Companies that have dug deep into AI have fallen in love with nuclear power for its promise of 24/7 electricity. Meta, Google, and Microsoft have all made deals with startups or reactor operators. But does the nuclear industry love AI back? Yes, with caveats. No one is proposing to let an AI run a reactor,…
Google is expanding AI Mode — its AI-powered Search experience — to five new languages, opening access to additional users around the world, after being limited to English for over six months. On Monday, Google announced that AI Mode will now support Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese. The update follows last month’s rollout…
Cognition AI, the startup behind AI coding agent Devin, has hit a $10.2 billion valuation after raising $400 million, marking a jump from the company’s $4 billion valuation earlier this year, reports Bloomberg. Founders Fund, the Peter Thiel-backed VC, led Cognition’s latest round, with participation from existing investors like Lux Capital, Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC, Elad…
Venture capital firm Insight Partners says it has completed notifying a number of individuals, including the firm’s limited partners, whose personal information was stolen by hackers in a January data breach. In a statement late last week, the company said it completed its review in August following the data breach, which it described as a…
The corporate space world tired Bianca Cefalo to the point that she found it easier to literally start her own space company and launch objects into orbit. Cefalo is the founder of Space DOTs, which launched in 2022 to detect space threats. She and her team have created a software platform called SKY-I for space…
OpenAI executives are discussing a potential relocation out of California as increasing political resistance threatens the company’s efforts to convert from nonprofit to for-profit status, according to The WSJ, though the company says it has no plans to leave. California’s attorney general is investigating whether OpenAI’s restructuring violates state charitable trust law, while a coalition…
One of the biggest questions facing founders today: How do you keep building when the rules won’t stop shifting? At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, where we celebrate TechCrunch’s 20th anniversary from October 27-29 at Moscone West in San Francisco, we’ll hear firsthand from Ryan Petersen, founder and CEO of Flexport, on the Builders Stage. Why Ryan’s…
ReOrbit, a Finnish startup focused on helping nations control their own sovereign satellites, has raised a record €45 million (about US $53 million) Series A round of funding for a European space tech company. The funding round signals that Europe’s new space market is heating up, fueled by a geopolitical environment in which countries increasingly…
Nepal has made a dramatic U-turn, reversing a social media ban imposed last week after the decision sparked nationwide “Gen Z” protests that reportedly left at least 19 people dead. The ban, which blocked access to 26 platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X, was imposed following an August 25 directive requiring foreign social media…
Snap is breaking itself apart and rebuilding from within. In a new annual company letter, CEO Evan Spiegel just announced the company is restructuring around small “startup squads” of 10 to 15 people to better compete against larger competitors. The move comes as the 5,000-person company faces mounting pressure. Advertising revenue growth flatlined at 4%…
