Startup and Technology News
Using memes, social media users have become red teams for half-baked AI features
“Running with scissors is a cardio exercise that can increase your heart rate and require concentration and focus,” says Google’s new AI search feature. “Some say it can also improve your pores and gi...
5/24/2024, 9 engagements
ESA prepares for the post-ISS era, selects The Exploration Company, Thales Alenia to develop cargo spacecraft
The European Space Agency selected two companies on Wednesday to advance designs of a cargo spacecraft that could establish the continent’s first sovereign access to space. The two awardees, major ae...
5/23/2024, 4 engagements
Expressable brings speech therapy into the home
Expressable is a platform that offers one-on-one virtual sessions with speech language pathologists.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/expressable-brings-speech-therapy-into-the-home/
5/23/2024, 6 engagements
X should bring back stars, not hide ‘Likes’
Elon Musk’s X is preparing to make “Likes” private on the social network, in a change that could potentially confuse users over the difference between something they’ve favorited and something they’ve...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/x-should-bring-back-stars-not-hide-likes/
5/23/2024, 3 engagements
$6M fine for robocaller who used AI to clone Biden’s voice
The FCC has proposed a $6 million fine for the scammer who used voice-cloning tech to impersonate President Biden in a series of illegal robocalls during a New Hampshire primary election. It’s more ab...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/6m-fine-for-robocaller-who-used-ai-to-clone-bidens-voice/
5/23/2024, 2 engagements
Tesla lobbies for Elon and Kia taps into the GenAI hype
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Is it me, or is the Tesla board be...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/tesla-lobbies-for-elon-and-kia-taps-into-the-genai-hype/
5/23/2024, 2 engagements
Canva launches a proper enterprise product — and they mean it this time
Back in 2019, Canva, the wildly successful design tool, introduced what the company was calling an enterprise product, but in reality it was more geared towards teams than fulfilling true enterprise r...
5/23/2024, 2 engagements
App developer Crowdaa raises €1.2 million and plans a U.S. expansion
Crowdaa is an app that allows non-developers to easily create and release apps on the mobile store.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
2 days left to vote for Disrupt Audience Choice
TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 isn’t just an event for innovation; it’s a platform where your voice matters. With the Disrupt 2024 Audience Choice Program, you have the power to shape the future of tech by v...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/2-days-left-to-vote-for-disrupt-audience-choice/
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
The U.S. government sues to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster
The United States Department of Justice and 30 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, for alleged monopolistic practices. Live N...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/the-u-s-government-sues-to-break-up-live-nation-ticketmaster/
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
‘Pro-competition’ rules for Big Tech make it through UK’s pre-election wash-up
The UK will shortly get its own rulebook for Big Tech, after peers in the House of Lords agreed Thursday afternoon to pass the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer bill (DMCC) — removing the last...
5/23/2024, 2 engagements
Spotify experiments with an AI DJ that speaks Spanish
Spotify’s addition of its AI DJ feature, which introduces personalized song selections to users, was the company’s first step into an AI future. Now, Spotify is developing an alternative version of th...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/spotify-experiments-with-an-ai-dj-that-speaks-spanish/
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
Paris transit passes now available in iPhone’s Wallet app
After multiple delays, Apple and the Paris area transportation authority rolled out support for Paris transit passes in Apple Wallet. It means that people can now use their iPhone or Apple Watch as a ...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/paris-transit-passes-now-available-in-iphones-wallet-app/
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
Arc Search’s new Call Arc feature lets you ask questions by ‘making a phone call’
Call Arc can help answer immediate and small questions, according to the company.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
5/23/2024, 2 engagements
Redwood Materials is partnering with Ultium Cells to recycle GM’s EV battery scrap
Redwood Materials, the battery recycling startup founded by former Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, will be recycling production scrap for batteries going into General Motors electric vehicles. The comp...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/redwood-materials-gm-ultium-battery-scrap/
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
Lumos helps companies manage their employees’ identities — and access
Andrej Safundzic, Alan Flores Lopez and Leo Mehr met in a class at Stanford focusing on ethics, public policy and technological change. Safundzic — speaking to TechCrunch — says that the class drove h...
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
Auggie’s new app helps parents find community and shop
A new startup called Auggie is aiming to give parents a single platform where they can shop for products and connect with each other. The company’s new app, which launched this week, offers parents a ...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/auggies-new-app-helps-parents-find-community-and-shop/
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
Remark puts thousands of human product experts into AI form
Remark trains AI models on human product experts to create personas that can answer questions with the same style of their human counterparts.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/remark-ecommerce-shopping-decision/
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
Finout lands cash to grow its cloud spend management platform
In 2021, Roi Ravhon, Asaf Liveanu and Yizhar Gilboa came together to found Finout, an enterprise-focused toolset to help manage and optimize cloud costs. (We covered the company’s launch out of stealt...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/finout-lands-cash-to-grow-its-cloud-spend-management-platform/
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
ZeroPoint’s nanosecond-scale memory compression could tame power-hungry AI infrastructure
ZeroPoint claims to have solved compression problems with hyper-fast, low-level memory compression that requires no real changes to the rest of the computing system.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights res...
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
Meet the Finnish biotech startup bringing a long lost mycoprotein to your plate
The best known mycoprotein is probably Quorn, a meat substitute that’s fast approaching its 40th birthday. But Finnish biotech startup Enifer is cooking up something even older: Its proprietary single...
5/23/2024, 1 engagement
The Biden campaign is looking to hire a seasoned meme lord
President Joe Biden needs a meme manager.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/the-biden-campaign-is-looking-to-hire-a-seasoned-meme-lord/
5/22/2024, 2 engagements
Meta’s new AI council is comprised entirely of white men
Meanwhile, women and people of color are disproportionately impacted by irresponsible AI.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/metas-new-ai-council-is-comprised-entirely-of-white-men/
5/22/2024, 3 engagements
Garry Tan has revealed his ‘secret sauce’ for getting into Y Combinator
If you’ve ever wanted to apply to Y Combinator, here’s some inside scoop on how the iconic accelerator goes about choosing companies.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/garry-tan-y-combinator-accelerator-insights/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
FCC proposes all AI-generated content in political ads must be disclosed
Under the envisioned framework, both candidate and issue ads would be required to include an on-air and filed disclosure that AI-generated content was used.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. Fo...
5/22/2024, 2 engagements
India’s BluSmart is testing its ride-hailing service in Dubai
Indian ride-hailing startup BluSmart has started operating in Dubai, TechCrunch has exclusively learned and confirmed with its executive. The move to Dubai, which has been rumored for months, could he...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/indias-blusmart-is-testing-its-ride-hailing-service-in-dubai/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Refer a founder to Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2024
Want to make a founder’s day, week, month, and possibly career? Refer them to Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2024! Applications close June 10 at 11:59 p.m. PT. TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 200...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/refer-a-founder-to-startup-battlefield-200-at-disrupt-2024/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Peter Thiel-founded Valar Ventures raised a $300 million fund, half the size of its last one
The perception in Silicon Valley is that every investor would love to be in business with Peter Thiel. But the venture capital fundraising environment has become so difficult, that even Valar Ventures...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/peter-thiel-valar-ventures-new-fund-size-performance/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Bluesky now has DMs
Social networking startup and X competitor Bluesky is officially launching DMs (direct messages), the company announced on Wednesday. Later, Bluesky plans to “fully support end-to-end encrypted messag...
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Techstars CEO Mäelle Gavet is out
Gavet has had a rocky tenure at Techstars and her leadership was the subject of much controversy.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/techstars-ceo-maelle-gavet-is-out/
Connected fitness is adrift post-pandemic
The struggle isn’t universal, however.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/connected-fitness-is-adrift-post-pandemic/
5/22/2024, 2 engagements
A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffs
The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independe...
HoundDog.ai helps developers prevent personal information from leaking
HoundDog actually looks at the code a developer is writing, using both traditional pattern matching and large language models to find potential issues.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For per...
Vinod Khosla is coming to Disrupt to discuss how AI might change the future
Few figures in the tech industry have earned the storied reputation of Vinod Khosla, founder and partner at Khosla Ventures. For over 40 years, he has been at the center of Silicon Valley, building or...
Google Pay will now display card perks, BNPL options and more
The changes are designed to enhance the consumer experience of using Google Pay and make it a more competitive option against other payment methods.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For person...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/google-pay-will-now-display-card-perks-bnpl-options-and-more/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Boeing, NASA indefinitely delay crewed Starliner launch
If you’ve been looking forward to seeing Boeing’s Starliner capsule carry two astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time, you’ll have to wait a bit longer. The mission, which has...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/boeing-nasa-indefinitely-delay-crewed-starliner-launch/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Bolster, creator of the CheckPhish phishing tracker, raises $14M led by Microsoft’s M12
A dodgy email containing a link that looks “legit” but is actually malicious remains one of the most dangerous, yet successful, tricks in a cyber criminal’s handbook. Now, an AI startup called Bolster...
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Hydrolix seeks to make storing log data faster and cheaper
In 2008, Marty Kagan, who’d previously worked at Cisco and Akamai, co-founded Cedexis, a (now-Cisco-owned) firm developing observability tech for content delivery networks. Fellow Cisco veteran Hasan ...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/hydrolix-seeks-to-make-storing-log-data-faster-and-cheaper/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Space VC closes $20M Fund II to back frontier tech founders from day zero
Gone are the days when space and defense were considered fundamentally antithetical to venture investment. Now, the country’s largest venture capital firms are throwing larger portions of their money ...
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
TikTok turns to generative AI to boost its ads business
TikTok is the latest tech company to incorporate generative AI into its ads business, as the company announced on Tuesday that it’s launching a new “TikTok Symphony” AI suite for brands. The tools wil...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/tiktok-turns-to-generative-ai-to-boost-its-ads-business/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Patronus AI is off to a magical start as LLM governance tool gains traction
These days every company is trying to figure out if their large language models are compliant with whatever rules they deem important, and with legal or regulatory requirements. If you’re in a regulat...
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Immigrant banking platform Majority secures $20M following 3x revenue growth
For a $5.99 per month, immigrants have a bank account and debit card with fee-free international money transfers and discounted international calling.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For pers...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/majority-immigrant-banking-20m/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Linktree surpasses 50M users, rolls out its social commerce program to more creators
Link-in-bio startup Linktree has crossed 50 million users and is rolling out the beta of its social commerce program.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Aerodome is sending drones to the scene of the crime
Response time is Aerodome’s immediate value prop for potential clients.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/aerodome-is-sending-drones-to-the-scene-of-the-crime/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Unify helps developers find the best LLM for the job
When developers have a particular job that AI can solve, it’s not typically as simple as just pointing an LLM at the data. There are other considerations such as cost, speed and accuracy and finding w...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/unify-helps-developers-find-the-best-llm-for-the-job/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Humane, the creator of the $700 Ai Pin, is reportedly seeking a buyer
Humane, the company behind the hyped Ai Pin that launched to less-than-glowing reviews last month, is reportedly on the hunt for a buyer.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only...
Praktika raises $35.5M to use AI avatars to make learning languages feel more natural
Praktika has secured a $35.5M Series A round to apply AI-powered avatars to language-learning apps.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Oyo, once valued at $10 billion, shelves IPO plans for second time
India's Oyo, once valued at $10 billion, has withdrawn its IPO application from the market regulator for the second time.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/22/oyo-once-valued-at-10-billion-shelves-ipo-plans-for-second-time/
Ore Energy emerges from stealth to build utility-scale batteries that last days, not hours
Where Aytac Yilmaz lives in the Netherlands, the sun might not appear for days on end, which can really crimp the output of the country’s solar panels. Wind turbines might make up some of the shortfal...
Paytm counts costs of regulatory clampdown as losses swell
One 97 Communications, the parent company of India’s leading digital payments platform Paytm, reported a widening of its consolidated net loss to $66.1 million in the quarter ending March, compared to...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/paytm-counts-costs-of-regulatory-clampdown-as-losses-swell/
5/22/2024, 1 engagement
Microsoft wants to make Windows an AI operating system, launches Copilot+ PCs
Copilot, Microsoft's brand of generative AI, will soon be far more deeply integrated into the Windows 11 experience.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/microsoft-build-2024-windows-ai-operating-system-copilot-plus-pcs/
Uber and Lyft’s ride-hailing deal with Minnesota comes with a cost
Uber and Lyft drivers in Minnesota will see higher pay thanks to a deal between the state and the country’s two largest ride-hailing companies. The upshot: a new law that gives some protections to dri...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/uber-and-lyfts-ride-hailing-deal-with-minnesota-comes-with-a-cost/
5/21/2024, 1 engagement
VCs wanted FarmboxRx to become a meal kit, the company bootstrapped instead
Some startups choose to bootstrap from the beginning while others find themselves forced into self funding by a lack of investor interest or a business model that doesn’t fit traditional VC. FarmboxRx...
a16z’s American Dynamism team launches program to introduce technical minds to VC
Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism fund has established a new fellowship program aimed at introducing top engineers and technologists to venture investing, a move that could help the firm less ob...
Autodesk acquires AI-powered VFX startup Wonder Dynamics
3D tools behemoth Autodesk has acquired Wonder Dynamics, a startup that let creators quickly and easily make complex characters and visual effects using AI-powered image analysis. The two companies ha...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/autodesk-acquires-ai-powered-vfx-startup-wonder-dynamics/
5/21/2024, 1 engagement
Teen fintech Copper had to emergency discontinue its banking, debit products
Another fintech startup, and its customers, has been gravely impacted by the implosion of banking-as-a-service startup Synapse. Copper Banking, a digital banking service aimed at teens, notified its c...
Microsoft’s new ‘Volumetric Apps’ for Quest headsets extend Windows apps into the 3D space
Microsoft announced on Tuesday during its annual Build conference that it’s bringing “Windows Volumetric Apps” to Meta Quest headsets. The partnership will allow Microsoft to bring Windows 365 and loc...
5/21/2024, 1 engagement
Spotify’s ‘Listening Party’ feature falls short of expectations
It’s been three years since Spotify acquired live audio startup Betty Labs, and yet the music streaming service isn’t leveraging the technology to its fullest potential—at least not in our opinion. B...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/spotify-listening-party-billie-eilish/
Conservative cell carrier Patriot Mobile hit by data breach
U.S. cell carrier Patriot Mobile experienced a data breach that included subscribers’ personal information, including full names, email addresses, home zip codes, and account PINs, TechCrunch has lear...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/conservative-cell-carrier-patriot-mobile-hit-by-data-breach/
Alchemist’s latest batch puts AI to work as accelerator expands to Tokyo, Doha
Alchemist Accelerator has a new pile of AI-forward companies demoing their wares today, if you care to watch, and the program itself is making some international moves into Tokyo and Doha. Read on for...
Adobe brings Firefly AI-powered Generative Remove to Lightroom
Adobe says the feature is up to the task, regardless of how complex of a background the object is set against.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/adobe-brings-firefly-ai-powered-generative-remove-to-lightroom/
Sonos finally made some headphones
The market play is clear from the outset: The $449 headphones are firmly targeted at an audience that would otherwise be purchasing the Bose QC Ultra or Apple AirPods Max.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All righ...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/sonos-finally-made-some-headphones/
Special mud helps XGS Energy get more power out of geothermal wells
Young geothermal energy wells can be like budding prodigies, each brimming with potential to outshine their peers. But like people, most decline with age. In California, for example, the amount of ele...
5/21/2024, 2 engagements
Pinecone launches its serverless vector database out of preview
Pinecone, the vector database startup founded by Edo Liberty, the former head of Amazon’s AI Labs, has long been at the forefront of helping businesses augment large language models (LLMs) with their ...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/pinecone-launches-its-serverless-vector-database-out-of-preview/
Porsche invests in battery startup South 8 to boost cold-weather EV performance
All cars suffer when the mercury drops, but electric vehicles suffer more than most as heaters draw more power and batteries charge more slowly as the liquid electrolyte inside thickens. Drivers in Ch...
Data-labeling startup Scale AI raises $1B as valuation doubles to $13.8B
Scale AI, a company that provides data-labeling services for training machine learning models, has raised a $1 billion Series F round from a slew of big-name institutional and corporate investors incl...
Meta, Match, Coinbase and others team up to fight online fraud and crypto scams
The new coalition, Tech Against Scams, will work together to find ways to fight back against the tools used by scammers and to better educate the public against financial scams.
© 2024 TechCrunch. Al...
EU Council gives final nod to set up risk-based regulations for AI
It's a wrap: European Union lawmakers have given the final approval to set up the bloc's flagship, risk-based regulations for artificial intelligence.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For pers...
