Waymo's robotaxis under investigation after crashes and traffic mishaps

Waymo’s autonomous vehicle software is under investigation after federal regulators received 22 reports where the robotaxis crashed or “potentially violated traffic safety laws” by driving in the wrong lane or into construction zones. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) says the probe is intended to …...Read More

Sona, a frontline workforce management platform, raises $27.5M with eyes on US expansion

Sona, a workforce management platform for frontline employees, has raised $27.5 million in a Series A round of funding. More than two-thirds of the U.S. workforce are reportedly in frontline jobs, which might be anything from customer service and healthcare to retail environments and hospitality. But managing this vast workforce, …...Read More

OpenAI's ChatGPT announcement: Watch the GPT-4o reveal and demo here

OpenAI’s livestreamed GPT announcement event happened at 10 a.m. PT Monday, but you can still catch up on the reveals. The company described the event as “a chance to demo some ChatGPT and GPT-4 updates.” CEO Sam Altman, meanwhile, promoted the event with the message, “not gpt-5, not a search …...Read More

Uber to acquire Foodpanda's Taiwan unit from Delivery Hero for $950M in cash

Uber Technologies announced Tuesday that it will buy the Taiwan unit of Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda for $950 million in cash. The deal is part of Uber Eats’ strategy to expand in Asia, specifically by strengthening its position in Taiwan. On the other hand, it also underscores Delivery Hero’s ongoing retreat …...Read More

Paris-based VC firm Blisce launches climate tech fund with a target of $160M

Blisce has become the latest VC firm to launch a fund dedicated to climate tech, for which it plans to raise as much as €150 million (about $162 million). The firm is hiring investor Pierre-Edouard Berion to lead the fund, and Lucie Basch, the co-founder of Too Good To Go, …...Read More

Maad raises $3.2M seed funding

Maad, a B2B e-commerce startup based in Senegal, has secured $3.2 million debt-equity funding to bolster its growth in the western Africa country and to explore fresh opportunities in the wider Francophone region. The seed round was led by Ventures Platform, with participation from Seedstars International Ventures, Reflect Ventures, Oui …...Read More

OpenAI Startup Fund raises additional $5M

The OpenAI Startup Fund, a venture fund that invests in early-stage AI companies and has recently transferred legal control from Sam Altman to Ian Hathaway, has closed on additional $5 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The fresh funds were raised from two investors …...Read More

Accel has a fresh $650M to back European early-stage startups

Early-stage rounds continue to account for the majority of investments in the European startup market, and on Tuesday one of the biggest firms in the region announced a new fund to bolster that trend. Accel has raised $650 million to back startups from seed to Series A across the U.K., …...Read More

Cruise founder Kyle Vogt is back with a robot startup

Kyle Vogt, the former founder and CEO of self-driving car company Cruise, has a new VC-backed robotics startup focused on household chores. Vogt announced Monday that the new startup, called the Bot Company, has raised $150 million from former Github CEO and investor Nat Friedman, Pioneer founder and investor Daniel …...Read More

From Miles Grimshaw to Eva Ho, venture capitalists continue to play musical chairs

When Keith Rabois announced he was leaving Founders Fund to return to Khosla Ventures in January, it came as a shock to many in the venture capital ecosystem — and not just because Rabois is a big name in the industry. It was surprising because unlike in many other fields, …...Read More