Hugging Face reportedly in talks to be acquired for $13B
The AI platform has fielded acquisition offers valuing it around $13 billion, though founders' community commitments may complicate a sale.
TechCrunch · +2 outlets
Valor and Point72 back General Intuition at $6B valuation as AI startup pushes into robotics
General Intuition, building a foundation model for generalized AI agents navigating physical space, is raising at a $6 billion pre-money valuation from Valor Ve
TechCrunch · +1 outlets
Uber faces fine of nearly $1B over automated driver suspensions
The Dutch Data Protection Authority is fining Uber €825 million, the second largest penalty ever under Europe's GDPR, for its automated driver suspension system
TechCrunch · +1 outlets
OpenAI pushes AI agents to the masses, calls for strengthening California AI safety bill
OpenAI is expanding AI agents from developers to mainstream users while also urging California to strengthen its AI safety bill SB 53 after previously opposing
TechCrunch
Anthropic's Claude Tag update lets its Slack agent read full conversations and jump in unprompted
Anthropic is betting that enterprise AI's biggest bottleneck is solitary use, releasing an update that lets its Claude Slack agent engage proactively in convers
VentureBeat · +1 outlets
Inherent, founded by DeepMind alumni, says its AI teammate outperformed Anthropic and OpenAI at replicating research
British AI lab Inherent released Faraday, an AI agent that it says can replicate scientific papers better than models from Anthropic and OpenAI.
TechCrunch · +1 outlets
NEURA Robotics acquires Adlatus Robotics to bring AI to autonomous cleaning robots
Fresh off a €1.2 billion raise, NEURA Robotics is buying Adlatus Robotics to add AI-powered autonomous cleaning to its Physical AI ecosystem.
Tech.eu · +1 outlets
IBM's next-gen mainframe chip runs Arm and Z workloads on the same cores
IBM announced a processor at the Hot Chips conference that can natively execute both IBM's own instruction set and Arm's, a major shift in mainframe architectur
VentureBeat · +1 outlets
Brake problems in GM EVs draw greater federal scrutiny
Federal regulators are investigating brake failures in GM electric vehicles, with one driver reporting they had to steer into a curb to avoid a collision.
TechCrunch · +1 outlets
Startups are still acquiring startups, led by ultra-high-valuation unicorns
Well-funded startups, especially in AI, are increasingly acquiring other companies to gain technology faster than building it themselves.
Crunchbase News · +1 outlets
Flock CEO calls for compromise as surveillance company faces growing backlash
Flock Safety's CEO is seeking middle ground as public outcry grows over potential misuse of the company's surveillance technology.
TechCrunch · +1 outlets
US nutrition startup Berry Street merges with India's Healthify as GLP-1 trends rise
The two nutrition and health startups are merging with co-CEOs from both companies, capitalizing on growing interest in GLP-1 drugs.
TechCrunch
Flipkart closing in on India's quick-commerce leaders two years after launch
Walmart's Flipkart is delivering 1.1-1.2 million quick-commerce orders daily, nearly triple its volume from November.
TechCrunch · +1 outlets
Smart thermostat maker Boldr raises $5M to turn home energy systems into grid capacity
London-based Boldr raised $5 million in pre-Series A funding to expand its connected heating and cooling platform and turn residential energy equipment into fle
Tech.eu · +2 outlets
DOJ investigation into a16z board seats could spook other VCs
The Equity podcast discusses the Department of Justice investigating startup board seats held by venture capital firm a16z.
TechCrunch
Mysterious AI model Ox Alpha sparks speculation
A new stealth AI model called Ox Alpha has driven significant speculation online about its origins and capabilities.
TechCrunch · +1 outlets
Enterprises winning with AI agents are limiting how much the agents can do alone
Contrary to the prevailing autonomy-focused approach, successful enterprise AI agent deployments are those that restrict agent autonomy.
VentureBeat · +1 outlets
Boldr raises €4.2M pre-Series A for connected heating and cooling platform
The London-based energy management startup will use the funding to expand its smart thermostat technology across North America.
EU-Startups · +2 outlets