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Startup and Technology News
Site URL: techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/
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The US is reviewing Benchmark’s investment into Chinese AI startup Manus
Published: May 9, 2025 21:24
Manus AI is one of the hottest AI agent startups around, recently raising $75 million at a half-billion-dollar valuation in a round led by Benchmark. But two unnamed sources told Semafor that the investment is now under review by the U.S. Treasury…
Google I/O 2025: What to expect, including updates to Gemini and Android 16
Published: May 9, 2025 20:35
Google I/O, Google’s biggest developer conference of the year, is nearly upon us. Scheduled for May 20 to 21 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, I/O will showcase product announcements from across Google’s portfolio. Expect plenty of news…
SoundCloud changes policies to allow AI training on user content
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/09/soundcloud-changes-policies-to-allow-ai-training-on-user-content/
Published: May 9, 2025 17:16
SoundCloud appears to have quietly changed its terms of use to allow the company to train AI on audio that users upload to its platform. As spotted by tech ethicist Ed Newton-Rex, the latest version of SoundCloud’s terms include a provision giving the…
DeepSeek: Everything you need to know about the AI chatbot app
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/09/deepseek-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-ai-chatbot-app/
Published: May 9, 2025 17:11
DeepSeek has gone viral. Chinese AI lab DeepSeek broke into the mainstream consciousness this week after its chatbot app rose to the top of the Apple App Store charts (and Google Play, as well). DeepSeek’s AI models, which were trained using…
Meta’s speeding up the ‘Mad Men to Math Men’ pipeline
https://techcrunch.com/podcast/metas-speeding-up-the-mad-men-to-math-men-pipeline/
Published: May 9, 2025 15:56
At Stripe’s Sessions conference this week, Mark Zuckerberg pitched what he calls the “ultimate business machine”: a fully automated, end-to-end AI ad engine promising to replace agencies, creatives, and media buyers with a single black box. You just need…
CoreWeave reportedly looks to raise $1.5B in debt as IPO disappoints
Published: May 9, 2025 15:24
Data center operator CoreWeave is reportedly seeking a $1.5 billion debt deal after a disappointing IPO. According to the Financial Times, CoreWeave is holding a roadshow this week with bankers at JPMorgan for debt options. The company’s executives intend…
This is your last chance to exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI — don’t miss out
Published: May 9, 2025 09:00
Applications are almost closed, and you have until 11:59 p.m. PT tonight to reserve your exhibitor table at TechCrunch Sessions: AI, our premiere industry event that’s happening at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall on June 5. Imagine walking into a room filled…
Microsoft employees are banned from using DeepSeek app, president says
Published: May 8, 2025 21:35
Microsoft employees aren’t allowed to use DeepSeek due to data security and propaganda concerns, Microsoft vice chairman and president Brad Smith said in a Senate hearing today. “At Microsoft we don’t allow our employees to use the DeepSeek app,” Smith…
ChatGPT’s deep research tool gets a GitHub connector to answer questions about code
Published: May 8, 2025 20:27
OpenAI is enhancing its AI-powered “deep research” feature with the ability to analyze codebases on GitHub. On Thursday, OpenAI announced what it’s calling the first “connector” for ChatGPT deep research, the company’s tool that searches across the web and…
Ex-Synapse CEO reportedly trying to raise $100M for his new humanoid robotics venture
Published: May 8, 2025 19:03
Sankaet Pathak’s last startup, fintech Synapse, filed for bankruptcy in 2024 amid issues with partner Evolve Bank & Trust. Tens of millions of dollars in deposits made by consumers, mostly customers of fintechs that worked with Synapse, remain unaccounted…
Meta taps former Google DeepMind director to lead its AI research lab
Published: May 8, 2025 18:39
Meta has chosen Robert Fergus to lead its Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab, according to Bloomberg. Fergus had been working at Google DeepMind as a research director for roughly five years, per his LinkedIn. Prior to Google, he worked as a researcher…
Google launches ‘implicit caching’ to make accessing its latest AI models cheaper
Published: May 8, 2025 18:20
Google is rolling out a feature in its Gemini API that the company claims will make its latest AI models cheaper for third-party developers. Google calls the feature “implicit caching” and says it can deliver 75% savings on “repetitive context” passed to…
Google rolls out AI tools to protect Chrome users against scams
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/08/google-rolls-out-ai-tools-to-protect-chrome-users-against-scams/
Published: May 8, 2025 17:00
Google announced on Thursday that it’s rolling out new AI-powered defenses to help combat scams on Chrome. The tech giant will begin using Gemini Nano, its on-device large language model (LLM), on desktop to protect users against online scams. It’s also…
Exhibit your startup at TechCrunch Sessions: AI while you still can!
