Telegram has become profitable, generating over $1 billion in revenue in 2024. The company's premium subscription service, launched in 2022, now has 12 million paid users. Telegram also has over $500 million in cash reserves and has repaid a significant portion of its $2 billion debt.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/

Eero's Outdoor 7 long-distance mesh unit solves Wi-Fi connectivity issues in a remote cabin and barn, providing reliable coverage for devices 300 feet away.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/

Lilium, an electric aircraft startup, has ceased operations and laid off about 1,000 workers due to failed financing and insolvency efforts.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/

Coralogix, an observability platform, acquired Aporia, an AI observability startup. This acquisition will integrate Aporia's technology into Coralogix's service and launch a dedicated AI research center, Coralogix AI.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/

Quantization, a technique used to make AI models more efficient, has limits and the industry may be approaching them.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/

xAI's AI chatbot Grok is being tested in a standalone iOS app, currently available in Australia and some countries in beta. The app offers real-time web data access, generative AI features like text rewriting, summarization, Q&A, and image generation from text prompts. A dedicated site, Grok.com, is being prepared for web access.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/

X is increasing the price of its Premium+ subscription service by 37.5% to $22 per month in the U.S. starting December 21st. Existing subscribers will keep their current rates until January 20th. International markets will also see price increases.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/

OpenAI released a new family of AI reasoning models, o3, which is more advanced than its previous model o1. The company used a new safety paradigm called 'deliberative alignment' to train the models and ensure they stay aligned with human values.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/

Palantir and Anduril are forming a consortium with tech companies to bid on Pentagon contracts, aiming to challenge traditional defense contractors.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/

Sriram Krishnan has been named as senior policy advisor for AI at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Donald Trump. He will work with the president's council of advisors on science and technology and collaborate with David Sacks, Trump's crypto and AI 'czar'.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/