Raqeem 24

To give AI-focused women academics and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time in the spotlight, TechCrunch is launching a series of interviews focusing on remarkable women who’ve contributed to the AI revolution. We’ll publish several pieces throughout the year as the AI boom continues, highlighting key work that often goes unrecognized. Read more profiles here. […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T41VHm

Hey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s newsletter covering all of — or at least the bulk of! — noteworthy happenings around the tech-o-sphere. This week, Roku played hardball with its customers, requiring them to consent to new dispute resolution terms. This means users can’t use their Roku devices until agreeing to the […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T400sS

Slack's newest CEO is the third in less than a year, and she's looking to bring stability to a division that has dealt with a lot of changes. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3zlVb

A cyberattack at U.S. health tech giant Change Healthcare has ground much of the U.S. healthcare system to a halt for the second week in a row. Hospitals have been unable to check insurance benefits of in-patient stays, handle the prior authorizations needed for patient procedures and surgeries, or process billing that pays for medical […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3z93H

The Mexico City-based startup raised a seed round to expand its solar installation platform. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3yvk1

The Rivian R2, an all-electric sport utility vehicle that’s smaller and more affordable than the automaker’s flagship SUV, appears to be a hit with potential customers. At least, if the number of reservations for the R2 is any guide. Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe posted Friday on Instagram that the company had received more […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3xSDf

Earlier this week, the U.S. government announced sanctions against the founder of a controversial government spyware maker, Tal Dilian, and his business associate, Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou. In announcing the sanctions, U.S. Treasury officials accused Dilian and Hamou of developing and selling spyware that was then used to target Americans, including U.S. government employees, as […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3x9xg

India’s federal election commission has fixed flaws on its website that exposed data related to citizens’ requests for information related to their voting eligibility status, local political candidates and parties, and technical details about electronic voting machines. India is heading for its next general elections, expected between April and May, to elect the members of […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3wb0J

In the beginning of 2021, Alphabet shuttered Loon. It was a familiar story within the annals of Google X history: an ambitious moonshot with tremendous upside that sputtered out prior to gaining any sort of meaningful traction after nearly a decade. “Despite Loon’s extraordinary technical progress,” X explains with a tinge of melancholy on the […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3wL0V

Uber Eats is adding a live location sharing capability to help couriers find customers in difficult-to-find locations, including public places such as campus courtyards, parks, and playgrounds. Starting today, the new feature is rolling out to all markets except Quebec. Uber Eats is available in over 11,000 cities across six continents. When users make a […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3twjw

PayPal announced today that it’s launching “Tap to Pay” for merchants with an iPhone through the Venmo and Zettle apps in the U.S. PayPal, which owns both Venmo and Zettle, says the feature will allow businesses to accept contactless card and digital wallet payments directly on their iPhones with no additional cost or hardware. The […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3tj0S

While many entrepreneurs are currently facing the harsh reality of a VC funding crunch, Qonto isn’t one of them. The Paris-based business banking startup still has hundreds of millions of cash on hand. And it is using an undisclosed portion of its cash reserve to acquire Regate, an accounting and financial automation platform. Qonto originally […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3tGV9

Ocean intelligence company Saildrone has just put the first of a new generation of Surveyor autonomous vessels in the water: an aluminum version that the Navy is keen to take advantage of. But don’t worry — they aren’t putting guns on them. Founder and CEO Richard Jenkins told TechCrunch that the demand for vessels like […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3t617

Meta today is offering more details about how it plans to make its messaging apps, WhatsApp and Messenger, interoperable with third-party messaging services, as required by the new EU law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The company had earlier shared that engaging with third-party chats would be an opt-in experience for users, given that the […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3s8lj

Apex Space just moved one step closer to its goal of upending satellite bus manufacturing, with the startup announcing on Tuesday that its first vehicle is healthy on orbit. The company launched its first satellite, the first of a class Apex is calling “Aries,” on SpaceX’s Transporter-10 rideshare mission on Monday. Apex’s mission operators were […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3ryks

OpenAI, the most valuable AI startup, said Wednesday it intends to dismiss all claims made by Elon Musk in a recent lawsuit and suggested that the billionaire entrepreneur, who was involved in the company’s co-founding, didn’t really have that much impact on its development and success. In a blog post authored by the entire OpenAI […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3rYtm

