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AI-Generated Actors and Scripts Banned from Oscars
Bad news for Tilly Norwood.
Elon Musk's Lawsuit Against OpenAI: Key Details Emerge
Elon Musk spent the better part of three days on the witness stand this week in his lawsuit against OpenAI, and it’s already getting messy. Emails, texts, and his own tweets are surfacing in court, and there are plenty more witnesses to come. Musk’s argument against OpenAI? By converting the company to a for-profit model, Sam Altman betrayed the “nonprofit for the […]
Pentagon Partners with Nvidia, Microsoft, and AWS for AI on Classified
The deals come as the DOD has doubled down on diversifying its exposure to AI vendors in the wake of its controversial dispute with Anthropic over usage terms of its AI models.
Coatue's New Venture: AI Data Centers Near Power Sources
Coatue, one of the biggest names in venture capital, has a new venture that is reportedly buying land near large power sources.
Musely Raises $360M in Non-Dilutive Funding for AI Marketing
The DTC skin, hair, and menopause care brand will use the non-dilutive capital to super-charge customer acquisition.
Replit CEO on Cursor Deal, Apple Rivalry, and Future Plans
At TechCrunch's sold-out StrictlyVC event in San Francisco on Thursday night, we covered a lot of ground in a short time, beginning with the question everyone in the industry is asking right now: in a world where rival Cursor is reportedly in talks to be acquired by SpaceX for $60 billion, is Replit also bound to sell?
Meta Acquires Assured Robot Intelligence for AI Advancements
Meta bought humanoid startup Assured Robot Intelligence to beef up its AI models for robots, the company said.
Uber's Plan to Turn Drivers into Self-Driving Sensors
Praveen Neppalli Naga, Uber's chief technology officer, revealed the plan in an interview at TechCrunch's StrictlyVC event in San Francisco on Thursday night, describing it as a natural extension of a nascent program the company announced in late January called AV Labs.
Reddit Search Usage Surges 30% Year-Over-Year
The company saw a 30% year-on-year jump in the number of people using search every week, CEO Steve Huffman said on Thursday.
Ubuntu Services Disrupted by DDoS Attack
A group of hacktivists have claimed responsibility for a distributed denial-of-service attack, which has affected several Ubuntu and Canonical websites, and prevented users from updating the Linux-based operating system.
OpenAI Enhances ChatGPT Security with Yubico Partnership
OpenAI is launching additional opt-in protections for ChatGPT accounts. The new security initiative includes a new partnership with security key provider Yubico.
Faraday Future Pays $7.5M Amid SEC Probe
The perpetually struggling EV company made the payments while being investigated by the SEC. That four-year probe was ultimately closed in March.
OpenAI Restricts Access to GPT-5.5 Cyber for Critical Cyber Defenders
OpenAI will begin rolling out its cybersecurity testing tool, GPT-5.5 Cyber only "to critical cyber defenders" at first.
Hackers Exploit cPanel Bug Used by Millions of Websites
Web hosts are scrambling to fix the bug under active attack by hackers. One company said hackers have been abusing the bug for months.
Rivian Reduces DOE Loan to $4.5B for Georgia Factory
Rivian has reworked its loan deal with the Department of Energy and now expects to borrow $4.5 billion to build its new factory in Georgia, down from the original amount of $6.6 billion.
Legal AI Rivalry: Legora Valued at $5.6B, Harvey Battle Intensifies
The two wildly fast-growing rivals have raised massive sums, pushed into each other's home turf, and now have dueling ad campaigns.
Apple Faces AI-Driven Mac Supply Shortages
Apple said it will be supply-constrained on Mac mini, Studio, and Neo in the next quarter, too.
Anthropic Seeks $900B+ Valuation in Upcoming AI Fundraise
Anthropic is asking investors to submit allocations for the AI company’s latest fundraise within the next 48 hours, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Skio's $105M Exit: AI Fintech Success Story
Subscription billing fintech Skio sold to its competitor Recharge in what was a healthy exit, according to its founder and former CEO.
Apple's Record Sales Amid Chip Shortage Concerns
Cook warned that Apple is facing supply-chain headwinds from RAMageddon that could impact its business.
ChatGPT Images 2.0: A Hit in India for Creative Visuals
Users in India are embracing ChatGPT Images 2.0 for creative, personal visuals — from avatars to cinematic portraits.
Elon Musk Testifies on xAI's Grok Training with OpenAI Models
"Distillation" is a hot topic as frontier labs try to prevent smaller competitors from copying their models.
Instagram's New AI Tool Targets Content Aggregators
The update targets content aggregators that don't post original content and instead simply re-upload others' posts.
Spotify Adds Verified Artist Badges to Combat AI Impersonation
Spotify looks for an identifiable artist presence both on and off platform, like concert dates, merch, and linked social accounts on their artist profile.
