General startup news that spans funding, products, and the broader entrepreneurial landscape.
AI is hurting Apple in more ways than one: it may force iPhone price increases
Apple faces mounting pressure from artificial intelligence competition that threatens both its margins and pricing power, CEO Tim Cook warned recently…
Chi-Hua Chien saw Facebook coming — now he says the real AI winners won’t be selling AI
Chi-Hua Chien, a veteran venture capitalist with over two decades in the industry, argues that the actual winners in artificial intelligence won't be …
Roelof Botha joins SpaceX’s board of directors
Roelof Botha, the former partner and leader at Sequoia Capital, has joined SpaceX's board of directors. The veteran venture capitalist fills an existi…
‘This System Wasn’t Built For Me’: Black Founders Became Investors To Change Venture Capital
Black founders frustrated by venture capital's systemic exclusion have shifted gears to become investors themselves, aiming to reshape funding distrib…
I Sold My AI Startup Before Revenue: Here’s What Investors Missed — And Founders Shouldn’t
Alexander Kardos-Nyheim, an angel investor who sold his own AI startup before hitting revenue, argues that the real wealth creation in artificial inte…
Only 16 percent of Americans think AI will have a positive impact on society, a new study shows
Americans are pulling back on AI optimism even as venture capital floods the sector. A new Pew Research study found that only 16 percent of Americans …
Two Stanford grads raise $11M to build a noninvasive wearable for hormone tracking
Clair Health, founded by Stanford graduates, has closed an $11 million funding round to develop a noninvasive wearable device that tracks hormone leve…
Google bets on Gemini to reinvent the smart home speaker
Google launched a new $99.99 Home speaker powered by Gemini, its generative AI model, marking a departure from the rigid command-response structure th…
PayPal Ventures shutters as company restructuring continues
PayPal Ventures closes its doors after a decade of operation, marking another casualty of the fintech giant's ongoing restructuring efforts. The ventu…
The slowtech revolution is here to kill your phone addiction and rescue your attention span
The slowtech movement is reshaping consumer electronics around a radical premise: less is more. Startups and established manufacturers now build phone…
Anthropic’s latest feud with the Trump admin may actually help it, sales data suggests
Anthropic's clash with the Trump administration is backfiring on the government side. Data from Ramp, the corporate card and expense management platfo…
SpaceX valuation balloons to $2.6T, briefly passes Amazon
SpaceX hit a $2.6 trillion valuation after its shares began trading on Friday, briefly surpassing Amazon's market cap. The aerospace company added $1 …
Qualcomm wants to be the chip inside whatever replaces your smartphone, and it just announced two products toward that end
Qualcomm has declared war on smartphone dependence. CEO Cristiano Amon announced the chipmaker is engineering processors for over 40 AI-powered wearab…
Bug in FIFA World Cup internal system gave anyone ability to modify TV stream
A security researcher uncovered a critical vulnerability in FIFA's internal systems that exposed the organization's ability to control World Cup TV st…
SpaceX Acquires AI Coding Tool Cursor For $60B In Year’s Largest Startup M&A Deal
SpaceX acquired Cursor, an AI coding assistant startup, for $60 billion in what marks the year's largest startup M&A transaction. The deal positions S…
Snap finally debuts its long awaited AR glasses, Specs, and, oof, they aren’t cheap
Snap released Spectacles, its long-anticipated augmented reality glasses, marking the company's re-entry into consumer hardware after years of develop…
Sixty percent of U.S. consumers say ‘AI’ in brand messaging is a turnoff, survey finds
WordPress VIP released survey data revealing a sharp disconnect between consumer sentiment and corporate AI strategy. Sixty percent of U.S. consumers …
