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Category: Global IT News

Perplexity AI submits bid to merge with TikTok

With a TikTok ban looming in the United States, Perplexity AI is the latest bidder hoping to give the video app a new corporate home. CNBC first reported on Perplexity’s interest. A source with knowledge of the offer confirmed to TechCrunch that Perplexity (whose CEO Aravind Srinivas is pictured above) has submitted a bid to…

FTC says partnerships like Microsoft-OpenAI raise antitrust concerns

The Federal Trade Commission said in a staff report issued Friday that there are potential competitive issues in partnerships between big tech companies and generative AI developers — specifically, Microsoft’s backing of OpenAI and Amazon and Alphabet/Google’s partnerships with Anthropic. “The FTC’s report sheds light on how partnerships by big tech firms can create lock-in,…

Once high-flying proptech startups Divvy Homes and EasyKnock are the latest to struggle

Many proptech startups, born and funded during the low-interest-rate heydays, are in the throes of struggle. With investments into U.S.-based real estate startups falling from $11.1 billion in 2021 to $3.7 billion last year, according to PitchBook data, some are selling themselves off, while others are closing shop. The two most recent examples are the…

EV startup Canoo files for bankruptcy and ceases operations

Seven-year-old electric vehicle startup Canoo has filed for bankruptcy and will “cease operations immediately.” The company is liquidating its assets in a Chapter 7 proceeding in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court. The company said in a press release published late Friday that it was “in discussions with foreign sources of capital” that proved unsuccessful, and also…

Amazon suspends US drone deliveries following crash at testing facility

Amazon has paused testing of its delivery drones following a crash involving two of its models, according to Bloomberg. It’s the latest setback for Amazon’s beleaguered Prime Air program, which aims to deliver around 500 million packages a year to customers by the end of the decade. Bloomberg reports two Amazon drones crashed in rainy…

Netradyne snags $90M at $1.35B valuation to expand smart dashcams for commercial fleets

Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of car accidents and a major reason why auto insurance premiums are expected to increase in 2025. For commercial fleets, that’s a nightmare. But for California-based startup Netradyne, it’s a tailwind.  Netradyne provides fleet owners, including big names like Amazon, with AI-enabled dashcams that collect vehicle data…

Perplexity acquires Read.cv, a social media platform for professionals

Read.cv, a social media platform for professionals that competed with LinkedIn, has been acquired by AI-powered search engine Perplexity. As part of the deal, Read.cv will begin to wind down operations Friday. Users will be able to export their data, including their profiles, posts, and messages, until May 16. “We’ve long admired Perplexity and believe…

Bluesky saw 17x increase in moderation reports in 2024 after rapid growth

Bluesky on Friday published its moderation report for the past year, noting the sizable growth the social network experienced in 2024 and how that affected its Trust & Safety team’s workload. It also noted that the largest number of reports came from users reporting accounts or posts for harassment, trolling, or intolerance — an issue…

ChatGPT’s newest feature lets users assign it traits like ‘chatty’ and ‘Gen Z’

Update: OpenAI officially announced this feature one week after some users reported the arrival, and then disappearance, of the new options. It’s possible they went live prematurely. OpenAI is introducing a new way for users to customize their interactions with ChatGPT, the company’s AI-powered chatbot. On Friday, OpenAI announced it is rolling out a new…

TikTok CEO responds to Trump, thanks him for trying to solve US ban 

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew responded to comments made by Donald Trump regarding Friday’s Supreme Court ruling to ban the app in the U.S.  In a video posted on TikTok, Chew said, “On behalf of everyone at TikTok and all our users across the country, I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to…

SpaceX and Blue Origin must investigate this week’s big rocket tests, FAA says

The Federal Aviation Administration is requiring Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to investigate what went wrong on their respective mega-rocket test flights this week. The regulator said both companies must perform what’s known as a “mishap investigation.” These probes involve the companies and the FAA working together to understand what went wrong,…

