for 3D printing, what Glowforge did for laser cutting and what Cricut did for vinyl work.<\/p>\n Spotting a gap in the market, Rownd gathered up mechanical and electronic engineers, a materials engineer, an architect and an industrial designer, and threw itself into a project.<\/p>\n The Rownd turns a pawn. Image Credits:<\/strong> Rownd.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n What sets Rownd Lathe apart is not just its relatively affordable hardware (the machine retails at around $5,000), but the accompanying software that democratizes the design process, enabling beginners to easily create or utilize pre-made designs from the open source Rownd Library.<\/p>\n Ease of use is central to the Rownd Lathe experience. It features a large touchscreen that presents all necessary information about the machine at a glance, including usage time, rotation speed and feed rate. Users can select CAD data directly from the library and start the machine without needing a separate computer connection. This touch interface also allows for manual machine control, or you can upload G-code to run the machine like any other CNC lathe.<\/p>\n There’s also a gamepad controller that users can use to control the tools, creating a manual-esque experience. You don’t quite get the “feel” of turning metal that way, but it’s a great compromise ensuring that this isn’t a CNC-only machine. Given some of the near-accidents I’ve had on engine lathes, I suppose putting a hood and a gamepad between me and the rapidly spinning metal could be a good thing.<\/p><\/div>\n Checking out the machine in person, it seems like a solidly built device, although it is a lot smaller than most of the lathes I’ve worked on in the past. The maximum diameter of the workpiece that can be accommodated by the machine is six inches (150 mm). The length of the workpiece can be up to 11.5 inches (300 mm). The chuck diameter is particularly small, with maximum work sizes of 3.25 inches (80 mm). The machine offers an X-axis travel of five inches (125 mm) and a Z-axis travel of 17 3\/4 inches (450 mm). All of that translates into a machine that can be useful for machining parts of reasonable sizes, but of course, it depends on what you’re trying to build. The motor is around 1 horsepower (800W), which is pretty solid for a machine this size.<\/p>\n I didn’t have a chance to try it out, unfortunately, but the company says it’s planning to start shipping out to its preorder customers “in three months,” and to have it available for regular orders a couple of months after that.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve been keeping an eye on the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe since it showed up on Kickstarter last year, and I was psyched to get the chance to see it in person at CES in Las Vegas this week. In an era where DIY culture and personal manufacturing are rising, Rownd Lathe is an exciting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170861,"featured_media":2650708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"30319775-1e1b-37a4-a1cc-cc606ee044a0","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-01-11T14:22:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"b7a421de-c25c-431e-8a33-982c4bc85a5b","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-01-11T17:48:06Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/At6Qh3sJcQx6KM5gsS8haWw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577052803,20429],"tags":[449557037,577214924,577222251],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking a closer look at the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
For amateur machinists, entry-level CNC mills have been around for a hot minute (Bantam <\/a>is the brand that immediately springs to mind), but CNC lathes have been conspicuously absent from the market. You\u00a0can<\/em> buy a CNC mill for under $10,000, but they tend to be extremely hard to use: They’re cheap tools for machinists with a ton of experience, rather than the user-friendly tools we’ve gotten used to in the same vein as what MakerBot did for 3D printing, what Glowforge did for laser cutting and what Cricut did for vinyl work.<\/p>\n Spotting a gap in the market, Rownd gathered up mechanical and electronic engineers, a materials engineer, an architect and an industrial designer, and threw itself into a project.<\/p>\n The Rownd turns a pawn. Image Credits:<\/strong> Rownd.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n What sets Rownd Lathe apart is not just its relatively affordable hardware (the machine retails at around $5,000), but the accompanying software that democratizes the design process, enabling beginners to easily create or utilize pre-made designs from the open source Rownd Library.<\/p>\n Ease of use is central to the Rownd Lathe experience. It features a large touchscreen that presents all necessary information about the machine at a glance, including usage time, rotation speed and feed rate. Users can select CAD data directly from the library and start the machine without needing a separate computer connection. This touch interface also allows for manual machine control, or you can upload G-code to run the machine like any other CNC lathe.<\/p>\n There’s also a gamepad controller that users can use to control the tools, creating a manual-esque experience. You don’t quite get the “feel” of turning metal that way, but it’s a great compromise ensuring that this isn’t a CNC-only machine. Given some of the near-accidents I’ve had on engine lathes, I suppose putting a hood and a gamepad between me and the rapidly spinning metal could be a good thing.