Satya Nadella says he’s ready to ‘take advantage’ of new OpenAI deal
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was asked a direct question by Wall Street analysts on Wednesday about how the revised OpenAI partnership will affect Microsoft’s finances. He said the new agreement was good for everyone. “We are happy with our partnership with OpenAI. My focus in any partnership is always to make sure it’s a win-win […]
Microsoft says it has more than 20 million paid Copilot users who actually use it
Despite the persistent perception that no one actually uses Copilot, Microsoft announced Wednesday that the user base and engagement with the AI tools built into M365 apps like Word, Excel, and Outlook email is growing. M365 Copilot currently has 20 million paid enterprise Copilot seats, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on the company’s quarterly earnings […]
Google Cloud surpasses $20 billion, but says growth was constrained by capacity
Google Cloud, the enterprise AI solutions company owned by parent company Alphabet, had a successful first quarter, with revenue exceeding $20 billion at one point and a 63% increase over the same period last year. But investors who attended the company’s earnings call expressed concerns about constraints surrounding the business and how Google decides to […]
Google gains 25 million subscribers in Q1, powered by YouTube and Google One
Google added 25 million more paid subscriptions to its services in the past quarter, parent company Alphabet announced in its first-quarter earnings report Wednesday. The company said it now has 350 million paid subscriptions across its services, up from 325 million in Q4 2025, with plans for YouTube and Google One (the company’s cloud storage […]
Parallel Web Systems reaches $2 billion valuation 5 months after last major funding
Parallel Web Systems, an AI agent tools startup founded by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, has raised $100 million in Series B led by Sequoia at a $2 billion valuation. Existing investors Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Spark Capital and Terrain Capital also participated, the company said. The raise comes just […]
Bill Gurley and Jack Altman back Pursuit, a startup that helps companies sell to governments
Mike Vicic grew up in Michigan. His family dedicated their lives to public service, he recalls. His parents were teachers, his uncle was in the FBI, and both of his grandparents served in the Army. “Growing up, public service was always a really great way to spend your life and career,” he told TechCrunch. “I […]
Uber is now entering the hotel business thanks to AI
Uber customers in the US can now book hotels directly through the app. It’s one of several new features announced Wednesday that go far beyond the company’s original ride-hailing purpose and penetrate even deeper into users’ lives. Uber announced a new hotel booking feature Wednesday at its annual product-focused GoGet event in New York City. […]
Apple loses bid to suspend App Store fee changes; lawsuit goes to Supreme Court
Epic Games has scored another procedural victory in its battle with Apple over App Store fees, as the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Fortnite maker’s latest motion. The decision means that for now, Apple must continue to allow developers to link to external payment options within their apps without charging a fee […]
Earth AI vertically integrates critical mineral exploration
A model is only as good as its data. For Roman Teslyuk, the data wasn’t retrieving fast enough. “I hate delays,” Earth AI founder and CEO Teslyuk told TechCrunch. For the past few years, Earth AI has been searching for important minerals like copper, platinum and palladium in parts of Australia where no one thought […]
Meet Shapes, an app that brings humans and AI into the same group chat
Shapes, an app where humans and AI characters chat in shared group conversations, is emerging from stealth with $8 million in seed funding. Consider Discord. However, there are AI characters alongside humans. Shapes was founded in 2022 and has over 400,000 monthly active users. The app’s founders, Anushk Mittal and Nouri Dhingra, believe Shapes can […]