February 5, 2025

XOi raises $230M, acquires Specifx to expand its tech for field service technicians

Field service engineers may not be the first group of customers that come to mind when you think about lucrative opportunities in B2B technology. But that same blind spot speaks of the opportunity in the space for those who are stepping up and targeting “the job site.” One of the players in that space, XOi  […]

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Google wants Search to be more like an AI assistant in 2025

February 5, 2025

Google Search is in the midst of a “journey” around AI, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said during the company’s earnings call on Tuesday. The start of that journey was AI overviews, a controversial and monumental shift in how Google delivers information to billions of Search users. But that was just the beginning. “As AI continues […]

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Krafton leads Cashfree’s $53M funding at $700M valuation

February 5, 2025

Cashfree, an Indian payments startup that facilitates and processes more than $80 billion for its customers each year, has raised $53 million in a new round of funding as it gears up to deepen its presence in some international markets. Krafton, maker of sleeper hit titles such as PUBG and BGMI, led Cashfree’s Series C […]

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Brightpick’s new warehouse robot can reach 20-foot-high shelves

February 5, 2025

Brightpick, a maker of autonomous mobile robots, on Tuesday announced a lofty addition to its current line. The appropriately named Giraffe system is notable for its large, retractable platform capable of reaching up to 20 feet (6 meters) in height to pick items from warehouse shelves. It’s a novel approach to warehouses with ceilings well […]

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Snap says TikTok uncertainty benefited its business

February 4, 2025

During Snap’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Evan Spiegel said that the uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s future has positively affected its business. “We’re not trying to draw too many conclusions from some of the engagement lift we saw when [TikTok] went dark for that brief period of time. I would say that the overall environment […]

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A16z hires acquitted former Marine Daniel Penny as an investor 

February 4, 2025

Powerhouse venture firm Andreessen Horowitz has hired Daniel Penny as an investor, its webpage confirms.  Penny is the former Marine who was tried last year and found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a homeless man on a New York City subway. After the man acted erratically, Penny held him in […]

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AMD pulls up the release of its next-gen data center GPUs

February 4, 2025

AMD says that it plans to launch its next major data center GPUs, the AMD Instinct MI350 series, sooner than originally announced. During the company’s Q4 2024 earnings call Tuesday, AMD CEO Lisa Su said AMD plans to sample the MI350 with “lead customers” this quarter, and “accelerate” production shipments to “mid-year.” “So, we had […]

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Miist, founded by a 25-year-old, wants people to vape their way out of smoking addiction and migraines

February 4, 2025

As a university student, Dalton Signor was troubled by how many people around him smoked or vaped, including his grandmother and 14-year-old sister. Signor (pictured center) felt that existing smoking cessation medicines, whether patches, gums, or lozenges, are not very effective because they take too long to start working. “They take about 30 minutes to […]

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