Published: May 8, 2025 16:39
If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to act, this is it. You have just 24 hours left to secure your exhibit table at TechCrunch Sessions: AI and position your brand at the center of the conversation shaping the future of the AI industry. TechCrunch…
Sequoia leads $1.5B tender offer for sales automation startup Clay
Published: May 8, 2025 16:00
It took seven years of hard work for Kareem Amin, co-founder and CEO of sales automation startup Clay, to see the company’s product finally take off in 2022. Since then, the startup has experienced explosive growth, reached a valuation exceeding a billion…
OpenAI launches a data residency program in Asia
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/08/openai-launches-a-data-residency-program-in-asia/
Published: May 8, 2025 14:34
OpenAI is introducing a new data residency program in Asia, the company announced Thursday, following the rollout of its data residency program in Europe in February. The new program, which is available for OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise, ChatGPT Edu, and the…
Amazon’s newest AI tool is designed to enhance product listings
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/08/amazons-newest-ai-tool-is-designed-to-enhance-product-listings/
Published: May 8, 2025 13:00
Amazon said Thursday it is releasing a new generative AI-powered tool to help merchants improve their listings with missing details or attributes. Sellers often have hundreds of products listed on Amazon, and they need to update information related to them…
Asking chatbots for short answers can increase hallucinations, study finds
Published: May 8, 2025 12:05
Turns out, telling an AI chatbot to be concise could make it hallucinate more than it otherwise would have. That’s according to a new study from Giskard, a Paris-based AI testing company developing a holistic benchmark for AI models. In a blog post…
Why Hims & Hers turned to the autonomous vehicle industry to find an AI-savvy CTO
Published: May 8, 2025 10:50
Hims & Hers, the telehealth and wellness company, has hired a veteran of the autonomous vehicle industry as its next chief technology officer. The move, according to Hims & Hers co-founder and CEO, Andrew Dudum, was intentional. Hims & Hers on Thursday…
Instacart CEO Fidji Simo is joining OpenAI
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/instacart-ceo-fidji-simo-is-joining-openai/
Published: May 8, 2025 06:30
Simo, already a board member at OpenAI, will transition out of Instacart over the next few months and join the AI company full-time as Application CEO.
Fastino trains AI models on cheap gaming GPUs and just raised $17.5M led by Khosla
Published: May 7, 2025 21:37
Tech giants like to boast about trillion-parameter AI models that require massive and expensive GPU clusters. But Fastino is taking a different approach. The Palo Alto-based startup says it has invented a new kind of AI model architecture that’s…
OpenAI and the FDA are reportedly discussing AI for drug evaluations
Published: May 7, 2025 21:09
OpenAI has met with officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss the agency’s use of AI to speed up drug evaluations, Wired reported on Wednesday. According to the report, OpenAI and the FDA have discussed a project called cderGPT, which…
Anthropic rolls out an API for AI-powered web search
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/anthropic-rolls-out-an-api-for-ai-powered-web-search/
Published: May 7, 2025 20:28
Anthropic is launching a new API that allows its Claude AI models to search across the web. Developers using it can build Claude-powered apps that deliver up-to-date info, the company said in a press release published Wednesday. The rollout of the API…
Amazon debuts a warehouse robot with a sense of ‘touch’
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/amazon-debuts-a-warehouse-robot-with-a-sense-of-touch/
Published: May 7, 2025 18:33
Amazon says that it has developed a new warehouse robot, Vulcan, that can “feel” some of the items it touches. The two-armed Vulcan, which can maneuver goods inside the storage compartments Amazon has in its warehouses, uses force sensors to help it know…
OpenAI wants to team up with governments to grow AI infrastructure
Published: May 7, 2025 17:58
OpenAI is launching a program, OpenAI for Countries, that the company says will enable it to build out the local infrastructure needed to better serve international AI customers. As a part of the new program, OpenAI will partner with governments to assist…
ServiceNow acquires Data.World months after snatching up Moveworks
Published: May 7, 2025 17:00
