And Manish wrote about the resignation of Stability AI founder and CEO Emad Mostaque late last week.
AI-powered itineraries: In an upgrade to its Search Generative Experience, Google has added the ability for users to ask Google Search to plan a travel itinerary.
Using AI, Search will draw on ideas from websites around the web along with reviews, photos and other details.
Robinhood’s new card: Nine months after acquiring credit card startup X1 for $95 million, Robinhood on Wednesday announced the launch of its new Gold Card, powered by X1’s technology, with a list of features that could make Apple Card users envious.
Bonus roundSpotify tests online learning: In its ongoing efforts to get its 600 million+ users to spend more time and money on its platform, Spotify is spinning up a new line of content: e-learning.
Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups.
For the low, low price of being a Robinhood Gold member (because who doesn’t want to pay $5 a month for the privilege of spending more money?
Robinhood unveiled its Gold Card, a credit card so packed with features it might just make Apple Card users pause for a hot second.
For the low, low price of being a Robinhood Gold member (because who doesn’t want to pay $5 a month for the privilege of spending more money?
Trend of the week: Transportation troubleThe New York Stock Exchange has given EV startup Fisker the boot, citing its “abnormally low” stock prices.
The AI world needs more data transparency and web3 startup Space and Time says it can helpAs AI proliferates and things on the internet are easier to manipulate, there’s a need more than ever to make sure data and brands are verifiable, said Scott Dykstra, CTO and co-founder of Space and Time, on TechCrunch’s Chain Reaction podcast.
Dykstra thinks the answer is through verification of data and zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs), which are cryptographic actions used to prove something about a piece of information — without revealing the origin data itself.
“It has a lot to do with whether there’s an incentive for bad actors to want to manipulate things,” Dykstra said.
Anytime there’s a higher incentive, where people would want to manipulate data, prices, the books, finances or more, ZK proofs can be used to verify and retrieve the data.
Dykstra’s most recent concern is that AI data isn’t really verifiable.
In Stripe’s annual letter, the company discussed several fast-growing areas, one of them being the “Revenue and Finance Automation” unit.
Stripe’s RFA unit will reach a $500 million annual run rate this year, the company said.
So they built a product that helps companies import and centralize customer data from third-party data sources like Salesforce or other customer relationship management systems into their own applications.
How did a tiny four-person startup catch the attention, and an acquisition offer, from mighty Stripe?
Considering the growth Stripe alluded to in its annual letter, Supaglue will likely quickly find fast friends within Stripe’s ecosystem.
Today, March 29, marks the final opportunity to grab your early-bird savings for TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 — a one-day event set to ignite your entrepreneurial journey on April 25 in Boston.
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Byju’s is holding an extraordinary general meeting Friday, where it will attempt to pass the resolution over the rights issue.
The rights issue values Byju’s under $250 million, a stunning drop from the $22 billion valuation it carried in early 2022.
Prosus Ventures, Peak XV Partners and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are among the investors who didn’t participate in Byju’s recent $200 million rights issue.
The investors have instead sought, using legal means, to remove Raveendran and his family from the startup and to invalidate the rights issue.
The investors quit the startup’s board whereas the global auditing giant Deloitte dropped the account of Byju’s over these concerns last year.
Kids’ clothing and gear is more expensive than ever.
Kidsy has a sustainable solution for discountsAll parents know that raising kids is expensive.
Enter Kidsy, a new Chicago-based e-commerce startup which aims to give consumers greater access to discounted baby and kids products by partnering with large brands, retailers and liquidation companies for their overstock and returns inventory.
At the same time, it says, it can help prevent overstock and liquidation items – such as kids’ clothing – from ending up in landfills, which is obviously not good for the environment.
Kids’ clothing: A massive marketTandon’s road to founding Kidsy started when she founded her own media production company after working as a journalist for Bloomberg TV and ABC News.
Google.org, Google’s charitable wing, is launching a new program to help fund nonprofits developing tech that leverages generative AI.
Called Google.org Accelerator: Generative AI, the program is to be funded by $20 million in grants and include 21 nonprofits to start, including Quill.org, a company creating AI-powered tools for student writing feedback, and World Bank, which is building a generative AI app to make development research more accessible.
“Generative AI can help social impact teams be more productive, creative and effective in serving their communities,” Annie Lewin, director of global advocacy at Google.org, said in a blog post.
But there remain significant barriers for nonprofits looking to build their own AI solutions or adopt third-party products — chiefly cost, resources and time.
Nonprofit accelerator Fast Forward said that this year, more than a third of applicants for its latest class were AI companies.
Wonderschool, a startup that provides software and support to help individuals and local governments spin up childcare businesses, has acquired EarlyDay, which operates an early childhood educator marketplace.
TechCrunch has covered Wonderschool since its infancy, including both of its seed rounds and its Series A (led by Andreessen Horowitz).
Back in early 2022, Wonderschool raised a $25 million Series B at a $165 million post-money valuation, according to Crunchbase data.
Indeed, a quick search for “childcare crisis” will show you just how worried parents of young kids are and how strapped they are for affordable options.
If the Wonderschool-EarlyDay deal works out, we could see an increase in the supply of childcare services.
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