India orders temporary ban on Telegram over exam fraud concerns
India's Ministry of Communications has ordered a temporary ban on Telegram, effective immediately and lasting until June 22, citing widespread exam fr…
Payments startup Flutterwave hits $3.2B valuation, backed by Ripple
Flutterwave, Africa's leading payments infrastructure platform, has reached a $3.2 billion valuation following a funding round that includes blockchai…
DOJ claims xAI’s unpermitted gas turbines are a matter of ‘national, economic, and energy security’
The Department of Justice has intervened in a dispute over Elon Musk's xAI, arguing that the Pentagon requires the AI startup to continue operating un…
Sundar Pichai faces boos, walkout at Stanford graduation ceremony over Google’s Israel, ICE ties
Sundar Pichai delivered a Stanford commencement address Friday to a crowd divided over Google's defense contracts and immigration enforcement work. St…
The US government’s Anthropic models ban was never about an AI jailbreak
The Trump administration forced Anthropic to withdraw its latest cybersecurity models from public access, citing national security concerns. The decis…
Meta’s new ‘AI Mode’ on Facebook pulls from public info across its platforms
Meta is rolling out "AI Mode" on Facebook, a new set of AI-powered features that draw from public information across Meta's entire ecosystem, includin…
SpaceX is public: Everything you need to know post-IPO
SpaceX completed its initial public offering, marking a watershed moment for the commercial space industry. The company, which Elon Musk founded in 20…
Rewriting Your Pitch: SaaS Isn’t Dead, But The Playbook For Founders Is Changing
SaaS founders face a fundamental shift in how they build and sell products as AI and large language models upend the traditional software playbook. Th…
Cybersecurity vets protest ‘dangerous’ US government ban on Anthropic’s most powerful models
Cybersecurity researchers are pushing back against U.S. export controls that restrict access to Anthropic's most advanced AI models. Dozens of securit…
SpaceX’s biggest-ever IPO just grew to $85.7 billion raised
SpaceX closed its initial public offering at $85.7 billion, with underwriters exercising their full greenshoe allocation to maximize shares purchased.…
UK unveils sweeping social media ban for users under 16
The UK government has proposed legislation that would ban social media use for anyone under 16, marking one of the world's most aggressive regulatory …
Salesforce acquires AI customer service platform Fin for $3.6 billion
Salesforce has acquired Fin, an AI customer service platform, for $3.6 billion as the company doubles down on its Agentforce strategy. The deal gives …
Sarvam becomes India’s newest AI unicorn with $234 million funding round led by HCLTech
Sarvam AI, a Bengaluru-based generative AI startup, has crossed the $1 billion valuation threshold after closing a $234 million Series B funding round…
Orbio raises $21 million to automate hiring and onboarding for frontline workers
Orbio, a hiring and onboarding automation platform for frontline workers, raised $21 million in Series A funding led by Dawn Capital. The round unders…
Startup CEO Charlie Javice is reportedly angling for a Trump pardon
Charlie Javice, the founder of student loan fintech Frank, is reportedly seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump following her federal indictm…
UK may ban social media for children under 16
The UK government is considering legislation that would ban social media access for children under 16, mirroring Australia's controversial Online Safe…
The Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker
Tech companies have shed more than 127,000 U.S.-based workers through mass layoffs in 2025, with job cuts accelerating into 2026, according to Crunchb…
Sector Snapshot: Semiconductor Startup Funding Still Running Hot
Semiconductor startups are pulling in venture capital at a record clip. Through 2026, the sector has already captured roughly $10 billion across seed-…
As AI companies race to go public, who else is along for the ride?
