Author: TechBrunch
This story has been updated throughout with updated details as the story unfolds. We will continue to do so as litigation and disputes are ongoing. There is a lot of controversy going on in the world of WordPress, one of the most popular technologies for creating and hosting websites. The central issue is a dispute between WordPress founder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine, which hosts websites built on WordPress. WordPress technology is open source, free, and powers a huge portion of the internet (approximately 40% of websites). Websites can host their own WordPress instance or use a…
Midjourney plans to release an upgraded web tool that will allow users to edit images uploaded from the web using Midjourney's generated AI. The upgraded tool, which Midjourney CEO David Holtz said will be released “early next week,” will also allow users to retexture objects in images and “redraw” colors and details according to captions. You will be able to do it. Editing existing images with AI has become a hot topic these days. Platforms like Meta struggle with how to label images edited with AI tools versus images generated from scratch with AI models, while companies like Google We've…
As part of TechCrunch's ongoing “Women in AI” series, we're giving female AI-focused academics and others their well-deserved and overdue spotlight time, but TechCrunch interviewed Dr. Rebecca Portnoff, Vice President of Data Science. Thorn, a nonprofit organization, develops technology to protect children from sexual abuse. She attended Princeton University and then earned a PhD in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. She continues to rise through the ranks at Thorne, where she has worked since 2016. She started as a volunteer researcher, and now, eight years later, she leads what is probably the only team in the world…
DNA and genetic testing company 23andMe is in turmoil following last year's data breach and continued financial deterioration. The once pioneering giant now faces an uncertain future amid efforts to go private, amid growing concerns about what will happen to the genetic data of 23andMe's roughly 15 million customers. There is. 23andMe, best known for its saliva-based test kits that offer a glimpse into a person's genetic ancestry, has failed to turn a profit and has been valued at $6 billion since going public in early 2021. It has plunged more than 99% since its peak. This profit shortfall can…
Azar has facilitated over 100 billion video chats with an app that connects random strangers around the world. But until recently, the Seoul-based app, which shares parent company Match with Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, wasn't available in the United States. Breaking through the US market may be difficult. For millennials who grew up with access to platforms like Omegle and Chatroulette, random video chat apps were like Ouija boards. But instead of evoking jump-scare-inducing ghostly signs, these apps are known for unexpectedly producing men without pants, a horror that's probably scarier than anything supernatural. Omegle was shut down last year…
Anthropic, the second largest AI vendor after OpenAI, has a powerful family of generative AI models called Claude. These models can perform a variety of tasks, from captioning images and writing emails to solving math and coding challenges. Because Anthropic's model ecosystem is growing rapidly, it can be difficult to keep track of which Claude models do what. To help you with this, we've created Claude's guide. We will continue to update as new models and upgrades arrive. claude model Claude's models are named after literary works such as Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus. The latest ones are: Claude 3.5 Haiku…
Venture capital is pouring huge amounts of money into AI startups, especially those run by big tech companies, so SandboxAQ is once again on the fence despite raising a whopping $500 million in funding in early 2023. It's out. The company, which was spun out of Google's parent company Alphabet, is seeking to raise new funding at a valuation of $5 billion, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The last $500 million round, which closed in February 2023, had backers including Breyer Capital, T. Rowe Price Fund and Marc Benioff, Reuters reported at the time. Pitchbook estimated the valuation…
Less than two months after Fluid Truck's board of directors ousted the brother co-founders from executive positions, the company has laid off 30% of its workforce and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. and found a potential buyer to take over the business while the court case is pending. It has been approved, according to the bankruptcy filing and information from former employees. As of today, Fluid has also been approved for a $7 million loan on an interim basis to continue operations through the end of the year and to finance the restructuring and sale process. The bankruptcy filing…
Acrew Capital raises $700 million in new funding. The San Francisco-based venture capital firm announced in a blog post Thursday that it has raised $700 million in investments in companies building data and security, healthcare, or fintech. With this latest funding, the company has $1.7 billion in assets under management. How much of the $700 million will go toward the company's early-stage strategy, which invests $1 million to $15 million in seed and Series A companies, and its discovery strategy, which cuts checks from $10 million to $20. It is unclear how much will be used. $1 million for Series…
Welcome to Startups Weekly — a weekly roundup of must-sees from the world of startups. Want it delivered to your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week brought us some exciting funding news from around the world, and even some exits. But if you're looking for a tech IPO, you need to look to India. Meanwhile, in the U.S., startups could help reduce the environmental impact of data centers. This week's most interesting startup stories Image credit: Tablespace Although we were once again reminded that not all startups succeed, even with YC backing, as mentioned above, there are a…