Avendus, India's top venture advisor, confirms it's looking to raise a $350 million fund

Avendus, the top investment bank for venture deals in India, confirmed on Wednesday it is looking to raise up to $350 million for its new private equity fund. The new fund, called Future Leaders Fund III, will enable the Mumbai-headquartered firm to write larger checks and maintain a meaningful position …...Read More

China's $47B semiconductor fund puts chip sovereignty front and center

China has closed a third state-backed investment fund to bolster its semiconductor industry and reduce reliance on other nations, both for using and for manufacturing wafers — prioritizing what is called chip sovereignty. China’s National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, also known simply as ‘the Big Fund,’ had two previous …...Read More

Apple's Design Awards nominees highlight indies and startups, largely ignore AI (except for Arc)

With its list of Apple Design Awards finalists, Apple is celebrating indie apps and startups over bigger tech firms — including those offering AI chatbots. At a time when its App Store model has been called into question by legislators and regulators alike, Apple’s annual list of what it considers …...Read More

Spyware maker pcTattletale shutters after data breach

The founder of the spyware app pcTattletale said his company is “out of business and completely done” following a data breach over the weekend. The shutdown comes days after a hacker defaced the spyware maker’s website and published links containing large amounts of data from pcTattletale’s servers, including databases of …...Read More

AI models have favorite numbers, because they think they're people

AI models are always surprising us, not just in what they can do, but what they can’t, and why. An interesting new behavior is both superficial and revealing about these systems: they pick random numbers as if they’re human beings. But first, what does that even mean? Can’t people pick …...Read More

Rock band's hidden hacking-themed website gets hacked

On Friday, Pal Kovacs was listening to the long-awaited new album from rock and metal giants Bring Me The Horizon when he noticed a strange sound at the end of the record’s last track. Being a fan of solving riddles and breaking encrypted codes, Kovacs wondered: does this sound contain …...Read More

Anthropic hires former OpenAI safety lead to head up new team

Jan Leike, a leading AI researcher who earlier this month resigned from OpenAI before publicly criticizing the company’s approach to AI safety, has joined OpenAI rival Anthropic to lead a new “superalignment” team. In a post on X, Leike said that his team at Anthropic will focus on various aspects …...Read More

The demise of BaaS fintech Synapse could derail the funding prospects for other startups in the space

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at the long-term implications of Synapse’s bankruptcy on the fintech sector, Majority’s impressive ARR milestone, and more! To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. PT, subscribe here. The …...Read More

YouTube's free games catalog 'Playables' rolls out to all users

YouTube’s “app store” for games is rolling out more broadly. The company announced on Tuesday that its collection of lightweight, free games dubbed “Playables” will soon start to appear in the YouTube app for all users, in addition to the YouTube Home page. Previously, the games had been made available …...Read More

OpenAI's new safety committee is made up of all insiders

In light of criticism over its approach to AI safety, OpenAI has formed a new committee to oversee “critical” safety and security decisions related to the company’s projects and operations. But, in a move that’s sure to raise the ire of ethicists, OpenAI’s chosen to staff the committee with company …...Read More