Rippling raises $450M at a $16.8B valuation, reveals YC is a customer

HR tech startup Rippling has raised a $450 million Series G round at a $16.8 billion valuation, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. It is also conducting a $200 million tender offer to give current and former employees some liquidity. The equity raise marks a big jump in valuation from a year ago. In April 2024,… Continua a leggere Rippling raises $450M at a $16.8B valuation, reveals YC is a customer

Meta’s speeding up the ‘Mad Men to Math Men’ pipeline

At Stripe’s Sessions conference this week, Mark Zuckerberg pitched what he calls the “ultimate business machine”: a fully automated, end-to-end AI ad engine promising to replace agencies, creatives, and media buyers with a single black box. You just need to connect your bank account first.  Zuckerberg claims this could be one of the most valuable… Continua a leggere Meta’s speeding up the ‘Mad Men to Math Men’ pipeline

Meta’s speeding up the ‘Mad Men to Math Men’ pipeline

At Stripe’s Sessions conference this week, Mark Zuckerberg pitched what he calls the “ultimate business machine”: a fully automated, end-to-end AI ad engine promising to replace agencies, creatives, and media buyers with a single black box. You just need to connect your bank account first.  Zuckerberg claims this could be one of the most valuable… Continua a leggere Meta’s speeding up the ‘Mad Men to Math Men’ pipeline

CoreWeave reportedly looks to raise $1.5B in debt as IPO disappoints

Data center operator CoreWeave is reportedly seeking a $1.5 billion debt deal after a disappointing IPO. According to the Financial Times, CoreWeave is holding a roadshow this week with bankers at JPMorgan for debt options. The company’s executives intend to use the meetings to gauge investor interest. New Jersey-based CoreWeave listed its shares in March,… Continua a leggere CoreWeave reportedly looks to raise $1.5B in debt as IPO disappoints

Instagram Threads is getting video ads

Instagram Threads will begin testing video ads, Meta announced on Thursday. The test, which will make Threads look more like its competitor X, is an expansion of Threads’ advertising initiatives, which began last month with the opening up of ads to global advertisers. The news was announced at Meta’s presentation at the IAB NewFronts, where… Continua a leggere Instagram Threads is getting video ads

Google launches ‘implicit caching’ to make accessing its latest AI models cheaper

Google is rolling out a feature in its Gemini API that the company claims will make its latest AI models cheaper for third-party developers. Google calls the feature “implicit caching” and says it can deliver 75% savings on “repetitive context” passed to models via the Gemini API. It supports Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro and 2.5… Continua a leggere Google launches ‘implicit caching’ to make accessing its latest AI models cheaper

Social media startup Fizz sues Instacart and Partiful for trademark infringement over new Fizz app

Social media startup Fizz is suing grocery delivery giant Instacart and party planning app Partiful for trademark infringement, the company announced on Thursday. Earlier this week, Instacart launched a new drinks and snack delivery app for parties called Fizz and announced that Partiful had integrated Fizz directly into its platform. Founded in 2020, Fizz is a… Continua a leggere Social media startup Fizz sues Instacart and Partiful for trademark infringement over new Fizz app

Meta taps former Google DeepMind director to lead its AI research lab

Meta has chosen Robert Fergus to lead its Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab, according to Bloomberg. Fergus had been working at Google DeepMind as a research director for roughly five years, per his LinkedIn. Prior to Google, he worked as a researcher scientist at Meta. Meta’s FAIR, which has been around since 2013, has faced… Continua a leggere Meta taps former Google DeepMind director to lead its AI research lab

Ex-Synapse CEO reportedly trying to raise $100M for his new humanoid robotics venture

Sankaet Pathak’s last startup, fintech Synapse, filed for bankruptcy in 2024 amid issues with partner Evolve Bank & Trust. Tens of millions of dollars in deposits made by consumers, mostly customers of fintechs that worked with Synapse, remain unaccounted for. Yet according to The Information, Pathak is reportedly moving full steam ahead on attempts to… Continua a leggere Ex-Synapse CEO reportedly trying to raise $100M for his new humanoid robotics venture

ChatGPT’s deep research tool gets a GitHub connector to answer questions about code

OpenAI is enhancing its AI-powered “deep research” feature with the ability to analyze codebases on GitHub. On Thursday, OpenAI announced what it’s calling the first “connector” for ChatGPT deep research, the company’s tool that searches across the web and other sources to compile thorough research reports on a topic. Now, ChatGPT deep research can link… Continua a leggere ChatGPT’s deep research tool gets a GitHub connector to answer questions about code