Author: TechBrunch

The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has more than 130,000 job cuts across 457 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized startups have also seen a fair amount of cuts, and in some cases, have shut down operations altogether. By tracking these layoffs, we’re able to understand the impact on innovation across companies large and small. We’re also able to see the potential impact of businesses…

OpenAI said it has no plans to release an API for Sora, saying its AI models can produce fairly realistic videos with text descriptions and reference images. In an AMA with members of OpenAI's development team, Romain Huet, OpenAI's head of developer experience, said that the Sora API is not under consideration at this time. “There are no plans for a Sora API yet,” he wrote. The reason may be a capacity issue. OpenAI was forced to shut down its Sora-powered video creation and editing suite application shortly after launch due to higher than expected traffic. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman…

Grubhub faces charges from the Federal Trade Commission and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul over illegal conduct, including misleading customers about delivery fees, deceiving drivers about potential earnings, and listing restaurants on its platform without permission. The company plans to pay $25 million to settle the lawsuit. The agents allege that Grubhub hid the true cost of its delivery services and that “service fees” and “small order fees” often resulted in final prices double what was originally advertised. I am doing it. They also claim that Grubhub's advertising inflated hourly wages far above drivers' realistic earnings. Additionally, Grubhub has 325,000…

Earlier this year, IVP General Partner Tom Lovero declared that the post-pandemic recession is over and that companies that have made it this far should prioritize growth over cost cutting. But Brian Hirsch, co-founder of Tribeca Venture Partners, said there are still thousands of companies struggling to raise their next round of funding at a higher valuation or survive outright. It is said that there is a possibility. Unlike traditional growth funds, the 13-year-old firm has a late-stage strategy that invests in companies that are forced to raise capital at valuations that are at or below their final price. In…

Commonwealth Fusion Systems announced Tuesday that it will build its first commercial-scale power plant outside Richmond, Virginia, with the goal of connecting it to the power grid in the early 2030s. Fusion power has long been touted as being decades away, but the new milestone envisions the possibility of commercial operation within the next decade. That confidence has been echoed by many in the field since the National Ignition Facility demonstrated two years ago that controlled fusion reactions can generate more electricity than is needed to ignite a fire. Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has raised more funding than its competitors…

Grammarly will acquire productivity startup Coda, the company announced Tuesday. As part of the deal, Coda CEO and co-founder Shishir Mehrotra will become Grammarly's new CEO. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition transforms Grammarly's AI assistant into an “AI productivity platform” with the addition of Coda's AI tools and products, the company said. The deal will give Grammarly customers access to new features like generative AI chat and a productivity suite that will help them work more efficiently. Rahul Roy Chowdhury, Grammarly's current CEO, said in a statement that he will step down from his role…

OpenAI is introducing o1, its “inference” AI model, to the API, but it is only for a limited number of developers. Starting Tuesday, o1 will begin rolling out to developers in OpenAI's “Tier 5” usage category, the company said. To qualify for Tier 5, developers must have an account with OpenAI that has paid at least $1,000 and is at least 30 days old from the first successful payment. O1 replaces the o1-preview model that was already available in the API. Unlike most AIs, inference models like o1 effectively fact-check, allowing them to avoid some of the pitfalls that models…

OpenAI seems to be in the holiday spirit. The series of ChatGPT rollouts, dubbed “12 Days of OpenAI,” will be live-streamed every weekday at 10 a.m. Pacific time through December 23. So far, we've seen the launch of ChatGPT Pro, OpenAI's $200/month subscription plan. The complete version of that “reasoning” o1 model. Text-to-video generator Sora is now available to the public. Deploying Canvas. ChatGPT for Apple Intelligence. ChatGPT's real-time video capabilities. You can find out how to watch the event below. OpenAI will livestream the event on its YouTube channel. We'll be live blogging everything announced so you can follow…

Penny Jar Capital, an early-stage company founded by Bryant Barr and Richard Scdellari and whose special advisor is basketball star Stephen Curry, has a target amount of No second fund has been applied for. The company also filed for funding in October for what appears to be a separate entity called Fund II Collective, which also does not have a target amount set. Penny Jar did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's request for comment. The company previously filed for a Fund I raise in June 2021, according to SEC filings. The filing has not yet been updated, but Pitchbook reports…

ChatGPT now has a project to organize your chats Today's announcement was the introduction of Projects, a new Notion- or Google Drive-like interface that allows users to create custom folders for chats. Users can also upload files, set instructions for specific projects, and tailor multiple chats to the project itself. OpenAI said tools such as Search and Canvas will also work within the project. Image credit: Screenshot via OpenAI/TechCrunch The team unveiled the feature at the end of the stream, saying it would be available to Plus, Pro, and Teams users in stages throughout the day, and that free users…