Enterprise workflow management platform ServiceNow on Wednesday announced its second AI-related acquisition this year. ServiceNow said that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Data.World, a cloud-native data catalog and data governance…
Apple is looking to add AI search engines to Safari
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/apple-is-looking-to-add-ai-search-engines-to-safari/
Published: May 7, 2025 16:53
Apple is looking to add AI search engines from OpenAI, Perplexity, and Anthropic to Safari, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, made the statement during his testimony in the U.S. Justice Department’s…
Figma releases new AI-powered tools for creating sites, app prototypes, and marketing assets
Published: May 7, 2025 16:15
Design company Figma today announced multiple features, including AI-powered site and web app creation, a way for marketers to create assets in bulk, and a new drawing tool. With this launch, the company is taking on other creative solutions such as Canva…
Microsoft adopts Google’s standard for linking up AI agents
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/microsoft-adopts-googles-standard-for-linking-up-ai-agents/
Published: May 7, 2025 15:56
Microsoft says that it’s embracing Google’s recently launched open protocol for allowing AI “agents” to communicate with each other. On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that it would bring support for Google’s Agent2Agent (A2A) spec to two of its AI…
Mistral claims its newest AI model delivers leading performance for the price
Published: May 7, 2025 14:00
French AI startup Mistral is releasing a new AI model, Mistral Medium 3, that’s focused on efficiency without compromising performance. Available in Mistral’s API priced at $0.40 per million input tokens and $2 per million output tokens, Mistral Medium 3…
Game, Sett, Funding: a startup building AI agents for game development emerges from stealth with $27M
Published: May 7, 2025 13:00
Games drove the creation of GPU processors back in the 1990s, so it’s only fitting that artificial intelligence — the technology that GPUs are used to power nowadays — is making its way into nearly every aspect of video game design. In keeping with that…
Mark Zuckerberg’s AI ad tool sounds like a social media nightmare
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/mark-zuckerbergs-ai-ad-tool-sounds-like-a-social-media-nightmare/
Published: May 7, 2025 13:00
Tech executives have long talked about how AI is going to revolutionize the advertising industry. In particularly, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been quite vocal about how exactly he wants his company to lead the transformation. Speaking onstage at Stripe’s…
AI data startup WisdomAI nabs $23M with a smart way to avoid hallucinations
Published: May 7, 2025 13:00
Rubrik co-founder Soham Mazumdar has a new data startup called Wisdom AI. It offers an agentic data analyst that works with structured, unstructured, even “dirty” data.
Netflix debuts its generative AI-powered search tool
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/netflix-debuts-its-generative-ai-powered-search-tool/
Published: May 7, 2025 12:16
After hinting at a new AI-powered search experience during its recent earnings call, Netflix officially unveiled the feature at its tech and product event on Wednesday. This new search experience will utilize OpenAI’s ChatGPT to provide users with a…
Ox Security lands a fresh $60M to scan for vulnerabilities in code
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/ox-security-lands-a-fresh-60m-to-scan-for-vulnerabilities-in-code/
Published: May 7, 2025 11:00
As “vibe coding” gains in popularity and tech companies push devs in their employ to embrace generative AI tools, a platform that scans for vulnerabilities in AI-generated code has raised a fresh round of funding. Ox Security, which models risk across both…
Amazon is working on an AI code generation tool
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/amazon-is-working-on-an-ai-code-generating-tool/
Published: May 7, 2025 10:01
Amazon Web Services is building a new AI-powered code generation tool codenamed “Kiro,” Business Insider reported, citing internal documents it had viewed. The tool can use prompts and existing data to generate code in “near real-time” by connecting with…
OpenAI expects to cut share of revenue it pays Microsoft by 2030
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/openai-expects-to-cut-share-of-revenue-it-pays-microsoft-by-2030/
Published: May 7, 2025 07:47
OpenAI currently has a deal to share 20% of revenue with Microsoft, but the AI company expects to cut that share to 10% by 2030, The Information reported.
