How self-driving do we need our self-driving cars to be?
Photo: Vjeran Pavic Illustration: Alex Parkin There’s a big debate happening in the self-driving car world: what’s the best way for these vehicles to see the world around them? Both Tesla and those autonomous taxi startups, like Waymo and Cruise, use powerful machine vision systems to help their cars navigate
Read moreVisa acquires Brazilian fintech startup Pismo in $1B blockbuster deal
Credit card giant Visa is acquiring Brazilian payments infrastructure startup Pismo for $1 billion in cash in what is likely one of the largest fintech M&A deals taking place this year so far. Founded in 2016 by Juliana Motta (CPO), Ricardo Josua (CEO), Daniela Binatti (CTO), and Marcelo Parise (VP
Read moreBrex refocuses on startups with hire of SVB veteran, ex-a16z operating partner
Just over one year ago, spend management decacorn Brex declared that it was “less suited to meet the needs of smaller customers” in an announcement that caused shock waves in the startup community. While Brex soon clarified that by smaller customers it meant small to medium-sized businesses and non-funded startups,
Read moreCelestial AI raises $100M to transfer data using light-based interconnects
David Lazovsky and Preet Virk, technologists with backgrounds in semiconductor engineering and photonics, came to the joint realization several years ago that AI and machine learning workloads would quickly encounter a “data movement” problem. Increasingly, they predicted, it would become challenging to move data to and from compute hardware as
Read moreAs $100M+ venture rounds evaporate, IPOs might have to carry the weight
Earlier this year we wrote that the “the $100M venture round is going extinct.” Often our predictions wind up sideways. This time we were on the right track. According to new data from PitchBook, the U.S. venture market is continuing to endure lackluster velocity for nine-figure investments into private companies,
Read moreJuly 4th weeklong sale on passes to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023
Here in the States, we’re celebrating the start of a great summer by traveling back in time. Back to the days of early-bird prices on passes to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, which takes place on September 19–21 in San Francisco. We’re rolling back prices on passes to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 Our
Read moreHouse GOP discusses use of robot dogs to patrol US borders
The United States Department of Homeland Security caused a stir last February when it revealed that it was exploring deploying robot dogs on the U.S./Mexico border. “The southern border can be an inhospitable place for man and beast, and that is exactly why a machine may excel there,” the DHS’s
Read moreReddit protest plunges user engagement, site activity and ad portal visits
Reddit community moderators made a bold move earlier this month that caused quite a stir online. They took a stand against the platform’s decision to charge certain developers for access to its valuable data, which many found controversial. The fallout was evident as users retreated and started to ignore the
Read moreTechstars raising $150 million for new accelerator fund
Startup accelerator Techstars is raising $150 million for its new fund, SEC filings show. The accelerator is seeking new capital ahead of the end of the deployment period of its third institutionally-backed fund, Techstars Accelerator 2021, later this year. Techstars declined to offer details on how it intends to use
Read moreGoogle introduces a new shop tab for rentals and purchases on Android TV
Google today announced a new “Shop” tab on Android TV to let users browse titles that are available to purchase and rent. The company is rolling out this feature on all Android TV devices in the U.S. starting today. While the new tab will let you explore new titles, a
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