Author: TechBrunch
At a rich summit held in Los Angeles last week, billionaire entrepreneur Travis Kalanick rarely got a glimpse into his vision for the future of his latest company, Cloudkitchens. Today, the 8-year-old LA-based outfit is known for its growing real estate portfolio using restaurants using kitchens to achieve food delivery, but Kalanick hinted at the future of full-stacks. In fact, he appears to be aiming to ultimately provide AI-filled food directly to his customers. Kalanick has covered the topic twice in different contexts. First, during an informal sit-in with Peter Diamandis, the conference organizer, he portrayed similarities between Cloudkitchen and…
We were overwhelmed by the overwhelming response of speaking on TechCrunch Session: AI at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, California on June 5th. After thorough consideration, we selected six outstanding finalists. The power to choose who will take the stage and share AI expertise with 1,200 AI leaders and enthusiasts now is in your hands! This audience's choice voting continues until March 21st at 11:59pm. You win 1 vote and count it for one speaker! Meet the finalists Know the six exceptional audience selection finalists and proposed sessions and vote for speakers you think should take the lead in your breakout…
TechCrunch All Stage (previously early stages) returned to Boston on July 15th, with the agenda for the Tentpole East Coast founder event being nearly complete. We look forward to sharing this sneak peak with some of the amazing speakers and sessions we're tapping. For builders who are just beginning their founder journey, our foundation stage is a must-have place. We recruit an incredible cast of leading investors and entrepreneurs to dig deep into founder-focused topics such as: All the methods VCS doesn't realize are evaluating pre-seeded companies. MVP in the age of AI: When will you bot or when? Tam…
Discord announced on Monday the release of the Discord Social SDK, a free toolkit that allows developers to leverage the platform's social infrastructure to enhance the social and multiplayer experiences of their games. This toolkit allows developers to improve the in-game experience, whether or not the player has a mismatched account. Social integration includes a unified list of friends that allows players to access their in-game friends in-game with Discord, making it easier to stay connected in-game and outside-game. Additionally, the SDK offers deep link game invitations so that players can invite friends and directly into lobby. Communication features include…
Internet Watchdog OFCOM said on Monday it launched a new enforcement program focusing on online storage and file sharing services as a duties under the UK's Online Safety Act (OSA) related to its efforts to tackle illegal content. The regulator said the evidence indicates that file sharing and file storage services are “particularly susceptible” to being used to share image-based child sex abuse material (CSAM). The enforcement program evaluates the safety measures they have implemented, aimed at preventing offenders from spreading CSAM to their services. Ofcom added that they wrote it in the “numbers” of these services without naming the…
Most of the focus of the Generating AI is in a text-based interface used to generate text, images, etc. The next wave looks like a voice, rolling fast. With the latest developments, Google today announced that it will be adding Chirp 3 (speaking model from speech two text and HD text) to its vertex AI development platform starting next week. Last week, Google quietly announced that Chirp 3 will be rolling out eight new voices in 31 languages. Platform use cases include building voice assistants, creating audio books, developing support agents, and over-vide video audio. The news was announced at…
A broad coalition drawn from across the ranks of Europe’s tech industry is calling for “radical action” from European Union lawmakers to shrink reliance on foreign-owned digital infrastructure and services to bolster the bloc’s economic prospects, resilience, and security in increasingly fraught geopolitical times. In an open letter to European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the EU’s digital chief, Henna Virkkunen, which TechCrunch reviewed ahead of publication, more than 80 signatories (representing around 100 organizations) said they want regional lawmakers to rethink current support efforts so that they are centered on fostering uptake of homegrown alternatives with the…
No company has taken advantage of the AI revolution more dramatically than Nvidia. Revenue, profitability and cash reserves have skyrocketed since the introduction of ChatGPT over two years ago, and are many competitive generation AI services launched since. And the stock price rose sharply. During that period, the world's leading high-performance GPU manufacturers have used balloon fate to significantly increase their investments in all kinds of startups, particularly AI startups. The chip giant increased its venture capital activities in 2024, taking part in 49 funding rounds for AI companies, a sharp increase from 34 in 2023. This is a dramatic…
In a world filled with “vibe coding,” Cal AI teen founder Zach Yadegari stands in a sarcasm, old-fashioned contrast. Ironically, Yadegari and his co-founder Henry Langmack are both only 18 years old and have recently graduated from high school. But their stories are, so far, classics. Released in May, Cal AI generated over 5 million downloads in eight months, Yadegari said. Better yet, he tells TechCrunch that its customer retention rate is above 30% and the app generated more than $2 million in revenue last month. TechCrunch was unable to verify his downloads and revenue claims, but Cal AI has…
In this week's episode of StrictlyVC Download Podcast, veteran VC Aileen Lee was direct about the recent boom and key consequences of the bust cycle. They also lost the champion who once supported them. Lee is debating how limited partners are reluctant to criticise strong fund managers and fears they will be locked out of their investments in those companies once again. But she imagined they would say whether they could speak freely: “Everyone wants to join the X-brand name fund, so they never criticize [for fear of repercussions] . . They probably talk about us behind our backs [laughs]..…