X changes its terms to bar training of AI models using its content
Social network X has changed its developer agreement to prevent third parties from using the platform’s content to train large language models.
The quest to defend against tech in intimate partner violence
After Gioia had her first child with her then husband, he installed baby monitors throughout their Massachusetts home—to “watch what we were doing,” she says, while he went to work. She’d turn them off; he’d get angry. By the time their third child turned seven, Gioia and her husband had divorced, but he still found…
Toma’s AI voice agents have taken off at car dealerships – and attracted funding from a16z
When Monik Pamecha co-founded AI voice startup Toma in early 2024, he hadn’t anticipated spending the summer months sweating in Bible Belt car dealerships. He and co-founder Anthony Krivonos were still focused on banking and healthcare customers when the dealers came knocking. “They just called us up and said ‘we are drowning in phone calls,’” […]
Collibra acquires data access startup Raito
Collibra, a data governance platform based in Brussels, is the latest enterprise to acquire a data company in order to expand its offerings in the age of AI. On Thursday, Collibra announced its acquisition Raito, a data access startup founded in 2021. Raito, also located in Brussels, helps companies manage which employees and customers have […]
TechCrunch Sessions: AI launches in Berkeley today — here’s what you’ll miss if you’re not here
Today’s the day! TechCrunch Sessions: AI is lighting up UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall at 8 a.m. PT on the dot. The stage is set, the speakers are ready, and the AI community is gathering for one powerful day of insight, innovation, and momentum. Local to Berkeley and passionate about AI? There’s still time to join […]
The Download: funding a CRISPR embryo startup, and bad news for clean cement
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. Crypto billionaire Brian Armstrong is ready to invest in CRISPR baby tech Brian Armstrong, the billionaire CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, says he’s ready to fund a US startup focused on gene-editing…
Phone unlocking firm Cellebrite to acquire mobile testing startup Corellium for $170M
Cellebrite said the deal will help with the “accelerated identification of mobile vulnerabilities and exploits.”
Over $1 billion in federal funding got slashed for this polluting industry
The clean cement industry might be facing the end of the road, before it ever really got rolling. On Friday, the US Department of Energy announced that it was canceling $3.7 billion in funding for 24 projects related to energy and industry. That included nearly $1.3 billion for cement-related projects. Cement is a massive climate…
Crypto billionaire Brian Armstrong is ready to invest in CRISPR baby tech
Brian Armstrong, the billionaire CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, says he’s ready to fund a US startup focused on gene-editing human embryos. If he goes forward, it would be the first major commercial investment in one of medicine’s most fraught ideas. In a post on X June 2, Armstrong announced he was looking for…
Profitable African fintech PalmPay is in talks to raise as much as $100M
PalmPay, an African digital bank fintech, is in talks to raise between $50 million and $100 million in a Series B round, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. It’s unclear what valuation it hopes to get, but its last round, in 2021, ranked it among the continent’s most valuable startups, estimated just shy […]
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai dismisses AI job fears, emphasizes expansion plans
In a Bloomberg interview Wednesday night in downtown San Francisco, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai pushed back against concerns that AI could eventually make half the company’s 180,000-person workforce redundant. Instead, Pichai stressed the company’s commitment to growth through at least next year. “I expect we will grow from our current engineering phase even into next […]