Author: TechBrunch

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…

How much of a stake in OpenAI would Microsoft get if it became a commercial company? That's the multibillion-dollar question that both countries are racing to answer before a two-year deadline. This is a problem. The Wall Street Journal reports that both Microsoft and OpenAI have hired investment banks to negotiate Microsoft's stake, which could be worth a significant amount. The tech giant is said to have poured nearly $14 billion into OpenAI. As of October, OpenAI was the second most valuable startup in the US after SpaceX. Among other issues, Microsoft and OpenAI will need to resolve how much…

Social networking startup Bluesky, which reported an increase of 500,000 users in the past day, jumped to the top five apps in the US App Store, moving up from No. 1 in the social networking category. It became the second most popular app. A week ago, the number was 181, according to data from app intelligence company Appfigures. We understand this growth is completely organic, as Appfigures confirmed that the company does not run any App Store search ads. Moreover, growth is not limited to the US market. Compared to last Wednesday, downloads have increased by four digits in many…

Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Devin Coldewey, Margaux MacColl, and Anthony Ha round up this week's startup and venture news, highlighting the $400 million Lightmatter raised and the importance of high-speed networking in fast-growing data centers. It starts with sex. Changes in the industry today, as well as in the coming years, will make this impressive round a little more understandable. This week's sale continues with Paladin's Drone Play for first responders and law enforcement, and Abel, which aims to reduce the substantial backlog of paperwork that police officers encounter in their daily duties. Margaux said Abel founder Daniel Francis…