4 days left to save nearly $500 on Disrupt 2026 passes
There are only 4 days left to save up to $482 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 pass. These low rates expire on April 10th at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. If you’re planning your 2026 technology events calendar, now’s the time to take action. Register now to secure savings before prices go up. What to expect […]
Why a former AirPods engineer is now developing a heat pump
In 2022, California announced that it wanted to install 6 million heat pumps by 2030. So far, only about 2.3 million units have been installed. That means an average of about 2,000 installations per day will be needed over the next five years to reach that goal. Achieving this goal can be difficult, considering that […]
AI gold rush is pulling personal wealth into riskier, earlier bets
For decades, buying stock in hot startups meant being able to invest in funds run by top VCs. But as the AI boom sparks an investment frenzy, more family offices and private assets are bypassing VC intermediaries and entering directly into the cap table. Mitch Stein, founder of high-net-worth investment advisory firm Arena Private Wealth, […]
Hermeus raises $350 million to develop autonomous hypersonic fighter jet
Defense startup Hermeus has raised $350 million in a funding round, pushing its valuation to $1 billion to continue developing what it calls the “fastest unmanned aerial vehicle.” The Los Angeles-based startup announced Tuesday that it has raised $200 million in equity funding led by Khosla Ventures. Existing investors Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel, and […]
Hermeus raises $350 million to develop unmanned hypersonic fighter jet
Defense startup Hermeus has raised $350 million in a funding round, pushing its valuation to $1 billion to continue developing what it calls the “fastest unmanned aerial vehicle.” The Los Angeles-based startup announced Tuesday that it has raised $200 million in equity funding led by Khosla Ventures. Existing investors Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel, and […]
AI startup Rocket delivers vibe McKinsey-style reporting at a fraction of the cost
Indian startup Rocket is betting that the next big opportunity is before vibecoding: letting AI help people decide what to build. We have launched a platform that creates consulting-type product strategies. The Surat, India-based startup on Tuesday launched Rocket 1.0, a platform that connects research, product building, and competitive intelligence in a single workflow. The […]
Picsart now lets creators earn money from their designs
Picsart, an AI-powered design platform, is launching a creator monetization program, the company exclusively tells TechCrunch. The program is open to all creators and requires no invite list or minimum audience size. The program allows creators to create original content using Picsart tools for specific campaigns, share it on social channels, and earn money based […]
OpenAI alumni are quietly investing from a new fund that could be worth $100 million
A new venture capital fund with deep ties to OpenAI has hit its $100 million goal for the first time, founders tell TechCrunch. The partners have already written several checks. The fund is called Zero Shot (a play on an AI training term), and its co-founder team includes several OpenAI OGs who became VCs almost […]
Gasoline prices are not the only factor driving used EV sales
The latest electric vehicle sales data shows a bleak picture, at least for new EVs. According to Cox Automotive, sales of new electric vehicles in the first quarter fell by about 28% from a year earlier, a significant drop after the Trump administration ended the $7,500 consumer tax credit. Used EVs are moving in the […]
Google secretly released an AI dictation app that works offline
Google on Monday quietly released an offline-first dictation app called Google AI Edge Eloquent on iOS to compete with Wispr Flow, SuperWhisper, Willow and others. The app is free to download, and once you download the Gemma-based Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) model, you can start dictating on your phone. In the app, you can check […]