This is issue 2024.04 of the API Changelog, a mix of API news, commentary, and opinion. In this issue, you'll get to know the most relevant API-related information from the week of January 15, 2024. Subscribe now, so you never miss an issue of the API Changelog.
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Techmapintroduces a groundbreaking Job Posting API delivering real-time job data and insights from over 140 countries. Their user-friendly API provides SEO-optimized data for seamless integration into diverse applications.
Blue Sage Solutionslaunched a cloud-based digital servicing platform for mortgage life cycle support, featuring API technology and initial interim servicing functions. The platform, available to all lenders, aims to modernize mortgage servicing by reducing costs and improving user experience.
Cathay Cargo's integration with CargoWise through API innovation offers real-time booking and shipment management for global forwarders. This digital strategy, supported by GLS, boosts efficiency in air cargo services, aligning with Cathay's vision of customer-centricity. See additional coverage on Capa, The Load Star, Asian Aviation, and Air Cargo Eye.
Tiugo TechnologiesacquiresUploadcare, enhancing its API-first developer platform offerings in content creation and collaboration. This strategic move, part of Tiugo's growth under PSG, aligns with its mission to empower developers with innovative tools. See additional coverage on MarTechSeries.
OnTerra Systemsintroduced RouteSavvy API PLUS for developers, featuring advanced multi-vehicle and time window optimizations starting at $100 monthly. The new API also offers a complementary Bing Maps Enterprise subscription for enhanced mapping capabilities.
Hubli partners with BeCause to expand access to eco-certified hotels for sustainable corporate event planning. The collaboration enhances the real-time visibility of hotels' sustainability data, aiding in responsible corporate travel decisions.
RouteOnelaunched On-Demand, offering APIs for advanced digital automotive retailing with efficiency and customization. Their growing tools, like Auto Submit, enhance F&I processes and integration, marking progress in digital car buying.
Googleis preparing for the DMA in Europe with changes like prioritizing comparison websites in search results and implementing a Data Portability API. Amidst these updates, Google cautions that the new rules may limit choices for European consumers and businesses.
FieldView Plusintroduces new features for 2024, such as personalized analysis and enhanced in-cab tools, with a premium subscription option. Data transfer from Panorama to FieldView is now possible, offering real-time mapping and agronomic insights via the Gen 3 20|20 system.
Funding and M&A
Redditaims for a March IPO, despite a rocky market and internal revenue challenges, including debated API monetization. Valued at $10 billion in 2021, Reddit seeks to be the first social media IPO since Pinterest in 2019.
Ciscointends to acquire Isovalent, the company that develops Cilium, a project enhancing cloud-native security and networking through eBPF. The Cilium open-source project provides app developers with a set of consistent APIs for granular control of network routing, load balancing, encryption, security, and observability.
Crypto Arbitrage Owlplans to invest $10 million in the AI-focused blockchain platform Fetch.ai, bolstering their ecosystem. The partnership aims to integrate AI and cryptocurrency, enhancing Crypto Arbitrage Owl's arbitrage and ecosystem services.
Noname Security, co-founded by Shay Levi, offers advanced API security solutions and has raised $220 million since its 2020 stealth exit. The company, valued at $1 billion, sets itself apart with comprehensive, AI-powered API security tools and has a unique product addressing government sector needs. See additional coverage on Pulse 2.0.
AI
LLMs like GPT-4 face adoption challenges due to rate limits on API requests, which stall real-time processing for large applications. Alternatives like specialized AI models or requesting higher rate limits exist, but GPU shortages and costly new fabs hinder immediate solutions.
Face.Match.Expert from Expertum.ai leads in facial recognition with a user-friendly API and an accuracy rate of 99.98%, handling thousands of requests at once. It ensures GDPR compliance, never storing original biometric data, making it highly secure for sensitive applications.
OpenAI partners with Arizona State University, granting full access to ChatGPT Enterprise for academic uses including personalized AI tutoring. The collaboration aims to enhance coursework and research, with ASU leveraging the tool to develop AI avatars and expand its prompt engineering course.
OpenAIterminated a developer account for violating policies against political campaigning and impersonation. The account was related to a super PAC using ChatGPT for political support ahead of the New Hampshire primary. OpenAI said it “recently removed a developer account that was knowingly violating our API usage policies…”. See additional coverage on silicon Angle, Business Standard, TH, Cryptopolitan, and Voice of Nigeria.
Fintech
Core State Holdings Corp. launchedPTPShopy, a cryptocurrency payment service. This gateway facilitates transactions using digital currencies. Online retailers benefit from an accessible API and plugins for e-commerce platforms.
Kazakhstan's National Bank and other entities published a report on an Open API and Open Banking pilot, aiming to modernize financial services through standardized data exchange. The successful pilot involved multiple banks and clients, setting the stage for a transparent and competitive financial sector by 2024.
India's payment gateway market is projected to hit $1.71 billion in 2025, essential for startups tapping global markets with secure transactions. Four Indian SME-focused gateways are Airpay, Cashfree Payments, PayKun, and Zaakpay, offering various integrated payment solutions and customer support.
Volopa partners with Yapily to integrate Open Banking API solutions, enhancing finance teams' payment processes with direct bank transfers and balance alerts. The collaboration aims to simplify SMEs' transactions initially in the UK and then across Europe, combining Volopa's financial management platform with Yapily's API connectivity.
Security
Apiiro and Akamai have partnered to deliver a comprehensive API security solution from code analysis to runtime protection. The integration enhances API risk management throughout the application development lifecycle, aiding customers in preventing and remediating threats. See additional coverage on Yahoo!finance.
Over 178,000 internet-facing SonicWall firewalls are vulnerable to DoS and potential RCE due to two critical bugs. Bishop Fox advises users to remove public access to management interfaces and update firmware to prevent attacks.
FBot, a Python-based hacking tool, targets cloud services and web servers with unique features for cloud malware, such as AWS account hijacking. SentinelLabs discovered it demonstrating a trend of specialized cloud attack tools with private development indicators, recommending multi-factor authentication as a safeguard. See additional coverage on Infosecurity Magazine.
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