Author: TechBrunch

Founders may have unintentionally given VCs too much power to block IPOs While some investors have loudly lamented that the IPO window cannot remain closed forever, the reality is that other VCs themselves are part of the problem. Lowenstein Sandler partner Eric Weiner told TechCrunch that the terms of many standard VC deals allow investors to block an IPO or acquisition if they believe the timing or price isn't right. That's what it means. While it's relatively rare for investors to say in direct terms that they can block an IPO, although he's seen it happen in the past, he…

The jobs of so-called “solution professionals” (sales engineers, solution architects, consultants, etc.) revolve around selling complex enterprise technologies to potential customers. It's an important job. But despite this, solution teams are rarely well-staffed and resourced, according to entrepreneur Dan Cheng. “The solutions team brings technical credibility to sales activities, helping customers understand exactly what they are buying and why,” Chen said in an interview with TechCrunch. “They are the unsung heroes of the business-to-business organization, yet they are consistently ignored.” Chen, a former partner at Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital and co-founder of Hero, a Salesforce support app that HR…

Multinational technology giant Fujitsu acknowledged the cyberattack in a statement on Friday, warning that hackers may have stolen personal data and customer information. Fujitsu stated on its website, “As a result of confirming the presence of malware on several of our company's work computers and conducting an internal investigation, we found that files containing personal information and customer information may be illegally taken out.'' announced. Translation from Japanese. Fujitsu said it has disconnected the affected systems from its network and is investigating how its network was compromised by the malware and “whether any information was leaked.” The technology conglomerate did…

Raising money sounds easy. You hand over the stock, the investor hands over the cash, and then everyone goes back to work. The reality is a little more complicated. If you're selling stock, are you selling it in a price round? Or through a convertible note, which is a bond that later converts to stock? Oh, and maybe a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity)? Are you using it? For new founders who don't want to get bogged down in the minutiae of fundraising and want to focus solely on their business, the acronym soup that forms when discussing venture…

Google is trying to create a buzz with Gemini, its flagship suite of generative AI models, apps, and services. However, as our unofficial review revealed, Gemini seems promising in some aspects, but falls short in others. So what is Gemini? How can it be used? And how does it compare to its competitors? We've created this handy guide to help you easily stay up to date with the latest developments in Gemini. This guide will be updated as new Gemini models, features, and news about Google's Gemini plans are released. What is Gemini? Gemini is Google's long-promised next-generation GenAI model…

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is considering partnering with Google in a mega deal to leverage Gemini AI models for iPhone features. This puts Google in an advantageous position since the company already has a deal with Apple to be its preferred search engine provider for the iPhone's Safari browser. The publication cited people familiar with the matter as saying Apple is considering licensing Google's AI technology to introduce AI-powered features in an iOS update later this year. Additionally, the company has also discussed the possibility of using the GPT model with OpenAI, Bloomberg said. Apple is under…

Invasive algae are a problem around the world. Different types of seaweed pose a threat to the marine environment by suffocating or killing corals, affecting fish and other marine life. Sonia Hurtado, who lived near the sea in Spain, saw first-hand the impact that an abundance of seaweed known as Rugropteryx okamurae was having on the Mediterranean Sea. The contamination started in 2015 in southern France and has spread to the entire coastline. After meeting Maria Sermegno, an expert in protein extraction from circular food materials, the two decided to remove this pest from the ocean and turn it into…

Elon Musk's xAI has open sourced the base code for its Grok AI model, but not the training code. The company described it on GitHub as a “314 billion parameter expert mixture model.” xAI said in a blog post that the model is not tailored for specific uses, such as conversational use. The company noted that Grok-1 was trained with a “custom” stack, but did not provide further details. This model is licensed under the Apache License 2.0, which allows commercial use. Last week, Musk noted on X that xAI intends to open source the Grok model this week. Last…

Arjun Sethi speaks with the confidence of someone who knows more than others, or who knows that sounding confident can shape perceptions. In any case, he told me on his Zoom that “in five years, he will have 50% of the world's personal data in his hands,” and that “it will be impossible to compete against me.” ” When he says it, he says it with all his might. Warren Buffett's authority has dropped the truth about the stock market. Sethi, co-founder of venture firm Tribe Capital, is talking about Tribe's recently spun out Termina, a subscription-based AI software platform…

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! I am filling in for Mary Ann, who is on a well-deserved vacation. This week, we cover how Griffin Bank got its license ahead of the big players, and we dive into Stripe's annual letter, several funding rounds, and more. big story This week's top news was the UK's Griffin Bank The banking-as-a-service company has succeeded in doing something even the region's most valuable fintech company, Revolut, has yet to do: obtain a banking licence. Granted, as Mike Butcher writes, obtaining a banking license is difficult (it took Griffin a year), but Revolut…