Author: TechBrunch
Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO of self-driving truck startup Waabi, has been working for the past 20 years to develop AI systems that can reason like humans. The AI pioneer was the chief scientist at Uber ATG before launching Waabi in 2021. Waabi was launched with an “AI-first approach” to accelerate the commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles, starting with long-haul trucks. “If we could actually build a system that could do that, it would require a lot less data,” Urtasun told TechCrunch. “It would also require a lot less computation. If we could do the inference efficiently, we wouldn't need…
Fisker Group, the electric vehicle startup founded by famed designer Henrik Fisker, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the culmination of months of problems with its Ocean SUV, including recalls and dozens of lemon law lawsuits. The California-based company, which filed for bankruptcy in Delaware District Court, had been exploring a deal with another automaker as a last resort to save its business. It estimated its assets at between $500 million and $1 billion and its liabilities at between $100 million and $500 million, according to the filing. Fisker reported between 200 and 999 creditors, including SAP, Adobe, Salesforce…
Meta today announced that it has finally released the long-awaited Threads API, enabling developers to build experiences for Threads, enabling third-party developers to create new Threads experiences. “The Threads API is now broadly available and will be available to more users soon,” Mark Zuckerberg posted about the API release. Threads engineer Jesse Chen wrote in a blog post that the new API will allow developers to publish posts, pull their own content, and deploy reply management tools, meaning they'll be able to let users hide/show specific replies and even respond to replies. The company added that in addition to these…
The current way of coming up with new materials is to make something and then use a computer to see if it's done right. But what if you flipped that around and used generative AI-driven software to design the material in the first place? That's the vision of Cambridge, UK-based CuspAI, which has now secured $30 million in a seed round led by Hoxton Ventures. “We're flipping the traditional process on its head and saying, 'If you can put materials or molecules in and get properties out, there's no reason why you can't put properties in and get materials or…
SUSE, the venerable Luxembourg-based open source company, has long been a familiar presence in the European IT industry but has never been able to capture the U.S. market, where competitors like Red Hat and Canonical are much better known. But just as many players in the cloud world hope AI will reshape the playing field, SUSE is hoping it will give it a new entry point into the U.S. market, which comes in conjunction with its recent moves to take on competitors more directly. On Tuesday, the company will unveil its AI strategy and SUSE AI Solutions, a new vendor-…
More than four months after its debut in the US, Google has launched its purpose-built AI mobile app, Gemini, in India with support for nine Indian languages in addition to English. Gemini mobile app in India now supports nine Indian languages – Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu — allowing users in India to type or speak in any of the supported languages and get AI assistance, the company said on Tuesday. Gemini's mobile app also includes the option to access the paid Gemini Advanced experience, which is based on Gemini 1.5 Pro and provides a…
Companies in sectors like financial services and insurance succeed or fail on data, specifically how well they can use it to understand what people and companies will do next, a process that is increasingly being dominated by AI. Now, a startup founded in London's financial center called Finbourne has built a platform to help financial companies organize and harness data with AI and other models. The company has announced £55 million ($70 million) in funding, which it plans to use to expand outside the Square Mile. The Series B was co-led by Hyland Europe and strategic backer AVP (the venture…
While quick-commerce startups around the world have been forced to exit, consolidate, or shut down, India is seeing bright spots in the business model. Urban consumers are embracing the convenience of having groceries delivered to their doorstep in as little as 10 minutes. Delivery companies like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy's Instamart have already started charting their path to profitability. Analysts are intrigued by the potential for 10-minute delivery to disrupt e-commerce: Goldman Sachs recently estimated that Blinkit, which Zomato acquired for less than $600 million in 2022, is already worth more than its decacorn food-delivery parent. As of earlier this…
Loop, the auto insurer co-founded by Harlem Capital co-founder John Henry, has laid off employees as it struggles to raise capital. Henry posted on Instagram an email that co-founder Carrie Nadeau sent to affected staff on June 16. Nadeau also posted the letter on LinkedIn. The letter said it was a “last resort” for the company after failing to raise additional funding after 20 months of trying. “It was our last chance, but at the last moment investors pulled out and we were short on cash,” Nadeau wrote. The email further said the company decided to make job cuts to…
Two years after it was announced at WWDC, Apple's US-only Pay Later feature has been discontinued, the news first reported by 9 to 5 Mac and confirmed by TechCrunch. Below is the full statement provided to TechCrunch. Starting later this year, users around the world will be able to use credit and debit cards and installment loans through lenders when checking out with Apple Pay. With the launch of this new global installment loans offering, Apple Pay Later will be discontinued in the US. We remain committed to providing users with access to easy, secure and private payment options with…