[[{“value”:” Cruise is laying off 50% of its workforce as the robotaxi program ends. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. “}]]
Deel unloads $300M in secondary sale, brings General Catalyst on as an investor
[[{“value”:” Fintech-turned-HR outfit Deel is trying to lay the groundwork for an IPO. On Tuesday, it said its annual revenue run rate climbed to $800 million in 2024 after growing by 70%. The startup, which helps businesses globally hire, manage and pay employees remotely, also said it has sold $300 million in secondary shares to General […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
DSTLRY, the comic books marketplace, launches new customization features for artists
[[{“value”:” DSTLRY, a venture-backed digital comic books marketplace, on Tuesday added a pair of features designed to bring customization to the platform. The first feature, dubbed Commissioned Digital Remarques, allows creators to add personalized sketches and signatures to digital comics. The second, Unlimited Digital Covers, expands platform-wide access to alternative comic book covers. Commissioned Digital Remarques […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
How Max Altschuler accidentally founded a VC firm that just raised another $54M
[[{“value”:” Four years after accidentally launching a VC firm, GTMfund founder Max Altschuler has raised a second oversubscribed $54 million fund. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. “}]]
Apple launches Invites, a new app for creating custom invitations
[[{“value”:” Apple on Tuesday launched a new app called “Invites” that allows users to create custom invitations for any occasion. With Invites, users can create and share invitations on their iPhone, RSVP, contribute to Shared Albums, and curate event soundtracks. To create an invitation, you need an iCloud+ subscription. However, anyone can RSVP, regardless of whether […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Former Tesla engineer heading government agency reportedly outlines ‘AI-first strategy’
[[{“value”:” Thomas Shedd, the former Tesla engineer now serving as the director of Technology Transformation Services, reportedly outlined an “AI-first strategy” for the U.S. government department. According to a report from Wired citing multiple sources, the Musk ally described the plan to run the office like a “startup software company” during a Monday meeting. The New […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Deepfake videos are getting shockingly good
[[{“value”:” Researchers from TikTok owner ByteDance have demoed a new AI system, OmniHuman-1, that can generate perhaps the most realistic deepfake videos to date. Deepfaking AI is a commodity. There’s no shortage of apps that can insert someone into a photo, or make a person appear to say something they didn’t actually say. But most deepfakes […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
LogicStar is building AI agents for app maintenance
[[{“value”:” Swiss startup LogicStar is bent on joining the AI agent game. The summer 2024-founded startup has bagged $3 million in pre-seed funding to bring tools to the developer market that can do autonomous maintenance of software applications, rather than the more typical AI agent use-case of code co-development. LogicStar CEO and co-founder Boris Paskalev suggests […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Two space startups have merged to create the next generation of telescopes
[[{“value”:” On a clear spring evening in Michigan, the stars aligned — just not in the way Upfront Ventures partner Nick Kim expected. He’d just led a $9.5 million seed round for OurSky, a software platform for space observational data, and was eager to see what its telescope partner PlaneWave Instruments could do. But when they […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Spotify reports its first full year of profitability, adds 35M monthly active users
[[{“value”:” On Tuesday morning, Spotify announced its fourth-quarter earnings, marking its first full year of profitability since its inception 17 years ago. The operating income for the quarter reached a record €477 million ($509.48 million) and amounted to €1.4 billion ($1.495 billion) for the 2024 fiscal year. Spotify also reported an addition of 35 million monthly […] © 2024 TechCrunch….