OpenAI is trying to extend human life, with help from a longevity startup

OpenAI says it trained a new AI model called GPT-4b micro with Retro Biosciences, a longevity science startup trying to extend the human lifespan by 10 years, according to the MIT Technology Review. Retro, which is backed by Sam Altman, has been working with OpenAI for roughly a year on this research, according to the…

As TikTok faces a US shutdown, here are some alternative apps to check out

TikTok has warned of a looming shutdown in just six days, as the Supreme Court is currently weighing the law that would ban the app. So we thought it’s time to take a look at other platforms that may be able to fill the TikTok-shaped hole in our lives.  The law gives TikTok parent company…

Big Tech expands its reach with new startup acquisitions and investments

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week’s newsletter is about startups, but it is also about Big Tech companies expanding their reach, both through acquisitions and through investments. Most interesting startup stories…

Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

Google says it has begun requiring users to turn on JavaScript, the widely-used programming language to make web pages interactive, in order to use Google Search. In an email to TechCrunch, a company spokesperson claimed that the change is intended to “better protect” Google Search against malicious activity, such as bots and spam, and to…

Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd to reclaim CEO position in March

Bumble announced today that founder Whitney Wolfe Herd is returning as CEO after stepping down from the position in 2023.  Wolfe Herd will succeed Lidiane Jones, the company’s current CEO who has left for “personal reasons,” Bumble explained. Jones, the former CEO of Slack, will continue her role at Bumble until the transition takes effect…

Instagram Reels rolls out new features for U.S. users as TikTok is banned

Instagram announced a timely update to its video feature Reels this morning, alongside the news that the Supreme Court upheld the law that will ban TikTok in the U.S. on January 19. The update, says Meta, will make it easier for users to discover the content that friends and followers are liking on the platform…

Instabase raises $100M to help companies process unstructured document data

Instabase, a company that creates software for extracting processing unstructured data from myriad document types, has raised $100 million in a Series D round of funding. The announcement comes as companies struggle under a deluge of data — data that can unlock key business insights. Indeed, most of the data that companies generate is “unstructured,”…

Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban

The Supreme Court has upheld the law that will effectively ban TikTok on Sunday, January 19. The decision marks the end of TikTok’s months-long legal fight against a law that essentially forces the ByteDance-owned app to shut down unless it divests its U.S. operations.  As of Sunday, it will be illegal for app stores and…

Ken Howery: the tech mogul at the center of Trump’s Greenland ambition

Surprise! Donald Trump’s big, audacious ambition to buy Greenland from Denmark has a tech angle. Ken Howery, named by U.S. President-elect Trump’s pick to be the next ambassador to the country (and thus chief broker of any deal), is one more part of the rich seam of tech people running through Trump’s upcoming administration.  Part…

NBN Upgrade An Early 2025 Boost For Australian MSPs

The Australian government’s latest $3.8 billion investment in NBN infrastructure presents significant opportunities for managed service providers and IT channel organizations as the network transitions away from copper-based connections by 2030. FTTP connectivity expands to more premises The upgrade, announced this week, will bring fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) connectivity to an additional 622,000 premises currently served by…

Nord Security founders launch Nexos.ai to help enterprises take AI projects from pilot to production

A new AI orchestration startup from the founders of Lithuanian unicorn Nord Security is setting out to help enterprises put their AI projects into production, with an initial focus on bringing greater visibility, security and adaptability to large language models (LLMs). Nexos.ai, as the startup is called, is the handiwork of Tomas Okmanas (pictured above)…

Apple brings Store app to Indian market

Apple launched its dedicated Apple Store app in India on Friday, deepening its retail presence in the world’s most populous country as the iPhone-maker seeks to capitalize on growing consumer demand. The app, available for download on India’s App Store, lets customers purchase Apple products directly while receiving personalized shopping recommendations, the company said in…

FAA had to divert flights because of SpaceX Starship explosion

The Federal Aviation Administration has told TechCrunch that it had to “briefly” slow and divert a number of aircraft near the area where debris was seen falling after SpaceX’s Starship exploded during a test flight Thursday. Multiple flights could be seen entering holding patterns or completely changing course in the airspace near Puerto Rico shortly…

SpaceX catches Starship booster a second time, loses ship to an ‘anomaly’ in space

