Payroll startup Remote announces 50% increase in revenue per employee without increasing headcount
Remote, a seven-year-old payroll service provider based in Amsterdam, says it recently surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue and is cash flow positive. But he insists the real story is what’s happening behind the scenes. After implementing AI at all levels of the organization, the startup saw a 50% increase in revenue per employee. […]
UK visa portal publishes passports and selfies of thousands of applicants, then calls in lawyers
A TechCrunch investigation found that a website called UK Visa Portal had published thousands of passports and selfies of applicants who paid fees to the site to obtain UK immigration visas. An anonymous person alerted TechCrunch to the security lapse, saying at least 100,000 documents were publicly available on the website from people who uploaded […]
Meta launches subscriptions for Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, AI plans and more to come
Meta is doubling down on subscription services. On Wednesday, the social networking giant announced it would roll out consumer subscription plans for its flagship apps Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp globally and begin testing new subscriptions for businesses, creators, and Meta AI users. Consumers who subscribe to Instagram Plus ($3.99 per month), Facebook Plus ($3.99 per […]
With $100 million in new funding, Princeton’s Thea Energy becomes the most funded fusion startup
Thea Energy has raised an oversubscribed $100 million Series B led by the US Innovative Technology Fund, the fusion startup told TechCrunch. This amount would make the company one of the better-funded fusion startups and increase its chances of making a commercial reactor a reality. The new funding will help Thea expand production of its […]
CrowdStrike and Google take down botnet used by hackers to target open source software developers
CrowdStrike worked with Google and Shadowserver, a nonprofit organization that scans and monitors internet cyberattacks, to stop a botnet that cybercriminals were using to push malware and steal passwords from open source software developers. According to CrowdStrike, the purpose of the takedown operation was to disrupt the activities of the cybercriminals behind the so-called Glassworm […]
AI coding startup Cognition raises $1 billion at $25 billion pre-money valuation
Cognition, which developed an autonomous AI software engineer named Devin, has raised more than $1 billion at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, the company announced Wednesday. That’s a big jump from its $10.2 billion post-money valuation just eight months ago, when it closed a $400 million funding round in September. The round was led by […]
FAA orders SpaceX to investigate Starship V3 booster failure
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered SpaceX to investigate why its Starship booster failed during the company’s May 22 test flight, according to a statement published Wednesday on TechCrunch. This means SpaceX will have to pause future Starship test launches until the investigation is complete and the results are submitted to the FAA for […]
The application of the startup “Battlefield 200” has ended today
Today is the last day to apply or nominate startups for the Startup Battlefield 200. When the clock strikes at 11:59 PM Pacific Time, the window closes for your chance to compete for $100,000 in equity-free funding, gain global visibility, connect directly with investors, and launch on the TechCrunch Disrupt stage. If you’re launching a […]
China is increasingly keeping top AI talent at home
For China’s top AI researchers, borders are rapidly closing. Researchers, startup founders and executives from private companies are currently subject to travel restrictions, with some industry figures reportedly required to obtain government approval before traveling abroad. The restrictions reflect a broader shift in how the Chinese government manages brain drain in the AI field, with […]
Tech CEOs are clearly suffering from AI psychosis
There’s a certain wildness to the technology industry these days, with both things that mimic previous eras of big change like cloud computing (huge initial costs) and things we’ve never seen before (record profits accompanied by mass layoffs). There are powerful theories that attempt to explain this phenomenon. Tech executives, especially CEOs, are collectively suffering […]