Fintech giant Stripe keeps on buying
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at Stripe’s easy-peasy acquisition, the role fintech played in Clio’s latest raise, the latest with digital banking startup Mercury, and more. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m.
Read moreFriend’s $99 necklace uses AI to help combat loneliness
AI hardware is all the rage in startup land — though receptions have thus far been mixed. Two notable examples, Rabbit and Humane, released devices to disappointing results. a16z-backed Limitless and Exor-backed Bee AI, meanwhile, are working on their own screenless AI wearables. Avi Schiffmann, a Harvard dropout who built
Read moreTechCrunch Minute: Will AI get dumber?
Although AI models have made big breakthroughs in the last few years, there’s now a risk that they could get dumber and even collapse, according to a new research paper published in Nature. The phenomenon is described by researchers as “model collapse.” Think of it as a snake eating its
Read moreHey, there ARE Growth funds in Europe — Kennet raises $287M for its largest fund to date
Europe is routinely castigated by tech industry observers for having too little ‘growth capital’ funds, and, compared to the US, that’s true. That said, it is nowhere near non-existent on this front. To wit: Growth equity investor Kennet has just announced it’s raised €266 million for its largest fund to
Read moreIntelmatix raises $20M Series A to enable MENA businesses to tap AI for decision-making
Intelmatix, a deep tech b2b startup that’s targeting businesses in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region wanting help to tap into the power of AI for decision-making, has closed a $20 million Series A funding round – one of the largest such rounds for a regional company of
Read moreDisinformation may ‘go nuclear’ rather than ‘go viral,’ researchers say
We say something “goes viral” because we tend to think of rumors and disinformation spreading the way that an infection spreads. But these days it may be more accurate to say something “goes nuclear,” according to a new paper that models disinfo as a form of fission reaction. As common
Read moreKey Benefits & Unique Features of MiWayLife Online Platform
MiWayLife has launched a cutting-edge online platform that allows customers to purchase life and funeral coverage from the comfort of their own homes. It is committed to improving its digital products even further, which includes using the platform to better educate customers about money management and tailor client experiences. Additionally,
Read moreMixed Reactions on ANC’s Facebook Page as Jacob Zuma Exits
The ANC maintains that it has now officially expelled Jacob Zuma after he backed uMkhonto Wesizwe, the newly formed political party, in the recent Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)’s National Provincial Elections (NPE). The elections saw MK outperform the ANC in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. As a result, the
Read moreSouth African Life Insurance Company Goes Digital
MiWayLife has launched a cutting-edge online platform that allows consumers to effortlessly obtain life and burial cover from the comfort of their own homes. This launch is a critical step in expanding MiWayLife’s product and service offerings, aligning with the growing need for digital insurance solutions driven by changing customer
Read morePerplexity details plan to share ad revenue with outlets cited by its AI chatbot
Perplexity AI will soon start sharing advertising revenue with news publishers when its chatbot surfaces their content in response to a user query, a move that appears designed to assuage critics that have accused the startup of plagiarism and unethical web scraping. Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s head of business, told TechCrunch
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