The gap between AI insiders and everyone else is growing, and the expense, skepticism, and even new terminology are starting to show it. While OpenAI is busy buying everything from finance apps to talk shows, a certain shoe company has rebranded as an AI infrastructure play, and Anthropic has unveiled a model it says is…
Over the past few years, a new category of mobile apps has quietly emerged billion dollar business. They’re called “micro dramas” – short-form, mobile-first scripted shows designed to be watched vertically on your phone. Think soap opera meets TikTok, with secret billionaire romances, disapproving werewolf mother-in-laws and cliffhangers engineered to keep users engaged. Leading app…
Artificial intelligence models are growing rapidly, and competition is fierce. With so many players out there, who will be the best – and who decides? Arena, formerly LM Arena, has emerged as the de facto public leaderboard for frontier LMs, influencing the funding, launch, and PR cycle. In just seven months, startup grows from UC…
The Pentagon has officially Anthropic designated a supply-chain risk The two failed to agree on how much control the military should have over its AI models, including its use in autonomous weapons and large-scale domestic surveillance. As Anthropic’s $200 million contract fell apart, DoD turned instead to OpenAI, which accepted and then looked at ChatGPT…
YouTubers launching product linesacquiring startups, and building actual business empires. In fact, MrBeast’s company fintech startup step boughtand his chocolate business is outearning his media arm. This is not just a manufacturer’s strategy. For many, this is the new playbook. In this episode of TechCrunch equity Podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha and Rebecca Bellan…
Enterprise AI is rapidly shifting from chatbots that answer questions to systems that actually do work across an organization. But who will own the AI layer that powers it? to gleanWhat started as an enterprise search product has now evolved into an “AI work assistant” that aims to sit beneath other AI experiences, connect to…
Andreessen Horowitz recently caused a stir New $15 billion funding. And $1.7 billion of that money is going to infrastructure teamWhich is responsible for some of its largest, most prominent AI investments including Black Forest Labs, Cursor, OpenAI. ElevenLabsideogram, Fruit And dozens of others. a16z General Partner with Infra Team Jennifer Lee (which oversees investments…
Self-Driving Truck Startup Waabi’s billion-dollar fundraise It’s not just about trucks. The deal, combined with a $750 million upfront deal from Uber plus $250 million tied to deployment milestones, marks a major expansion into robotaxis for the company founded by former Uber AI chief Raquel Urtasun. It also feels like Uber has another chip on…
PayEx is reportedly lining up four major Wall Street banks for a 2026 IPO that could meet market needs. The company recently completed a tender offer at a valuation of $800 billion, and secondary market demand is skyrocketing. If SpaceX goes public anywhere near Rumors of $1.5 trillion valuationThis could trigger an IPO cascade for…
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos felt different this yearAnd not just because Meta and Salesforce took over storefronts on the main promenade. AI has come to dominate the conversation to such an extent that traditional topics like climate change and global poverty have been eclipsed, and CEOs are not backing down. There was…
