Buy now, pay later is making a comeback. However, it will likely be in a different form. Companies offering this service are expanding the concept into other areas, and one of the biggest companies in this sector, Affirm, is among them. Vishal Kapoor, head of product at Affirm. Image Credits: Affirm In its case, Affirm is approaching this with the Affirm Card, a debit card which provides consumers … [Read more...]
Rivian launches leasing program for its all-electric R1T pickup in 14 states
Rivian kicked off Monday a limited program that will give customers in select U.S. states the option to lease an all-electric R1T pickup truck. For now, customers living in 14 U.S. states can access the leasing program via the R1T configurator page on its website. The states, a list that includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida and Texas, were chosen based on factors such as where Rivian … [Read more...]
With AI chatbots, will Elon Musk and the ultra-rich replace the masses?
Elon Musk is hyping the imminent release of his ChatGPT competitor Grok, yet another example of how his entire personality is just itself a biological LLM made by ingesting all of Reddit and 4chan. Grok already seems patterned in many ways off of the worst of Elon’s indulgences, with the sense of humor of a desperately unfunny and regressive internet troll, and biases informed by a man whose … [Read more...]
Contrary to reports, OpenAI probably isn’t building humanity-threatening AI
Has OpenAI invented an AI technology with the potential to “threaten humanity”? From some of the recent headlines, you might be inclined to think so. Reuters and The Information first reported last week that several OpenAI staff members had, in a letter to the AI startup’s board of directors, flagged the “prowess” and “potential danger” of an internal research project known as “Q*.” This AI … [Read more...]
Prefab home builder Veev reportedly shutting down after reaching unicorn status last year
Veev, a real estate developer turned tech-enabled homebuilder, is on the verge of shutting down after reaching unicorn status last year, according to multiple reports. Calcalist reported on Sunday that the company – which raised $600 million in total, $400 million of which was secured in March of 2022 – has to shut down after an “abrupt cancellation of a capital-raising initiative.” Bond led … [Read more...]
Ransomware ‘catastrophe’ at Fidelity National Financial causes panic with homeowners and buyers
Last Tuesday, Fidelity National Financial, or FNF, a real estate services company that bills itself as the “leading provider of title insurance and escrow services, and North America’s largest title insurance company,” announced that it had experienced a cyberattack. Since then, homeowners who have mortgages and prospective buyers who are purchasing properties with FNF or one of its many … [Read more...]
What to look out for in this week’s deluge of SaaS earnings reports
Earnings season is nearly always upon us, mainly because many software companies offset their internal calendar by a month so they can avoid closing their financial years in December, granting them all of January to wrap their fourth quarter. The Exchange explores startups, markets and money. Read it every morning on TechCrunch+ or get The Exchange newsletter every Saturday. What all that means … [Read more...]
California’s privacy watchdog eyes AI rules with opt-out and access rights
California’s Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) is preparing for its next trick: Putting guardrails on AI. The state privacy regulator, which has an important role in setting rules of the road for digital giants given how much of Big Tech (and Big AI) is headquartered on its sun-kissed soil, has today published draft regulations for how people’s data can be used for what it refers to as automated … [Read more...]
Lapse, the photo app that forced users to invite friends, is running out of steam
Lapse, a photo-sharing app that growth hacked its way to the top of the App Store earlier this year, is starting to lose steam. The app, which had forced users to invite their friends in order to get in — a technique now being used by new social app ID by Amo, saw early success with this method of “going viral.” This September, the app jumped from No. 118 Overall to reach No. 1 on the U.S. App … [Read more...]
Cyberattack on legal tech provider causing widespread disruption to UK law firms
CTS, a U.K.-based provider of managed IT services for law firms and the professional services industry, is experiencing a cybersecurity incident that is causing ongoing widespread disruption across the legal sector. In a statement on its website, the Cheshire-headquartered CTS confirmed it’s experiencing a “service outage” resulting from an unspecified cyber incident. The company didn’t … [Read more...]
