iWorld
YouTube challenges Facebook & Twitter with mobile live
MUMBAI: Beware, Facebook and Periscope. YouTube is ready to ramp up a challenge with its live mobile closeup. Google-owned video network has began to let popular online video personalities broadcast on the go using mobile devices.
The new mobile live streaming feature allows YouTube content creators whose channels have more than 10,000 subscribers to broadcast through apps tailored for mobile devices such as smartphones.
According to product managers Barbara Macdonald and Kurt Wilms, this launch will put the power of live streaming in the hands of hundreds of thousands of talented creators, giving them a more intimate and spontaneous way to share their thoughts, lives and creativity.
The feature would be available more broadly at YouTube soon.
However, the functionality remains unchanged. As before, you can set a custom title, enable or disable live chat, and choose to send a notification to all of your subscribers. You can broadcast in portrait or landscape and messages will appear on your screen as fast-moving bubbles.
Facebook and Twitter have already added such capabilities to their mobile applications, getting an advantage on YouTube.
YouTube is banking on its reliability and rock-solid infrastructure to tempt people across, as well as a new Super Chat feature. Like Twitch and other live streaming services, this gives viewers the option to pay for a distinct, brightly colored message. It’ll stay pinned to the top of the chat window for up to five hours, and earn creators another slice of cash as they converse with their fans in real-time.
Macdonald and Wilms said that Super Chat is like paying for that front-row seat in the digital age.
In December, Facebook began testing a live audio streaming service that will let people essentially broadcast radio-style on the leading online social network.
The new feature came as an alternative to a Facebook Live tool that lets people stream live video at the social network.
An audio-streaming option promised to be useful in areas where telecommunication networks have trouble handling the larger data demands of video streaming.
e-commerce
American Express to acquire AI startup Hyper to boost automation
Deal targets expense management as AI reshapes corporate spending tools.
MUMBAI: From receipts to robots, the expense sheet is getting a brain upgrade as American Express moves to bring artificial intelligence into the heart of corporate spending. The company has announced plans to acquire Hyper, a relatively young but fast-rising startup founded in 2022 that builds AI-powered agents capable of organising expenses, generating reports, verifying compliance with budgets and policies, and nudging users with timely reminders. The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, underscores a growing shift among financial institutions to automate traditionally manual, time-heavy workflows.
Hyper counts Sam Altman among its backers, adding a layer of Silicon Valley credibility to the acquisition. While financial details remain undisclosed, the strategic intent is clear: deepen automation capabilities and sharpen American Express’s position in the competitive corporate spending ecosystem.
The two companies are not strangers. They previously collaborated in 2024 on a co-branded credit card product, suggesting that the acquisition is less a cold buy and more an extension of an existing relationship. With this move, American Express is effectively bringing that capability in-house, aiming to embed AI directly into its commercial services stack.
Chief executive Stephen Squeri had already signalled the direction of travel in a recent shareholder letter, describing AI as a “structural shift” in how businesses operate. The Hyper acquisition appears to be a direct response to that shift, particularly in expense management, where processes such as approvals, compliance checks and reporting remain ripe for automation.
Alongside the acquisition, the company is also expanding its product suite. A recently launched business credit card offers cashback and benefits at an annual fee of $295, with another card expected later this year moves that complement its broader push into commercial services.
Taken together, the strategy points to a future where managing expenses may require fewer spreadsheets and more algorithms. For American Express, the bet is simple, if businesses are rethinking how work gets done, the tools that power that work need to evolve just as quickly.
