SaySo is a new short video app that aims to restore user trust in news
Many users are drawn to social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to get the latest news. But more and more people are complaining that misinformation and AI are cluttering their feeds. Concerns about trust are also growing, especially in light of lawsuits against Meta Inc. related to harm to young people and concerns […]
New leader, new fund: Sequoia raises $7 billion to expand AI investments
Few venture firms are betting as aggressively on AI as Sequoia Capital, and they’re not slowing down. The Silicon Valley heavyweight has raised about $7 billion for the new fund, according to Bloomberg. Sequoia declined TechCrunch’s request for comment. The funding will go toward what the company calls its “expansion strategy,” a late-stage investment arm […]
Netflix co-founder and chairman Reed Hastings resigns from board of directors
Reed Hastings, co-founder and chairman of Netflix, will retire from the company’s board when his term expires this summer. In a letter to shareholders, the company said Hastings was stepping down to focus on “philanthropy and other activities.” The resignation was revealed in the company’s first quarter earnings report released Thursday. Hastings will officially retire […]
Hot robotics startup Physical Intelligence says its new robot brain can understand tasks it hasn’t been taught
Physical Intelligence, a two-year-old San Francisco-based robotics startup that has quietly become one of the Bay Area’s hottest AI companies, announced new research Thursday showing that its latest model can force robots to perform tasks for which they have not been explicitly trained. The company’s researchers say this feature caught the robots off guard. The […]
Ramp competitor Slash, founded by teenagers, raises $100 million at $1.4 billion valuation
Slash Financial, which provides business bank accounts, business credit cards, money transfers, and cryptocurrencies, has raised a $100 million Series C round from a number of A-list investors at a valuation of $1.4 billion, the company announced. Fintech-focused Ribbit Capital, Khosla and Goodwater Capital led the round. Returning investors NEA and Y Combinator also invested. […]
OpenAI goes Anthropic with enhanced Codex that gives more power to the desktop
There is currently a low-level war between OpenAI and Anthropic over who can release the most useful and powerful AI coding tools, and so far Anthropic seems to be winning. As TechCrunch reported last week, Claude Code is said to be the tool of choice for many companies, but OpenAI isn’t giving up just yet. […]
Everything we like is awesome
Last year, I received a telegram from an indie rock powerhouse with a subliminal directive: “I was supposed to like Geese.” The Brooklyn kids make good music, but are they the saviors of rock and roll, the second coming of Gen Z’s signature rock band, the Strokes? The buzz surrounding the band would suggest so. […]
Fashion retailer Express left customers’ personal data and order details exposed on the internet
Fashion giant Express has patched its website to fix a security flaw that allowed anyone to view other people’s order details and personal information, TechCrunch has learned exclusively. At least a dozen Express customer orders were publicly visible in Web search engine results. The security flaw exposed the order confirmation page of Express’s online store, […]
This simulation startup wants to be the Cursor of physics AI
The promise of physical AI is that engineers will be able to program physical agents in the same way they program digital agents. We’re not there yet. Robotics is still hampered by the lack of data from physical space. To train machines, companies need to build mock-up warehouses to test them, while the entire industry […]
DeepL, known for text translation, wants to translate your audio
DeepL, a translation company best known for its text tools, today released a speech-to-speech translation suite that covers use cases such as meetings, mobile and web conversations, and frontline worker group conversations through custom apps. The company is also releasing an API that allows external developers and companies to build on DeepL’s technology for customized […]