Author: GT

A new startup, Lava Payments, aims to take on payment giants by building a solution for the modern web where AI agents now handle transactions for their customers. The idea came to founder Mitchell Jones after he left his earlier Y Combinator-backed fintech startup, Lendtable, as he began to experiment with AI. He saw the potential to build out a system that would make using AI and agent payments simpler and more developer-friendly. While experimenting with an AI app and trying to build what he thought was something simple, he realized he quickly spent more than $400 trying to build…

Google on Wednesday launched its AI coding agent, Jules, out of beta, just over two months after its public preview debut in May. Powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro, Jules is an asynchronous, agent-based coding tool that integrates with GitHub, clones codebases into Google Cloud virtual machines, and uses AI to fix or update code while developers focus on other tasks. Google initially announced Jules as a Google Labs project in December and made it available to beta testers through a public preview at its I/O developer conference. Kathy Korevec, director of product at Google Labs, told TechCrunch that the tool’s…

Figma managed something rare in today’s market: It survived a failed Adobe acquisition, stayed independent, and went public on its own terms. But its post-IPO performance tells a more complex story about startup exits in 2025. “This is a little bit of a meme stock,” said Jai Das, president and partner at Sapphire Ventures, on this week’s episode of Equity. Das joined Rebecca Bellan to break down what Figma’s IPO really signals about the current climate for startup exits. With more than a dozen IPOs under his belt, including MuleSoft, Square, and Box, Das knows what a strong debut looks…

OpenAI is poised to undercut rivals like Anthropic and Google in the race to see its AI tools integrated into federal agency workflows.  The AI giant has reached an agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the government’s central purchasing arm, to offer ChatGPT Enterprise to participating federal agencies for just $1 per agency for the next year.  The partnership comes a day after the GSA added OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic to a list of approved AI vendors that can offer their services to civilian federal agencies. The companies will see their tools offered via the Multiple Award Schedule…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will impose a 100% tariff on computer chips, likely raising the cost of electronics, autos, household appliances and other goods deemed essential for the digital age.“We’ll be putting a tariff on of approximately 100% on chips and semiconductors,” Trump said in the Oval Office while meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook. “But if you’re building in the United States of America, there’s no charge.”The Republican president said companies that make computer chips in the U.S. would be spared the import tax. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortage of computer chips…

Amazon’s Zoox robotaxi unit is ramping up vehicle production at a new facility in Hayward, California.ZooxAmazon’s Zoox has cleared a key regulatory hurdle, paving the way for demonstrations of its self-driving robotaxis.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday that it granted Zoox an exemption from some requirements, a first for U.S.-built vehicles under a recently expanded program.”Transportation innovators can be confident in getting speedy review of their vehicles and, as appropriate, exemption from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards,” NHTSA Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser said in a release.The company must remove all existing statements that its purpose-built vehicles meet all…

As the new school year approaches, Google announced on Wednesday that it’s launching a new tool called Guided Learning within Gemini. The tool sort of functions like an AI tutor, as it’s designed to help users build a deep understanding instead of just getting answers. The launch follows just over a week after OpenAI rolled out Study Mode for ChatGPT, which is also designed to go beyond simply obtaining answers to questions by actually helping users develop critical thinking skills. Both companies’ launches come amid concerns that AI chatbots undermine the learning process because they spit out direct answers. The…

Airbnb reported second-quarter results on Wednesday that beat analysts’ expectations. Here’s how the company did based on average analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG:Earnings per share: $1.03 vs. 93 cents expectedRevenue: $3.10 billion vs. $3.04 billion expectedRevenue increased 13% from $2.75 billion during the same period last year. The company reported net income of $642 million, or $1.03 per share, up from $555 million, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier.In the third quarter, Airbnb expects to report revenue of $4.02 billion to $4.10 billion, or $4.06 billion in the middle of the range. Analysts were expecting $4.05 billion for the…

I owned a lot of Alexa-powered devices in my former home: There were Amazon Echos in most rooms, including an older Echo Plus in the living room, a smattering of Dots, a Spot in a bedroom, and an Echo Show in the kitchen. A Fire TV ran in the bedroom. And, in a drawer, a rarely used Fire HD tablet sat collecting dust. With the total loss of the home due to a March 2024 house fire, there also came a new opportunity: We could now make a fresh start to create a more modernized smart home after rebuilding our…

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — One after the other, the opportunities vanished. Like so many other Afghan women, Sodaba could do little but watch as her country’s new Taliban government imposed a stranglehold on women’s lives.The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, and quickly set about implementing a dizzying array of restrictions for women: No visiting parks or gyms, no eating in restaurants, no working, except in very few professions.But one of the cruelest blows for the pharmacology student was the ban on education beyond primary school.Pushed by necessity, she went online. And there, she found hope: a free computer…