9 US AI startups have raised $100M or more in 2025

March 8, 2025

Last year was a monumental year for the AI industry in the U.S. and beyond. There were 49 startups that raised funding rounds worth $100 million or more in 2024, per our count at TechCrunch. Three companies raised more than one “mega-round” last year, and seven companies raised rounds at $1 billion or larger. How […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Chevy Silverado EV vs Rivian R1T: How two EVs handled the iconic Mint 400 off-road race

March 8, 2025

Something special went down in the desert outside of Las Vegas this weekend: two EVs took on the Mint 400 for the first time. Since the Mint 400 launched back in 1969, vehicles in this iconic desert endurance race have been powered by dead dinosaurs. Spectators and race participants alike are used to the smell […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

5 devices to help ease your smartphone addiction

March 8, 2025

The downsides of doomscrolling and screen addiction are well documented, but while many of us would like to spend less time glued to a smartphone, it’s easier said than done. Much has been written about the so-called dumbphone revival, where individuals regain some respite from pings and push notifications by downgrading to a basic feature […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

In defense tech, Lithuania’s sovereign VC fund is one step ahead

March 8, 2025

Europe is waking up to the need to invest in defense, and so are European VCs. But with a painful history of Soviet occupations, Lithuania didn’t wait for the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to reach its third anniversary to commit 5% to 6% of its GDP to military spending — and fund […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Cursor in talks to raise at a $10B valuation as AI coding sector booms

March 8, 2025

Investor interest in AI-coding assistants is exploding. Anysphere, the developer of AI-powered coding assistant Cursor, is in talks with venture capitalists to raise capital at a valuation of nearly $10 billion, Bloomberg reported. The round, if it transpires, would come about three months after Anysphere completed its previous fundraise of $100 million at a pre-money […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Microsoft reportedly ramps up AI efforts to compete with OpenAI

March 7, 2025

Microsoft is accelerating its push to compete with OpenAI, its longtime collaborator, by developing its own powerful AI models and exploring alternatives to power products like Microsoft’s Copilot bot. Microsoft has developed its own AI “reasoning” models comparable to models like OpenAI’s o1 and o3-mini, the The Information reports. OpenAI is said to have refused […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

SXSW 2025: What we’re paying attention to

March 7, 2025

TechCrunch will be on the ground at SXSW 2025 — the annual tech, music, comedy, and film conference that kicked off Friday in Austin — in search of the zeitgeist of this AI-centric era. Yup, we’re one sentence in and AI has already made its entrance. And why not? A quick scan of the massive […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.