Off-topic for aiqbench
This story was gathered from a source we follow but falls outside AI and quantum coverage, so there is no aiqbench take for it.
Former Plaud exec raises $26M for AI app that listens to you in the background

One of the core promises of AI is that the more it knows about a person, the better it will be able to assist them with tasks and make appropriate suggestions, which, if you'll believe the tech companies, requires apps and devices to listen, watch, or record users' activity all the time and gather all possible context.
One of the core promises of AI is that the more it knows about a person, the better it will be able to assist them with tasks and make appropriate suggestions, which, if you’ll believe the tech companies, requires apps and devices to listen, watch or record users’ activity all the time and gather all possible context. There’s obviously privacy and data security concerns with anything that’s collecting data about you continuously. But startups…
Excerpt shown under the publisher's RSS terms · 74 words · full text and figures are on the publisher's site
Related coverage

The People of Utah vs. Kevin O’Leary
The Verge · Oct 1, 2026

OpenAI’s executive exodus has one big winner
The Verge · Aug 27, 2026
State of the Field: AI for Epistemics and Coordination
LessWrong · Oct 2, 2026

Musicians-turned-detectives are hunting for AI grifters
The Verge · Aug 29, 2026