AI startups are banking on investor enthusiasm to fuel their own public market debuts as the sector gains mainstream momentum. While major players lik…
TechCrunch Mobility: SpaceX rockets past Tesla
SpaceX has outpaced Tesla in a new competitive arena, marking a significant shift in how the two Elon Musk-led companies are positioning themselves wi…
The new Sonos Play has become my go-to desk and kitchen speaker
Sonos released a new portable speaker called Sonos Play that targets users seeking flexibility between indoor and outdoor listening. The speaker works…
Robinhood sees ‘record-breaking’ traffic after SpaceX stock debuts
Robinhood's platform handled record-breaking traffic following SpaceX's stock market debut, though some customers faced temporary service disruptions …
The $100M+ Round Is Now Just Your Typical Late-Stage Financing
The $100 million funding round has become standard operating procedure for late-stage startups rather than a headline-grabbing milestone. Crunchbase N…
As Anthropic suspends access to new models, India debates its AI future
Anthropic has suspended access to its latest Claude models in India, triggering a broader debate about the country's artificial intelligence strategy …
KPMG pulls report on AI usage due to apparent hallucinations
KPMG retracted a report on artificial intelligence usage after discovering the document contained fabricated statistics and misleading claims apparent…
Amazon CEO reportedly raised Anthropic model concerns before government crackdown
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy reportedly flagged security vulnerabilities in Anthropic's AI models to government officials, prompting the AI safety startup to…
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell just gave another hint at a Tesla merger
Gwynne Shotwell, president and CEO of SpaceX, has reignited speculation about a potential merger between SpaceX and Tesla by dropping another hint at …
SpaceX Shares Close Up 19% After Largest IPO Of All Time
SpaceX shares surged 19% on their first trading day, capping the largest initial public offering in history. The aerospace company's debut marks the c…
OpenAI faces investigation from state attorneys general
State attorneys general are opening an investigation into OpenAI, examining practices across multiple fronts including advertising policies and health…
This thin under-pillow speaker helped me fall asleep without earbuds
# Under-Pillow Speaker Offers Sleep Audio Alternative to Earbuds A thin under-pillow speaker addresses a real pain point for insomniacs who need audi…
The FBI built its own replica small town to simulate real-world cyberattacks
The FBI constructed a fully functional replica town inside an Alabama facility to serve as a controlled environment for cybersecurity training and att…
SpaceX IPO closes up 19% and delivers the world’s first trillionaire
SpaceX completed its initial public offering Friday, opening at $135 per share and closing up 19 percent on its first trading day. The strong debut ma…
Mistral is rumored to be raising €3B at €20B valuation
Mistral AI is in discussions to raise approximately €3 billion in new funding, according to multiple sources. The round would value the French artific…
Andrew Yang thinks the next big startup opportunity is lowering the cost of living
Andrew Yang sees a $3 trillion opportunity in the cost-of-living crisis. The entrepreneur and former 2020 presidential candidate has identified housin…
Anthropic’s safety warnings may have just backfired — the government has pulled the plug on its most powerful AI
Anthropic faces a regulatory setback after government intervention forced the company to suspend its most capable AI model over security concerns. The…
SpaceX IPO: Live updates on everything you need to know
SpaceX appears poised for a public market debut, marking a watershed moment for the commercial spaceflight industry. TechCrunch is tracking the compan…
Meta’s months-old AI unit is a soul-crushing gulag, say the engineers stuck inside it
Meta's 6,500-person AI infrastructure unit has become a breeding ground for employee discontent, with engineers describing the division as a "soul-cru…
Chinese cybercrime operation that used AI to scam ‘hundreds of thousands of victims’ sued by Google
Google has sued a Chinese cybercrime operation called "Outsider Enterprise" for deploying AI-powered scams that targeted hundreds of thousands of vict…
SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI’s hot IPO summer
The IPO market is heating up with a fresh cast of characters replacing the aging FAANG dominance. Three heavyweight AI and space companies are heading…
SpaceX opens at $150, an 11% pop for the most anticipated debut in history
SpaceX launched its initial public offering Friday at $135 per share, then opened trading at $150, a jump of 11 percent. The debut marks the most anti…
SpaceX IPO: Everything you need to know
SpaceX is preparing for a public market debut that will reshape the commercial space industry. The aerospace company, founded by Elon Musk, has filed …
US surveillance law to expire for first time after lawmakers reject Trump’s controversial pick to lead spy agencies
# US Surveillance Law Set to Expire as Lawmakers Reject Trump's Intelligence Pick Section 702, the cornerstone of US warrantless surveillance authori…
SpaceX Launches Largest IPO Of All Time
SpaceX launched the largest initial public offering of all time, marking a watershed moment for the space industry and late-stage venture capital. The…
Equal AI raises $30M to screen calls so Indians don’t have to
Equal AI, an Indian startup building AI-powered call screening software, closed a $30 million funding round. The company's platform now serves over a …
Jeff Bezos’s Prometheus raises $12B to build an ‘artificial general engineer’ for the physical world
