TechCrunch Startup News

While an Anthropic spokesperson confirmed that the AI firm did not acquire Humanloop or its IP, that’s a moot point in an industry where IP lives in the brain. And what Humanloop’s team is bringing to Anthropic is experience developing the tools that help enterprises run safe, reliable AI at scale. Also, India’s Rapido begins testing food delivery to take on Swiggy, Zomato. Rapido's beta food deli...

Cohere has hired Joelle Pineau, Meta's former VP of AI research who previously oversaw the tech giant's fundamental AI research (FAIR) lab. In her newly created Chief AI Officer role, Pineau will oversee AI strategy across Cohere's research, product and policy teams. Also, Monarch Tractors won’t be built by Foxconn after Ohio factory sale. The tractors were the only vehicles being built by Foxconn...

Self-driving truck maker Waabi has hired autonomous vehicle industry veteran and Uber Freight CEO, Lior Ron, to step in as chief operating officer, as the startup looks to scale its commercial operations ahead of its planned launch of driverless trucks on public highways later this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neuralink has been making serious progress. Soon Sam Altman and OpenAI could be backing a challenger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As more solid rocket motor suppliers are coming online, a supply chain chokepoint looms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ultraviolette aims to expand its electric motorcycles to 40 European countries, as well as Latin America and Southeast Asia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chowdeck, a Lagos-based food delivery startup that has stayed profitable in a notoriously tough and low-margin market, has raised $9 million in Series A funding to launch a quick commerce strategy and expand into more cities in Nigeria and Ghana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Truemeds has taken a different route from other Indian online pharmacies — and it has helped the startup double its revenue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"I think we're still kind of feeling out the space," CEO Brian Chesky told investors on the Q2 earnings call. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coding assistant startups are highly unprofitable, says a source familiar with Windsurf financials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AI-generated “brain rot” videos are popping up all over the internet and getting a lot of attention. Currently gaining traction among younger users, these clips feature wild characters, like a shark wearing sneakers and a ballerina with a cappuccino for a head. One startup driving this trend is OpenArt, founded by two former Google employees in 2022. It touts around 3 million monthly active users....

Lava is a digital wallet that lets merchants use credits to facilitate transactions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Celebrity Lockets is a new feature where celebrities can engage with their most loyal followers on their home screens. Also, Tavity, the one-year-old startup raised a Series A led by Insight Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a juicy competitive move for both companies after AWS faced an onslaught of criticism over its progress with AI. In other news, the AI audio-generation unicorn ElevenLabs announced the launch of a new model that allows users to generate music that's cleared for commercial use. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-The AI sales automation startup raised fresh funds, led by CapitalG, just months after its last round. -While the ActivityPub integration is a main selling point for Ghost 6, this major release includes a number of other changes and new additions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

OpenMind is building humanoid robot operating software designed for robots that interact with people and other robots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Germ's new app lets users send end-to-end encrypted messages on Bluesky. TechCrunch speaks with the Germ founders to hear why they came up with the idea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Indian startup Jeh Aerospace has secured $11 million in a new funding round to help ease global supply chain bottlenecks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anthropic has revoked OpenAI’s access to its Claude family of AI models, according to a report in Wired. Sources told Wired that OpenAI was connecting Claude to internal tools that allowed the company to compare Claude’s performance to its own models in categories like coding, writing, and safety. Also, as Silicon Valley races toward a future where AI agents do most of the software programming, a...

Latvian startup Handwave aims to compete with Amazon palm payments by offering an independent alternative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SixSense offers an AI-powered platform that helps chip makers prevent defects. It landed backing led by Peak XV’s Surge (formerly Sequoia India & SEA). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Israel-based eVTOL startup AIR has raised $23 million to scale production of both its piloted and uncrewed cargo aircraft, and enter the U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A marketing automation startup called Conversation has a founding story that sounds like it could have been an episode of the HBO show “Silicon Valley.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nara Organics is a new organic, whole milk baby formula brand that's free from palm oil, soy, corn syrup, maltodextrin, and GMOs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Delian Alliance Industries recently raised $14 million in funding to continue building its defense products, which include surveillance towers, and concealed sea drones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices