Author: TechBrunch

Not so long ago, you didn't have to make a late-night dash to Resy to book a table at the hottest new restaurant. To be honest, we didn't realize how good we were at the time. Hour-long lines out the door are now the norm, not the exception, in major cities from New York to Los Angeles. One reason is that restaurants are increasingly relying on reservations for more predictable revenue post-pandemic. The rise of TikTok and Instagram has elevated dining to a cultural event. Walking into a trendy spot gives you the same social clout as getting tickets to…

YouTube has partnered with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to help celebrities, athletes, and creators identify content on the platform that uses AI-generated likenesses. The tool, which YouTube will begin testing early next year, will allow these professionals to submit requests to remove AI-generated likenesses. YouTube will initially make the tool available to “top, high-profile talent, including award-winning actors and top athletes from the NBA and NFL.” It will then be made available to “top YouTube creators, creative professionals, and other key partners representing talent.” The announcement comes in the same week that YouTube began allowing creators and rights holders to…

Just weeks after 20VC announced its third investment vehicle, TechCrunch has learned from multiple sources that the relatively new London-based VC firm is acquiring a new general partner. Julian Codorniu will leave Felix Capital, where he has served as founding advisor since 2015 and partner since 2021, and join 20VC to focus on early-stage investments. Harry Stebbings launched 20VC in 2020 as an extension of his eponymous podcast series Venture Capital. The podcast was built as 20-minute episodes with interviews with founders, investors, and executives. And 20VC, which has a founding capital of $8.3 million, was originally conceived as a…

Avara, the company behind Aave, Lens, and Family, announced a $31 million funding round led by Lightspeed Faction. Avara uses Lens to build a decentralized protocol that serves as the infrastructure for social and consumer apps. This funding announcement comes a few weeks after Lens announced Lens v3, a completely overhauled version of the protocol. Originally built on the Polygon blockchain, consumer apps using Lens v2 include NFT creation and sharing app Zora, Twitter-like platforms Hey and Kaira, and sub-community focused Contains orbs for apps that have been created. Why are cryptocurrency developers still trying to create the next big…

File transfer service WeTransfer limits users to 10 transfers per month on its free plan. According to its support page, the company has already implemented new restrictions for users. At the same time, WeTransfer adds some benefits to its free plan. This includes increasing the overall file transfer limit from 2GB to 3GB, adding unlimited portals (collaborative folders for working with clients) and reviews, and password protection for all transfers. It also plans to eliminate the 5% fee for paid transfers, a program that allows users to sell files on the platform. The company was acquired by Italy-based Bending Spoons…

Many sites saw a decline in organic traffic in 2024. This is primarily due to the increase in search results generated by AI. Many queries don't result in click-throughs, and even when users do click, it's difficult for businesses to get more context about searches made within apps like ChatGPT and Perplexity. The answer to this problem is sometimes called generative engine optimization (GEO), after SEO. “Some people call this AI Search Visibility Optimization, which is a little long, but I believe it’s a little more accurate,” said Thomas Pelham, CEO of Otterly.AI (pictured above on the right). ) says.…

The meta social network Threads is experimenting with the ability to schedule posts, according to Instagram chief Adam Mosseri. Users who can test this feature cannot schedule replies. “We want to strike a balance between encouraging real-time conversations while giving people more control to plan their posts in threads,” he said. People participating in the test will see an option to schedule a post in the composer's three-dot menu. All scheduled posts appear in your Drafts folder, from where you can edit or delete them, or change when they're posted. Image credit: Thread Mosseri said the company has been working…

Databricks has closed one of its largest funding rounds in history, raising an incredible $10 billion in new capital. Naturally, technology investors were quick to ask what this meant for the company's long-awaited IPO. At an event in San Francisco on Tuesday night, Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi explained why the company is waiting until at least 2025 to go public. “This was an election year. We were looking for some stability, people are worried about interest rates, they're worried about inflation… So we thought it would be stupid to do an IPO this year, so we didn't make the mistake.”…

In August, a U.S. court ruled that Google has a search monopoly, and while Google will appeal, what kind of penalties could the Justice Department impose, including suspension of Chrome? We are considering. As part of this process, the Justice Department hopes to call certain witnesses, according to recent court filings. According to Reuters, the chief executive officer of AI search provider Perplexity is Dmitry Shevelenko. Perplexity and other generative AI tools, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT Search, can provide direct answers to complex queries, sometimes containing fabricated or inaccurate information. It has emerged as a potential alternative to Internet searches.…

It's been a tough week for investors trying to get their hands on Databricks' record $10 billion funding, one of the VCs who led the deal told TechCrunch. George Mathews, managing director of Insight Partners, said with a laugh: “I've been getting calls late at night, but that's okay. That creates good opportunities.” Insight was one of six companies that led the deal, along with new investor Joshua Kushner's company Thrive. All but Thrive were existing investors. “We worked hard to be co-leads even though we were already investors on the cap table,” Matthew said. Insight first invested in Databricks…