SpaceX caught the Starship rocket’s Super Heavy booster for a second time, after it launched the upper stage into space on Thursday during a seventh test flight of the system. Soon after the successful catch, SpaceX representatives reported the ship was lost after the company lost contact about eight and half minutes into the flight.…

Despite VCs investing $75B in Q4 , it’s still hard for startups to raise money, data proves

After two years of relatively muted investment activity, it seems that VCs are starting to pour capital into startups at pandemic-era levels once again. But a closer look shows that they aren’t really. In the fourth quarter of last year, investors funneled $74.6 billion into US startups, a substantial increase from the average of $42…

Apple pauses AI notification summaries for news after generating false alerts

Apple is pausing AI notification summaries for news and entertainment apps after facing backlash for generating inaccurate news alerts. In addition, the company is introducing changes to notification summaries as a whole to allow for greater transparency. With the latest round of developer previews for iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, Apple is disabling…

Threads might let you add music to your posts in the future

Meta’s Threads is internally prototyping the ability to add music to posts, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The option to add music to posts is already available on Meta’s other social apps, Instagram and Facebook. It looks like the company is now thinking about bringing the feature to Threads, its X competitor. The feature isn’t…

Nvidia releases more tools and guardrails to nudge enterprises to adopt AI agents

Nvidia is releasing three new NIM microservices, or small independent services that are part of larger applications, to help enterprises bring additional control and safety measures to their AI agents. One of these new NIM services targets content safety and works to prevent an AI agent from generating harmful or biased outputs. Another works to…

Mark Cuban is ready to fund a TikTok alternative built on Bluesky’s AT Protocol

Entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban is ready to fund a TikTok alternative built on Bluesky’s AT Protocol, he shared in a TikTok video posted on Wednesday. In anticipation of the coming U.S. TikTok ban, which will go through on Sunday unless paused by the Supreme Court, users have been fleeing to other video platforms, including…

A rising EV startup star snags $100M and Tesla’s win-lose federal funding moment

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Before we move into the news of this week, we have one more roundup of transportation tech at CES 2025. As I noted last week, autonomous vehicle…

TikTok ban poised to be delayed as Trump explores ways to extend deadline

The U.S. ban on TikTok is poised to be delayed as the deadline falls on the MLK Day holiday weekend and President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration intends to find a way to extend the deadline, Bloomberg reports. Biden officials see the issue as one for Trump’s incoming administration, as the current administration doesn’t plan to intervene…

Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon tells startups to reconsider going public

Goldman Sachs is one of the biggest investment banker “book runners” for IPOs – where banks are paid many millions of dollars for each listing they underwrite. Yet CEO David Solomon told attendees of the Cisco AI Summit in Palo Alto that startups should reconsider the idea of going public, reports the Financial Times.  Solomon…

This MIT spinout wants to spool hair-thin fibers into patients’ brains

You can’t start a company without a healthy dose of daring, and that’s certainly the case with NeuroBionics. The MIT-spinout thinks it could one day improve the lives of millions of people who live with neurological conditions like depression, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.  Famed investor Steve Jurvetson of Future Ventures said that if everything goes…

Symbotic set to take over Walmart’s robotics business

Walmart and Symbotic announced a deal Tuesday that would find the Massachusetts robotics firm taking control of the mega-retailer’s automation business. Symbotic is paying $200 million in cash for the program, plus up to $350 million in “additional contingent consideration,” depending on how the deal shakes out. The relationship is more partnership than straight acquisition,…

Netradyne snags $90M at $1.25B valuation to expand smart dashcams for commercial fleets

Distracted driving is a leading cause of car crashes — and rising auto insurance premiums, which are expected to increase in 2025. For commercial fleets, that’s an expensive challenge to navigate. But for California-based startup Netradyne, it’s a tailwind.  Netradyne provides fleet owners, including big names like Amazon, with AI-enabled dashcams that collect vehicle data…

