Tuochao Chen, a University of Washington doctoral student, recently toured a museum in Mexico. Chen doesn’t speak Spanish, so he ran a translation app on his phone and pointed the microphone at the tour guide. But even in a museum’s relative quiet, the surrounding noise was too much. The resulting text was useless.Tuochao Chen, a University of Washington doctoral student, recently toured a museum in Mexico. Chen doesn’t speak Spanish, so he ran a translation app on his phone and pointed the microphone at the tour guide. But even in a museum’s relative quiet, the surrounding noise was too much. The resulting text was useless.Hi Tech & Innovation[#item_full_content]
TechCrunch All Stage 2025: Prepare 4 VC’s Jason Kraus will instruct on how to turn chaos into momentum
Being a founder often feels like you’re building the plane midflight. You’re juggling fundraising, product-market fit, marketing strategy, hiring — while quietly wondering if you’re even doing it right. TechCrunch AllStage 2025, which is happening on July 15 at the SoWa Power Station in Boston, is built to answer those questions. Whether you’re pitching VCs, […]Being a founder often feels like you’re building the plane midflight. You’re juggling fundraising, product-market fit, marketing strategy, hiring — while quietly wondering if you’re even doing it right. TechCrunch AllStage 2025, which is happening on July 15 at the SoWa Power Station in Boston, is built to answer those questions. Whether you’re pitching VCs,[#item_full_content]
Scaling startups in the European market
From cybersecurity and aerospace to generative 3D, startup leaders are scaling ambitious companies from European soil and taking on global markets. In this conversation at the StrictlyVC event in Athens, we talked to three founders about what it takes to go from idea to impact while navigating the continent’s unique challenges — and why building […]From cybersecurity and aerospace to generative 3D, startup leaders are scaling ambitious companies from European soil and taking on global markets. In this conversation at the StrictlyVC event in Athens, we talked to three founders about what it takes to go from idea to impact while navigating the continent’s unique challenges — and why building[#item_full_content]
Investing in overlooked European ecosystems
John Tsioris sold InstaShop to Delivery Hero for $360 million. Nate Clarke took Tyme from startup to global digital bank. In this candid conversation at the StrictlyVC event in Athens, the two entrepreneurs open up about what drives them, how they’re choosing their next bets, and why they’re investing in ecosystems that others overlook.John Tsioris sold InstaShop to Delivery Hero for $360 million. Nate Clarke took Tyme from startup to global digital bank. In this candid conversation at the StrictlyVC event in Athens, the two entrepreneurs open up about what drives them, how they’re choosing their next bets, and why they’re investing in ecosystems that others overlook.[#item_full_content]
The US is reviewing Benchmark’s investment into Chinese AI startup Manus
Manus AI is one of the hottest AI agent startups around, recently raising $75 million at a half-billion dollar valuation in a round led by Benchmark. But two unnamed sources told Semafor that the investment is now under review by the U.S. Treasury Department over its compliance with 2023 restrictions on investing in Chinese companies. […]Manus AI is one of the hottest AI agent startups around, recently raising $75 million at a half-billion dollar valuation in a round led by Benchmark. But two unnamed sources told Semafor that the investment is now under review by the U.S. Treasury Department over its compliance with 2023 restrictions on investing in Chinese companies.[#item_full_content]
The Department of Labor just dropped its investigation into Scale AI
The U.S. Department of Labor has dropped its investigation into Scale AI’s compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to a source directly familiar with the matter. The FLSA is a federal law that regulates misclassification of employees as independent contractors and unpaid wages. TechCrunch first reported that Scale was the subject of such […]The U.S. Department of Labor has dropped its investigation into Scale AI’s compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to a source directly familiar with the matter. The FLSA is a federal law that regulates misclassification of employees as independent contractors and unpaid wages. TechCrunch first reported that Scale was the subject of such[#item_full_content]
A joint research team from Seoul National University and Harvard University has developed a next-generation swarm robot system inspired by nature—capable of movement, exploration, transport, and cooperation, all without the need for precise sensors or centralized control.A joint research team from Seoul National University and Harvard University has developed a next-generation swarm robot system inspired by nature—capable of movement, exploration, transport, and cooperation, all without the need for precise sensors or centralized control.[#item_full_content]
Serena-backed health tech lands first FDA approval for home cervical cancer test
For the first time, the FDA has just approved a device that lets people screen for cervical cancer from home. Known as the Teal Wand, from the company Teal Health, the prescription device lets patients self-collect samples and mail them to a lab to receive the same testing as would be done at a doctor’s […]For the first time, the FDA has just approved a device that lets people screen for cervical cancer from home. Known as the Teal Wand, from the company Teal Health, the prescription device lets patients self-collect samples and mail them to a lab to receive the same testing as would be done at a doctor’s[#item_full_content]
Startups Weekly: Different paths on the road to liquidity
Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week was busy for startups: While there were no IPOs of note, there were other exits and even unusual liquidity events, as well as a significant […]Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week was busy for startups: While there were no IPOs of note, there were other exits and even unusual liquidity events, as well as a significant[#item_full_content]
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 […]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[#item_full_content]
