Technology

Last call to register for today’s filming of TechCrunch Live with Persona and Index Ventures

May 10, 2023

Identity management used to mean making sure you had your drivers license when you left the house, but these days it’s not so easy: identity fundamentally underpins how we engage with the digital world, and identity services can take on many forms (and abuses). Now things are getting even more interesting: the big advances we’re […]

Last call to register for today’s filming of TechCrunch Live with Persona and Index Ventures by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: a bold fusion claim, and a new augmented reality game

May 10, 2023
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. This startup says its first fusion plant is five years away. Experts doubt it. The news: A startup called Helion, backed by Sam Altman, claims it’s on track to flip on the world’s…

This startup says its first fusion plant is five years away. Experts doubt it.

May 10, 2023
A startup backed by Sam Altman says it’s on track to flip on the world’s first fusion power plant in five years, dramatically shortening the timeline to a carbon-free energy source that’s eluded scientists for three-quarters of a century.  Helion Energy’s announcement that it’s on the verge of commercializing the process that powers the sun…

3 Tech Stocks Investors are Buying

May 10, 2023
Despite widespread recession concerns, the long-term prospects of the technology industry look attractive. Hence, fundamentally strong tech stocks Motorola (MSI), Ribbon (RBBN), and AudioCodes (AUDC) might be worth buying. Keep…

Petal raises $35M, spins off data unit ‘to bring credit scores into the 21st century’

May 10, 2023

The United States credit system as it exists today has been around for decades and many would argue it’s long been in need of an overhaul. In the meantime, a number of startups have emerged in recent years to offer consumers more options when obtaining credit. Petal is one such company. The New York-based startup, […]

Petal raises $35M, spins off data unit ‘to bring credit scores into the 21st century’ by Mary Ann Azevedo originally published on TechCrunch

Clearview fined again in France for failing to comply with privacy orders

May 10, 2023

Clearview AI, the US startup that’s attracted notoriety in recent years for a massive privacy violation after it scraped selfies off the Internet and used people’s data to build a facial recognition tool it pitched to law enforcement and others, has been hit with another fine in France over non-cooperation with the data protection regulator. […]

Clearview fined again in France for failing to comply with privacy orders by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

With its planet-friendly protein, Farmless wants to dramatically outperform animal agriculture

May 10, 2023

Dutch startup Farmless has today announced that it has raised a €1.2 million pre-seed equity round at an undisclosed valuation to bring to our tables proteins created without the need for traditional farming operations. The climate crisis means that it has never been more pressing to develop alternative food sources in order to both protect […]

With its planet-friendly protein, Farmless wants to dramatically outperform animal agriculture by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch

Sound Ventures has already plugged half its new $240 million AI fund into three companies

May 10, 2023

Sound Ventures, the eight-year-old, Beverly Hills, Ca.,-based venture firm led by general partners Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, and Effie Epstein, announced a new $240 million AI fund just last week. Turns out half of it is already invested in the three companies that it announced at the time that it rolled out the fund: OpenAI, […]

Sound Ventures has already plugged half its new $240 million AI fund into three companies by Connie Loizos originally published on TechCrunch

Ascend raises $25 million for pre-seed AI startups in the Pacific Northwest

May 9, 2023

Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) startups is the latest bandwagon VCs are piling onto. But as last year’s crypto experts quickly work to rebrand as AI experts, they’ll have to compete with the VCs who have been investing in the category all along. Seattle-based Ascend is one of them. Firm founder and solo GP Kirby […]

Ascend raises $25 million for pre-seed AI startups in the Pacific Northwest by Rebecca Szkutak originally published on TechCrunch