Tech

Lovable, the Stockholm-based AI coding platform, is closing in on 8 million users, CEO Anton Osika told this editor during a sit-down on Monday, a major jump from the 2.3 million active users number the company shared in July. Osika said the company — which was founded almost exactly one year ago — is also seeing “100,000 new products built …

SoftBank and OpenAI announced a new 50-50 joint venture this week to sell enterprise AI tools in Japan under the brand “Crystal Intelligence.” On paper, it’s a straightforward international expansion deal. But SoftBank’s role as a major investor in OpenAI is raising questions about whether AI’s biggest deals are creating real economic value or just moving money in circles.  On TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and …

January Ventures co-founder Jennifer Neundorfer stopped by the Equity podcast during TechCrunch Disrupt to chat about fundraising in this very AI-driven market.   Founders and investors alike are obsessed with AI, and even Neundorfer said her firm is looking at ways to use AI to make their work more efficient, such as helping to do due diligence on the market and …

People often think about tech bubbles in apocalyptic terms, but it doesn’t have to be as serious as all that. In economic terms, a bubble is a bet that turned out to be too big, leaving you with more supply than demand.   The upshot: It’s not all or nothing, and even good bets can turn sour if you aren’t careful about how you make them.  What makes the question of …

Rad Power Bikes has informed its employees that it will shut down in January if it is unable to find new funding or get acquired, according to an internal staff email viewed by TechCrunch. The company’s leadership is “still fighting to find ways to continue,” and “the cessation of Rad’s operations is not a forgone conclusion,” according to the email, …

Kaltura, a New York-headquartered AI video platform company, is acquiring eSelf.ai, an Israel-based startup behind conversational avatars — AI-generated digital humans that can talk with users — for about $27 million. Kaltura announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire eSelf, a platform supporting more than 30 languages and featuring a user-friendly studio for creating, customizing, and …

Google announced on Monday that it’s starting to roll out Gemini to the Google TV Streamer, replacing Google Assistant. The tech giant says the change will enable users to use their voice more naturally to access content and more. For example, users can now ask something like, “I like dramas but my wife likes comedies. What’s a movie we can …

Gamma, a startup that creates AI-generated presentations, websites, and social media posts, announced on Monday a $68 million Series B round at a $2.1 billion valuation led by Andreessen Horowitz.  Co-founder and CEO Grant Lee posted on X that the company has profitably hit $100 million in ARR, with 70 million users. The startup hit $50 million profitably in its first two years, Lee previously posted. Gamma last raised a $12 million Series A round led by Accel in 2024.  Gamma isn’t exactly a new-to-the-scene AI startup (at least …

Wikipedia on Monday laid out a simple plan to ensure its website continues to be supported in the AI era, despite its declining traffic. In a blog post, the Wikimedia Foundation, the organization that runs the popular online encyclopedia, called on AI developers to use its content “responsibly” by ensuring its contributions are properly attributed and that content is accessed …

Carbon management startup Carbon Direct is buying another carbon credit startup, Pachama, the companies announced today. Pachama laid off around 20 employees this summer as voluntary carbon markets softened. The company had attracted investments from a range of prominent names, including Amazon’s Climate Pledge, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, and several celebrity angel investors, including Ellen DeGeneres, Laura Dern, and …