Google Announces Global Rollout of AI-Driven ‘Multi-Search’ to Mobile Devices • TechCrunch

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Hello, Crunchy Delights,

I don’t know about you, but we’re a little excited about our TC Early Stage event in Boston on April 20, and Darrell just announced the first set of speakers for the event. It’s going to be a good one!

Our Black History Month feature of the day is this hour-long documentary on YouTube – KQED’s mobile film unit that follows author and activist James Baldwin in the spring of 1963 as he strolled through San Francisco to meet members of the local African-American community. As a resident of the Bay Area, Haje found it interesting on many levels: the local history is exciting and seeing SF in the 1960s is a treat.

— Christina And haje

TechCrunch’s top 3

• Quick query: We thought Google might be sad today, with all this news from Microsoft, but Google came out with its own announcements from its Google Live Paris event. One of the most popular announcements today is that its new AI-powered “multi-search” has gone global. Sarah writes that this combines text and images in a single query. There is also a variant for local business searches.
• Now where did I put that card…: If you’re planning a trip to London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco or Tokyo, Google has something you might like. Aisha reports on another big announcement on Google Maps, which launched Immersive View in these five cities. It gives you a better way to immerse yourself in the city (more Google News in the Big Tech section).
• What is Elon doing now?: 1st of March. This is the date when Tesla CEO Elon Musk announces that he will finally unveil his Master Plan 3. Kirsten has more on what it could be and why we waited.

Startups and VCs

Kyle reports that a founder became frustrated using standard document apps like Acrobat and Microsoft Office to print and annotate documents. He wondered why there was no way to read and write on a PC as smooth as paper, which led him to experiment with PDF processing software. By 2020, these experiments had become a full-fledged custom PDF editor. Using AI, the editor – called Macro – extracts key terms, sections and equations to make documents interactive and hyperlinked. Macro has raised $9.3 million to continue its journey.

Almost exactly a year ago, dbt Labs shone a spotlight on opportunities in the world of developer tools for data analytics when the startup closed a $222 million Series D at a 4.2 valuation. billions of dollars. Today, dbt Labs announced the acquisition of Transform, adding semantic tools to its data analytics platform, Ingrid reports.

Moor? Do you want moar? You’re in luck, m’droogs:

Dear Sophie: Will the published articles improve my chances of obtaining an O-1A or H-1B visa?

Dear Sophia,

I am the founder and CEO of a startup in Istanbul, and I heard that articles in publications about an entrepreneur or a startup can be a big plus when applying for an O-1A or H-1B visa .

Is it true? Which publications are valid? Should they be Level 1 or English? Thanks for your help!

— Tenacious in Turkey

Three others from the TC+ team:

Tech Crunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get a head start. You can register here. Use code “DC” to get 15% off an annual subscription!

Big Tech inc.

Psst, some Russian hackers are believed to be behind the “WhisperGate” data-stealing malware used to target Ukraine, Carly reports. She writes that “the information-stealing malware uses filenames designed to impersonate legitimate Microsoft Office files and is similar to other TA471 tools, such as GraphSteel and GrimPlant, which were previously used in the part of a spear-phishing campaign specifically targeting the Ukrainian state body.” However, this new malware is even more troublesome. Read his story to find out why.

As promised, it’s Google mania today. The company has a few new features to show off: Rebecca reports on electric vehicles with integrated maps, while Ivan wrote about better contextual translation features. The company is also rolling back the feature that places playable podcasts directly in search results, Sarah reports. Oh, and if you have skin in the big game on Sunday (it’s also Christine’s birthday), brian writes that Giannis, Doja Cat and Amy Schumer will sell Google’s Pixel during the Super Bowl.

Here are four more that aren’t about Google: