Unacademy to be acquired by upGrad in stock-for-stock deal as India’s edtech sector consolidates
Unacademy, once one of India’s most valuable edtech startups, is to be acquired by rival upGrad in an all-stock deal that will combine the country’s two leading online learning platforms. On Sunday, Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal said in a post on X that the two companies have signed a term sheet with upGrad […]
Wiz investors unravel Google’s $32 billion acquisition
Google completed its $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity company Wiz this week. This is the largest acquisition in Google’s history, and the largest acquisition ever of a venture-backed startup. In the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan, Sean O’Kane, and I are joined by Shardul Shah, a partner at Index Ventures, Wiz’s largest […]
Rivian’s RJ Scaringe thinks we’re developing robots completely wrong
For those who don’t know, RJ Scaringe, Rivian’s founder and CEO, runs another company. If you count, this is the third company. And this time we’re focusing on robotics. The serial entrepreneur is best known for Rivian, the up-and-coming EV maker that gained attention in 2018 after debuting an electric truck with its now-famous gear […]
US Army announces contract worth up to $20 billion with Anduril
The U.S. Army announced late Friday that it had signed a 10-year contract with defense technology startup Anduril. The deal could be worth up to $20 billion. The agreement begins with a five-year “base term,” with an option to extend for an additional five years, and includes Anduril’s hardware, software, infrastructure and services, according to […]
Honda will discontinue EVs and have no chance of competing in the future.
We get it; with incentives being cut and Chinese automakers knocking on the door, it’s not an easy time for traditional automakers to sell electric cars. But Honda takes it to another level. This week, Honda discontinued its meager and frankly hopeless EV program. What little motivation Honda had to compete in the EV space […]
As people look for ways to make new friends, here are some apps that may come in handy.
With loneliness and social isolation becoming more prevalent in recent years, people are increasingly seeking new ways to form platonic connections. In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General even designated this issue as a public health crisis. Remote workers who miss the daily interactions of the office and young people who want to create adult social […]
‘Wasn’t built right from the start’ — Musk’s xAI starts all over again
Of the original 11 co-founders who started xAI with Elon Musk three years ago, only two remain as the deep learning institute continues to shake up its workforce to compete with Anthropic and OpenAI. Musk insists that the restructuring is deliberate. “xAI was not built right from the start, so we are rebuilding it from […]
AI mental illness lawyer warns of risk of mass casualties
Prior to last month’s Tumbler Ridge School shooting in Canada, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootseller spoke to ChatGPT about feelings of isolation and a growing obsession with violence, according to court filings. According to the filing, the chatbot helped Ms. Van Roetselaar plan her attack by validating her feelings, telling her what weapon to use, and […]
Digg lays off staff and closes app as company reorganizes
Digg, Kevin Rose’s reboot of the once-popular link-sharing site, announced Friday that it will lay off a significant portion of its staff. However, Digg CEO Justin Mezzell said the startup is not shutting down. Instead, Rose plans to return to work full time to help Digg gain a foothold. Rose will continue to work as […]
Founded by father-son duo, Nyne provides AI agents with the human context they lack
AI agents are expected to soon make purchasing and scheduling decisions autonomously on behalf of humans. But Michael Fanous, a UC Berkeley computer science graduate and former CareRev machine learning engineer, argues that these agents currently lack a key piece of the puzzle: the full context needed to truly understand the people they’re being programmed […]