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Tesla’s  ‘Robotaxi’ and ‘Cybercab’ trademarks hit roadblocks ahead of June launch

Transportation /

Tesla’s attempt to trademark the term “Robotaxi” in reference to its vehicles has been refused by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for being too generic, according to a new filing. Another application by Tesla to trademark the term “Robotaxi” for its upcoming ride-hailing service is still under examination by the office. In addition, applications […]

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Uber-rival BluSmart investors propose resolution with $30M backing for its revival

Transportation /

A group of investors are considering a plan to inject another $30 million into BluSmart in a bid to revive the Indian cab-hailing startup that abruptly halted operations last month, TechCrunch has learned. The proposal from these existing investors has a catch: its contingent on BluSmart co-founder Anmol Singh Jaggi agreeing to resign. The proposed

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BluSmart investors propose $30M in new funding to revive the Uber rival

Startups /

A group of investors are considering a plan to inject another $30 million into BluSmart in a bid to revive the Indian cab-hailing startup that abruptly halted operations last month, TechCrunch has learned. The proposal from these existing investors has a catch: its contingent on BluSmart co-founder Anmol Singh Jaggi agreeing to resign. The proposed

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Breathe lands $21M Series B to predict battery performance

Fundraising /

Few markets are moving as rapidly as China’s automotive sector. There, new models are rolled out in as little as 18 months, putting tremendous pressure on legacy Western automakers, which need four-plus years to go from concept to sales floor. “With the increasingly short development cycles in China, it’s driving a huge amount of cost

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Finom, a challenger bank aimed at SMBs, lands $105M in growth funding from General Catalyst

Fundraising /

Finom, an Amsterdam-based digital bank for small- and medium-sized businesses, has raised €92.7 million (roughly $105 million) in a growth investment from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund, the company tells TechCrunch exclusively. The capital infusion “will be used exclusively and only for growth” and not for operational expenses or product development, Kos Stiskin, Finom’s chairman

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Agree.com raises $7.2M to take on Docusign, Bill.com with AI

Fintech /

Agree.com says its AI-powered e-signature platform is different from competitors because it includes invoicing and payment processing. That’s why the company might have a shot at tackling the industry goliath, Docusign.  Because the startup makes its money from transaction fees for any money movement facilitated by its platform, Agree.com has made e-signatures free to all

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A stealth AI model beat DALL-E and Midjourney on a popular benchmark. Its creator just landed $30M.

Startups /

Recraft, the startup behind a mysterious image model that beat OpenAI’s DALL-E and Midjourney on a respected industry benchmark last year, has raised a $30 million Series B round led by Accel, it exclusively told TechCrunch.  Other investors in the round include Khosla Ventures and Madrona. Based in San Francisco, Recraft previously raised a $12

A stealth AI model beat DALL-E and Midjourney on a popular benchmark. Its creator just landed $30M. Read More »

How Riot Games is fighting the war against video game hackers

Gaming /

For as long as there have been video games, there have been people willing to find ways to cheat. Hobbyists have long dedicated themselves to finding vulnerabilities in games, often with the goal of developing cheats that they could share or sell. But ever since online competitive gaming became a legitimate profession, that hobby-hacking has

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Dating app Raw exposed users’ location data and personal information

Security /

A security lapse at dating app Raw publicly exposed the personal data and private locations data of its users, TechCrunch has found. The exposed data included users’ display names, dates of birth, dating and sexual preferences associated with the Raw app, as well as users’ location. Some of the location data included coordinates that were

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