Marley Alles started out in accounting. She thought that her dream was to work at a big company. “And then once I got there, I was like ‘oh, that’s it,” she told TechCrunch. Alles began fostering other passions and found herself curious about the world of startups. She would listen to every podcast and read each book, taking notes on … Read more
Chai Discovery, a biotech startup with backing from OpenAI, announced a $130 million Series B round at a $1.3 billion valuation on Monday. The round was led by General Catalyst and Oak HC/FT, the company said. Other participants include Menlo Ventures, OpenAI, Dimension, Thrive Capital, Neo, Yosemite venture fund, Lachy Groom, SV Angel, and new … Read more
Even three years after the generative AI boom started, most AI startups are still making money by selling to businesses, not individual consumers. Although consumers quickly adopted general-purpose LLMs like ChatGPT, most specialized consumer GenAI applications have yet to resonate. “A lot of early AI applications around video, audio, and photo were super cool,” said … Read more
Nvidia continues to expand its footprint in open source AI on two fronts: an acquisition and a new model release. The semiconductor giant announced Monday it acquired SchedMD, the leading developer of popular open source workload management system Slurm. Nvidia said the company will continue to operate the program, which is designed for high-performance computing … Read more
Just about six months after Tesla started testing its fledgling Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, the company is now letting those cars drive around the city with no safety monitor onboard. The removal of the human safety monitors brings the company a critical step closer to its goal of launching a real commercial Robotaxi service, … Read more
WhatsApp, Meta’s messaging app that millions of Indians rely on daily, is facing a critical moment in India as recent government directions threaten to disrupt how the platform works for everyday users and businesses. Issued late last month and made public earlier this month, the directions ask certain app-based communication services to keep accounts continuously … Read more
There’s something painfully American about the arc of iRobot, the company that taught your vacuum to navigate around the furniture. Founded in 1990 in Bedford, Massachusetts by MIT roboticist Rodney Brooks and his former students Colin Angle and Helen Greiner, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, ending a 35-year run that took … Read more
Fintech startup Mesa has shut down its Homeowners Card, which awarded points to cardholders for paying their mortgages. A message on the Mesa website states that as of December 12, “all Mesa Homeowners Card accounts are closed,” adding, “All credit cards have been deactivated and you are no longer able to make any new purchases … Read more
The robot swerved through the cafeteria of Rivian’s Palo Alto office, shelves adorned with chilled canned coffees — until it didn’t. Five minutes later, a man carefully pushed it out of everyone’s way, the words “I’m stuck” flashing yellow on the poor droid’s screen. It was an inauspicious start to Rivian’s “Autonomy & AI Day,” … Read more
Spinny, an Indian online marketplace for used cars, is raising around $160 million as it moves to acquire car services startup GoMechanic, TechCrunch has learned. The Series G round, which includes a mix of primary and secondary transactions, would value the 10-year-old startup at about $1.8 billion post-money, three people familiar with the matter said, … Read more
