The generative AI boom minted a startup a minute. But as the dust starts to settle, two once-hot business models are looking more like cautionary tales: LLM wrappers and AI aggregators. Darren Mowry, who leads Google’s global startup organization across Cloud, DeepMind, and Alphabet, says startups with these hooks have their “check engine light” on. … Read more
Scott Rogowsky is a comedian — he knows how to make fun of himself. That’s how he ended up roaming New York City Comic Con with his own photo printed out like a “Wanted” poster, filming himself asking strangers, “Have you seen this man?” These passersby showed a flicker of recognition, looking at the tall, … Read more
Sarvam, an Indian AI startup focused on building models for local languages and users, on Friday launched its Indus chat app for web and mobile users, entering a fast-growing market dominated by global players including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. The launch comes as India has become a key battleground for generative AI adoption. Recently, OpenAI … Read more
The creator economy is evolving fast, and ad revenue alone isn’t cutting it anymore. YouTubers are launching product lines, acquiring startups, and building actual business empires. In fact, MrBeast’s company bought fintech startup Step, and his chocolate business is outearning his media arm. This isn’t just one creator’s strategy. For many, it’s the new playbook. On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan unpack how creators are diversifying beyond ads, … Read more
Threads already has over 400 million monthly users, but Meta wants to push that number even higher. With the launch of a new Threads feature this week, the company is making it easier for Threads users to share posts on the app to their Instagram Stories — a move that could capitalize on Instagram’s larger … Read more
General Catalyst, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm with more than $43 billion in assets under management, has announced it plans to invest $5 billion in India over the next five years, sharply expanding its push into the country’s startup ecosystem less than two years after merging with local venture firm Venture Highway. The commitment, unveiled … Read more
On Thursday, Google released the newest version of Gemini Pro, its powerful LLM. The model, 3.1, is currently available as a preview and will be generally released soon, the company said. Google’s new model may be one of the most powerful LLMs yet. Onlookers have noted that Gemini 3.1 Pro appears to be a big … Read more
In 2010, the famed security researcher Barnaby Jack spectacularly hacked into an ATM cash machine on stage at the Black Hat security conference, forcing it to spit out reams of bank notes in front of an awestruck audience. More than a decade later, ATM jackpotting — as it’s called — has broken free from the … Read more
Meta is shutting down its standalone Messenger website, the company shared in a help page. Starting April 2026, the website will no longer be available. If users still want to send and receive messages on the web, they can do so while logged into Facebook. “After messenger.com goes away, you will be automatically redirected to … Read more
OpenAI has partnered with India’s Tata Group to secure 100 megawatts of AI-ready data center capacity in the country, with plans to scale to 1 gigawatt. The move is part of a broader push to deepen the company’s enterprise and infrastructure footprint in one of its fastest-growing markets. OpenAI announced on Thursday that the partnership … Read more
