OpenAI is in early discussions to raise up to $40 billion in a funding round that could value the company at $300 billion, with SoftBank leading the investment. According to reporting by Berber Jin and Deepa Seetharaman in The Wall Street Journal, SoftBank is considering an investment of $15-25 billion. Part of the funding would …
Y Combinator-backed Origami Agents has secured $2 million in seed funding to develop AI research agents that support human sales teams. As Michael Nuñez reports for VentureBeat, the San Francisco-based startup focuses on automating sales research tasks rather than replacing sales representatives entirely. Founded four months ago, the company has achieved $50,000 in monthly recurring …
Google has invested an additional $1 billion in AI company Anthropic, according to a Financial Times report by George Hammond, Madhumita Murgia, and Arash Massoudi. This new investment builds on Google’s previous $2 billion commitment to the AI startup. Anthropic, known for its Claude AI models, is approaching a $60 billion valuation and is close …
AI-powered search engine Perplexity has acquired Read.cv, a professional social media platform that competed with LinkedIn. According to TechCrunch reporter Kyle Wiggers, Read.cv will cease operations, with users having until May 16 to export their data. The Berkeley-based platform, founded in 2021, offered tools for sharing resumes, professional networking, and job listings. Read.cv’s team will …
AI or Not, a platform specialized in detecting AI-generated content and deepfakes, has raised $5 million in seed funding. As reported by Dean Takahashi, the investment round was led by Foundation Capital with participation from GTMFund, Plug and Play, and angel investors. The company’s technology identifies AI-generated content across images, audio, and video to prevent …
AI startup Anthropic is negotiating a $2 billion funding round that would value the company at $60 billion. According to Wall Street Journal reporter Berber Jin, Lightspeed Venture Partners is leading the investment. The deal would make Anthropic the fifth most valuable U.S. startup, following its previous $18 billion valuation in 2023. The company’s chatbot …
Niklas Zennström, co-founder of Skype and prominent European tech investor, believes European startups can thrive in AI despite the significant funding gap with US competitors. In an interview with the Financial Times, as reported by Tim Bradshaw, Zennström explained that European companies can succeed by developing applications on top of established AI platforms from companies …
OpenAI is currently losing money on its $200 monthly ChatGPT Pro subscription due to higher-than-expected usage by subscribers. According to reporting by Kyle Wiggers for TechCrunch, CEO Sam Altman personally set the price, expecting it to be profitable. The premium service, launched in late 2024, provides access to advanced AI models and removes usage limits. …
Investment in AI-powered medical note-taking applications doubled to $800 million in 2024, marking a significant shift in healthcare technology adoption. According to a report by Madhumita Murgia in the Financial Times, this surge reflects growing competition between Big Tech companies and startups in the $26 billion AI healthcare market. Microsoft’s Nuance DAX Copilot and solutions …
Venture capital investment in generative AI companies hit an unprecedented $56 billion in 2024, marking a 192% increase from the previous year. According to reporting by Kyle Wiggers for TechCrunch, this funding was distributed across 885 deals worldwide. Major contributors to this surge included substantial investments in industry leaders, with Databricks securing $10 billion, xAI …