Category: Gaming

AI-powered search engine Perplexity has reportedly closed a $500 million funding round, valuing the startup at $9 billion. Bloomberg, citing sources familiar, reports that the round was led by Institutional Venture Partners, and that it closed earlier in December. In an email to TechCrunch, a Perplexity spokesperson declined to comment. The mammoth tranche comes as…

TuSimple has completed its pivot away from autonomous trucking to AI animation and gaming with a rebrand. The company shall henceforth be known as CreateAI.  The rebrand comes as TuSimple is embroiled in controversy over the company’s plans to move its remaining U.S. assets to China to fund the new business, which it initially announced…

A team of engineers at Toyota have spent years iterating on CUE6, the basketball shooting robot. CUE6 uses machine learning to adjust his posture and arm movement in order to take the perfect shot nearly every time. The robot holds the Guinness World Record for most consecutive basketball free throw by a humanoid robot after…

Accounting firms are struggling to adopt high-tech solutions. That’s according to a survey earlier this year from Rightsworks, which found that, while 88% of firms believe tech has had a positive impact on their efficiency, 60% are suffering from disconnected systems, inconsistent processes, and a lack of standardized workflows. Startups like Aiwyn are trying to…

Real estate venture firm Fifth Wall is raising a new $500 million fund called Fifth Wall React, according to a regulatory filing. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. ​ Real estate venture firm Fifth Wall is raising a new $500 million fund called Fifth Wall React, according to a regulatory filing.…

Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, is launching a new AI startup, TechCrunch has learned. The startup, called Stem AI, is currently in stealth. But public documents show it was incorporated in June 2023, and filed for a trademark in August 2023. Shear is listed as CEO on an incorporation document filed with the…

Led by Markforged veterans and backed by a16z, Backlip has raised $30M to democratize product design thanks to AI. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. ​ Led by Markforged veterans and backed by a16z, Backlip has raised $30M to democratize product design thanks to AI. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved.…

Anysphere, the developer of AI-powered coding assistant Cursor, raised $100 million Series B at a post-money valuation of $2.6 billion, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. The round is being led by returning investor Thrive Capital, the person said.  This new funding comes just four months after Anysphere raised its $60 million Series…

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. This will be the last newsletter of 2024! But don’t worry, we’ll be back in 2025 — sign up here to get it in your inbox every week. Thank you for reading and your emails. I love…

A new app called Tapestry promising to unify social media, news, and RSS in one place, is nearing completion. Designed by Iconfactory, the same team that created the third-party Twitter client Twitterific back in the day, Tapestry was unveiled at the beginning of the year as a tool that could better organize today’s fragmented online…