Hugging Face releases a free Operator-like agentic AI tool
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/06/hugging-face-releases-a-free-operator-like-agentic-ai-tool/
Published: May 6, 2025 22:00
A team at Hugging Face has released a freely available, cloud-hosted computer-using AI “agent.” But be forewarned: it’s quite sluggish and occasionally makes mistakes. Hugging Face’s agent, called Open Computer Agent, is accessible via the web and can use…
IBM CEO urges the Trump Administration to increase — not cut — federal AI R&D funding
Published: May 6, 2025 20:14
Like many leaders in tech, Arvind Krishna, the CEO of IBM, thinks federal R&D funding for AI and related technologies should be increased — not the other way around. “We have been an extremely strong advocate — and this is both the company and me…
Reddit will tighten verification to keep out human-like AI bots
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/06/reddit-will-tighten-verification-to-keep-out-human-like-ai-bots/
Published: May 6, 2025 19:47
Redditors around the world were scandalized last week after learning that a team of researchers released a swarm of AI-powered, human-impersonating bots on the “Change My View” subreddit. The large-scale experiment was designed to explore just how…
TechCrunch Sessions: AI welcomes Tanka CEO Kisson Lin to talk AI-native startups
Published: May 6, 2025 18:55
We’re ecstatic to announce that Kisson Lin, founder and CEO of Tanka, will be joining us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI for a provocative — and instructive — interview titled “Your Next Co-Founder Will Be AI.” She’s among the many excellent speakers joining…
FutureHouse previews an AI tool for ‘data-driven’ biology discovery
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/06/futurehouse-previews-an-ai-tool-for-data-driven-biology-discovery/
Published: May 6, 2025 17:41
FutureHouse, an Eric Schmidt-backed nonprofit that aims to build an “AI scientist” within the next decade, has released a new tool that it claims can help support “data-driven discovery” in biology. The new tool comes just a week after FutureHouse launched…
What OpenAI’s restructuring plan means for its corporate future
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/06/what-openais-restructuring-plan-means-for-its-corporate-future/
Published: May 6, 2025 16:30
OpenAI said on Monday it is pursuing a new restructuring plan after conversations with Delaware and California’s attorneys general, both of whom were closely watching as OpenAI tried to break free of its odd corporate structure. Currently, OpenAI’s…
Particle brings its AI-powered news reader to the web
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/06/particle-brings-its-ai-powered-news-reader-to-the-web/
Published: May 6, 2025 16:08
Particle, the startup behind an AI-powered newsreader that aims to help publishers, not just steal their work, is bringing its product to the web. On Tuesday, the company announced the launch of the new Particle.news website that connects news consumers…
Google’s new ‘Simplify’ feature for iOS uses AI to make dense text easier to understand
Published: May 6, 2025 16:00
Google’s iOS app is getting a new “Simplify” feature that uses AI to make complex or technical text on the web easier to understand, all without leaving a web page. Simplify features a prompt refinement approach developed by Google Research, and uses…
Google debuts an updated Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model ahead of I/O
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/06/google-debuts-an-updated-gemini-2-5-pro-ai-model-ahead-of-i-o/
Published: May 6, 2025 15:34
Google on Tuesday announced the launch of Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition), an updated version of its flagship Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model that the company claims tops a number of widely used benchmarks. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition) is available…
Unblocked raises $20M for AI to help devs understand codebases
Published: May 6, 2025 15:00
Every developer has their own unique style of writing code. Despite companies establishing best practices and drawing up documentation, it can be hard for developers to understand someone else’s codebase. To solve this problem, Dennis Pilarinos built a…
NewLimit, founded by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstorng, raises $130M to develop age-reversing treatments
Published: May 6, 2025 15:00
NewLimit, a startup that aims to increase how long people can live a healthy life by genetically programming their cells, has raised $130M.
