With a recent funding of $675 million at a $2.6 billion valuation from key investors including Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, OpenAI, and Microsoft, a new player has emerged in the race for artificial intelligence (AI) dominance: the American tech startup Figure AI. Their core product, Figure 01, is advertised to be a general-purpose, autonomous, and commercially viable humanoid robot that can help with a variety of tasks from daily chores to industrial labour. 

Elon Musk is considering implementing a small fee for new users on the social media network X (formerly known as Twitter), to enable posting and address the bot problem, according to recent announcements. In response to a post discussing changes on X's website, Musk proposed charging a small fee for new accounts as the "only way" to combat the "onslaught of bots."

Byju's, the Indian ed-tech startup, has recently announced that its India CEO Arjun Mohan is officially stepping down from his position. After seven months in the CEO role, Mohan will be replaced by co-founder and CEO Byju Raveendran as the new "hands-on" leader in charge of the company's daily operations.

Facebook is reportedly experiencing technical difficulties, with several users unable to access their timelines. Complaints began surfacing around 10:30 AM Bangladesh time today, with users reporting a loading error that prevents anything from appearing on their timelines.

Documents obtained by Israeli news outlet Haaretz revealed that in 2022, Intellexa, a European firm behind the Predator spyware which is equipped to gain access to a target's phone contents in real time, showcased a proof-of-concept system called Aladdin, designed to disseminate phone spyware via online ads. Haaretz reported that the Aladdin system targeted graphic designers and activists under the guise of job offers, demonstrating how the spyware infiltrates devices. However, the status of Aladdin's development and whether it was sold to government entities remains unclear.

Google Photos is set to launch a suite of AI-powered editing tools including Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, and Magic Editor, which will become available to all Google Photos users starting May 15. Users will be able to access these tools for free of cost on a wider range of devices, including Pixel tablets.

Bangladeshi startup EdBridge Scholars has recently won second place at BobCat Ventures, a grant competition in the State of Maine, United States of America. The startup, founded by Tanvir Thamid, a student at Bates College, won USD 4,000 and professional mentor support for their second-place victory.

OpenAI, the company behind the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, has recently announced the opening of its first Asia office in Tokyo, Japan. The move is being seen as the AI company's ongoing effort to grow revenue sources globally.

Xiaomi, one of China's top smartphone makers, occupied the third position with a market share of 14.1% during the first quarter.

Kazi Abidur Rahman, the co-founder of Sunnamusk, a British perfume shop, has secured a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2024. He was listed in the 30 Under 30 list of Europe - Retail & Ecommerce 2024.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, is planning to add a new AI-powered search feature on Instagram, according to a report by the global tech news platform TechCrunch. With this feature, users can initiate conversations with an AI chatbot and enter unique search queries to find photos and reels.

Apple is nearly done with the production of AI-powered M4 computer processors and plans to update every Mac model with them, according to a recent report by Bloomberg News. These updated models are planned to be released later this year or early next year, the report states, citing people close to the matter.

Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation (GESDA), an independent research foundation based in Switzerland, is already looking beyond AI, with the belief that quantum computing is going to be the next big technological disrupter. 

The glorification of overworking and the expectation to stay late in the office have become long-ingrained in the corporate culture of many countries, including Bangladesh. But in this modern age, while many countries across the world are doing away with this culture, staying late is still often seen as a sign of dedication and hard work in Bangladesh.

The debut launch of the Indian aerospace startup Agnikul Cosmos' rocket, named the Agnibaan, was postponed last week due to technical complications, according to people on the launch site.

Google is reportedly developing a new ‘Lookup’ button that allows users to quickly search phone numbers directly from their recent calls screen, therefore identifying unknown callers. The discovery was first made by an X user named AssembleDebug, who found this upcoming feature in the latest beta version of the Google Phone app, as reported by PiunikaWeb, an India-based tech news platform.

bKash has reportedly retrieved mistakenly sent BDT 50 coupons from users, as detailed in posts circulating on Facebook. Several users shared screenshots from 'bKashNotice', alleging that bKash had erroneously distributed BDT 50 coupons, only to retract them subsequently.

Aydha Mehnaz, a 29 year old Bangladeshi, has been featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list under the Media and Marketing category. Aydha is VIP and Media Relations Lead at fashion brand Mugler, a French luxury fashion house owned by L’Oréal Group. Under her leadership, Mugler's media impact value soared from $58 million pre-Covid to now over $200 million, states Forbes. 

Spotify, the music streaming platform, is releasing its new AI playlists feature into beta. This new functionality allows users to generate custom playlists based on written prompts.

Microsoft has unveiled plans to open a new artificial intelligence (AI) hub in London, UK, with a primary emphasis on researching large language models and associated infrastructure. The Microsoft AI Hub team will be led by AI scientist and engineer Jordan Hoffmann, with Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google DeepMind, as EVP and CEO.