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11xAI raises $24M led by Benchmark to build AI digital employees

11xAI, a startup that builds AI bots for process automation, aka automating end-to-end workflows, just raised a fresh $24 million Series A led by Benchmark. It also one of the growing crowd of AI startups relocating its headquarters to San Francisco, Hasan Sukkar, the company’s founder and CEO, told us. It was founded in London. […]

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TeamBridge, founded by former Uber execs, raises $28M to build HR software for hourly workers

Arjun Vora and Tito Goldstein were working on the corporate side of Uber when they realized that HR software largely wasn’t built to manage hourly staff. Many hourly workers lacked a way to complete basic self-service tasks, the pair perceived, like clocking in and changing payment accounts. After interviewing hundreds of Uber drivers, Vora, an

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DryMerge promises to connect apps that normally don’t talk to each other — and when it works, it’s great

Platforms to connect apps that wouldn’t normally talk to each other have been around for a minute (see: Zapier). But they have not gotten dramatically simpler to use if you’re nontechnical. Generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry somewhat. However, getting the most out of these platforms — and fixing things when they break

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A fight is brewing as TuSimple tries to move $450M to China and pivot from self-driving trucks to AI animation

TuSimple, once a buzzy startup considered a leader in self-driving trucks, is trying to move its assets to China to fund a new AI-generated animation and video game business. The pivot has not only puzzled and enraged several shareholders, but also threatens to pull the company back into a legal morass mere weeks after reaching

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XP Health grabs $32M to bring employees more affordable vision care

Antonio Moraes, the grandson of a late prominent Brazilian billionaire, was never interested in joining the family-owned conglomerate of construction companies and a bank. Shortly after graduating from college, he founded one of Brazil’s first impact funds, which invested primarily in companies that made healthcare more accessible and affordable. But while attending Stanford University, where

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Bolt has quietly settled its lawsuit with Fanatics amid ongoing boardroom drama

Online sports apparel retailer Fanatics has agreed to settle and drop a lawsuit that it filed against troubled one-click payments provider Bolt in March, according to court documents obtained by TechCrunch.  The settlement occurred as Bolt was in the thick of a new gambit to raise a large round of financing, including a “cramdown” threat

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Why Y Combinator companies are flocking to banking and HR startup Every

Rajeev Behera’s new all-in-one HR startup, dubbed Every, is either brilliant or crazy. Crazy because multi-module HR software that does payroll, onboarding, and spend management for small businesses is already a jam-packed market. Competitors include unicorn startups Gusto, Rippling, and Deel; incumbents that are strong in one area and are expanding into others like Mercury and

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Hacker tricks ChatGPT into giving out detailed instructions for making homemade bombs

If you ask ChatGPT to help you make a homemade fertilizer bomb, similar to the one used in the 1995 Oklahoma City terrorist bombing, the chatbot refuses.  “I can’t assist with that,” ChatGPT told me during a test on Tuesday. “Providing instructions on how to create dangerous or illegal items, such as a fertilizer bomb,

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OffDeal wants to help small businesses find big exits with AI agents

Small businesses are the unsung heroes of the American economy, employing nearly half of America’s workforce and making up 44% of the country’s GDP. But when it’s time for small business owners to sell their companies, their options are limited. Some go to small business brokers or pass the business on to their children, while

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Media talent app HUSSLUP shuts down as workers in Hollywood continue to face job slowdown

HUSSLUP founder and CEO H Schuster notified users on Wednesday that it would be taking an “indefinite hiatus” starting Friday, according to an email seen by TechCrunch. The job search and networking app for the entertainment industry was launched to the public in January after being in an invite-only beta phase for the past three

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