TechCrunch AI - Latest News and Information
Technology Pulse
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
The TechCrunch AI News Feed
NomadicML raised an $8.4 million seed round at a $50 million post‑money valuation to commercialize its vision‑language platform that auto‑annotates autonomous‑vehicle video. The tool transforms terabytes of archived footage into searchable, structured datasets, enabling rapid identification of rare edge‑case events for training and compliance. Customers such as Zoox, Mitsubishi Electric, Natix Network, and Zendar are already using the system to accelerate development and reduce outsourcing. Backed by TQ Ventures, Pear VC and Jeff Dean, Nomadic aims to expand its offering to lidar and multimodal sensor data.
The Equity podcast highlighted how AI infrastructure is colliding with real‑world constraints, from a Kentucky farmer rejecting a $26 million data‑center offer to OpenAI pulling its Sora app. Meanwhile, venture capital is pouring billions into the next AI wave, exemplified by...
Anthropic’s fifth economic impact report finds that AI has not yet caused a measurable rise in unemployment, but early adopters are already reaping outsized productivity gains. The study warns that, if current adoption trends continue, up to half of entry‑level...
Lucid Bots, a Charlotte‑based robotics firm, closed a $20 million Series B, bringing total funding to $34 million. The capital will fund manufacturing expansion and hiring to meet surging demand for its Sherpa drones and Lavo robots that automate window cleaning. After five...
An unnamed artificial intelligence firm offered Kentucky farmer Ida Huddleston $26 million to sell part of her 1,200‑acre farm for a data center, but the 82‑year‑old rejected the proposal. Huddleston argued the project would not generate local jobs and raised concerns...
OpenAI announced it is pulling back the Instant Checkout feature that let users buy items directly within ChatGPT, shifting focus to product discovery. The original checkout tool, launched last September, struggled with flexibility and low user adoption, prompting the company...
Lovable, the AI‑powered app‑building platform once valued at $6.6 billion, announced it is actively seeking acquisitions to bring in founder‑type teams. CEO Anton Osika posted on X that the company wants “more great teams and startups to join Lovable,” aiming to boost...
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stepped down as chair of Helion, the fusion startup he backs, as the two companies negotiate a power‑purchase agreement. The tentative deal would give OpenAI access to roughly 12.5% of Helion’s output—targeting five gigawatts by 2030...
At Nvidia’s GTC keynote, CEO Jensen Huang projected $1 trillion in AI‑chip sales by 2027 and urged every company to adopt an “OpenClaw” strategy, positioning Nvidia as the backbone of AI, autonomous vehicles and entertainment. The accompanying TechCrunch Equity podcast dissected...
Multiverse Computing has launched CompactifAI, an app that runs its ultra‑small Gilda model locally on compatible devices, offering offline AI chat. The startup also unveiled a self‑serve API portal giving enterprises direct access to compressed models such as HyperNova 60B, which...
OpenAI has signed a partnership with Amazon Web Services to sell its generative‑AI models to U.S. government agencies, covering both classified and unclassified workloads via AWS GovCloud and Classified Regions. The deal follows a Pentagon contract that lets the military...
World, the startup co‑founded by Sam Altman, unveiled AgentKit, a beta verification tool that proves a real human is behind AI‑driven shopping agents. The system ties a World ID—created from an iris scan using the Orb device—to the x402 blockchain payment...
Niv‑AI has emerged from stealth with a $12 million seed round to tackle the chronic power‑inefficiency of GPU‑heavy AI workloads. The Tel Aviv startup is installing rack‑level sensors that record millisecond‑scale power spikes, then training an AI model to predict and balance...
Google Maps unveiled two major upgrades: a Gemini‑powered conversational "Ask Maps" feature and an "Immersive Navigation" experience with 3D visuals and detailed lane guidance. Ask Maps lets users pose natural‑language queries about charging stations, venues, or multi‑stop trips, delivering personalized...
Mind Robotics, a Rivian spin‑out, closed a $500 million Series A round co‑led by Accel and Andreessen Horowitz, lifting its valuation to roughly $2 billion. The funding follows a $115 million seed round, bringing total capital raised to $615 million since its November 2025 launch. The...
