AI and security startups blossom on cloudy days
Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week confirmed that even when current events cloud the outlook, some startups still manage to raise significant amounts of funding, with
Read moreMeta confirms ‘Project Waterworth,’ a global subsea cable project spanning 50,000 kilometers
Back in November, we broke the news that Meta — owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, with billions of users accounting for 10% of all fixed and 22% of all mobile traffic — was close to announcing work on a major new, $10 billion+ subsea cable project to connect up
Read moreMastodon is working to add the controversial ‘quote posts’ feature
Mastodon, the decentralized alternative to X, is going to adopt a controversial feature from the platform formerly known as Twitter: quote posts. The company on Friday shared the progress it’s making on the implementation of the feature, which has divided users over its potential to be used for online abuse
Read moreA job ad for Y Combinator startup Firecrawl seeks to hire an AI agent for $15K a year
Last week, an ad from the Y Combinator job board for a tiny startup called Firecrawl went viral on X. That’s because the ad wasn’t for a human. “Please apply only if you are an AI agent, or if you created an AI that can fill this job,” the job
Read moreInstagram tests a ‘dislike’ button for comments
After users noticed a new button on Instagram to downvote or dislike comments, the company confirmed that it is testing a way for users to signal that they either didn’t like the comment or don’t think it’s relevant. The feature will appear across both Feed posts and Reels. Instagram head
Read moreCall for speakers: TechCrunch All Stage 2025
Founders, VCs, and startup experts — this is your moment! Got scaling insights? Now’s your chance to share them with 1,200 founders, investors, and entrepreneurs at TechCrunch All Stage 2025 presented by Fidelity, on July 17 in Boston! We’re gathering leading experts from the startup and VC communities to host
Read moreApply to speak at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
AI innovators, this is your moment! Have insights to share with 1,200 AI founders, investors, and enthusiasts eager to push the boundaries of innovation? Take the stage, shape the AI conversation, and exchange ideas at TechCrunch Sessions: AI on June 5 at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall! We’re bringing together top
Read moreKagi’s search engine adds a more private way to search
The paid search engine Kagi has added an even more private way to search. The new feature, called Privacy Pass, lets you make searches without having them traced back to you. Privacy Pass is based on an authentication protocol standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force. It works by allowing
Read moreMore Tesla showroom protests planned for this weekend
Activists are calling for demonstrations at Tesla showrooms. Protestors are planning more demonstrations outside Tesla showrooms nationwide this weekend, as Elon Musk’s polarizing behavior and political activities within the Trump administration continue to have negative side effects on his electric car business. The protests are being advertised on BlueSky under
Read moreAirbnb CEO says it’s still too early for AI trip planning
Airbnb is planning to first introduce AI to its customer support system. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
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