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Tag: ‘scale

  • Rosebud lands $6M to scale its interactive AI journaling app

    Journaling app Rosebud has raised $6 million in seed funding because it seeks to additional flesh out its app as an AI mentor for self-reflection and private development. 

    Rosebud makes use of AI to investigate your journal entries, establish patterns over time, and supply insights, questions, and steerage. The corporate says its objective is to assist customers higher perceive themselves, construct new habits, and monitor objectives, similar to a human mentor would.

    Since its launch, Rosebud says, customers have journaled 500 million phrases and spent greater than 30 million minutes on its platform.

    Rosebud was based in 2023 by Chrys Bader, a Y Combinator alum and co-founder of Secret; and Sean Dadashi, a UC Berkeley Cognitive Science graduate. The pair met at a males’s group, and got here up with the concept for Rosebud based mostly on their very own experiences with remedy and training. 

    “All people is totally different, and everybody has totally different languages, not simply spoken languages, however totally different emotional language, other ways of communication,” Bader stated in an interview with TechCrunch, explaining that AI permits for a degree of personalised teaching and help that wasn’t accessible up to now.

    “So one individual would possibly need validation and a comfortable method, whereas someone would possibly need the actually arduous, like, ‘hey, problem me, name me out on my BS’ method,” he continued. “A part of understanding someone is utilizing that understanding to finest help every particular person. That’s what AI unlocks; that’s by no means been attainable earlier than, to scale that type of personalised recommendation or help the place each particular person might have this wildly totally different expertise than the opposite, relying on what they shared.”

    Picture Credit:Rosebud

    Rosebud says it isn’t seeking to change therapists, and as a substitute needs to open up entry to high quality mentorship.

    The corporate plans to make use of the brand new funding to broaden its group of 4 with engineering and product expertise, and investing extra into advertising. The startup additionally plans to take a position extra in its proprietary reminiscence expertise, and construct out the app’s options. 

    As well as, Rosebud needs to discover methods to make its AI journal extra accessible, probably via partnerships with colleges, companies and clinics. 

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    Picture Credit:Rosebud

    The seed spherical was led by Bessemer Enterprise Companions, with participation from 776, Initialized Capital, Gasoline Capital, Avenir, Tim Ferriss, and different traders.

    Rosebud states that each one journal information is encrypted, and that journal entries are by no means shared with third events or used to coach AI fashions.

    Wanting ahead, Bader and Dadashi envision Rosebud as a mentor, instructor and companion that may develop strategic, long run engagement plans with customers. As an example, if somebody is about to turn into a father, Rosebud might create personalised content material round that milestone with journaling and different assets. 

    “What if all people had one thing that was looking for what’s finest for them? Or one thing that’s serving to them turn into their finest self? I feel that’s the thrilling factor that AI permits,” Dadashi stated. “I benefited a lot from having mentorship all through my life at numerous instances, and I’ve suffered in instances once I haven’t had that mentorship. I feel what we’re seeing is a future the place this may be accessible to all people in a approach that it simply wasn’t attainable for it to be accessible earlier than. You’ll be able to have one thing that’s really serious about you, really attempting to know you, and is aligned with who you need to turn into.” 

    Rosebud’s fundamental journaling options are free to make use of, however the startup affords a $12.99 month-to-month subscription that unlocks premium options, reminiscent of long-term reminiscence, and voice and name modes. 

    The AI journal is accessible through the web, and on iOS and Android.

  • Outriders Developer Individuals Can Fly Cancels Two Initiatives, Says Will ‘Scale Down’ Groups

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    Individuals Can Fly, the Polish recreation developer behind video games like Bulletstorm, Gears of Conflict: Judgment and Outriders, has cancelled two unannounced tasks and mentioned it’s going to downsize its groups. The studio cited disagreements with the writer and inadequate funds to proceed manufacturing as causes behind the choice. Final yr, Individuals Can Fly laid off over 150 staff in two rounds of job cuts.

    Individuals Can Fly Cancels 2 Video games

    In a statement shared on LinkedIn on Sunday, Individuals Can Fly CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski confirmed that the studio was cancelling two video games — venture Gemini and venture Bifrost. The corporate had not beforehand shared particulars concerning the two in-development video games.

    “Right this moment we made a really troublesome determination to droop the event of venture Gemini and venture Bifrost – the related present studies have been launched to the market,” Wojciechowski mentioned within the assertion.

    “The suspension of the Gemini venture is a consequence of the truth that the Writer has not offered us with a draft of the following content material rider to the Publishing Settlement overlaying the phrases and circumstances of additional milestone on venture Gemini and the dearth of communication from the Writer as to its willingness to proceed or terminate the Gemini venture.

    “Venture Bifrost was suspended as a result of above and the evaluation of the Group’s money movement, which confirmed a scarcity of prospects for securing organisational sources and funds essential to proceed the manufacturing and launch of this venture.”

    The manager additionally instructed the cancellations would result in reorganisation and layoffs, however didn’t specify the variety of staff more likely to be impacted.

    “Because of this, we have now to considerably regroup as a studio and scale down our groups, which hurts essentially the most,” Wojciechowski mentioned. “We want to specific our deepest remorse and disappointment over how these occasions have unfolded and our honest gratitude for everybody’s contribution up up to now.”

    Wojciechowski didn’t specify the unnamed writer within the assertion, however Individuals Can Fly final labored with Square Enix on Outriders. The studio is presently engaged on a number of tasks, together with Gears of War: E-Day for Xbox Sport Studios and a brand new recreation primarily based on a Sony IP, codenamed venture Delta.

    Layoffs in Video games business

    Final yr, Individuals Can Fly laid off over 150 staff in two rounds of retrenchment. In January 2024, the studio reportedly laid off over 30 staff. Later in December, Wojciechowski announced the corporate was suspending manufacturing on certainly one of its tasks and shedding over 120 employees.

    The studio’s newest spherical of job cuts follows a wave of recreation cancellations, studio shutdowns and layoffs within the online game business. Final week, Electronic Arts cancelled its Black Panther recreation and laid off an unspecified variety of staff throughout totally different groups, marking the third spherical of job cuts on the firm this yr.

    In February, Warner Bros. shut down three of its recreation studios, together with Monolith Productions, and cancelled its Surprise Girl recreation that had spent years in improvement.