Musely secures $360 million from General Catalyst without giving up equity
Musely, a direct-to-consumer telemedicine platform, has secured more than $360 million in non-dilutive capital from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund (CVF). The company specializes in complex treatments for skin, hair and menopause care. Musely co-founder and CEO Jack Jia told TechCrunch that CVF wasn’t looking to raise money when investors approached him last year. That’s […]
Meta acquires robotics startup to strengthen humanoid AI ambitions
Social media giant Meta has announced that it has acquired humanoid robotics startup Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI) for an undisclosed sum. “We have acquired Assured Robot Intelligence, a company at the forefront of robotic intelligence designed to help robots understand, predict, and adapt to human behavior in complex, dynamic environments,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch […]
Department of Defense partners with Nvidia, Microsoft, and AWS to deploy AI on sensitive networks
Following agreements with Google, SpaceX, and OpenAI, the U.S. Department of Defense on Friday announced agreements with Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Reflection AI to allow them to deploy their AI technology and models on classified networks for “lawful operational purposes.” “These agreements will accelerate the transformation toward establishing the U.S. military as an […]
Ubuntu services suffer outage after DDoS attack
Hacktivists have claimed responsibility for taking down the public infrastructure of Ubuntu, a popular Linux operating system distribution, and Canonical, the company that develops and maintains its software. The attack began Thursday and affected services that Ubuntu users rely on. “Canonical’s web infrastructure is continually exposed to cross-border attacks, and we are working to address […]
People are finally using Reddit search.
Over the past few years, Reddit has invested in its search engine and added AI features to help users find what they’re looking for, as the company has been plagued by complaints that its search functionality needs improvement. It looks like the investment is finally paying off. The company has seen a 30% increase in […]
ChatGPT Images 2.0 has been a hit in India, but has yet to achieve major success in other regions.
OpenAI said Thursday that India has emerged as the largest user base for ChatGPT Images 2.0 since its launch last week. But third-party data reviewed by TechCrunch points to a more cautious global response, with overall growth limited along with a surge in some emerging markets. OpenAI’s latest image generation upgrade, ChatGPT Images 2.0, is […]
Apple posts record sales after Tim Cook steps down – but chip shortage looms
Apple reported a record quarter on Thursday. But outgoing CEO Tim Cook has warned that storm clouds are gathering in the form of memory chip supply issues that could impact the business in the near future. “Today, Apple is proud to report our best March quarter on record, with revenue of $111.2 billion and double-digit […]
Source: Humankind’s potential $900 billion-plus valuation round could occur within two weeks
Anthropic is asking investors to submit the AI company’s latest funding allocation within the next 48 hours, according to sources familiar with the matter. The round is expected to be worth about $50 billion, TechCrunch reported, and is estimated to close within two weeks, according to sources. As previously reported, Anthropic is targeting a valuation […]
Apple surprised by AI-driven Mac demand
Apple’s iPhone sales and services revenue was the star of the tech giant’s latest quarter, but Macs quietly outperformed it, helped by increased demand for AI workloads. Wall Street investors had expected Mac sales to be in the low $8 billion range, but Apple reported $8.4 billion in the second quarter ended March 28. That’s […]
Legal AI startup Legora reaches $5.6 billion valuation, further escalating battle with Harvey
Nvidia has laid another brick in its AI empire. The company’s corporate VC fund, NVentures, reportedly backed Legora, the company’s first legal AI investment. The Swedish-born legal tech startup, which uses AI to help lawyers work more efficiently, is competing with US player Harvey. NVentures joins Atlassian and other new financial investors on Legora’s cap […]