Hinge CEO steps down to launch AI dating app Overtone
Hinge CEO Justin McLeod has left his position to launch a new AI dating product called Overtone. Match Group, the dating giant that owns apps like Hinge, Tinder and OkCupid, is backing Overtone with pre-seed financing and plans to take a “beneficial ownership position,” according to a press release. With support from Match, Overtone was […]
Fal raises $140 million in new funding led by Sequoia, triples valuation to $4.5 billion
Fal, a startup that hosts image, video, and audio AI models for developers, announced it has raised $140 million in Series D led by Sequoia, with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Nvidia, and other existing investors. Existing investors include Andreessen Horowitz. The latest round of funding, Fal’s third this year, values the company at $4.5 billion, […]
Cashew Research uses AI to take aim at the $90 billion market research industry
Market research is a $90 billion industry that helps brands figure out how to best present themselves to potential customers. But that market insight isn’t cheap or quick. Cashew Research wants to use AI to change this. Cashew, based in Calgary, Alberta, uses AI to develop market research plans and surveys for brands based on […]
Max Hodak is more worried about Twitter than brain-computer interface hacks
This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos speaks with Science Corp. founder Max Hodak about how brain-computer interfaces are coming faster than anyone realizes. The co-founder and former president of Neuralink shares how his company recently achieved perhaps the biggest breakthrough in vision restoration in decades, with tiny retinal implants smaller than a grain of […]
SpaceX is reportedly planning an IPO in 2026 with a goal of a valuation of $1.5 trillion
SpaceX plans to go public in mid-to-late 2026, aiming to raise $30 billion at a valuation of about $1.5 trillion, according to a new report by Bloomberg News citing anonymous sources. That would make it the largest IPO in history, surpassing Saudi Aramco’s 2019 listing, which brought in $29 billion. It would also be a […]
Why Cursor’s CEO believes competition from OpenAI, Anthropic won’t crush his startup
Anysphere, the company behind the popular AI coding assistant Cursor, is not considering an IPO anytime soon, co-founder and CEO Michael Tuell said on stage at Fortune’s AI Brainstorm conference on Monday. After reaching $1 billion in annual revenue in November and raising $2.3 billion last month at a valuation of $29.3 billion, Tuell said […]
Rivian is developing its own AI assistant
Rivian has spent nearly two years developing its own AI assistant, an effort separate from its multibillion-dollar technology joint venture with Volkswagen, TechCrunch has learned. Rivian hasn’t said when it will put its AI assistant in the hands of consumers. However, in an interview earlier this year, Rivian’s head of software Wassym Bensaid told TechCrunch […]
Three in 10 US teens use AI chatbots daily, but safety concerns are growing
Pew Research Center released research on Tuesday showing how young people are using both social media and AI chatbots. Internet safety for teens remains a hot topic globally, with Australia set to implement a social media ban for under-16s from Wednesday. The impact of social media on teens’ mental health has been widely debated, with […]
Slack CEO Dennis Dresser joins OpenAI as chief revenue officer
OpenAI has hired Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its new chief revenue officer. The news was first reported by Wired and later confirmed by OpenAI in a blog post. Dresser’s new role comes after more than 14 years at Slack’s parent company, Salesforce. During his time at Slack, Dresser oversaw the introduction of several AI […]
Boom Supersonic raises $300 million to build natural gas turbines for Crusoe data center
Aircraft startup Boom Supersonic announced Tuesday that it will start selling a stationary power plant version of its turbine engine, and its first customer will be data center startup Crusoe. Crusoe will buy 29 of Boom’s 42-megawatt turbines for $1.25 billion to generate 1.21 gigawatts for data centers. Mr. Boom said he would announce details […]