Google first showed up as a verb in the Oxford English Dictionary back in 2006. It was a milestone moment of sorts for the search giant, which by that point was already so ubiquitous that its very name had become synonymous with the act of searching for anything on the …
Read More »The coolest startup in the Bay Area is a baseball team called the Oakland Ballers
The most cliche advice for startup founders is to identify a problem in your life and find a way to solve it. A founder with multiple exits under his belt, Paul Freedman, has a big problem: His beloved Oakland A’s are moving to Las Vegas by way of Sacramento. “It’s …
Read More »Sunamp’s thermal battery uses a chemical found in salt-and-vinegar potato chips
Nearly 20 years ago, Andrew Bissell was sitting in the living room of his beachfront home in the Edinburgh area. He and his wife, Susan Lang-Bissell, had just sold their medical imaging startup, and he was pondering his future. “Do we retire or do we go again?” Bissell told TechCrunch. …
Read More »Apple Event 2024: iPhone 16, Apple Intelligence and all the other expected ‘Glowtime’ reveals
Update 9/8: As ever, additional rumors have popped up in the days leading up to the event. Among the more interesting of recent vintage (all Apple Watch related): The Apple Watch Series 10’s blood pressure monitoring is not coming to the Watch Ultra 2, limited Apple Intelligence features for the …
Read More »Meta Llama: Everything you need to know about the open generative AI model
Like every big tech company these days, Meta has its own flagship generative AI model, called Llama. Llama is somewhat unique among major models in that it’s “open,” meaning developers can download and use it however they please (with certain limitations). That’s in contrast to models like Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s …
Read More »Bending Spoons plans to lay off 75% of WeTransfer staff after acquisition
Italy-based app company Bending Spoons, which owns Evernote and Meetup, is planning to lay off 75% of the staff of file transfer service WeTransfer, TechCrunch has learned. Bending Spoons acquired the Dutch company in July for an undisclosed amount. The company confirmed the plans for the WeTransfer layoff to TechCrunch. …
Read More »European VC Atomico closes $1.24B across two funds for early and growth-stage startups
As European startups continue to look for signs of sustained market confidence beyond the hype around AI companies, Atomico — one of the region’s more iconic, largest venture capital firms — has raised more money to make investments that might indicate how the market is really moving. The VC has …
Read More »La French Tech gears up to go in a new direction
After weeks in political limbo, France now has a new prime minister, former EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. But parliament remains bitterly divided, generating uncertainty for many economic sectors — including the country’s dynamic startup ecosystem, which had so far benefited from public support. La French Tech isn’t just a …
Read More »Elon Musk says Tesla has ‘no need’ to license xAI models
Elon Musk has denied a report that one of his companies, Tesla, has discussed sharing revenue with another of his companies, xAI, so that it can use the startup’s AI models. The Wall Street Journal wrote yesterday that under a proposed agreement described to investors, Tesla would use xAI models …
Read More »The Try Guys say their subscription strategy is working
After a rough couple years, YouTube creators The Try Guys said they’re on-track to reach profitability, with subscriptions to their three-month-old, ad-free service 2nd Try now accounting for 20% of the company’s revenue. Of course, those numbers also mean The Try Guys remain reliant on other revenue streams, including YouTube …
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