Crypto enforcers wielded a heavy hand this year, but don’t expect it to get softer in 2024
This was quite the year for the crypto industry. From funding shortfalls to the SBF saga playing out in public, the industry and its proponents had a wild year, especially with crypto prices fluctuating more than London’s weather in April. Still, regulation of crypto and how it is being set up to be enforced was at the forefront of everyone’s minds in the crypto industry. And even though 2024 is … [Read more...]
Construction marketplace Construex takes in first capital to expand in Latin America
Construex, an Ecuador-based software-as-a-service marketplace for the construction and design industries, secured $4.6 million in seed funding. Zacua Ventures and Fifth Wall co-led the round and were joined by ABSeed and Terracotta Ventures. Roberto Arroyo started the company with his brother, Nicolás Arroyo, in 2019 after working in his family’s construction business as well as operating his own … [Read more...]
VCs have a jargon problem and this is how to fix it
Molly Alter Contributor Molly Alter joined Northzone in 2023 as a principal, based in New York. Molly focuses on vertical SaaS and vertical AI, across early and growth stages. When she was at Index Ventures and Insight Partners, she served on the board of Quantive, Glia, Lightricks, and Frame.io, among others. Over the eight years I’ve spent in VC, I’ve witnessed the … [Read more...]
Evernote pushes users to upgrade with test of a free plan limited to only 50 notes
After making steep cuts to personnel earlier this year, Evernote’s Milan-based owner Bending Spoons is now experimenting with a new plan that would push more users to upgrade to paid versions of its service. The company confirmed to TechCrunch it’s been running a small test that placed limits on the number of notes free users could create, but said the new plan is not yet finalized. TechCrunch was … [Read more...]
TC Startup Battlefield master class with Lightspeed Ventures: Use generative AI to supercharge efficiency
Generative AI is the hot topic in tech right now, but how can you as a startup founder take full advantage of it? Every year, TechCrunch highlights the most promising 200 early-stage founders from around the world to showcase at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. As part of our programming, we host master classes with industry experts and venture investors to provide tactical advice and insights … [Read more...]
Securing generative AI across the technology stack
Connie Qian Contributor Connie Qian is a vice president at Forgepoint Capital. She focuses on early-stage enterprise software companies in security and adjacent sectors, including AI/ML, infrastructure software, and fintech. Research shows that by 2026, over 80% of enterprises will be leveraging generative AI models, APIs, or applications, up from less than 5% … [Read more...]
Judge to deliberate competition harm vs Google’s gains in search antitrust trial
The U.S. Justice Department wrapped the evidentiary phase of its antitrust trial against Google a couple of weeks ago, with closing arguments set for May 2024. At its core is a question: Can a giant of industry engage in anticompetitive business practices legally, as long as those practices create a better product for that business and its own customers? Judge Amit Mehta reportedly says he has “no … [Read more...]
How soon can I get a computer-brain implant?
Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, and welcome back to Equity, the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Our Monday show covers the latest in tech news from the weekend and what’s making headlines early in the week. And, you might be glad to know, today was not all about OpenAI. Instead, we took on a … [Read more...]
Dbrand is suing Casetify over stolen designs
Dbrand, a company that makes gadget skins, sued competitor Casetify last week in a Canadian court over a set of stolen skin designs. The brand is seeking multi-million dollars in damages as part of the lawsuit. In a series of posts on X, Dbrand described how Casteify allegedly copied elements from a series of accessory lines called “Teardown” which Dbrand created with YouTuber Zack Nelson aka … [Read more...]
Amazon’s new $195 thin client looks just like a Fire TV Cube
Amazon’s new thin client looks just like a Fire TV Cube…and that’s by design. The company this morning announced the launch of new $195 devices that allow enterprise users to access virtual desktop environments, like Amazon WorkSpaces, over the internet. The devices are housed in Fire TV Cube hardware — a decision Amazon made to leverage existing expertise from the arm of the retail giant that … [Read more...]
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