Hit by hurricanes? FCC says you qualify for internet and mobile service subsidies

As hurricanes batter the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, many people’s livelihoods are on hold and they’re struggling to make ends meet. The FCC just decided that anyone affected by a natural disaster can get a break on broadband and mobile service; it’s not much, but every …...Read More

Fearless Fund has made a big deal since settling its controversial lawsuit

Fearless Fund has made a big move since it settled a lawsuit with the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER). The firm announced on Thursday a seven-figure investment into the e-commerce platform Zimi, co-founded by Audrey Djiya and Peter Nsaka. Zimi offers inventory management, handling and storage, and border logistics …...Read More

New rounds will help startups challenge well-funded rivals

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. It was once again the private market that generated the most funding-related news in the startup world this week, both for companies …...Read More

Instagram blames some moderation issues on human reviewers, not AI

Instagram head Adam Mosseri on Friday addressed the moderation issues that saw Instagram and Threads users losing access to their accounts, having posts disappear, and more, saying that the company “found mistakes” that it’s attributing to human moderators. The company did not initially blame faulty AI systems, as many believed …...Read More

Announcing more judges for Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2024

Startup Battlefield 200 is a major highlight at every Disrupt, and we’re thrilled to find out which of the thousands of startup applicants will get the chance to pitch to top-tier VCs at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. Join us at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28–30 to witness the …...Read More

Silicon Valley is debating if AI weapons should be allowed to decide to kill

In late September, Shield AI co-founder Brandon Tseng swore that weapons in the U.S. would never be fully autonomous — meaning an AI algorithm would make the final decision to kill someone. “Congress doesn’t want that,” the defense tech founder told TechCrunch. “No one wants that.” But Tseng spoke too …...Read More

HubSpot acquires Cacheflow, a platform that helps close software sales

HubSpot has acquired Cacheflow, a startup building tools for the software sales closing process, for an undisclosed amount. HubSpot CEO Yamini Rangan says that Cacheflow — which will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of HubSpot once the deal closes — will expand HubSpot’s Commerce Hub suite of subscription billing management and …...Read More

Temu gets more questions from the EU about illegal product risks

The European Union has dialed up scrutiny of Chinese ecommerce marketplace Temu, asking for more information about its compliance with multiple provisions of the bloc’s online governance framework, the Digital Services Act (DSA), including in relation to how it prevents the sale of illegal goods on its platform. Back in …...Read More

Anthony Levandowski buys Elon Musk's vision for the future

Anthony Levandowski, the engineer who co-founded Google’s self-driving car program (now known as Waymo) and has gone on to start an off-road AV startup, hopped on the phone with me after Tesla’s big robotaxi reveal to share his thoughts. And he is bullish on Elon Musk’s vision for Tesla’s and …...Read More

Sequoia Capital, CISA, and Tidelift take the Stage at Disrupt 2024

In today’s software ecosystem, open source code has become the backbone of innovation and digital infrastructure, playing a pivotal role in everything from startups to major enterprises. The collaborative nature of open source software has unlocked incredible potential for businesses, allowing rapid development and agility. But with this openness comes …...Read More