TechCrunch

Naboo secures $21M for its concierge-style corporate event booking platform

If you’ve ever tried to book a venue for a company event, you’ll know how onerous a task it can be. You have to contact multiple vendors, wait for quotes, evaluate them, see if you can get a good deal, and then get all that approved. So it makes sense that depending on the size […]

SoftBank to invest $500M in robotics startup SkildAI

SoftBank is negotiating a $500 million investment in Skild AI, a software company building a foundational model for robotics at a $4 billion valuation, Bloomberg and Financial Times reported. The two-year-old company raised its previous funding round of $300 million at a $1.5 billion valuation last July from investors including Jeff Bezos, Lightspeed Venture Partners, […]

Italy sends first data watchdog request to DeepSeek: ‘The data of millions of Italians is at risk’

The jury is still out on whether the Chinese AI upstart DeepSeek is a game changer or possibly part of an elaborate plan by its hedge fund parent company to short Nvidia and other tech stocks. Whichever it might be (maybe both?), DeepSeek and its large language model has made some major waves. Now, it’s […]

DeepSeek: Everything you need to know about the AI chatbot app

DeepSeek has gone viral. Chinese AI lab DeepSeek broke into the mainstream consciousness this week after its chatbot app rose to the top of the Apple App Store charts. DeepSeek’s AI models, which were trained using compute-efficient techniques, have led Wall Street analysts — and technologists — to question whether the U.S. can maintain its lead in the AI race […]

David Sacks claims there’s ‘substantial evidence’ that DeepSeek used OpenAI’s models to train its own

David Sacks, Trump’s AI and crypto “czar,” said in an interview on Fox on Tuesday that there’s “substantial evidence” that Chinese AI company DeepSeek “distilled” knowledge from OpenAI’s AI models, a process that Sacks compared to theft. Sacks, who didn’t cite the source of this “evidence,” suggested that DeepSeek used responses from OpenAI models to […]

DeepSeek triggered a wild, baseless rally for some Chinese stocks

Hype around DeepSeek sent the stock price of several Chinese companies soaring, but proof of their ties to DeepSeek is non-existent.

Figure AI details plan to improve humanoid robot safety in the workplace

Safety is often overlooked in the rush to bring humanoid robots to the workplace. As high-profile corporations ranging from retailers like Amazon to carmakers such as Mercedes and BMW have announced humanoid pilots for factories and warehouses, conversations around worker safety are regularly buried beneath industry hype. One Bay Area robotics firm is hoping to […]

Tesla Superchargers: GM, Ford, Rivian, and other EV brands with access

EV owners of GM vehicles like the Chevrolet Silverado EV and Cadillac Lyriq will now officially have access to Tesla’s Superchargers.

Bookshop.org challenges Amazon with new e-book platform

Indie bookstore backer Bookshop.org launched an e-book platform on Tuesday, making it easier for readers to buy e-books without padding Jeff Bezos’ pockets. For years, Amazon’s chokehold and sway in the publishing industry have been so strong that authors and booksellers have accused the company of operating a monopoly. Amazon is dominant in the sale […]

Hugging Face researchers are trying to build a more open version of DeepSeek’s AI ‘reasoning’ model

Barely a week after DeepSeek released its R1 “reasoning” AI model — which sent markets into a tizzy — researchers at Hugging Face are trying to replicate the model from scratch in what they’re calling a pursuit of “open knowledge.” Hugging Face head of research Leandro von Werra and several company engineers have launched Open-R1, a […]

Automattic and others back Openvibe, an app that’s unifying the open social web

Openvibe’s clever app that integrates multiple open social networks, including Bluesky, Mastodon, Nostr, and Threads, just got a boost toward its future development. The company on Tuesday announced that it has received outside investment of $800,000 in a round led by Czech Founders VC, which includes backing from WordPress.com and Tumblr parent company, Automattic, as […]

Eric Schmidt says DeepSeek marks a ‘turning point’ for the global AI race

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt called for the United States to ramp up open source AI efforts to address the rise of DeepSeek in a Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday. Just last year, Schmidt said America was two or three years ahead of China. But DeepSeek’s rise marks “a turning point” for the global AI […]

Who is Liang Wenfeng? DeepSeek founder comes from AI investing

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab, has Silicon Valley reeling with its R1 reasoning model, which it claims uses far less computing power than those of American AI leaders — and, it’s open source. The DeepSeek app has shot to the top of the App Store charts this week, dethroning ChatGPT. But who is Liang Wenfeng, […]

Waymo is reportedly building a charity ‘tipping’ feature into its robotaxi app

Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company Waymo might be planning to test a feature that will allow robotaxi riders to add a “tip” that will go to the charity of their choice after a ride. Jane Manchun Wong, a security researcher who recently hacked the display dome on top of a Waymo vehicle, found the new tip […]

Ambi Robotics built a clever solution to automate pallet packing

UC Berkeley spinout Ambi Robotics announced Tuesday the arrival of AmbiStack, a novel system that automates pallet packing. The system features an industrial robotic arm mounted above a conveyer belt that moves along the X and Y axes and lifts boxes up via suction cups mounted to a gripper. Once lifted from the conveyer belt, […]

Geek Ventures, a fund that specializes in backing immigrant founders, is raising a second fund

Geek Ventures is raising a Fund II, according to a recent SEC filing. The firm, founded in 2021 by Ihar Mahaniok, focuses on investing in early-stage immigrant founders. Mahaniok immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus and spoke to TechCrunch a few years ago about how hard the venture ecosystem can be for immigrants. “Talent is […]

Documents show UK wooed a16z for five years

U.K. documents show that the U.K.’s Department of Business and Trade spent five years convincing Andreessen Horowitz to create a presence in London, only for the U.S. firm to leave 18 months after launching an office, according to government documents obtained by Sifted. In 2023, a16z launched a crypto office in London, deeming the crypto […]

Amazon’s Prime Air drone service is headed to this UK town

Amazon announced Monday it has picked the North England town of Darlington as the first site for its planned U.K. drone-delivery expansion. Amazon was expected to expand Prime Air to the U.K. and Italy in 2024. After missing that initial target, the company opted to not share a timeline for this latest launch. Instead, the […]

Waymo begins testing robotaxis on LA freeways

Waymo robotaxis have become a common sight on Los Angeles surface streets. Now those driverless vehicles are heading to the city’s network of freeways. The Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle technology company said Tuesday it will begin testing its fleet of robotaxis on the Los Angeles freeway system, including Interstates 10, 110, 405, and 90. These robotaxis […]

This startup is selling for $1B, so why is its founder not proud of the outcome?

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week we’re looking at the story behind the sale of Divvy Homes, Ramp’s new product, some notable fundraising deals, and more! To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. PT, subscribe here. The big story Last week, […]