<\/p><\/div>\n Checking out the machine in person, it seems like a solidly built device, although it is a lot smaller than most of the lathes I’ve worked on in the past. The maximum diameter of the workpiece that can be accommodated by the machine is six inches (150 mm). The length of the workpiece can be up to 11.5 inches (300 mm). The chuck diameter is particularly small, with maximum work sizes of 3.25 inches (80 mm). The machine offers an X-axis travel of five inches (125 mm) and a Z-axis travel of 17 3\/4 inches (450 mm). All of that translates into a machine that can be useful for machining parts of reasonable sizes, but of course, it depends on what you’re trying to build. The motor is around 1 horsepower (800W), which is pretty solid for a machine this size.<\/p>\n I didn’t have a chance to try it out, unfortunately, but the company says it’s planning to start shipping out to its preorder customers “in three months,” and to have it available for regular orders a couple of months after that.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve been keeping an eye on the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe since it showed up on Kickstarter last year, and I was psyched to get the chance to see it in person at CES in Las Vegas this week. In an era where DIY culture and personal manufacturing are rising, Rownd Lathe is an exciting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170861,"featured_media":2650708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"30319775-1e1b-37a4-a1cc-cc606ee044a0","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-01-11T14:22:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"b7a421de-c25c-431e-8a33-982c4bc85a5b","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-01-11T17:48:06Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/At6Qh3sJcQx6KM5gsS8haWw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577052803,20429],"tags":[449557037,577214924,577222251],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking a closer look at the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Spotting a gap in the market, Rownd gathered up mechanical and electronic engineers, a materials engineer, an architect and an industrial designer, and threw itself into a project.<\/p>\n
The Rownd turns a pawn. Image Credits:<\/strong> Rownd.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n What sets Rownd Lathe apart is not just its relatively affordable hardware (the machine retails at around $5,000), but the accompanying software that democratizes the design process, enabling beginners to easily create or utilize pre-made designs from the open source Rownd Library.<\/p>\n Ease of use is central to the Rownd Lathe experience. It features a large touchscreen that presents all necessary information about the machine at a glance, including usage time, rotation speed and feed rate. Users can select CAD data directly from the library and start the machine without needing a separate computer connection. This touch interface also allows for manual machine control, or you can upload G-code to run the machine like any other CNC lathe.<\/p>\n There’s also a gamepad controller that users can use to control the tools, creating a manual-esque experience. You don’t quite get the “feel” of turning metal that way, but it’s a great compromise ensuring that this isn’t a CNC-only machine. Given some of the near-accidents I’ve had on engine lathes, I suppose putting a hood and a gamepad between me and the rapidly spinning metal could be a good thing.<\/p><\/div>\n Checking out the machine in person, it seems like a solidly built device, although it is a lot smaller than most of the lathes I’ve worked on in the past. The maximum diameter of the workpiece that can be accommodated by the machine is six inches (150 mm). The length of the workpiece can be up to 11.5 inches (300 mm). The chuck diameter is particularly small, with maximum work sizes of 3.25 inches (80 mm). The machine offers an X-axis travel of five inches (125 mm) and a Z-axis travel of 17 3\/4 inches (450 mm). All of that translates into a machine that can be useful for machining parts of reasonable sizes, but of course, it depends on what you’re trying to build. The motor is around 1 horsepower (800W), which is pretty solid for a machine this size.<\/p>\n I didn’t have a chance to try it out, unfortunately, but the company says it’s planning to start shipping out to its preorder customers “in three months,” and to have it available for regular orders a couple of months after that.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve been keeping an eye on the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe since it showed up on Kickstarter last year, and I was psyched to get the chance to see it in person at CES in Las Vegas this week. In an era where DIY culture and personal manufacturing are rising, Rownd Lathe is an exciting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170861,"featured_media":2650708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"30319775-1e1b-37a4-a1cc-cc606ee044a0","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-01-11T14:22:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"b7a421de-c25c-431e-8a33-982c4bc85a5b","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-01-11T17:48:06Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/At6Qh3sJcQx6KM5gsS8haWw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577052803,20429],"tags":[449557037,577214924,577222251],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking a closer look at the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The Rownd turns a pawn. Image Credits:<\/strong> Rownd.