It was only a few years ago — in 2021 — that Windows 11 gained official support for Android apps thanks to a Microsoft-maintained VM called the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA). With the WSA, Windows 11 users could install and run nearly the full range of apps for Android, optionally through Amazon’s Android marketplace […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3rPC2

Numbers Station, a startup that is using large language models (LLMs) to power its data analytics platform, is launching its first cloud-based product today: the aptly named Numbers Station Cloud, which is now in early access. With this service, virtually any user in an enterprise can analyze their internal data using Numbers Station’s chat interface. […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3qHBY

London-based fintech company Monzo raised a late stage funding round of $430 million (£340 million), confirming a report from the Financial Times from a few weeks ago. Following this round, the company has reached a post-money valuation of $5 billion (£4 billion). Founded in 2015, Monzo provides UK current accounts, debit cards and several financial […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3q39x

Indian firms whose apps were delisted by Google last week have begrudgingly started to comply with Play Store billing rules to get their apps back on the store. Apps like Shaadi, Matrimony.com, and Bharat Matrimony were restored after being removed from the Play Store Friday. Other apps to return include Info Edge’s Naukri and 99acres, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3pW6T

Consumer lapel mics are one of the more interesting consumer electronics trends of recent years. Prior to this, lavalier microphones and their ilk were largely the domain of professional film crews. While some plug-in solutions have emerged for smartphones over the years, it wasn’t until recently that one could purchase an affordable set to capture […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3pGwb

Instagram announced today that it’s rolling out the ability for users to edit their direct messages for up to 15 minutes after sending them. The company also announced that users will soon also get the option to pin up to three messaging threads to the top of their inbox. The ability to edit your DMs lets […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3mkyS

Tourism continues to bounce back in the wake of Covid-19, with 2023 raking in $2.23 trillion globally, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time since 2020. That’s having a big knock-on effect for startups building tech to serve the sector. Mews, one of the startups building tools to help hotels manage IT better is announcing […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3mTNY

Wagely, a fintech out of Indonesia, made a name for itself with earned wage access: a way for workers in Southeast Asian countries to get advances on their salaries without resorting to higher-interest loans. With half a million people now using the platform, the startup has expanded that business into a wider “financial wellness” platform, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3lvGQ

India has waded into global AI debate by issuing an advisory that requires tech firms to get government permission before launching new models. India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT issued the advisory to firms on Friday. The advisory, not published on public domain but a copy of which TechCrunch has reviewed, also asks tech firms […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3lfXR

TechCrunch Mobility is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click TechCrunch Mobility — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. I was in Los Angeles earlier this […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3k5rg

Derek Smith launched Plug In South LA with goal of helping historically under represented people build successful startups. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3jrDk

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! Apologies for being out last week — a cold got the best of me, but I’m back and here to talk about the fact that shutting down startups is big business, Stripe’s new valuation, Klarna’s latest AI update and more. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3jH6M

TechCrunch has launched a series of interviews focusing on remarkable women who’ve contributed to the AI revolution. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3j2Cw

Hello, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s newsletter covering noteworthy happenings in the tech industry. This week, investment firm KKR announced that it would acquire VMware’s end-user computing business from Broadcom for $4 billion. As Ron explains, that business included VMware Workspace One and VMware Horizon — two remote desktop apps that had […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3gSHk

Apple has scrapped plans to enter the automotive industry with its mysterious autonomous electric car, instead shifting focus to the wildly popular world of generative AI. The project saw the company hiring prominent executives from places like Tesla and Ford. Its end has led to job losses for some employees, while others have changed divisions […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3gB0q

Last night, for an evening hosted by StrictlyVC, this editor sat down with Trae Stephens, a former government intelligence analyst turned early Palantir employee turned investor at Founders Fund, where Stephens has cofounded two companies of his own. One of these is Anduril, the buzzy defense tech company that is now valued at $8.4 billion […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3fbn1

The tech-wide reckoning that began in 2022 and ran throughout into 2023 has continued into this year. And while 2024’s losses are not at that scale, they’re still significant, driven by big names like Pixar, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and TikTok. It remains to be seen if this year’s layoff trends follow last year’s, in which […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3fLN7