Zen Educate raises $37M and acquires Aquinas Education as it tries to address the teacher shortage
Zen Educate, an online marketplace that connects schools with teachers, has raised $37 million in a Series B round of funding. The raise comes amid a growing teacher shortage crisis both sides of the ...
5/21/2024, 1 engagement
NYC-Dublin real time video portal reopens with some fixes to prevent inappropriate behavior
When putting a video portal in a public park in the middle of New York City, some inappropriate behavior will likely occur. The Portal, the vision of Lithuanian artist and entrepreneur Benediktas Gyly...
Contour Venture Partners, an early investor in Datadog and Movable Ink, lowers the target for its fifth fund
Longtime New York-based seed investor, Contour Venture Partners, is making progress on its latest flagship fund after lowering its target. The firm closed on $42 million, raised from 64 backers, for C...
Meta’s Oversight Board takes its first Threads case
Meta’s Oversight Board has now extended its scope to include the company’s newest platform, Instagram Threads. Designed as an independent appeals board that hears cases and then makes precedent-settin...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/20/metas-oversight-board-takes-its-first-threads-case/
SeekOut, a recruiting startup last valued at $1.2 billion, lays off 30% of its workforce
The company says it's refocusing and prioritizing fewer initiatives that will have the biggest impact on customers and add value to the business.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal ...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/20/seekout-layoffs-30percent-talent-search-tigerglobal/
ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbot
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm. What started as a tool to hyper-charge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/20/chatgpt-everything-to-know-about-the-ai-chatbot/
UK’s autonomous vehicle legislation becomes law, paving the way for first driverless cars by 2026
The U.K.’s self-proclaimed “world-leading” regulations for self-driving cars are now official, after the Automated Vehicles (AV) Act received royal assent — the final rubber stamp any legislation must...
Disrupt Audience Choice vote closes Friday
TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is not just about groundbreaking innovations, insightful panels, and visionary speakers — it’s also about listening to YOU, the audience, and what you feel is top of mind for t...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/20/disrupt-audience-choice-vote-closes-friday/
Rollup wants to be the hardware engineer’s workhorse
Hard tech startups generate a lot of buzz, but there’s a growing cohort of companies building digital tools squarely focused on making hard tech development faster, more efficient, and — well, a whole...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/20/rollup-wants-to-be-the-hardware-engineers-workhorse/
Fintech lender Solo Funds is being sued again by the government over its lending practices
SoLo Funds CEO Travis Holoway: “Regulators seem driven by press releases when they should be motivated by true consumer protection and empowering equitable solutions.”
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights r...
Google launches a new Android feature to drive users back into their installed apps
Google says the new SDK would help Google expand on its core mission of connecting the right audience to the right content at the right time.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use ...
UK opens office in San Francisco to tackle AI risk
Ahead of the AI safety summit kicking off in Seoul, South Korea later this week, its co-host the United Kingdom is expanding its own efforts in the field. The AI Safety Institute – a U.K. body set up ...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/19/uk-opens-office-in-san-francisco-to-tackle-ai-risk/
Why companies are turning to internal hackathons
Companies are always looking for an edge, and searching for ways to encourage their employees to innovate. One way to do that is by running an internal hackathon around a theme and having employees at...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/19/why-companies-are-turning-to-internal-hackathons/
5/19/2024, 1 engagement
I’m rooting for Melinda French Gates to fix tech’s broken ‘brilliant jerk’ culture
Women in tech still face a shocking level of mistreatment at work. Melinda French Gates is one of the few working to change that.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/19/melinda-french-gates-fixing-tech-bro-culture-brilliant-jerk/
Hollywood agency CAA aims to help stars manage their own AI likenesses
Creative Artists Agency (CAA), one of the top entertainment and sports talent agencies, is hoping to be at the forefront of AI protection services for celebrities in Hollywood. With many stars having ...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/19/creative-artists-agency-veritone-ai-digital-cloning-actors/
Blue Origin successfully launches its first crewed mission since 2022
Blue Origin has successfully completed its NS-25 mission, resuming crewed flights for the first time in nearly two years. The mission brought six tourist crew members to the edge of space, including a...
Expedia says two execs dismissed after ‘violation of company policy’
Expedia says Rathi Murthy and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, respectively its CTO and senior vice president of core services product & engineering, are no longer employed at the travel booking company. In a s...
