technology

Earlier this week, Anthropic rolled out a web search feature for its AI-powered chatbot platform, Claude, bringing the bot in line with many of its rivals. It wasn’t immediately clear which search index might be powering the feature — one possibility was that Anthropic had developed its own. But evidence …

FuriosaAI, a South Korean startup that makes chips for AI applications, has rejected an $800 million acquisition offer from Meta, opting instead to focus on developing and producing its AI chips, according to a local media report. Disagreements over post-acquisition business strategy and organizational structure, rather than price issues, caused …

Over the past decade, Dubai-based Network International has become one of the dominant payment processors across the Middle East and Africa, thanks in part to a pair of acquisitions. However, many large incumbents can fall prey to slower innovation, opening the door for smaller, faster-moving startups. The latest development is …

Genetics testing company 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. to initiate the sale of its assets. Alongside the announcement, the company’s co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki separately said she is leaving the company to become an independent bidder for the company. “After a thorough evaluation …

If you haven’t heard the news, TechCrunch has a shiny new home. After years under the ownership of Yahoo — which, in turn, is backed by Apollo Group — the brand is now in fresh hands. Its new parent company: Regent, a dynamic private equity firm with a diverse portfolio …

DeepSeek has gone viral. Chinese AI lab DeepSeek broke into the mainstream consciousness this week after its chatbot app rose to the top of the Apple App Store charts (and Google Play, as well). DeepSeek’s AI models, which were trained using compute-efficient techniques, have led Wall Street analysts — and technologists — to question whether …

Valve removed a video game from its online store Steam after users reported that a free demo for the game was installing malware on their computers. The game was called Sniper: Phantom’s Resolution, and promised to give players “realistic [first-person shooter] mechanics, dynamic storytelling, and high-stakes missions,” according to an …

Chinese auto maker BYD made waves this week when it announced its new Han L sedan could add as much as 248 miles of range in as little as five minutes. Unfortunately, the company was light on details, and it did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for clarification. So instead, …

In a blog post last July, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that “selling access” to Meta’s openly available Llama AI models “isn’t [Meta’s] business model.” Yet Meta does make at least some money from Llama through revenue-sharing agreements, according to a newly unredacted court filing. The filing, submitted by attorneys …

Factories are all the rage in defense tech: Anduril announced a billion-dollar “megafactory” in Ohio earlier this year, while Saronic said last month it’s planning its own factory to mass-produce autonomous warships. Now, Anduril is considering building a factory in the U.K. as it expands beyond U.S. defense contracts. “If …