Author: TechBrunch
Humane, the company behind the much-hyped Ai Pin, which went on sale last month to poor reception, is looking for a buyer, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. . The sale is in the early stages, with the company reportedly setting a price between $750 million and $1 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Humane never disclosed an official valuation in its funding round, but last year The Information reported that the company was valued at $850 million. Humane did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. pin in a haystack Founded in 2017…
Oyo, once India's best-known budget hotel chain, has withdrawn its IPO application from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for the second time, dealing another blow to its already waning ambitions. The Gurugram-headquartered startup, which boasted a valuation of $10 billion at its peak, called off its IPO plans on May 17, according to disclosures on its regulatory website. Oyo had initially submitted documents to SEBI for listing in 2021, but withdrew them and resubmitted them in 2023. SEBI is yet to approve either of Oyo's applications, raising questions whether the startup is ready to face public scrutiny.…
In the Netherlands, where Aytak Yilmaz lives, the sun may not appear for days on end, which could significantly reduce the output of the country's solar panels. Wind turbines may fill some of the gap, but what if the wind disappears at the same time? Enter long-term energy storage, or large-scale batteries, tailored to feed the power grid. Currently, most of them are lithium-ion batteries, which are plentiful thanks to automotive demand, but are still very expensive. In the future, Yilmaz envisions these batteries being made from cheap and abundant iron. His startup Ore Energy has emerged from stealth today…
Government officials and AI industry executives agreed Tuesday to apply basic safety measures in the fast-changing field and establish an international safety research network. The UK and South Korea will host the AI Safety Summit in Seoul this week, nearly six months after the first World Summit on AI Safety was held at Bletchley Park in the UK. This gathering highlights the new challenges and opportunities facing the world with the emergence of AI technologies. The UK government on Tuesday announced a new agreement between 10 countries and the European Union to establish an international network similar to the UK's…
Microsoft wants to bring generative AI to the forefront of Windows and the PCs that run it. In two keynotes at this week's annual Build developer conference, the company announced a new line of Windows machines it calls Copilot+ PCs and leverages AI such as Recall to help users find apps, files, and other content. announced the generation function. What I saw in the past. Copilot, Microsoft's brand of generative AI, will soon be more deeply integrated into the Windows 11 experience. And new Microsoft Surface devices are also coming. Here are all the major announcements from Monday and Tuesday.…
Some startups choose to bootstrap from the beginning, while others are forced to self-fund due to lack of investor interest or business models that don't fit traditional VC. FarmboxRx decided to go into business in-house after founder Ashley Tyrner didn't like the advice he was getting from potential backers. Tyrner told TechCrunch's Found podcast that when she went out to raise money for FarmboxRx, a direct-to-consumer produce box company aimed at solving food deserts at the time, she was only offered venture investors if she agreed. He said he noticed that he was interested. She pivoted her company towards current…
Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism Fund has launched a new fellowship program aimed at introducing top engineers and technologists to venture investing, which could help the firm identify less obvious sources of VC talent. The American Dynamism Fund was established in 2023 with the broad purpose of supporting companies that build national interests across hard technology sectors such as manufacturing, robotics, space, and defense. From A16Z's new $7.2 billion fund, approximately $600 million will be allocated to American His Dynamism. During the 12-month American Dynamics Engineering Fellows program, approximately three engineers participate in an investment short course, during which fellows spend…
Another fintech startup and its customers have been severely affected by the collapse of banking-as-a-service startup Synapse. Copper Banking, a digital banking service targeting teenagers, notified customers on May 12th that it would stop processing bank accounts and debit cards on May 13th. In a letter to customers, CEO and co-founder Eddie Bellinger said the company learned last week that its banking middleware provider Synapse would be discontinued “soon.” “Despite my advance planning, this event has forced me to close my bank account much earlier than expected,” he wrote. Synapse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 22, with…
3D tools giant Autodesk has acquired Wonder Dynamics, a startup that enables creators to quickly and easily create complex characters and visual effects using AI-powered image analysis. The two companies have worked closely together for many years and today officially announced their partnership. Wonder Dynamics, founded by VFX artist Nikola Todorovic and actor Tye Sheridan, can now add motion-captured CG characters to footage by essentially dragging an icon over the actor. But its flagship tool, Wonder Studio, was never a toy, even though it could be used like one. With years of experience in the film industry, the co-founders made…
Farcaster, a blockchain-based social protocol founded by two Coinbase alumni, announced Tuesday that it has closed $150 million in funding. The Paradigm-led platform also raised funding from a16z crypto, Haun Ventures, USV, Variant, Standard Crypto, and others, according to a blog post by founder Dan Romero. Farcaster, a social protocol, inspires developers to build other apps on top of it. The most popular app is Warpcast, a social network similar to Twitter. What does it mean to build social experiences on Ethereum? Farcaster takes a hybrid approach, storing user identities on-chain and data such as public posts, follows, and reactions…