Author: TechBrunch
Roblox announced Friday that it will no longer allow users under 13 to message other users outside of games or experiences on the platform. Roblox also announced enhanced parental controls, as well as a set of other built-in protections for younger users, including age restrictions for certain experiences. Roblox has been criticized for failing to protect its children and young users from online predators, and these new features appear to be an attempt to regain trust. A recent Bloomberg investigation reveals how predators can find and groom children on Roblox. Shortly after the Bloomberg report was released, Roblox announced that…
AI agents are all the rage, a trend driven by the generative AI and large-scale language model (LLM) boom of the past few years. Although it is difficult to get people to agree on what exactly an AI agent is, most people agree that AI agents can be assigned tasks and make decisions, with varying degrees of autonomy. It claims to be a software program. In other words, AI agents go beyond what mere chatbots can do and help people get things done. Although it's still early days, companies like Salesforce and Google are already investing heavily in AI agents.…
The valuation of Indian nutrition startup HealthKart has soared to about $500 million on $153 million in new investment, two people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The investment, one of the largest in an Indian consumer startup this year, was co-led by private equity firms ChrysCapital and Motilal Oswal, with Avendus Capital acting as financial advisor. A91 Partners and asset management firm Neo Group also participated in the round. The startup was previously valued at $350 million. Some of the startup's old investors sold their stakes to new backers, the people said. Peak XV, formerly known as Sequoia India…
An investment consortium backed by Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal is proposing to inject an additional $65.1 million into the Indian hospitality startup, according to a notice to shareholders seen by TechCrunch. The investment, through Redsprig Innovation Partners, values the SoftBank-backed company at $3.8 billion, according to terms shared in a notice to shareholders. This represents a 38% premium to Oyo's recent June valuation of $2.3 billion, but the implied price is still well below the startup's 2019 peak of $10 billion. Oyo has raised more than $3.4 billion in equity and debt since its inception, according to Tracxn. Redsprig invested…
In the wake of the 2024 US presidential election, one fact has become clear. That means misinformation is spreading online at an alarming rate, shaping Americans' views not only of each candidate but also of topics as diverse as public health, climate change, and immigration. Generative AI only exacerbates the problem, with its ability to create deepfakes in seconds and its propensity to hallucinate facts. Factiverse, a startup that participated in the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield 200 in October, is bracing for an onslaught. The company, which won top honors in the Security, Privacy, and Social Networking categories, has developed a…
Charles Hudson, Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, spoke to the AfroTech audience about the basics of knowing when to invest. Companies must fit into the product market and have some form of traction. But what he said next drew some surprised looks from the audience: Founders need to test investors with small problems to see how they react to the problems. “I'm on a board with someone who tends to explode every time a founder brings up an issue,” he said. “As you can imagine, the founders basically stopped bringing in problems.” And that in itself can be problematic, both…
When you watch a Carter Pro robot move through the aisles of the demo warehouse at Robust AI's San Carlos, Calif., headquarters, you immediately notice two things. The first is a standardized, modular, prefabricated shelving unit. Wire frames are familiar to anyone who has spent time in a warehouse, and that's certainly by design. The second is not the visible elements of the wheeled robot itself, but how humans in the space interact with their automated colleagues. As Carter patrols the halls, a burly employee picks it up and moves it. It sounds like a small difference, but in a…
Quantization, one of the most widely used techniques to make AI models more efficient, has limits, and the industry may be rapidly approaching its limits. In the context of AI, quantization refers to reducing the number of bits (the smallest unit a computer can process) needed to represent information. Consider this analogy. If someone asks you the time, you'll probably say “noon” instead of “1200, 1 second, 4 milliseconds.” That is quantization. Both answers are correct, but one answer is slightly more accurate. How much precision you actually need depends on your situation. An AI model consists of several components…
When Bryn Putnam sold her last company, Miller, to Lululemon for $500 million at the beginning of the pandemic, it appeared in this editor's eyes that she sold her smart fitness company too soon. In fact, it turns out the timing was perfect. The at-home fitness boom crashed almost as suddenly as it peaked during the first year of lockdown. Meanwhile, after a year as Lululemon's general manager, Mr. Putnam had new business insights and a fresh idea for a new company that would become a huge success and then go public in 2025. Venture firm Lerer Hippeau has already…
This week on Strictly VC Download, Connie Loizos joins serial entrepreneur Marc Lore live on stage to discuss his latest venture, Wonder, a vertically integrated dining and delivery platform. From the origins of food trucks to innovative electric kitchens to the recent $650 million acquisition of Grubhub, Lore has been involved in food innovation, including creating AI-driven health solutions and “super apps” for meal planning. Share your creative vision for the future of tech. food delivery. In this episode, the two discuss: A vision of AI-driven technology that will change the way people think about food and plan their meals.…