Meta’s controversial pay or be tracked ‘consent’ choice for users the European Union is facing questions from the European Commission. Today the bloc said it’s sent Facebook and Instagram’s owner a formal request for information (RFI) under the Digital Services Act (DSA), asking it to provide more detail on the “Subscription for no Ads options” […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3cmLd

The U.S. National Security Agency has confirmed that hackers exploiting flaws in Ivanti’s widely used enterprise VPN appliance have targeted organizations across the U.S. defense sector. NSA spokesperson Edward Bennett confirmed in an emailed statement to TechCrunch on Friday that the U.S. intelligence agency, along with its interagency counterparts, is “tracking and aware of the […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3cVXR

Google pulled more than a dozen popular apps including recruitment platform Naukri, matrimony service Shaadi, audio storytelling platforms Kuku FM and Stage and real-estate manager 99acres from Play Store in India on Friday after warning that it will be taking actions against developers who have persistently not complied with its billing policies, escalating a three-year […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3bx5v

Intuitive Machines’ first lunar lander officially lost power today after spending seven days on the moon. The lander made history for being the first American hardware to reach the lunar surface since 1972 and the first privately built spacecraft to land on the moon. But the lander, called Odysseus, will be remembered for another reason: […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3bh9W

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm. What started as a tool to hyper-charge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth used by more than 92% of Fortune 500 companies for more wide-ranging needs. And that growth has propelled OpenAI itself into becoming […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3Z9yJ

Otter, the AI-powered meeting assistant that transcribes audio in real time, is adding another layer of AI to its product with today’s introduction of Meeting GenAI, a new set of AI tools for meetings. Included with GenAI is an AI chatbot you can query to get information about past meetings you’ve recorded with Otter, an […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3Yz0p

TechCrunch Early Stage returns to Boston on April 25, 2024, and the agenda for our flagship founder event is almost complete. We’re excited to share this not-so-sneaky sneak peek at some of the fantastic speakers and sessions we have on tap. For builders who are just starting on their founder journey, TechCrunch Early Stage is […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3YZkf

Macquarie dramatically cut its 12-month price target on One97 Communications, the parent company of digital payments firm Paytm, citing risks of customers leaving the platform in the wake of heightened regulatory scrutiny. Macquarie, which famously predicted the slump at Paytm before the listing, lowered its target to 275 rupees (down 57.7% from its previous target of […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3YQJG

Welcome to Elon Musk’s Twitter (now X), where the rules are made up and the check marks don’t matter. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO announced his bid to buy Twitter in April 2022, zealously driven to rid the platform of spam bots and protect free speech; now, it’s the one-year anniversary since he made his […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3XQPL

Wingman Ventures is seeking the best of Switzerland’s startups, and its diverse portfolio already ranges from mobile commerce to robotics. The Zurich-based venture capital firm, which focuses on pre-seed startups, announced today it is rebranding as Founderful and has already raised $85 million for its new Fund II, with a target of closing $120 million […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3XDBF

You must have at least a 675 credit score to use it. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3WqMy

Peak XV, the venture capital firm that split from Sequoia Capital last year, is taking its portfolio companies from India, Southeast Asia and Australia on an “immersion” trip to Silicon Valley this week to meet several industry titans, the latest in the venture firm’s broadening offerings and networking flex. About 60 founders, many backed by […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3WfGx

If you needed more evidence that GenAI is prone to making stuff up, Google’s Gemini chatbot, formerly Bard, thinks that the 2024 Super Bowl already happened. It even has the (fictional) statistics to back it up. Per a Reddit thread, Gemini, powered by Google’s GenAI models of the same name, is answering questions about Super […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3VZWg

TechCrunch Mobility is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click TechCrunch Mobility — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility – your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. This week was a busy one with […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3VLgY

To understand what’s happening with seed rounds in 2024, TechCrunch+ spoke with three seasoned investors who offered advice for founders looking to raise. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3Tq62

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! We’re back after a brief hiatus, and I can tell you that judging by the volume of pitches I received last week, venture investing in the fintech space is definitely picking up. This week, we’re looking at Plaid’s latest step toward an IPO, one BNPL company’s financial results, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3Tb17

Hey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that recaps the last few days in tech. This week, social network Bluesky opened for anyone to join — which feels appropriate here in NYC, given the sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures we’ve been enjoying. For those more inclined to while away the days […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. http://dlvr.it/T3TRGF