Relevance AI raises $24M to help businesses build AI agents
Published: May 6, 2025 13:00
Individuals may work closely with AI agents as they become increasingly prevalent in the workplace. According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, the market for AI agents is expected to grow at a 45% compound annual growth rate over the next five…
Boosted by defense and Starlink, Orca AI pulls in $72.5M for its autonomous shipping platform
Published: May 6, 2025 11:00
The autonomous navigation market — where ships, guided by AI, steer themselves, resulting in fuel and time savings — is projected to sail past $11 billion by 2028. As a result, companies in this space are pushing on an open door. The latest is Orca AI,…
People struggle to get useful health advice from chatbots, study finds
Published: May 5, 2025 21:13
With long waiting lists and rising costs in overburdened healthcare systems, many people are turning to AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT for medical self-diagnosis. About 1 in 6 American adults already use chatbots for health advice at least monthly,…
Google accidentally reveals details about its new Android design language, Material 3 Expressive
Published: May 5, 2025 21:11
Google will unveil a new version of its Android design language at its upcoming Google I/O developer conference, according to an event schedule posted to its website as well as an accidentally published Google blog post. The I/O session title hints at…
What is Mistral AI? Everything to know about the OpenAI competitor
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/05/what-is-mistral-ai-everything-to-know-about-the-openai-competitor/
Published: May 5, 2025 20:11
Mistral AI, the French company behind AI assistant Le Chat and several foundational models, is officially regarded as one of France’s most promising tech startups and is arguably the only European company that could compete with OpenAI. But compared to its…
11x CEO Hasan Sukkar steps down
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/05/11x-ceo-hasan-sukkar-steps-down/
Published: May 5, 2025 18:40
Hasan Sukkar, the founder of AI startup 11x, is stepping down from his role as CEO, Sukkar announced on LinkedIn this morning. Prabhav Jain, 11x’s CTO, has been named the company’s new CEO. Sukkar will move into a “non-executive chairman” position, where…
OpenAI reverses course, says its nonprofit will remain in control of its business operations
Published: May 5, 2025 18:05
OpenAI has decided that its nonprofit division will retain control over its for-profit org, after the company initially announced that it planned to convert to a for-profit organization. According to the company, OpenAI’s business wing, which has been…
Over 250 CEOs sign open letter supporting K-12 AI and computer science education
Published: May 5, 2025 17:35
More than 250 CEOs signed an open letter published in The New York Times on Monday calling for AI and computer science to be “core components” of K-12 curricula. The signatories, which include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman, and Uber…
Anthropic launches a program to support scientific research
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/05/anthropic-launches-a-program-to-support-scientific-research/
Published: May 5, 2025 16:54
Anthropic is launching an AI for Science program to support researchers working on “high-impact” scientific projects, with a focus on biology and life sciences applications. The program, announced Monday, will offer up to $20,000 in Anthropic API credits…
Rork’s founders were almost broke when a viral tweet led to $2.8M and a16z
Published: May 5, 2025 16:02
Rork founders Levan Kvirkvelia and Daniel Dhawan are living a life that sounds like a plot for a movie. But it really happened. They went from broke, life savings spent, and in debt $15,000 apiece on credit cards — Dhawan was even sleeping on a mattress…
Pinterest updates visual search with more AI-powered features
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/05/pinterest-updates-visual-search-with-more-ai-powered-features/
Published: May 5, 2025 14:06
Pinterest is upgrading its visual search feature with a handful of new capabilities. On Monday, the company announced it’s rolling out new functionality to improve its feature that allows users to search using an image instead of text. This includes new…
Anysphere, which makes Cursor, has reportedly raised $900M at $9B valuation
Published: May 5, 2025 06:27
Anysphere, the maker of AI-powered coding tool Cursor, has attracted $900 million in a fresh round of funding led by Thrive Capital, The Financial Times reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the deal. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Accel are…
Is Duolingo the face of an AI jobs crisis?
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/04/is-duolingo-the-face-of-an-ai-jobs-crisis/
Published: May 4, 2025 20:48
Duolingo announced plans this week to replace contractors with AI and become an “AI-first” company — a move that journalist Brian Merchant pointed to as a sign that the AI jobs crisis “is here, now.” In fact, Merchant spoke to a former Duolingo contractor…
Revelo’s LatAm talent network sees strong demand from US companies, thanks to AI
Published: May 4, 2025 15:00
While many tech companies are mandating that their employees return to their offices, and putting an emphasis on building in-person teams, they are also turning in droves to Latin America to find developer talent — especially for post-training AI models.…
Google’s Gemini has beaten Pokémon Blue (with a little help)
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/03/googles-gemini-has-beaten-pokemon-blue-with-a-little-help/
Published: May 3, 2025 16:45
Google’s most expensive AI model seems to have crossed a major milestone: Beating a 29-year-old video game. Last night, Google CEO Sundar Pichai posted triumphantly on X, “What a finish! Gemini 2.5 Pro just completed Pokémon Blue!” To be clear, the Gemini…