Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Ticktock, TikTok: It’s been a wild week for TikTok. Even as the company starts testing its Twitter competitor in certain markets …...Read More

The IBM-HashiCorp coupling could be more complicated than it seems It's may not be the slam dunk it appears at first glance When IBM announced its intention to acquire HashiCorp for $6.4 billion on Wednesday at market close, it was easy to conclude that the two companies should fit well …...Read More

AI may be inching its way into the newsroom, as outlets like Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, CNET, and others have experimented with the format. But while most respectable journalists will condemn this use case, there are a number of startups that think AI can enhance the news experience — …...Read More

After a successful unveiling at CES, Rabbit is letting journalists try out the R1 — a small orange gadget with an AI-powered voice interface. This comes just weeks after the launch of the Humane Ai Pin, which is similarly pitched as a new kind of mobile device with AI at …...Read More

Act fast! Applications for our Call for Content close today, April 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT. If you’re a seasoned startup pro ready to lead a session at TechCrunch Disrupt on October 28-30, now’s your chance to apply! Send in your proposal to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 before the …...Read More

NOQX is a Stockholm-based startup on a mission to help companies improve their goal-setting, collaboration mechanisms and experiences. It has just raised a $200,000 pre-seed round to help accomplish its aims and, by extension, help out companies with employee counts ranging from 50 to 500 or so. The company hasn’t …...Read More

The OpenAI Startup Fund, a venture fund related to — but technically separate from — OpenAI that invests in early-stage, typically AI-related companies across education, law and the sciences, has quietly closed a $15 million tranche. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, two unnamed investors …...Read More

Google is testing a new “Speaking practice” feature in Search that helps users improve their conversational English skills. The company told TechCrunch that the feature is available to English learners in Argentina, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Venezuela who have joined Search Labs, its program for users to experiment with …...Read More

Jeff Lawson, the co-founder and recently departed CEO of enterprise infrastructure software company Twilio, is the proud new owner of satirical online newspaper The Onion. “Alright, the news is out — yes, I bought The Onion,” Lawson wrote in a LinkedIn post earlier today, after it first emerged in The …...Read More

Despite complaints, Apple hasn’t yet removed an obviously fake app pretending to be RockAuto Apple’s App Store isn’t always as trustworthy as the company claims. The latest example comes from RockAuto, an auto parts dealer popular with home mechanics and other DIYers, which is upset that a fake app masquerading …...Read More