GM's Cruise is testing robotaxis in Dallas again

GM’s Cruise is redeploying a small fleet of robotaxis in Dallas this week as part of the company’s previously stated goal to validate its self-driving systems and win back public trust. Dallas is the second city that Cruise is easing its way back into after pulling its entire U.S. fleet …...Read More

After raising $100M, AI fintech LoanSnap is being sued, fined, evicted

AI mortgage startup LoanSnap is facing an avalanche of lawsuits from creditors and has been evicted from its headquarters in Southern California, leaving employees worried about the company’s future, TechCrunch has learned. LoanSnap, founded by serial entrepreneurs Karl Jacob and Allan Carroll, has raised around $100 million in funding since …...Read More

Sonos Ace review: A high-priced contender

In late May, Sonos announced that it was getting into the headphone game with the $449 Ace. The addition made perfect sense: The company has spent the past 20-plus years establishing itself as a trusted, reliable name in the world of connected home audio. Besides, nearly every other consumer electronic …...Read More

Instagram confirms test of 'unskippable' ads

Instagram confirmed it’s testing unskippable ads after screenshots of the feature began circulating across social media. These new ad breaks will display a countdown timer that stops users from being able to browse through more content on the app until they view the ad, according to informational text displayed in …...Read More

Shopify acquires Checkout Blocks, a checkout customization app

Commerce platform Shopify has acquired Checkout Blocks, allowing Shopify Plus merchants to make no-code customizations in their checkout to enhance customer experience and potentially boost sales. Checkout Blocks, which debuted on Shopify in September 2022, lets merchants customize their checkout by adding things such as AI recommendations, custom content (like …...Read More

One week left: Apply to TC Disrupt Startup Battlefield 200

Time is relentless and, right now, it’s no friend to procrastination-prone early-stage startup founders. The application window for Startup Battlefield 200 (SB 200) at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 slams shut in just one week. Can you afford to miss this potentially life-changing opportunity? We think not. Startup Battlefield 200 applications close …...Read More

Aptoide launches its alternative iOS game store in EU

After the Digital Markets Act (DMA) forced Apple to allow third-party app stores for iOS in Europe, several developers have launched alternative stores, like the AltStore and MacPaw’s Setapp (currently in closed beta). The latest entrant on the list is Aptoide, the longstanding Android app store upstart, which is launching …...Read More

Cloudera acquires Verta to bring some AI chops to its data platform

Cloudera, the once high flying Hadoop startup, raised $1 billion and went public in 2018 before being acquired by private equity for $5.3 billion 2021. Today, the company announced that it is acquiring Verta, an AI startup that helps customers manage machine learning models, including large language models used in …...Read More

Spend management startup SiFi raises $10M to grow further in Saudi Arabia

The global spend management sector is experiencing a tailwind of sorts. North America is arguably the biggest market in this space, but spend management companies have seen demand rise across the world, thanks to increasing internet penetration, tech advancements and businesses’ increasing focus on making sure they spend wisely. Indeed, …...Read More

Swiss startup Neural Concept raises $27M to cut EV design time to 18 months

As pressure from Chinese competitors intensifies and the EV market stalls, major U.S. and European auto manufacturers are racing to cut the cost of producing electric vehicles so they can get to the price tags and profit margins of ICE cars. But to do that, they must find ways to …...Read More