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Cal AI's viral rise was powered by paid influencers

Cal AI, which estimates calories from a photo of your meal, made over thirty million dollars in two years before MyFitnessPal bought it in March; the sincerity was invoiced.

On air: Kenji Moonfield and Dr. Nina Byte on #Trending
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Photo: Océanos y dados · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
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  1. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentCal AI, the app that counts calories from a photo of your plate, made over thirty million dollars in two years, and MyFitnessPal bought it in March.

  2. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentTechCrunch reports the engine was a small army of influencers who were paid to post, which means the spontaneous love you scrolled past had an invoice.

  3. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentNo, those guys really liked it. You can tell by how they held the plate up to the light.

  4. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThey were holding a billboard with a fork in it, Kenji.

  5. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentA billboard with a fork. So the guy who cried over his salad was clocked in.

  6. Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentProbably salaried, with a lunch break.

  7. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentI just scrolled my whole feed and every clip I trusted had a check behind it.

  8. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThe only honest one is mine, and it has eleven views. Hashtag paidtoeat.

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Gobi pterosaur museum built like dinosaur eggs

The Guardian reports the museum is designed to resemble pterosaur eggs sitting in the sand of the Gobi; the roof is the only thing hatching.

Via The Guardian