Netflix Launches 'Clips' for Vertical Video Discovery
Netflix is redesigning its mobile app and introducing Clips, a vertical video feed intended to help users discover new content by sharing highlights from original Netflix programming.
Meta's AI Tools Now Handle 10 Million Weekly Conversations
Meta said over 8 billion advertisers have used at least one of its GenAI tools
137 Ventures Secures $700M for Growth-Stage Startups
VC firm 137 Ventures has raised over $700 million to back growth-stage startups. Its portfolio includes SpaceX, Anduril, Hadrian.
X Unveils AI-Powered Ad Platform for Revenue Growth
X is rolling out a rebuilt ads platform powered by AI as it works to grow revenue again.
AI Dental Software Fixes Data Exposure Bug
The security bug is now fixed, but the patient who found it said it was challenging to alert the software company about the issue.
Uber Partners with Hertz for Lucid Robotaxi Fleet Management
Hertz is creating a new affiliate company called "Oro Mobility" to provide fleet management solutions "across a range of mobility segments."
Stripe's Link: AI Agents' Secure Digital Wallet
Link lets users connect cards, banks, and subscriptions, then authorize AI agents to spend securely via approval flows.
Salesforce Crowdsources AI Roadmap with Customer Input
Salesforce lets its customers lead its product roadmap with the thinking that if one enterprise customer has a problem, the others likely do too.
TikTok Launches Campus Hub for College Students
The new hub features dedicated college group chats and personalized feeds designed to help students stay connected with their campus communities, even while they’re away for the summer.
BioticsAI Founder on FDA Approval and Healthcare Challenges
BioticsAI CEO Robhy Bustami joined Isabelle Johannessen on Build Mode to discuss how the company has navigated a highly regulated space and kept the team motivated while cutting through all the red tape.
Google's Gemini AI Rolls Out in Millions of Vehicles
Google announced on Thursday that it will begin rolling out Gemini to cars with Google built-in, marking a significant upgrade from the current Google Assistant. The move signals Google’s push to bring more advanced, conversational AI into the driving experience. The announcement follows closely behind news from General Motors, which revealed yesterday that Gemini is […]
Sri Lanka Loses $3M in Recent Cyber Attacks Amid Debt Crisis
The government of Sri Lanka has lost more than $3 million in two recent, separate cybersecurity incidents as the country continues to recover from its 2022 debt crisis.
Earth AI Expands to Streamline Critical Mineral Search
When Earth AI started hitting months-long delays in its search for critical minerals, it decided to take matters into its own hands.
Apple's App Store Fee Changes Head to Supreme Court
Apple lost its bid to pause court-ordered App Store payment changes, keeping external purchase links in place as its case with Epic heads toward the Supreme Court.
Uber Expands with AI-Powered Hotel Bookings
Uber announced several new features on Wednesday during its annual event, which push far beyond the company's original ride-hailing purpose and deeper into its users' lives.
Roku's Howdy Streaming Service Hits 1M Subscribers
Roku’s $2.99 streaming service Howdy has topped 1M subscribers, showing demand for cheaper, low-commitment alternatives to pricier streamers.
Pursuit Secures $22M for AI-Driven Government Sales
On Wednesday, Pursuit announced a $22 million Series A round led by Mike Rosengarten, the co-founder of OpenGov, with big-name VCs participating.
Google TV Expands with New Gemini AI Features
Google TV just got more Gemini features, including the ability to transform photos and videos with tools Nano Banana and Veo.
Google Photos AI Creates Virtual Closet from Your Photos
Google says the new feature will leverage AI technology to automatically create a copy of your wardrobe that's based on the pieces of clothing appearing in your Google Photos library.
Parallel Web Systems Valued at $2B After $100M Raise
The AI agent-tool startup founded by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has raised $100 million, led by Sequoia, months after raising a previous $100 million.
Zap Energy Expands to Nuclear Fission, Alongside Fusion
Surprise! Fusion startup Zap Energy says it will be developing fission reactors alongside its fusion devices.
Google Adds 25M Subscriptions in Q1, Boosted by YouTube and Google One
Google added 25M paid subscriptions in Q1, reaching 350M total, as YouTube and Google One grow.
Google Cloud Hits $20B Revenue Milestone, Faces Capacity Constraints
Google Cloud topped $20B in quarterly revenue for the first time, fueled by surging demand for AI. But capacity constraints mean it could have grown even faster.
Microsoft's Nadella: Ready to Leverage OpenAI Deal for Cloud Customers
Microsoft gets to offer OpenAI's tech to its cloud customers and doesn't have to pay for it. "We fully plan to exploit it," Nadella said.
Microsoft's Copilot Surpasses 20M Paid Users with High Engagement
Despite the lingering perception that no one really uses Copilot, Microsoft said on Wednesday that the number of users and engagement is growing.
Meta's Billions in Losses on AR/VR and AI
Meta is losing billions on Reality Labs each quarter, and its AI expenditures are only going to increase its spending.