OpenAI created a team to control ‘superintelligent’ AI — then let it wither, source says
OpenAI’s Superalignment team, responsible for developing ways to govern and steer “superintelligent” AI systems, was promised 20% of the company’s compute resources, according to a person from that te...
5/18/2024, 2 engagements
Expedia says two execs dismissed after ‘violation of company policy’
Expedia says Rathi Murthy and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, respectively its CTO and senior vice president of core services product & engineering, are no longer employed at the travel booking company. In a s...
5/18/2024, 1 engagement
With AI startups booming, nap pods and Silicon Valley hustle culture are back
When Jeffrey Wang posted to X asking if anyone wanted to go in on an order of fancy-but-affordable office nap pods, he didn’t expect the post to go viral.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For ...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/18/ai-startups-nap-pods-silicon-valley-hustle-culture/
VCs and the military are fueling self-driving startups that don’t need roads
A new crop of early-stage startups — along with some recent VC investments — illustrates a niche emerging in the autonomous vehicle technology sector. Unlike the companies bringing robotaxis to city s...
Deal Dive: Sagetap looks to bring enterprise software sales into the 21st century
When the founders of Sagetap, Sahil Khanna and Kevin Hughes, started working at early-stage enterprise software startups, they were surprised to find that the companies they worked at were trying to s...
This Week in AI: OpenAI moves away from safety
Keeping up with an industry as fast-moving as AI is a tall order. So until an AI can do it for you, here’s a handy roundup of recent stories in the world of machine learning, along with notable resear...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/18/this-week-in-ai-openai-moves-away-from-safety/
Adobe comes after indie game emulator Delta for copying its logo
After Apple loosened its App Store guidelines to permit game emulators, the retro game emulator Delta — an app 10 years in the making — hit the top of the App Store’s charts. But the increased attenti...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/17/adobe-comes-after-indie-game-emulator-delta-for-copying-its-logo/
5/17/2024, 3 engagements
Meta’s latest experiment copies BeReal and Snapchat’s core ideas
Meta is once again taking on its competitors by developing a feature that borrows concepts from others — in this case, BeReal and Snapchat. The company is developing a feature for Instagram called “Pe...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/17/metas-latest-experiment-copies-bereal-and-snapchats-core-ideas/
Startups Weekly: It’s the dawning of the age of AI — plus, Musk is raging against the machine
Welcome to Startups Weekly! We've been drowning in AI news this week, with Google's I/O setting the pace. And Elon Musk rages against the machine.
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5/17/2024, 1 engagement
IndieBio’s SF incubator lineup is making some wild biotech promises
IndieBio’s Bay Area incubator is about to debut its 15th cohort of biotech startups. We took special notice of a few, which were making some major, bordering on ludicrous, claims that could pay off in...
YouTube TV’s ‘multiview’ feature is now available on Android phones and tablets
YouTube TV has announced that its ‘multiview’ feature for watching four streams at once is now available on Android phones and tablets. The Android launch comes two months after YouTube TV rolled out ...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/17/youtube-tvs-multiview-feature-available-android-phones-tablets/
A US trustee wants troubled fintech Synapse to be liquidated via Chapter 7 bankruptcy, cites ‘gross mismanagement’
The prospects for troubled banking-as-a-service startup Synapse have gone from bad to worse this week after the United States Trustee filed an emergency motion on Wednesday. The trustee is asking to ...
Seraphim’s latest space accelerator welcomes nine companies
U.K.-based Seraphim Space is spinning up its 13th accelerator program, with nine participating companies working on a range of tech from propulsion to in-space manufacturing and space situational awar...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/16/seraphims-latest-space-accelerator-welcomes-nine-companies/
OpenAI inks deal to train AI on Reddit data
OpenAI has reached a deal with Reddit to use the social news site’s data for training AI models. In a blog post on OpenAI’s press relations site, the company said that the Reddit partnership will prov...
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/16/openai-inks-deal-to-train-ai-on-reddit-data/
Mark Zuckerberg’s makeover: midlife crisis or carefully crafted rebrand?
For Mark Zuckerberg’s fortieth birthday, his wife got him a photoshoot. Zuckerberg gives the camera a sly smile as he sits amid a carefully crafted recreation of his childhood bedroom. It’s appropriat...
5/16/2024, 15 engagements