OpenAI and Perplexity are launching AI shopping assistants, but competing startups aren’t sweating it

Startup founders building AI shopping tools think general-purpose models are too broad to deliver truly personalized shopping experiences.

Warner Music signs deal with AI music startup Suno, settles lawsuit

WMG says artists and songwriters will have full control over whether and how their names, images, likenesses, voices, and compositions are used in new AI-generated music.

Character AI will offer interactive ‘Stories’ to kids instead of open-ended chat

The company announced last month that it would no longer allow minors to use its chat features.

ChatGPT’s voice mode is no longer a separate interface

ChatGPT now lets you use voice and text in the same screen, making conversations feel more natural as responses and visuals appear in real time.

Why ‘hold forever’ investors are snapping up venture capital ‘zombies’

An investor explains the “buy, fix, and hold” model employed by Bending Spoons and similar companies that buy distressed startups.

YouTube is working on a feature that will fix the messy home feed

YouTube is experimenting with a new feature that allows users to customize their home feed.

Onton raises $7.5M to expand its AI-powered shopping site beyond furniture

Onton, which change its name from Deft, is giving users an infinite canvas with AI-powered image generation to nudge them towards making quicker purchase decisions

Uber and WeRide’s robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi is officially driverless

The commercial robotaxi service launched last year. Now, the human safety operator is gone.

How Glīd won Startup Battlefield 2025: Mentorship, mission-focus, and meditation 

This week in Build Mode, Startup Battlefield editor Isabelle Johannessen is joined by the winner of this year’s competition, Kevin Damoa, the CEO and founder of Glīd, a logistics infrastructure company that aims to streamline the complex container shipment process.

Google teams up with Accel to hunt for India’s next AI breakouts

Google and Accel will jointly invest up to $2 million in each startup through their new partnership.