Jeff Bezos-backed Prometheus has raised $12 billion in a funding round that values the physical AI startup at $41 billion. The company targets automat…
SpaceX officially prices shares at $135 in the largest IPO ever
SpaceX priced its initial public offering at $135 per share, marking the largest IPO in history. The aerospace and satellite communications company's …
Oracle warns of security bug that hackers abused to breach 100+ companies
Oracle disclosed a critical security vulnerability that attackers actively exploited to breach over 100 organizations. The flaw gave hackers a direct …
Before You Cheer The IPO Window, Watch Where The Money Goes
Marc Schröder at MGV argues that the real startup windfall from an opening IPO window won't come from new public offerings but from acquisition activi…
Coinbase debuts AI agent that can trade and pay for premium research
Coinbase launched an AI agent capable of executing trades and purchasing premium research subscriptions autonomously. The agent leverages the x402 pro…
Quantum Space’s military SPAC is trying to catch SpaceX’s IPO wave
Quantum Space, a startup focused on military spacecraft manufacturing, is pursuing a SPAC merger valuing the company at $1.2 billion. The deal arrives…
These are the countries moving to ban social media for children
Australia's ban on social media for children, enacted in late 2025, marks the first major legislative move globally to restrict platform access for mi…
Waymo launches a loyalty program with 10% cash back and free cancellations
Waymo launches its first consumer loyalty program, Waymo Premier, charging subscribers $29.99 monthly for a suite of perks designed to lock in regular…
Base10 Partners Closes 2 Funds Totaling $850M To Invest In Real Economy Automation
Base10 Partners, the San Francisco venture firm focused on automation in physical industries, closed two funds totaling $850 million. The firm raised …
Opendoor’s India exit is fueling a bigger conversation about AI and outsourcing
Opendoor Technologies shut down its India operations, marking another high-profile exit from the country's growing tech outsourcing hub. The real esta…
Anthropic’s Dario Amodei has just one direct report
Anthropic's leadership structure just got flatter. Dario Amodei, the CEO and co-founder of the AI safety startup, now oversees just one direct report,…
xAI fired an engineer who raised alarms about Grok safety, new lawsuit claims
xAI fired engineer Marcus Kintner for raising safety concerns about its Grok language model, according to a lawsuit filed against the Elon Musk-backed…
Why Andrew Yang is building instead of waiting for Washington
Andrew Yang has shifted from electoral politics to building ventures that address the automation and AI concerns he highlighted during his 2020 presid…
Cybercriminals claim breach of Oracle PeopleSoft servers at 100-plus organizations
ShinyHunters, a known cybercriminal group, claims to have breached Oracle PeopleSoft servers across more than 100 organizations. The compromised targe…
The Indian government got cold feet on Starlink just before SpaceX’s IPO
SpaceX faces regulatory headwinds in India just as the company prepares for what could be a landmark IPO. The Indian government delayed approval for S…
How memory tools can make AI models worse
Memory systems designed to improve AI performance are creating unexpected problems. Recent research shows these tools can actually degrade model outpu…
Zest launches a restaurant discovery app powered by where people actually eat
Zest, a new restaurant discovery app, launched with backing from Seven Seven Six (776), Alexis Ohanian's venture fund, and Kindred Ventures. The platf…
Cybersecurity researchers aren’t happy about the guardrails on Anthropic’s Fable
Anthropic's latest AI model, Claude Fable, is drawing pushback from the cybersecurity research community over safety restrictions that researchers arg…
Why enterprise AI will be a major focus at VivaTech 2026
VivaTech 2026 will spotlight enterprise AI as European startups and established companies pivot toward practical applications over consumer hype. This…
Top Lucid Motors executive departs amid new CEO’s leadership shakeup
Emad Dlala has exited Lucid Motors following his recent promotion to senior vice president of engineering and digital. His departure comes as part of …
Google just fired a warning shot in the AI subscription price wars
Google cut the price of its Gemini Advanced subscription by 40 percent, dropping the monthly cost from $20 to $12. The move targets users balancing AI…
How Justin Ernest invested nearly $500M into hot startups without a traditional VC fund
Justin Ernest built a $500 million portfolio spanning Anthropic, Anduril, and SpaceX by sidestepping the traditional venture capital playbook. Rather …
GM joins race to build batteries for AI data centers and the grid
General Motors enters the energy storage market with a new sodium-ion battery platform designed for AI data centers and industrial power grids. The au…
Hey, Siri, here’s what I actually want from AI
Apple's Siri and the broader category of AI assistants face a legitimacy crisis. Users crave genuinely helpful personal AI, yet hesitate to surrender …
Anthropic’s Claude Fable is a version of Mythos the public can access today
Anthropic has opened its Mythos-class AI models to the public through Claude Fable 5, marking the company's first release of this model tier outside i…
Rivian starts deliveries of its all-important R2 SUV
Rivian began delivering its R2 compact electric SUV, marking a critical milestone for the EV startup as it pushes toward profitability on lower price …
Apple’s foldable iPhone could be just around the corner
Apple embedded fold-detection code into iOS 27's developer beta, signaling the company is actively engineering a foldable iPhone. The discovery in the…
It’s not FAANG anymore. It’s MANGOS.
