Startups

Elon Musk’s xAI lands billions in new cash to fuel AI ambitions

xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, has raised $6 billion, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. Investors gave a minimum of $77,593, per the filing. 97 participated, but the document doesn’t reveal their identities. The new cash brings xAI’s total raised to $12 billion, adding to the $6 billion […]

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ARX launches firestick-like platform to make military trucks autonomous

A startup with founders who previously served in the German military has created a product akin to an Amazon Firestick for legacy defense equipment, complete with a software stack. ARX Robotics claims its system can turn old equipment into AI-driven devices, such as autonomous-driving trucks.  Back in June this year ARX raised a €9 million

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Nectir lets teachers tailor AI chatbots to provide their students with 24/7 educational support

Over a hundred colleges and high schools are turning to a new AI tool called Nectir, allowing teachers to create a personalized learning partner that’s trained on their syllabi, textbooks, and assignments to help students with anything from questions related to their coursework to essay writing assistance and even future career guidance.  The company announced

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After selling his startup to IBM, this founder wants to bring ‘agentic memory’ to enterprise data

Not everyone agrees on what an “AI agent” actually is, but they are all still the rage. At a broad level, these so-called “agents” promise to go several steps beyond a mere chatbot, making decisions and taking actions on people’s behalf. Some might help you do your online shopping; others might make factories more efficient

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Key leaders behind Google’s viral NotebookLM are leaving to create their own startup

Three members of Google’s NotebookLM team, including its team lead and designer, have announced they are leaving Google for a new stealth startup.  On Linkedin, ex-team lead Raiza Martin said she and her two other co-founders, designer Jason Spielman and engineer Stephen Hughes, “couldn’t shake the feeling that there’s a massive opportunity to build something

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$132 – $149K, here’s what seed-stage founders pay early employees, based on data

Once a startup has raised its seed round, the perennial question becomes how much should the founders pay themselves and their first few employees? Kruze Consulting, a CPA firm that specializes in venture-backed startups, recently analyzed average salary ranges for over 450 seed-stage startups and shared that data with TechCrunch. The following averages are based

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ThredUp fashion marketplace offloads its European business, Remix

Fashion resale marketplace ThredUp has divested its European business to focus on its core domestic U.S. market. ThredUp expanded into Europe in 2021 with the acquisition of Remix, a Bulgarian startup that operates across a handful of central and eastern European markets. Back in May, ThredUp announced a new general manager, Florin Filote, to lead

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SpinLaunch raises $11M but hoped to raise much more, source says

Space startup SpinLaunch is fundraising again, though a source tells TechCrunch that it was exploring raising a significantly more ambitious sum earlier this year.  The company has closed an $11.5 million round out of a planned $25 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SpinLaunch confirmed funding to TechCrunch, but

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