Griffin Bank has a license to thrill

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! I’m filling in for Mary Ann, who is on a much deserved break. This week, we look at Griffin Bank getting its license ahead of some heavy hitters, and we go inside Stripe’s annual letter, some funding rounds, and more! The big story A top story for this… Continua a leggere Griffin Bank has a license to thrill

VC Arjun Sethi talks a big game about selling his company-picking strategies to other investors; he says they’re buying it

Arjun Sethi speaks with the confidence of someone who knows more than other people, or at least knows that sounding highly confident can shape perception. Either way, when he tells me over Zoom that “in five years, I’ll have 50% of the world’s private data” at his fingertips, and that it will be “impossible to… Continua a leggere VC Arjun Sethi talks a big game about selling his company-picking strategies to other investors; he says they’re buying it

Another autonomous vehicle startup shutters, Zoox expands driverless testing and investor fervor for AI escalates

TechCrunch Mobility is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click TechCrunch Mobility — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. I spent a few days in Austin… Continua a leggere Another autonomous vehicle startup shutters, Zoox expands driverless testing and investor fervor for AI escalates

xAI open-sources base model of Grok, but without any training code

Elon Musk’s xAI has open-sourced the base code of Grok AI model, but without any training code. The company described it as the “314 billion parameter Mixture-of-Expert model” on GitHub. In a blog post, xAI said that the model wasn’t tuned for any particular application such as using it for conversations. The company noted that… Continua a leggere xAI open-sources base model of Grok, but without any training code

Poseidona is removing invasive algae from oceans and turning it into food

Poseidona is a Barcelona-based developer of sustainable food technology. It takes invasive seaweed and algal side-streams to make proteins. In this case, it’s a soy protein alternative. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Apple is reportedly exploring a partnership with Google for Gemini-powered feature on iPhones

Apple is looking to team up with Google for a mega-deal to leverage the Gemini AI model for features on iPhone, Bloomberg reported. This will put Google in a commanding position as the company already has a deal with Apple as the preferred search engine provider on iPhones for the Safari browser. The publication cited… Continua a leggere Apple is reportedly exploring a partnership with Google for Gemini-powered feature on iPhones

Nigerian fintech Zone raises $8.5M seed to scale its decentralized payment infrastructure

African financial institutions typically scale their solutions using a mix of local and foreign tech. Appzone is one of the standout local fintech software providers for banks and fintechs, providing better pricing and flexibility. For over a decade, the Nigeria-based Appzone has functioned as an enabler (at payment rails and core infrastructure) within banking and… Continua a leggere Nigerian fintech Zone raises $8.5M seed to scale its decentralized payment infrastructure

Want to see an NHS doctor? Prepare to cough up your data first.

To get a doctor’s appointment in the U.K. these days, you have to entrust more of your data to private companies — and there’s not a great deal you can do about it. In part due to growing pressure from the government to meet a two-week limit for patient appointments, family doctors — or general… Continua a leggere Want to see an NHS doctor? Prepare to cough up your data first.

Rebecca Whiting will break down SAFEs, notes, and series seed financing at TechCrunch Early Stage 2024

Raising capital sounds simple: You hand over shares, investors hand over cash, and everyone then gets back to work. The reality is a little bit more complicated. If you are selling equity, are you doing so in a priced round? Or via a convertible note, a debt instrument that will later convert to shares? Oh… Continua a leggere Rebecca Whiting will break down SAFEs, notes, and series seed financing at TechCrunch Early Stage 2024

Tech giant Fujitsu says it was hacked, warns of data breach

Multinational technology giant Fujitsu confirmed a cyberattack in a statement Friday, and warned that hackers may have stolen personal data and customer information. “We confirmed the presence of malware on multiple work computers at our company, and as a result of an internal investigation, we discovered that files containing personal information and customer information could… Continua a leggere Tech giant Fujitsu says it was hacked, warns of data breach