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n What sets Rownd Lathe apart is not just its relatively affordable hardware (the machine retails at around $5,000), but the accompanying software that democratizes the design process, enabling beginners to easily create or utilize pre-made designs from the open source Rownd Library.<\/p>\n Ease of use is central to the Rownd Lathe experience. It features a large touchscreen that presents all necessary information about the machine at a glance, including usage time, rotation speed and feed rate. Users can select CAD data directly from the library and start the machine without needing a separate computer connection. This touch interface also allows for manual machine control, or you can upload G-code to run the machine like any other CNC lathe.<\/p>\n There’s also a gamepad controller that users can use to control the tools, creating a manual-esque experience. You don’t quite get the “feel” of turning metal that way, but it’s a great compromise ensuring that this isn’t a CNC-only machine. Given some of the near-accidents I’ve had on engine lathes, I suppose putting a hood and a gamepad between me and the rapidly spinning metal could be a good thing.<\/p><\/div>\n Checking out the machine in person, it seems like a solidly built device, although it is a lot smaller than most of the lathes I’ve worked on in the past. The maximum diameter of the workpiece that can be accommodated by the machine is six inches (150 mm). The length of the workpiece can be up to 11.5 inches (300 mm). The chuck diameter is particularly small, with maximum work sizes of 3.25 inches (80 mm). The machine offers an X-axis travel of five inches (125 mm) and a Z-axis travel of 17 3\/4 inches (450 mm). All of that translates into a machine that can be useful for machining parts of reasonable sizes, but of course, it depends on what you’re trying to build. The motor is around 1 horsepower (800W), which is pretty solid for a machine this size.<\/p>\n I didn’t have a chance to try it out, unfortunately, but the company says it’s planning to start shipping out to its preorder customers “in three months,” and to have it available for regular orders a couple of months after that.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve been keeping an eye on the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe since it showed up on Kickstarter last year, and I was psyched to get the chance to see it in person at CES in Las Vegas this week. In an era where DIY culture and personal manufacturing are rising, Rownd Lathe is an exciting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170861,"featured_media":2650708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"30319775-1e1b-37a4-a1cc-cc606ee044a0","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-01-11T14:22:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"b7a421de-c25c-431e-8a33-982c4bc85a5b","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-01-11T17:48:06Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/At6Qh3sJcQx6KM5gsS8haWw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577052803,20429],"tags":[449557037,577214924,577222251],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking a closer look at the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
What sets Rownd Lathe apart is not just its relatively affordable hardware (the machine retails at around $5,000), but the accompanying software that democratizes the design process, enabling beginners to easily create or utilize pre-made designs from the open source Rownd Library.<\/p>\n
Ease of use is central to the Rownd Lathe experience. It features a large touchscreen that presents all necessary information about the machine at a glance, including usage time, rotation speed and feed rate. Users can select CAD data directly from the library and start the machine without needing a separate computer connection. This touch interface also allows for manual machine control, or you can upload G-code to run the machine like any other CNC lathe.<\/p>\n
There’s also a gamepad controller that users can use to control the tools, creating a manual-esque experience. You don’t quite get the “feel” of turning metal that way, but it’s a great compromise ensuring that this isn’t a CNC-only machine. Given some of the near-accidents I’ve had on engine lathes, I suppose putting a hood and a gamepad between me and the rapidly spinning metal could be a good thing.<\/p><\/div>\n Checking out the machine in person, it seems like a solidly built device, although it is a lot smaller than most of the lathes I’ve worked on in the past. The maximum diameter of the workpiece that can be accommodated by the machine is six inches (150 mm). The length of the workpiece can be up to 11.5 inches (300 mm). The chuck diameter is particularly small, with maximum work sizes of 3.25 inches (80 mm). The machine offers an X-axis travel of five inches (125 mm) and a Z-axis travel of 17 3\/4 inches (450 mm). All of that translates into a machine that can be useful for machining parts of reasonable sizes, but of course, it depends on what you’re trying to build. The motor is around 1 horsepower (800W), which is pretty solid for a machine this size.