Author: TechBrunch
The tech layoff wave continued through 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, 2024 saw more than 150,000 job cuts across 542 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Large companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap, and Microsoft conducted sizable layoffs in 2024, while smaller-sized startups also experienced cuts, and in some cases, shut down operations altogether. We’re continuing to track the industry’s layoffs into 2025 so you can see the trajectory of the cutbacks. Later this year, we will break out our 2024 and 2025 lists in order to make the trends easier to parse. By…
Music Streamer SoundCloud has announced a partnership with Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster and Universe, allowing artists to list events in their profiles in a customized way. The company said it would work with Ticketmaster through a new promotional program to create more promotional opportunities for artists in the future, but did not provide further details. Artists with SoundCloud's Top Tier Pro Plan can list events on their profile pages using the self-service ticketing platform universe without leaving SundCloud. You can add or modify events to the page depending on the event you want to promote. SoundCloud pulls artist event data from…
Khosla Ventures, a company known for its early investments in Openai, is raising $3.5 billion with three funds, the Wall Street Journal reports. Its target is 17% greater than the company's previous 2023 fund's $3 billion fund. Approximately half of the new capital will be allocated to the 9th core venture fund. The remaining funds will be split into a $1.1 billion growth fund for late startups and a $650 million seed stage focused on the $650 million seed stage. Khosla Ventures declined to comment on the new funding. Founded in 2004 by Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, the…
Last year, after launching an auto-generated video caption, Google Drive has launched a searchable video transcript. Starting Monday, Google announced that drive users can view and search video transcripts. This new feature removes the need to upload video audio to transcription services like Otter. The transcript appears in the sidebar next to the video player and highlights the text you are currently speaking when the video is played. According to Google, the new update is designed to allow users to search for transcripts and easily find specific moments in the video. Additionally, it's easier for users to follow along with…
Xai, the AI company of Elon Musk, released its long-awaited flagship AI model, the Grok 3 last week. Grok 3 enhances the Grok Chatbot app for mobile and web, as well as the Grok experience on Musk-owned social network X. Given the huge amount of competition in the AI chatbot space these days, it was not a natural conclusion that the Grok 3 would have a lot of impact. Openai's ChatGpt alone has grown to 400 million active users per week. However, preliminary data suggests that new models have actually started to download and try Grok on people. The week…
Robinhood on Monday said the SEC has concluded its investigation into Robinhood's crypto units and will not pursue action. This says Coinbase says the SEC filed a lawsuit against it on Friday. The SEC, former chairman, was considering many crypto exchanges under Crypto Hawk Gary Gensler, about how they handled crypto assets such as staking. Staking involves committing (or lending) crypto assets to support blockchain networks. Gensler's SEC deemed staking as security and claimed that exchanges that provided this service were traded on unregistered securities. The exchange opposed and argued that the SEC and/or lawmakers had not established cryptographic regulations…
The AI-powered search engine Perplexity says it is building its own web browser. In X's post on Monday, the company launched a sign-up list for its browser, which is not available yet. It is unknown when it exists or what the browser will look like. But we have a name: Comet. “Like Prplexity's reinventional search, we're reinventing our browsers,” a spokesman for Perplexity told TechCruch via email. “Looking for the update.” Comet: Agent Search Browser by Confusion Coming soon. pic.twitter.com/swvswudgtn – Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) February 24, 2025 Perplexity's browser joins a very busy field and places it gently. Besides current people…
Today marks three years since Russia’s illegal, unprovoked, and brutal invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian people have heroically fought the war with grit and determination, but they have also, against the odds, innovated on and off the battlefield. In addition to establishing a defense tech initiative called BRAVE1, the country has also hosted tech conferences like IT Arena, even amidst the problems caused by the war. Ukraine is now the leader in AI-enabled drone technology and become a magnet for Western companies and investors keen to support the country, and Europe. But is it enough? If the recent news is anything…
Tiktok, which includes China's counterpart Douin, became the first non-game app to reach $6 billion in in-app purchase revenue in 2024 in one year. According to a new report from App Intelligence Provider Sensor Tower, Tiktok generated a record high of $1.9 billion in total purchases (IAP) revenue within APP in the fourth quarter of last year. Among the non-games, only YouTube and Google One subscriptions were able to surpass Tiktok's fourth quarter total for the entire calendar year, the report said. IAP revenues were $6 billion, generating more than twice the revenue from other apps and games in 2024.…
Australia is the latest country to ban government officials from using software created by Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky, claiming that the software poses “unacceptable security risks.” Last week, Australia's Department of Home Affairs issued an order banning agencies from installing Kaspersky products or web services in official systems or devices, citing national security risks. Government agencies will need to remove all existing instances of Kaspersky software on government systems and devices until April 1st. “After considering the threat and risk analysis, I have determined that the use of Kaspersky Lab products and web services poses an unacceptable security risk to…