Teal Health raises $10M to create at-home cervical cancer screenings

The process of getting screened for cervical cancer is quite intimidating. It’s the once-a-year, sometimes life-changing treatment, that involves the bright lights of a doctor’s office and an uncomfortable insertion that always seems to last too long.   It’s no wonder why Kara Egan and Dr. Avnesh Thakor saw the potential to make this process more…

TikTok CEO plans to attend Trump inauguration

As TikTok’s fate hangs in the balance, TikTok CEO, Shou Chew, is planning to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, The New York Times reports. The executive will join Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk on the dais, which is where former presidents and important guests are traditionally seated. Although Trump initiated calls…

ISPT’s future focused office buildings ‘lead the way’ with 5G indoor mobile connectivity

By Peggy Renders, Chief Customer Officer for Telstra Enterprise: ISPT and Telstra have announced that they are transforming office connectivity with 5G DAS tech, ensuring reliable, high-speed coverage in lifts, carparks, and more – with the first deployment in Sydney’s new Tech Central precinct, Sydney, with other sites on the radar.

Dub.co is an open-source URL shortener and link attribution engine packed into one

In the last few weeks, PayPal-owned Honey, which claims to find you the best coupon codes for a deal, has been at the center of controversy. Allegedly, the tool sneakily earned affiliate money by changing attributes of product links creators posted on their videos. At the center of it, the problem was how affiliate links…

Blue Origin successfully launches New Glenn rocket into space

Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company Blue Origin launched its new mega-rocket, called New Glenn, into orbit for the first time. The rocket lifted off at 2:03AM ET on January 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and crossed the official boundary into space a few minutes later. Shortly after, a second-stage burn placed the rocket’s upper section into…

Mistral signs deal with AFP to offer up-to-date answers in Le Chat

Just a day after Google inked a deal with The Associated Press, Mistral is also announcing a content deal with the Agence France-Presse (AFP) to improve the accuracy of answers in Le Chat, Mistral’s chatbot product. This is the first deal of this kind for the Paris-based artificial intelligence company. And it indicates that Mistral…

Prepaid payments platform Recharge raises €45M to go on M&A spree

With inflation still stubbornly high in comparison to previous years, and the siren voices of subscription services like Netflix and Spotify continuing to lure, consumers have understandably turned to alternative forms of payment to manage their household bills. As a result, online prepaid payment platforms have benefited.  That’s the bet being laid today by Recharge,…

Hyperline secures $10 million for its automated billing platform

French startup Hyperline wants to build the next-generation Chargebee. Over the past two years, the startup has built a new billing platform that can be used for recurring subscriptions, one-off purchases, usage-based billing and more. Hyperline raised an initial €4 million funding round from Index Ventures back in 2023 ($4.1 million at today’s exchange rate).…

Amazon to acquire Indian fintech Axio in credit push

Amazon has agreed to acquire Indian buy now pay later startup Axio, deepening its push into financial services in one of its fastest-growing markets as it seeks to expand credit access to millions of underserved customers. The US technology group, which has held an equity stake in Axio for six years, signed the acquisition agreement…

In AI copyright case, Zuckerberg turns to YouTube for his defense

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to have used YouTube and its battle to take down pirated content to defend his own company’s use of a data set containing copyrighted e-books to train AI models, newly released snippets of his deposition reveals.  The deposition, which was part of a complaint submitted to the court by plaintiffs’…

Chinese AI company MiniMax releases new models it claims are competitive with the industry’s best

Chinese firms continue to release AI models that rival the capabilities of systems developed by OpenAI and other U.S.-based AI companies. This week, MiniMax, an Alibaba- and Tencent-backed startup that has raised around $850 million in venture capital and is valued at more than $2.5 billion, debuted three new models: MiniMax-Text-01, MiniMax-VL-01, and T2A-01-HD. MiniMax-Text-01…

Hindenburg Research, a short seller that targeted tech and EV companies, is closing up shop

When Hindenburg Research posts a blog on its website, it often means a company’s final days are near. Today, that company is Hindenburg Research. Nate Anderson announced Wednesday he has shut down short-selling firm Hindenburg Research, after a seven-year run issuing damning reports about high-profile companies, including many of the technology world’s giants and buzzy…

