How DeepSeek changed Silicon Valley’s AI landscape
Chinese AI lab DeepSeek provoked the first Silicon Valley freak-out of 2025 after releasing open versions of AI models that compete with the best technology OpenAI, Meta, and Google have to offer. DeepSeek claims to have built its models highly efficiently and quickly, and is providing these models at a
Read moreElevenLabs, the hot AI audio startup, confirms $180M in Series C funding at a $3.3B valuation
ElevenLabs, one of the more popular startups working in the field AI audio, said Thursday that it has raised a Series C round of $180 million, valuing the company at $3.3 billion post-money. a16z and ICONIQ Growth are co-leading investment. Rumors of the fundraise were first reported by TechCrunch. The
Read moreThreads adds a ‘media’ tab and the ability to tag people in photos
Meta’s newer social network Threads announced on Thursday that it’s introducing a dedicated “media” tab for both photos and videos, only days after its rivals, including X (formerly Twitter) and the startup Bluesky, did the same for videos. In addition, Meta will also now allow users to tag people in
Read moreMark Zuckerberg teases a 2025 return to ‘OG Facebook’
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased a “return to OG Facebook” as part of his key goals for 2025 in Wednesday’s Q4 earnings call with investors. While the company was short on details as to what specific changes lay in store, it’s clear that Meta is in desperate need of younger
Read moreData center operator DataBank nets $250M equity investment
The data center market is booming, driven by AI demand. Just last week, OpenAI said that it plans to team up with backers including SoftBank to spend at least $100 billion on data center infrastructure in the U.S. Microsoft aims to put around $80 billion toward AI infrastructure this year,
Read moreThe FAA is facing a major crisis without a leader because Elon Musk pushed him out
The Federal Aviation Administration is facing its first major aviation disaster in 16 years without a leader because Elon Musk helped push him out. Michael Whitaker stepped down as FAA administrator on January 20th, the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration, after clashing with Elon Musk, who’s company SpaceX is regulated
Read moreSavant Labs is an automation platform for business analysts
Savant Labs launched its automation platform for data analysts in 2023. The company, which competes with the likes of Alteryx, on Thursday said it had raised $18.5 million in a Series A round led by Dell Technologies Capital. Unlike some other low-code/no-code tools, Savant’s focus is squarely on business analysts.
Read moreAi2 says its new AI model beats one of DeepSeek’s best
Move over, DeepSeek. Seattle-based nonprofit AI lab Ai2 has released a benchmark-beating model called Tulu3-405B. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreShinichi ‘Sam’ Yoshida Appointed CEO of Canon EMEA
Canon EMEA, a global provider of imaging, print technologies, and services, has appointed Shinichi ‘Sam’ Yoshida as President & CEO of Canon Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), succeeding Yuichi Ishizuka, who is retiring after seven years in the role and a successful 44-year career with Canon. Sam Yoshida
Read moreDeepSeek exposed internal database containing chat histories and sensitive data
The internal DeepSeek database was exposed to the internet without a password. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
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