<\/p>\n I didn’t have a chance to try it out, unfortunately, but the company says it’s planning to start shipping out to its preorder customers “in three months,” and to have it available for regular orders a couple of months after that.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve been keeping an eye on the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe since it showed up on Kickstarter last year, and I was psyched to get the chance to see it in person at CES in Las Vegas this week. In an era where DIY culture and personal manufacturing are rising, Rownd Lathe is an exciting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170861,"featured_media":2650708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"30319775-1e1b-37a4-a1cc-cc606ee044a0","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-01-11T14:22:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"b7a421de-c25c-431e-8a33-982c4bc85a5b","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-01-11T17:48:06Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/At6Qh3sJcQx6KM5gsS8haWw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577052803,20429],"tags":[449557037,577214924,577222251],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking a closer look at the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Checking out the machine in person, it seems like a solidly built device, although it is a lot smaller than most of the lathes I’ve worked on in the past. The maximum diameter of the workpiece that can be accommodated by the machine is six inches (150 mm). The length of the workpiece can be up to 11.5 inches (300 mm). The chuck diameter is particularly small, with maximum work sizes of 3.25 inches (80 mm). The machine offers an X-axis travel of five inches (125 mm) and a Z-axis travel of 17 3\/4 inches (450 mm). All of that translates into a machine that can be useful for machining parts of reasonable sizes, but of course, it depends on what you’re trying to build. The motor is around 1 horsepower (800W), which is pretty solid for a machine this size.<\/p>\n
I didn’t have a chance to try it out, unfortunately, but the company says it’s planning to start shipping out to its preorder customers “in three months,” and to have it available for regular orders a couple of months after that.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve been keeping an eye on the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe since it showed up on Kickstarter last year, and I was psyched to get the chance to see it in person at CES in Las Vegas this week. In an era where DIY culture and personal manufacturing are rising, Rownd Lathe is an exciting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170861,"featured_media":2650708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"30319775-1e1b-37a4-a1cc-cc606ee044a0","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-01-11T14:22:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"b7a421de-c25c-431e-8a33-982c4bc85a5b","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-01-11T17:48:06Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/At6Qh3sJcQx6KM5gsS8haWw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577052803,20429],"tags":[449557037,577214924,577222251],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking a closer look at the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
I’ve been keeping an eye on the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe since it showed up on Kickstarter last year, and I was psyched to get the chance to see it in person at CES in Las Vegas this week. In an era where DIY culture and personal manufacturing are rising, Rownd Lathe is an exciting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170861,"featured_media":2650708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"30319775-1e1b-37a4-a1cc-cc606ee044a0","apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-01-11T14:22:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"b7a421de-c25c-431e-8a33-982c4bc85a5b","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-01-11T17:48:06Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/At6Qh3sJcQx6KM5gsS8haWw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[577052803,20429],"tags":[449557037,577214924,577222251],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking a closer look at the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
At TechCrunch, Haje (He\/Him) covers general tech news and focuses mostly on hardware. He has founded several companies to varying degrees of success, spent a while in the VC world, and has been a journalist and TV producer since the dawn of his career. He is more-than-averagely interested in photography and can often be found with a camera slung over his shoulder. He wrote a book about pitching startups to investors, and you can find him on @Haje on Twitter (yes, really), or at Haje.me for everything else. Disclosures.<\/a> <\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Haje-black-and-red-HQ-sq.jpg","twitter":"Haje"}],"author":[{"id":170861,"name":"Haje Jan Kamps","url":"","description":"","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/haje-jan-kamps\/","slug":"haje-jan-kamps","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6ffdc4504715913427057be65524d44?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6ffdc4504715913427057be65524d44?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6ffdc4504715913427057be65524d44?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nHaje Jan Kamps, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
