Technology

In defense of Apple’s $230 iPhone sock

In defense of Apple’s $230 iPhone sock

πŸ’₯ Explore this trending post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ Category: Gadgets,Apple,Fashion,labubu,iphone sock πŸ“Œ Here’s what you’ll learn: If you think Apple's $19 polishing cloth is ridiculous, wait until you hear about Apple's latest product: the limited edition iPhone Pocket is a cloth sling for your phone, which retails for $149.95 for the short size, and $229.95 for the long crossbody size. It appears that the item itself may be a bait for rage. Apple's website says it was inspired by the "piece of cloth" concept, where just one piece of cloth makes up the entire design. But the iPhone Pocket…
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Sam Atlman-backed company Exowatt wants to power AI data centers with billions of hot rocks

Sam Atlman-backed company Exowatt wants to power AI data centers with billions of hot rocks

✨ Check out this trending post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ Category: Enterprise,Climate,Fundraising,data centers,Solar Power,Exclusive,thermal batteries,Exowatt,MVP Ventures βœ… Main takeaway: When Hanan Habi started thinking about how to solve the AI ​​energy crisis, he kept one number in mind: one cent per kilowatt-hour. β€œWe went through all kinds of configurations and designs,” Happy, Exowatt co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch. "They all look different from each other. We tried to learn from everyone: How can I reduce structural costs? How can I reduce maintenance costs? How can I improve this?" After years of brainstorming and building, Exowatt's first step toward achieving this…
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Teen founders raise $6 million to reinvent pesticides with AI β€” and convince Paul Graham to join

Teen founders raise $6 million to reinvent pesticides with AI β€” and convince Paul Graham to join

πŸš€ Check out this must-read post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ Category: Startups,AI,General Catalyst,Paul Graham,Y Combinator,Exclusive,drug discovery,Bindwell,A Capital,pesticide πŸ’‘ Key idea: Two teenage founders walked into Y Combinator founder Paul Graham's backyard with an idea that no one in agriculture seemed to want β€” an artificial intelligence model to help design better pesticides. By the time they left, they had a new business model, a new company, and, ultimately, Graham's support. Now, that reimagined company β€” Bindwell β€” has raised $6 million in a seed round, co-led by General Catalyst and A Capital, with a personal check from Graham himself. Instead…
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Coding Assistant Cursor raises $2.3 billion five months after its previous round

Coding Assistant Cursor raises $2.3 billion five months after its previous round

πŸš€ Read this trending post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ Category: AI,Enterprise,Fundraising,Startups,cursor,nvidia,OpenAI,Thrive Capital,vibe coding πŸ’‘ Key idea: Developer AI Cursor's crypto tool continues to gobble up venture capital as its valuation continues to soar. On Thursday, Cursor announced a $2.3 billion financing round that valued the company at $29.3 billion, as originally reported by The Wall Street Journal. The round more than doubles the company's previous valuation of $9.9 billion, which it achieved in a $900 million Series C round in June. This latest fundraiser was led by Accel, an existing investor, and Coatue, a new company on the cap table.…
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Microsoft’s plan to fix its chip problem is, in part, to let OpenAI do the heavy lifting

Microsoft’s plan to fix its chip problem is, in part, to let OpenAI do the heavy lifting

πŸ’₯ Discover this awesome post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ Category: AI πŸ“Œ Main takeaway: Microsoft is taking a page from the OpenAI playbook, literally. Bloomberg first reported that the tech giant plans to leverage its partner's custom chip development to boost its faltering semiconductor efforts, a move that looks increasingly practical given Microsoft's lackluster performance compared to rivals like Google and Amazon. The arrangement is straightforward: OpenAI designs the AI ​​chips in collaboration with Broadcom, and Microsoft gets full access to the innovations. β€œBecause they're innovating even at the system level, we have access to all of that,” CEO Satya…
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Willow’s voice keyboard lets you type across all your iOS apps β€” and actually edit what you said

Willow’s voice keyboard lets you type across all your iOS apps β€” and actually edit what you said

πŸ”₯ Read this trending post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ Category: Apps,box group,voice AI,Wispr flow,Y Combinator πŸ“Œ Key idea: One of the most effective use cases to emerge from modern AI models is their ability to better understand the human voice, resulting in more accurate dictation tools. One Mac tool, Willow, is launching an iOS app to let users type with their voice across all apps. Similar to Wispr Flow, Willow Keyboard transcribes your voice and also formats the message depending on the context. The app, which supports over 100 languages, allows you to define your own vocabulary terms or create…
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Kering-backed Merova Fund pumps $30.5 million into India’s Varaha for regenerative agriculture

Kering-backed Merova Fund pumps $30.5 million into India’s Varaha for regenerative agriculture

πŸ’₯ Discover this must-read post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ Category: Startups,Climate,Exclusive,Kering,Varaha,Mirova βœ… Main takeaway: Mirova, the French climate-focused investment firm backed by Kering and other heavyweights, has invested $30.5 million (€26.4 million) in Indian climate tech startup Varaha. This investment will help expand the startup's regenerative agriculture program, supporting hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers in northern India. The deal represents Mirova's first carbon investment in India, but its structure is unusual. Instead of receiving shares, the Paris-based company is investing the cash, and in return will receive a share of the carbon credits generated over time. The arrangement forms…
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Data centers now attract larger investments than finding new oil supplies

Data centers now attract larger investments than finding new oil supplies

πŸ”₯ Read this insightful post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ Category: Climate,Enterprise,data center infrastructure,data centers,fossil fuels,natural gas,nuclear power,renewable energy πŸ’‘ Main takeaway: If there is any question about whether data centers are driving the global economy, a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) should dispel any doubts. This year, the world will spend $580 billion on data centers, $40 billion more than it will spend on new oil supplies. β€œThis point of comparison provides a clear sign of the changing nature of modern, highly digitized economies,” the agency said in the report. Electricity consumption from AI data centers is…
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“Chad: the Brainrot IDE” is a new product backed by Y Combinator, and it’s so wild, people thought it was fake

“Chad: the Brainrot IDE” is a new product backed by Y Combinator, and it’s so wild, people thought it was fake

πŸ”₯ Read this trending post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ Category: AI,Startups,TC,ai coding,cluely,jordi hays,vibe coding,Y Combinator βœ… Main takeaway: When former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt, an audience member asked him if the HBO satire show was a success Silicon Valley It will be revived. Costolo, who was a writer for the series, answered no (at timestamp 38:17). He said that while writers talk about it regularly, they don't follow up on it because the actual Silicon Valley of today is too weird to emulate. The most recent example is a new company called Clad Labs that launched…
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Radio streaming software TuneIn has been acquired for $175 million

Radio streaming software TuneIn has been acquired for $175 million

✨ Read this awesome post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ Category: Media & Entertainment,streaming music,streaming service,TuneIn βœ… Main takeaway: Internet radio service TuneIn, a competitor of sorts to Sirius XM and other streaming companies that was valued at about $500 million during its peak, sold for just $175 million. The acquirer is music and technology company Stingray Group, which will pay $150 million at closing and up to $25 million after one year. The company said on Wednesday that it financed the deal with a loan under its revolving credit facility. Founded in 2002, TuneIn was an early player in the…
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