The FAANG acronym that defined tech dominance for over a decade faces obsolescence as SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI prepare for potential public offer…
Apple says it may remove some apps from the App Store if they don’t attract users
Apple plans to enforce stricter standards on the App Store, removing apps that fail to demonstrate user engagement or provide meaningful value. The co…
Why Apple’s slow-and-steady AI bet is starting to look pretty smart
Apple's measured approach to artificial intelligence is beginning to vindicate the company's strategy after years of perceived lag behind OpenAI, Goog…
Mercor’s Brendan Foody calls out Sequoia, accusing it of ‘dual-pricing’ valuation tricks
Mercor founder Brendan Foody is publicly accusing Sequoia Capital of using "dual-pricing" tactics to inflate valuations on equity sales to founders an…
As OpenAI files for IPO, Sam Altman’s eye-scanning company is doing layoffs, report says
Tools for Humanity, Sam Altman's identity verification startup, is cutting staff as the company struggles to convert its biometric technology into rev…
Apple’s WWDC AI demos looked more real after $250M false ad settlement
Apple opened its 2026 WWDC keynote showcasing artificial intelligence features across its product lineup, but the presentation arrives shadowed by the…
OpenAI files confidentially for IPO, following Anthropic
OpenAI filed confidentially for an initial public offering, escalating competition with Anthropic in the race to become the first major AI foundation …
NotebookLM’s new update will help you build source repository from chat
Google upgraded NotebookLM with Gemini 2.0 Flash as its default model, enabling faster processing and deeper analysis of uploaded documents. The AI re…
Amazon now lets you design custom merch using AI
Amazon folded generative AI into its merchandise customization workflow, letting shoppers sketch ideas through voice commands to Alexa, then print des…
WhatsApp says it caught new spyware attacks linked to NSO Group in violation of court order
WhatsApp blocked a phishing campaign designed to deliver NSO Group's Pegasus spyware to its users, the company announced. The attack violates a court …
WWDC 2026: What to expect, from Siri’s highly anticipated revamp to Apple Intelligence and iOS 27
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in 2026 will showcase the company's next chapter in AI integration and software capabilities. The event marks …
Sam Bankman-Fried applies for a pardon from Trump
Sam Bankman-Fried submitted a pardon application to the Trump administration as he serves a 25-year prison sentence handed down in 2024 for his role i…
Is this the dawn of the Tokenpocalypse?
