Category: info1
ElevenLabs strike deals with celebs to create AI audio
ElevenLabs struck a deal with actors Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey to AI-generate their voices, the company announced this week. Hollywood and AI have an up-and-down relationship, with its guardrails — or lack thereof — serving among the main concerns that led to the Hollywood strikes a few years ago. Since then, some artists have…
Cybersecurity firm Deepwatch lays off dozens, citing move to ‘accelerate’ AI investment
Deepwatch, a cybersecurity firm that makes an AI-powered detection and response platform, laid off dozens of employees on Wednesday, citing AI as one of the reasons. John DiLullo, CEO at Deepwatch, told TechCrunch in an email that the company “is aligning our organization to accelerate our significant investments in AI and automation.” A current Deepwatch…
Figma bets on India to expand beyond design
Figma is expanding its presence in India by setting up a local office and hiring Indian talent as it seeks to deepen ties with one of its largest user communities and make a broader push to better win over developers alongside the designers who already rely on the platform. Founded in 2012 by Dylan Field…
Self-driving trucks startup Einride plans to go public via a SPAC
Einride said Wednesday it plans to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, just six weeks after the Swedish electric and autonomous truck startup raised $100 million from investors. The SPAC merger with Legato Merger Corp. values Einride at $1.8 billion in pre-money equity, according to the companies. The deal is…
Google Pixel update adds battery-saving maps mode, AI photo remixing, and smarter notifications
Google announced its November software update for Pixel phones, called Pixel Drop — a quarterly feature release that brings new capabilities to existing devices — with features including notification summaries, a power-saving mode for the Maps app, prompt-based edits for Photos, and Gemini Nano-powered photo edits in Messages. Apple introduced notification summaries with its Apple…
SoftBank’s Nvidia sale rattles market, raises questions
Masayoshi Son isn’t known for half measures. The SoftBank founder’s career has been studded with eyebrow-raising bets, each one seemingly more outrageous than the last. His latest move is to cash out his entire $5.8 billion Nvidia stake to go all-in on AI. And while it surprised the business world on Tuesday, it maybe should…
The circular money problem at the heart of AI’s biggest deals
SoftBank and OpenAI announced a new 50-50 joint venture this week to sell enterprise AI tools in Japan under the brand “Crystal Intelligence.” On paper, it’s a straightforward international expansion deal. But SoftBank’s role as a major investor in OpenAI is raising questions about whether AI’s biggest deals are creating real economic value or just moving money in circles. …
Lovable says it’s nearing 8 million users as the year-old AI coding startup eyes more corporate employees
Lovable, the Stockholm-based AI coding platform, is closing in on 8 million users, CEO Anton Osika told this editor during a sit-down on Monday, a major jump from the 2.3 million active users number the company shared in July. Osika said the company — which was founded almost exactly one year ago — is also…
Rad Power Bikes faces shutdown in January without new funding
Rad Power Bikes has informed its employees that it will shut down in January if it is unable to find new funding or get acquired, according to an internal staff email viewed by TechCrunch. The company’s leadership is “still fighting to find ways to continue,” and “the cessation of Rad’s operations is not a forgone…
A better way of thinking about the AI bubble
People often think about tech bubbles in apocalyptic terms, but it doesn’t have to be as serious as all that. In economic terms, a bubble is a bet that turned out to be too big, leaving you with more supply than demand. The upshot: It’s not all or nothing, and even good bets can turn…