At TechCrunch, Haje (He\/Him) covers general tech news and focuses mostly on hardware. He has founded several companies to varying degrees of success, spent a while in the VC world, and has been a journalist and TV producer since the dawn of his career. He is more-than-averagely interested in photography and can often be found with a camera slung over his shoulder. He wrote a book about pitching startups to investors, and you can find him on @Haje on Twitter (yes, really), or at Haje.me for everything else. Disclosures.<\/a> <\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Haje-black-and-red-HQ-sq.jpg","twitter":"haje","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/170861"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":2650708,"date":"2024-01-11T06:02:57","slug":"20230109-dsc00262","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2024\/01\/11\/rownd-at-ces\/20230109-dsc00262\/","title":{"rendered":"Rownd"},"author":170861,"featured_media":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"license":{"source_key":"other","source":"TechCrunch","source_url":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com","person":"Haje Kamps","person_url":"http:\/\/kamps.org"},"authors":[170861],"caption":{"rendered":" Rownd CNC lathe at CES 2024 in Las Vegas<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"Rownd CNC lathe at CES 2024 in Las Vegas","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":2000,"height":1125,"file":"2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg","filesize":752273,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=150,84","width":150,"height":84,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=300,169","width":300,"height":169,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=768,432","width":768,"height":432,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=680,383","width":680,"height":383,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=1536,864","width":1536,"height":864,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=1536"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=1200,675","width":1200,"height":675,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=50,28","width":50,"height":28,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg","width":1024,"height":576,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"5","credit":"","camera":"ILCE-7RM3","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1673314490","copyright":"Haje Kamps \/ TechCrunch","focal_length":"55","iso":"10000","shutter_speed":"0.01","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2650708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2650708"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/170861"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577052803,"description":"News, updates and reviews on the latest gadgets in tech. Coverage includes smartphones, wearables, laptops, drones and all of your consumer electronics needs.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/gadgets\/","name":"Gadgets","slug":"gadgets","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nGadgets | Latest gadget news, updates & reviews on TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
powder coating Rownd CNC lathe at CES 2024 in Las Vegas<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"Rownd CNC lathe at CES 2024 in Las Vegas","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":2000,"height":1125,"file":"2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg","filesize":752273,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=150,84","width":150,"height":84,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=300,169","width":300,"height":169,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=768,432","width":768,"height":432,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=680,383","width":680,"height":383,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=1536,864","width":1536,"height":864,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=1536"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=1200,675","width":1200,"height":675,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg?resize=50,28","width":50,"height":28,"filesize":752273,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"20230109-DSC00262.jpg","width":1024,"height":576,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"5","credit":"","camera":"ILCE-7RM3","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1673314490","copyright":"Haje Kamps \/ TechCrunch","focal_length":"55","iso":"10000","shutter_speed":"0.01","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/20230109-DSC00262.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2650708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2650708"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/170861"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577052803,"description":"News, updates and reviews on the latest gadgets in tech. Coverage includes smartphones, wearables, laptops, drones and all of your consumer electronics needs.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/gadgets\/","name":"Gadgets","slug":"gadgets","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nGadgets | Latest gadget news, updates & reviews on TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n