Author: TechBrunch

Manus, a former buzzy AI agent platform, began plans on Tuesday for small businesses and organizations. The plan, known as the Manus Team, starts at $39 per month, with a minimum of five seats and costs $195 per month. Each team will earn 19,500 credits in the shareable pool and gain access to certain features of beta, dedicated infrastructure, and peak priority access. The Manus Team is live!We introduce team pricing for shared credit access to Manus. Teams earn 3,900 credits per seat in a flexible pool with no individual restrictions, allowing each member to perform up to two tasks…

Amazon Music announced Tuesday that it is testing a search feature powered by a new AI called “Explore,” designed to help fans learn more about their favorite artists. To use this feature, users can tap the Search button at the bottom of the screen and enter the artist's name in the search bar. Next, select the Explore tab in the top left to help users discover information about the artist, including collaborations with other singers, related artists they don't know, and highlights from discography. For example, when users search for jelly rolls, AI will direct them towards notable duets like…

The global assistive technology market was valued at over $22 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow significantly by 2030. Despite the potential for market size, many founders are projected to build technology to help people with disabilities struggle to secure the early funding needed to acquire the company first. Adaptation Ventures is a new angel group that hopes to bridge the funding gap by providing capital to early-stage startups building accessibility technologies. Help startups build technology specifically for people with disabilities and companies with products designed for the broader market. The company was co-founded by married couples Brittany…

South Loop Ventures, a Houston-based venture company, has announced a $21 million Fund I. Rice Management Company and Chevron Technology Ventures served as anchor investors. Launched in 2022, the company focuses on seeds and pre-seed companies, with an average check size of $400,000. I also want to focus primarily on supporting the founders of Color. Zac Ellis, the company's founder and managing director, spoke to TechCrunch about his final ending. He said the fund is common and will invest in founders across the country, but prefers sectors that “reflect Houston's industrial capabilities” such as healthcare, energy, space and climate. The…

“I have a pretty wild story to tell you,” early YouTube star Caspar Lee says on Tiktok. He goes on to talk about how the startup founder slipped into his LinkedIn DMS on a pitch about an eco-friendly deodorant called Wild. He initially ignored the message, but his cousin Sasha Karetzky (the Bridgepoint investor at the time) asked Lee if he and the other creators would like to join the seed round. In April this year, about five and a half years later, Wild was sold to Unilever for £233 million, or about $286 million. Wild is just the tip…

A federal judge is asking Apple to either approve Fortnite's filing in the US app store or return to court to explain legal grounds as to why it has not done so. In a new submission, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers confirms that the court has received the latest moves in the epic game, where Apple demands that Fortnite be approved for distribution in the App Store. The clearly annoyed judge asks Apple to show the court “the legal authority to assert that Apple can ignore this court's order.” Gonzalez Rogers also suggests that Apple will need to return…

Spotify announced on Monday that Apple will approve a new app update, allowing US iPhone users to purchase individual audiobooks directly within the app. Users can also view the audiobook prices and easily purchase additional listening time for the first 15 hours or more. “The change will lower the barriers to accepting the first or tenth audiobook for more users, allowing publishers and authors to reach fans and seamlessly access to new audiences,” the company wrote in its announcement. The much-anticipated update follows a recent US court ruling that ordered Apple to suspend claims for purchases made outside the App…

Current economic uncertainty and geopolitical challenges have made it more difficult recently to secure funding for Asian startups. Venture capital companies have also been affected by the recession, leading to a decline in the number of funds that have been closed. The VC market is “passing” [one of its] Akio Tanaka, co-founder and partner of Headline Asia, a VC company based in Tokyo and Taipei, told TechCrunch in an interview. However, funds are still closed. Headline Asia said Tuesday it completed Headline Asia Fund V, one of its biggest funds to date. (The headline previously said it targets the fund's…

Google officially released the NotebookLM app for Android one day before Google I/O 2025 and one day before the company said it would be deployed. Since its launch in 2023, AI-based note-taking and research assistants are only accessible via the desktop. Google is currently making its services available on the go. The iOS app is scheduled to launch on Tuesday. NoteBookLM is designed to help people better understand complex information through features such as smart summaries and the ability to ask questions about documents and other materials. Image credit: Google The Android app gives you access to an overview of…

The trio's phone surveillance app, which won spy on millions of people's phones earlier this year, has gone offline. Cocospy, Spyic, and Spyzie are three almost identical but different branded stalkerwear apps that allow you to plant one of the apps in your personal data on your target phone. This is usually without the person's knowledge, such as messages, photos, call logs, real-time location data. Stalkerware apps such as Cocospy and its clones are designed to remain hidden from the device's home screen, making apps difficult for victims to detect, but they allow the apps to be continuously available to…