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NIST, the U.S. government agency charged with testing emerging tech, has created a new platform to evaluate generative AI.
Featured Article
Inside the ‘cold war’ at Techstars as CEO Maëlle Gavet hires, fires, fights to force change
Financial losses, founder revolts, public firings and overflowing office sewage mark the storied institution’s annus horribilis.
1:00 pm PDT • April 29, 2024
EV startup Fisker Inc. is laying off more employees to “preserve cash,” one week after warning investors it would have to make cuts to stave off impending bankruptcy, according to…
Apps
Epic Games says it will bring Fortnite to iPad after EU dubs iPadOS a ‘gatekeeper’ under DMA
10:03 am PDT • April 29, 2024
Whether or not Epic Games will be able to bring Fortnite to the iPhone and iPad as planned still remains to be seen.
Meta’s Threads social network passed the 150 million monthly users mark recently, but the company is not slowing down its growth engine. To increase engagement, the social media giant is…
AI
Copilot Workspace is GitHub’s take on AI-powered software engineering
9:00 am PDT • April 29, 2024
GitHub’s new Copilot Workspace brings AI-powered assistive software engineering tools front and center.
AI
TechCrunch Minute: Elon Musk’s big plans for xAI include raising $6 billion
9:00 am PDT • April 29, 2024
TechCrunch recently broke the news that Elon Musk’s xAI is raising $6 billion at a pre-money valuation of $18 billion. The deal hasn’t closed yet, so the numbers could change.…
Startups
Backflip raises $15 million to help real estate investors flip houses
7:30 am PDT • April 29, 2024
Flipping houses is not for the faint of heart, no matter how fun or easy HGTV might make it seem. One startup wants to make the process less complicated by…
AI
Musk’s xAI shows there’s more money on the sidelines for AI startups
7:22 AM PDT • April 29, 2024
We’re off to an AI-heavy start to the week. OpenAI has a new deal with the Financial Times that caught our eye. Sure, it’s another…
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San Francisco, CA
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StrictlyVC – Washington, D.C.
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StrictlyVC – London
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Social
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone joins board of Mastodon’s new US nonprofit
7:10 am PDT • April 29, 2024
Biz Stone, a Twitter co-founder, is among those who have joined the board of directors of Mastodon’s new U.S. nonprofit, Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko announced over the weekend. Mastodon’s service,…
Commerce
Getir pulls out of US, UK, Europe to focus on Turkey — 6,000+ jobs impacted
6:21 am PDT • April 29, 2024
True to its business concept, Turkey’s “instant delivery” juggernaut Getir rose quickly. Now, with the quick commerce industry in free fall, it is nosediving just as fast. On Monday, the…
Startups
Indian ride-hailing giant Ola cuts 180 jobs in profitability push
5:41 am PDT • April 29, 2024
India’s Ola has let go its chief executive, Hemant Bakshi, just four months after appointing him to the post, and is cutting about 180 jobs.
Transportation
Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free system under investigation after fatal crashes
4:40 am PDT • April 29, 2024
Federal safety regulators have opened an investigation into Ford’s hands-free driver-assistance system, BlueCruise, after it was found to be active during two recent crashes that killed multiple people. The National Highway…
Apps
Apple’s iPadOS will have to comply with EU’s Digital Markets Act too
4:12 am PDT • April 29, 2024
The European Commission said it will apply its flagship market fairness and contestability rules to Apple’s iPadOS.
AI
OpenAI inks strategic tie-up with UK’s Financial Times, including content use
1:15 am PDT • April 29, 2024
OpenAI, maker of the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT, has netted another news licensing deal in Europe, adding London’s Financial Times to a growing list of publishers it’s paying for content…
Startups
Ethiopian plastic upcycling startup Kubik gets fresh funding, plans to license out its tech
11:00 pm PDT • April 28, 2024
Kubik, a plastic upcycling startup, has raised a $1.9 million seed extension, months after announcing initial equity investment. The startup’s latest investment is from African Renaissance Partners, an East African…
Privacy
ChatGPT’s ‘hallucination’ problem hit with another privacy complaint in EU
10:00 pm PDT • April 28, 2024
OpenAI is facing another privacy complaint in the European Union. This one, which has been filed by privacy rights nonprofit noyb on behalf of an individual complainant, targets the inability…
Featured Article
Humanoid robots are learning to fall well
The savvy marketers at Boston Dynamics produced two major robotics news cycles last week. The larger of the two was, naturally, the electric Atlas announcement. As I write this, the sub-40 second video is steadily approaching five million views. A day prior, the company tugged at the community’s heart strings when it announced that the…
1:15 pm PDT • April 28, 2024
Transportation
Tesla profits tumble, Fisker flatlines, and California cities battle for control of AVs
11:00 am PDT • April 28, 2024
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here — just click TechCrunch Mobility — to receive the newsletter every weekend…
