Barbie-maker Mattel and OpenAI have teamed up to bring generative AI to the toy-making and ever-expanding pipeline of IP repackaging. This partnership marks new territory for OpenAI, which has signed licensing deals with news publishers and enterprise players, but never a toy-maker. However, it’s consistent with the AI giant’s overall strategy of embedding itself across…
Selling software to companies is such a time-consuming process. Even after customers are convinced a product is right for their organization, they still need to ensure the software meets all their security requirements. Chas Ballew realized just how painfully slow and tedious the vendor security and compliance review process was when he was running Aptible,…
Exciting news for tech enthusiasts and innovators! TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is just around the corner, and we have an incredible opportunity for you to elevate your brand’s visibility. How? By hosting your own Side Event at the most anticipated tech gathering of the year! Why host a Side Event? Imagine being at the helm of…
Nnamdi Emelifeonwu was always curious about what work life was like for his colleague Feargus MacDaeid, one of the few registered blind lawyers in the U.K. Both practiced law at the global firm Freshfields. When asking about what would make his life easier, the answer was clear: “Help me navigate definitions in complex contracts without…
A central premise of robotaxis is that high usage and lower labor costs will ultimately make it a cheap transportation option. That is still far from true, but now there’s some data that gives us an idea of by how much. Obi, an app that aggregates real-time pricing and pick-up times across multiple ride-hailing services,…
Meta has sued the maker of a popular AI “nudify” app, Crush AI, that reportedly ran thousands of ads across Meta’s platforms. In addition to the lawsuit, Meta says it’s taking new measures to crack down on other apps like Crush AI. In a lawsuit filed in Hong Kong, Meta alleged Joy Timeline HK, the…
On Thursday, Spanish startup Multiverse Computing announced that it raised an enormous Series B round of €189 million (about $215 million) on the strength of a technology it calls “CompactifAI.” CompactifAI is a quantum-computing inspired compression technology that is capable of reducing the size of LLMs by up to 95% without impacting model performance, the…
DNA testing service 23andMe filed for bankruptcy protection in March, sparking concerns about what could happen to the genetic data of the company’s 15 million customers. Pharmaceutical giant Regeneron announced in May that it was buying the genetic testing company for $256 million following a bankruptcy auction. While the company has said it will maintain 23andMe’s…
Khaby Lame, currently the world’s top TikTok creator, was recently detained by U.S. immigration officials in Las Vegas and has since left the country, The New York Times reports. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Lame, an Italian Senegalese influencer known for his silent, deadpan reactions to viral clips, overstayed the terms of…
TechCrunch is turning 20. I’ve been here half that time. I worked previously at numerous major media properties, including Time Inc, Dow Jones, and Reuters; this has been the best job of my life, which is maybe why the time has gone so fast. There’s nothing like the culture here. Contrarian, smart, hilarious, and hard-working….