The cost of AI compute is about to spike. Major artificial intelligence companies preparing for public offerings will need to demonstrate profitabilit…
Notion restores access to Anthropic after service disruption
Notion restored service access for Anthropic after a disruption that briefly cut off the AI company's ability to use the productivity platform. The in…
The most interesting startups right now want to get you off your phone
Brynn Putnam, founder of fitness app Mirror, just raised funding for Board, a startup building in-person game and social experiences. The move represe…
Supabase doubles valuation to $10B in 8 months
Supabase reached a $10 billion valuation in its latest funding round, doubling its valuation in just eight months. The open source database platform h…
Exclusive: Scotch Raises $20M Series A To Disrupt Legacy Liquor Retail Tech With AI
Scotch, a Denver-based software platform for liquor retailers, has raised $20 million in Series A funding to expand its AI-powered operating system bu…
TechCrunch Mobility: Inside GM’s $900M EV battery gamble
# TechCrunch Mobility: Inside GM's $900M EV battery gamble General Motors deployed $900 million into EV battery technology, placing a major bet on se…
Hacked, leaked, and held for ransom: the worst breaches of 2026 so far
The cybersecurity landscape in 2026 has been brutal. A massive breach at DOGE, the cryptocurrency-focused platform, exposed sensitive user data and se…
GM’s electric future depends on a new battery — and this facility
General Motors accelerated its electric vehicle timeline by moving up the deployment of new battery technology by up to a year. The automaker plans to…
As VC-backed e-bike startups went bankrupt, bootstrapped Lectric grew
Lectric is expanding aggressively while competitors funded by venture capital collapse. The bootstrapped e-bike maker launched three new brands in the…
5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: On-Demand Custom Manufacturing, Underwater Geothermal Energy, And Adventure Group Travel
Five startups closed funding rounds this month across diverse sectors, drawing investor attention from established Silicon Valley players to emerging …
OpenAI unveils Lockdown Mode to protect sensitive data from prompt injection attacks
OpenAI released Lockdown Mode, a security feature designed to shield sensitive data from prompt injection attacks in ChatGPT. The tool reduces the ris…
What to expect from WWDC 2026: Siri’s highly anticipated revamp and Apple Intelligence updates
Apple will unveil major updates to Siri and expand Apple Intelligence features at WWDC 2026, marking the company's most ambitious AI push since launch…
Beyond Instagram: Introducing the next generation of social apps
A wave of social startups is chipping away at Instagram's dominance by building platforms organized around interests and niche communities rather than…
The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Megarounds Proliferate, Led By Enterprise Software, AI, And Space Tech
Enterprise software, AI, and space technology companies dominated U.S. venture funding this week, with multiple nine-figure rounds reshaping the start…
Investors Have Poured Billions Into Plaintiff-Side Legal AI, But Defense Could Be The Next Big Opportunity
Defense-side legal AI has attracted minimal venture investment despite serving a market far larger than its plaintiff-focused counterpart. While billi…
Reid Hoffman is leaving Microsoft’s board to go ‘founder mode’ with startup Manus
Reid Hoffman is stepping down from Microsoft's board to dedicate himself full-time to Manus, his AI-powered drug discovery startup. The move marks a s…
Founders share VC horror stories, and some are naming names
Founders across X are publicly airing grievances against venture capitalists this week, with some naming specific investors and firms behind problemat…
Former cyber executive turned whistleblower accuses IBM of covering up several data breaches
A former cybersecurity executive at IBM has filed a lawsuit alleging the tech giant concealed multiple data breaches affecting the company and two sub…
Startup Battlefield 200 applications officially close in 3 days
TechCrunch has set the final deadline for Startup Battlefield 200 applications at June 8, 11:59 p.m. PT. Founders have three days left to submit their…
Google will pay SpaceX $920M per month for compute
Google commits to paying SpaceX $920 million monthly for compute capacity, marking a major infrastructure deal between two of Silicon Valley's heavies…
Founders Fund launches game show starring Sam Altman, Palmer Luckey, and other tech elites
Founders Fund, the San Francisco-based venture capital firm, has launched a game show featuring prominent tech founders and executives including OpenA…
Ahead of its IPO, Anthropic’s Daniela Amodei shrugs off doubts about AI’s returns
Anthropic's chief operating officer Daniela Amodei dismissed investor skepticism around AI's financial returns as the company prepares for a public of…
Airbnb’s Brian Chesky plans to launch a new AI lab
Brian Chesky plans to establish an AI lab at Airbnb, signaling the travel giant's push to develop proprietary artificial intelligence capabilities rat…
Filtr is a new privacy tool that blocks ads in almost every iPhone and Mac app
Filtr launches a cross-platform ad blocker that stops ads from loading inside iPhone, iPad, and Mac applications, leveraging new capabilities in Apple…
Defense tech, AI, and fundraising take center stage at StrictlyVC Los Angeles on June 18
StrictlyVC Los Angeles brings together venture investors, founders, and tech leaders on June 18 at The Aerospace Corporation Campus for a focused conv…
Benchmark raises its first-ever growth fund as part of $2B capital raise
Benchmark Capital has raised $2 billion across multiple funds, marking a watershed moment for the storied venture firm. The capital raise includes Ben…
Quick commerce FirstClub doubles valuation to $255M in nine months
FirstClub, the Bengaluru-based quick commerce platform, has doubled its valuation to $255 million in just nine months, capitalizing on explosive growt…
Lovable signs multiyear deal with Google Cloud to up usage 5x, source says
Lovable, the AI-powered web development platform, locked in a multiyear expansion deal with Google Cloud that will increase its usage across the infra…
Defense tech is flooded with money, but who’s built to last?
