The venture capital world has always had a hot-and-cold relationship with the Midwest. Investors rush in during boom times, then retreat to the coasts when markets turn sour. For Columbus, Ohio-based Drive Capital, this cycle of attention and disinterest played out against the backdrop of its own internal upheaval several years ago — a co-founder…
Google on Thursday said it has begun rolling out its Veo 3 video generation model to Gemini users in more than 159 countries. Video generation via the new model is available only to paying subscribers of Google’s AI Pro plan, and is capped at 3 videos per day. Veo 3, which Google showed off in…
An open letter from authors including Lauren Groff, Lev Grossman, R.F. Kuang, Dennis Lehane, and Geoffrey Maguire calls on book publishers to pledge to limit their use of AI tools, for example by committing to only hire human audiobook narrators. The letter argues that authors’ work has been “stolen” by AI companies: “Rather than paying…
Indian drone startup Raphe mPhibr has raised $100 million in an all-equity Series B round led by General Catalyst, as the startup aims to boost its R&D and local production capabilities amid growing demand for drones in battlefields and for border surveillance. Drones are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in global military operations. In recent and ongoing…
Two U.S. senators have requested that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate Spotify due to allegations that the company bundled its music streaming and audiobook services into a more expensive subscription without obtaining user consent, while also reducing royalty payments to creators in the process. On Friday, June 20, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Ben…
If becoming a spy sounds like an exciting way to live like a le Carré character, let this newest affidavit from confessed Rippling spy Keith O’Brien serve as a warning. On Friday, an Irish judge granted O’Brien a restraining order against several men who have not yet been identified, according to the court order seen…
Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, said Wednesday that it was hacked and funds have been drained from its hot wallet. In a statement on its website translated by TechCrunch, Nobitex said it detected unauthorized access to its infrastructure and hot wallet, in which the company stores a portion of its customers’ cryptocurrency. The company said…
While Silicon Valley executives like those from Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI are grabbing headlines for trading their Brunello Cucinelli vests for Army Reserve uniforms, a quieter transformation has been underway in the U.S. Navy. How? Well, the Navy’s Chief Technology Officer Justin Fanelli says he has spent the last two and a half years focused…
Felicis founder Aydin Senkut is celebrating his 19th year as an institutional early-stage investor by announcing the firm’s biggest fund yet: a $900 million Fund X. This follows the $825 million Fund IX raised in 2023 and the $600 million Fund XIII raised in 2021. Felicis, a seed and Series A firm, is known for…
Let’s be honest: Most events aren’t built for VCs — they’re built around VCs. Panels, keynotes, maybe a few startups worth watching, and a sea of business cards you’ll forget by dinner. TechCrunch All Stage 2025 flips that script, when we fill up Boston’s SoWa Power Station on July 15. This isn’t just a chance…
