Tech

Japanese investing conglomerate SoftBank Group is buying a robotics company as the financial behemoth says physical AI is its next frontier.   SoftBank announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Zurich, Switzerland-based ABB Group’s robotics business unit for $5.375 billion. The deal is subject to regulatory approval; SoftBank predicts the deal will close in mid-to-late 2026 according to a press release. …

Google is bringing its AI-powered conversational search feature, Search Live, to India — launching in English and Hindi — and expanding AI Mode to seven new Indian languages, as the company strengthens its presence in one of its fastest-growing markets. First introduced in the U.S. in July, Search Live builds on Google’s Project Astra technology and is available through the …

Qapita, a Singapore-based equity management platform, has raised $26.5 million in a Series B round led by Charles Schwab. As part of the deal, Charles Schwab has introduced a new platform called Schwab Private Issuer Equity Services — powered by Qapita — which let’s U.S. startups manage their cap tables, administer stock plans, and prepare for public listings. Founded in …

British fintech Revolut — now launching in India — says cross-border payments remain one of India’s most underserved financial services. By its estimate, Indians spend about $30 billion overseas every year and lose around $600 million in bank charges — fees its India head calls “criminal.” “It has been the preserve of banks,” Paroma Chatterjee, Revolut India CEO, told TechCrunch. …

Zelda Williams, daughter of the late actor Robin Williams, has a poignant message for her father’s fans. “Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad. Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand. I don’t and I won’t,” she wrote in a post on her Instagram story on Monday. “If you’ve got any decency, just stop doing …

The Department of Energy is looking to cut billions more in federal funding, and many promising startups as well as automakers Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis could be affected by the Trump administration’s decision. The proposed cuts would cancel more than $500 million of contracts awarded to more than a dozen startups, according to a TechCrunch analysis of a internal …

After AMD and OpenAI announced an expanded partnership on Monday, the chatter immediately turned to the unusual way OpenAI would pay for its AMD purchases. It will use AMD’s own stock to do so.  To recap: OpenAI has agreed to help AMD refine its line of Nvidia competitor chips, the Instinct GPUs, as well as to purchase and deploy 6 gigawatts of …

Google is expanding access to Opal, its AI vibe-coding app, to 15 more countries. The app, which lets you create mini web apps using text prompts, is now available in Canada, India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, Singapore, Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panamá, Honduras, Argentina, and Pakistan. “When we opened up Opal to users in the U.S. we anticipated …

Otter.ai CEO Sam Liang isn’t satisfied with the company being viewed, and used, as just a meeting notetaker. Liang wants Otter.ai to become a go-to source for enterprises and a new batch of products released Tuesday is the first step in that evolution. The Silicon Valley-based AI meeting assistant startup released Tuesday a new suite of tools for enterprises designed to better …

Tesla has spent more than a year teasing that “more affordable models” of its vehicles were on the way, and on Tuesday, the company finally revealed them. The company is now selling a more bare-bones version of the Model 3 sedan and the Model Y SUV, which start at $36,990 and $39,990, respectively. The new versions, each dubbed “Standard,” get …