Lachy Groom to back India startup Pronto at a $200M valuation, sources say

This round, should it occur, would double the house-help startup’s valuation in a matter of weeks.

Cohere acquires, merges with German-based startup to create a ‘transatlantic AI powerhouse’

Cohere, the Canada-based AI company that makes AI tools for businesses in regulated industries, announced Friday it would merge with Aleph Alpha, a German company that also builds AI systems for businesses and governments. 

Two college kids raise a $5.1 million pre-seed to build an AI social network in iMessage

Series, a social networking app that’s grown popular on college campuses, announced a $5.1 million pre-seed round from some big names in tech.

Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga joins stacked StrictlyVC SF lineup for April 30 event

Surprise! StrictlyVC San Francisco, which will kick off this year’s events lineup for TechCrunch on April 30 at the Sentro Filipino Cultural Center, is getting a new addition to its increasingly stacked lineup of speakers. Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Nag…

Tim Cook is stepping down. What happens to Apple now?

Tim Cook plans to step down from his CEO role in September, handing the reins to hardware chief John Ternus.   Ternus may be inheriting one of the most durable businesses in tech, but he’s also stepping into a very different ecosyst…

Redwood Materials loses COO amid layoffs, restructuring

Former Tesla executive Chris Lister is retiring, and at least three other VPs have left Redwood around the recent restructuring, TechCrunch has learned.

Bret Taylor’s Sierra buys YC-backed AI startup Fragment

Sierra, the AI customer service agent startup founded by technologist Bret Taylor, announced today that it has acquired the YC-backed French startup Fragment.

Meet Noscroll, an AI bot that does your doomscrolling for you

Noscroll wants to cure doomscrolling with an AI bot that reads the internet for you.

Don’t stop hiring humans — stop hiring the wrong humans, Artisan’s founder says

Artisan may be known for their bold “Stop Hiring Humans” campaign but the reality is every founder needs to assemble the right team if they want to scale.

Another customer of troubled startup Delve suffered a big security incident

TechCrunch has confirmed that Delve was the compliance company that performed the security certifications for Context AI, the AI agent training startup that last week disclosed a security incident.