As TikTok faces a US shutdown, here are some alternative apps to check out

TikTok has warned of a looming shutdown in just six days, as the Supreme Court is currently weighing the law that would ban the app. So we thought it’s time to take a look at other platforms that may be able to fill the TikTok-shaped hole in our lives.  The law gives TikTok parent company…

More teens report using ChatGPT for schoolwork, despite the tech’s faults

Younger Gen Zers are embracing OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, for schoolwork, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. But it’s not clear that they’re fully aware of the tech’s pitfalls. In a follow-up to its 2023 poll on ChatGPT usage among young people, Pew asked ~1,400 U.S.-based teens ages 13 to 17…

Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S25 on January 22 — here’s what we expect

The biggest reveal from last week’s Samsung CES press conference may well have been another press conference. The hardware giant closed out the main event by teasing the company’s upcoming show. The next Samsung Unpacked event is set for January 22 at 10 a.m. PT. As with all recent Unpackeds, next week’s big show will…

Duolingo sees 216% spike in U.S. users learning Chinese amid TikTok ban and move to RedNote

TikTok U.S. users have been learning Chinese on Duolingo in increasing numbers amid their adoption of a Chinese social app called RedNote ahead of the TikTok ban. The U.S. law, scheduled to go into effect on January 19, unless halted by the Supreme Court, will see TikTok removed from U.S. app stores and will stop…

These tech companies are donating to LA wildfire relief efforts

Numerous tech companies have pledged millions in donations to help LA recover from wildfires that caused widespread devastation and forced thousands to evacuate the region. Those offering aid include YouTube/Google, Meta, Snap, Amazon, Netflix, and Sony.  Here’s an overview of what each company is doing to aid relief efforts in the region: YouTube and Google:…

OpenAI is bankrolling Axios’ expansion into four new markets

OpenAI is getting into the local news game. Newsletter-based media organization Axios announced a partnership with OpenAI on Wednesday. As part of this three-year deal, the AI giant will fund Axios’ expansion of its local newsletters into four new cities: Pittsburgh; Kansas City, Missouri; Boulder, Colorado; and Huntsville, Alabama. While OpenAI has inked content-sharing and…

Tesla to split $100M award for electric truck charging corridor in Illinois

Tesla, along with three other industry partners, quietly backed an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency application that won $100 million in funding to build electric truck charging stations across the state, TechCrunch has learned. The award was the biggest given out by the Biden Administration’s Federal Highway Administration last week in the second round of what’s…

Biden administration adds 14 additional Chinese firms to trade blacklist

Days after pushing for sweeping AI chip export restriction, the Biden administration has added an additional 14 Chinese companies to its restricted trade list. This brings the full list up to 25 names, according to reporting from The Associate Press. Sophgo is, perhaps, the highest profile addition. An entity of Bitmain, the firm sparked international…

How to stream Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day 2025

Donald Trump will take the presidential oath of office on Friday in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., once again. The event takes place at noon ET and is expected to attract considerable attention from both supporters and opponents. How to stream Trump’s inauguration You can watch the inauguration live with cable or…

AI researcher François Chollet founds a new AI lab focused on AGI

François Chollet, an influential AI researcher, is launching a new startup that aims to build frontier AI systems with novel designs. The startup, Ndea, will consist of an AI research and science lab. It’s looking to “develop and operationalize” AGI. AGI, which stands for “artificial general intelligence,” typically refers to AI that can perform any…

Trump’s DOT pick wants EV owners to pay to use roads

Sean Duffy, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Transportation, thinks owners of electric vehicles should pay to use roads.  “How to do that, I think, is a little more challenging,” Duffy said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday before the Senate Commerce Committee.  The former Republican lawmaker is correct that it would…

This Week in AI: Will Biden’s AI actions survive the Trump era?

Hiya, folks, welcome to TechCrunch’s regular AI newsletter. If you want this in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. This week was something of a swan song for the Biden administration. On Monday, the White House announced sweeping new restrictions on exporting AI chips — restrictions that tech giants, including Nvidia, loudly criticized. (Nvidia’s business…

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