Defense tech startups are riding a wave of unprecedented capital, but survival odds remain brutal. Anduril and Mach Industries have reached stratosphe…
Uber to put 500 data-collection vehicles on the road this year
Uber is deploying 500 modified Hyundai Ioniq 5 vehicles across the United States this year to fuel its autonomous vehicle ambitions. Each vehicle carr…
Squishmallows, dentures, and an ‘I Heart Hot Dads’ bag: Uber has found thousands of items left in robotaxis
Uber's robotaxi fleet has accumulated thousands of lost items, from plush Squishmallows to dentures to novelty bags reading "I Heart Hot Dads." The di…
Cyera eyes $12B valuation at 80x ARR multiple despite operating losses
Cyera, a data security platform, is raising approximately $300 million in new funding that values the company at $12 billion. Evolution Equity Partner…
Cyberdecks are having a moment, rejecting big tech surveillance with style and substance
Cyberdecks, the bespoke handheld computing devices built by hobbyists and makers, have surged in cultural momentum. These DIY machines combine retro a…
Uber caps employee AI spending after blowing through budget in 4 months
Uber has imposed spending caps on employee AI tool usage after burning through its allocated budget in just four months. The rideshare and delivery gi…
New Microsoft tool lets devs spin up AI behavior tests using text descriptions
Microsoft released Adaptive Spec-driven Scoring for Evaluation and Regression Testing, an open source framework that lets developers build AI behavior…
Alphabet plans to raise $80B to pay for AI buildout
Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion to fund its artificial intelligence infrastructure expansion, the company announced. The capital raise targets the…
Defense tech darling Mach Industries hits $1.8B valuation, a 4x jump in a year
Mach Industries, the defense technology startup founded by 22-year-old Ethan Thornton, has quadrupled its valuation to $1.8 billion in just one year f…
Nvidia chases $200B CPU market with AI agent PCs from Microsoft, Dell, and HP
Nvidia is making a decisive push into the CPU market with AI agent PCs, partnering with Microsoft, Dell, and HP to bring locally-run artificial intell…
From the stage to the future: Where are Startup Battlefield’s alumni now?
TechCrunch has tracked the trajectories of Startup Battlefield alumni to showcase what happens after companies pitch on the competition's stage. The o…
Florida sues OpenAI, Sam Altman, in first-of-its-kind lawsuit over violent incidents
Florida's attorney general filed the first state-level lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, claiming the company bears responsibility for violen…
‘This is fine’ artist KC Green reaches agreement with AI startup Artisan
KC Green, the cartoonist behind the viral "This is fine" meme, reached an agreement with AI startup Artisan after the company used his work in adverti…
Making sense of the debate over AI psychosis
TechCrunch's Equity podcast tackled a contentious question this week: whether technology leaders suffer from what observers call "AI psychosis," a ten…
Black founders raise highest amount of quarterly funding since 2022, but there’s a catch
Black founders raised $1.3 billion in the third quarter of 2024, marking the highest quarterly total since Q2 2022, according to Crunchbase data cited…
Navigating The DPI Crunch And Startup Funding
Venture capital's return metrics are tightening, forcing founders to rethink how they pick investors and plan exits. Marc Schröder argues that founder…
Anthropic Nears $1T Valuation And Leapfrogs OpenAI On Unicorn Board With $65B Funding Round
Anthropic has raised $65 billion in Series H funding, pushing its valuation to $965 billion and positioning it as one of the fastest-growing startups …
This weekend’s two biggest movies were both directed by YouTubers
Two major theatrical releases this weekend both came from YouTubers-turned-filmmakers, signaling a striking shift in how entertainment talent migrates…
Snap alums unveil Ghost Angels fund
Twenty former Snap employees have launched Ghost Angels, an early-stage venture fund dedicated to backing the next generation of social media startups…
Meta is reportedly developing an AI pendant
Meta is developing an AI-powered pendant device, expanding its hardware strategy beyond smartglasses and wearables. The company, which already investe…