Author: GT

Anthropic is prepping for an IPO that could come as early as 2026, the FT reports. It has brought on law firm Wilson Sonsini to help kick off the process, and the company is tackling an internal checklist to prepare it for what could be one of the largest IPOs ever. The company is also reportedly looking to raise a funding round that could value it at over $300 billion and has also been in talks with investment banks, though it has not chosen an underwriter, the FT reported. Anthropic last announced a $13 billion raise in September, giving it…

Fintech company Marquis is notifying dozens of U.S. banks and credit unions that they had customer data stolen in a cyberattack earlier this year.  Details of the cyberattack emerged this week after Marquis filed data breach notices with several U.S. states confirming its August 14 incident as a ransomware attack. Texas-based Marquis is a marketing and compliance provider that allows banks and other financial institutions to collect and visualize all of their customer data in one place. The company counts more than 700 banking and credit union customers on its website. As such, Marquis has access to and stores large…

Tonight, at Playground Global in Palo Alto, some very smart people who are building things you don’t understand yet will explain what’s coming. This is the final StrictlyVC event of 2025, and truly, the lineup is ridiculous. Image Credits:Aaron V Barrera Photography The series has traveled around the globe under the auspices of TechCrunch: Steve Case rented a theater in Washington, D.C.; we talked to Greece’s prime minister in Athens; and Kirsten Green hosted us at the Presidio in San Francisco. The concept is always the same, though: Bring together people who are working on genuinely important developments in a…

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repositioned the social media giant as an AI company. Vincent Feuray | AFP | Getty ImagesMeta Platforms shares popped about 4% higher on Thursday after Bloomberg reported that CEO Mark Zuckerberg was looking to make significant cuts to the company’s metaverse resources.Bloomberg said that executives have considered budget cuts as high as 30% for the unit, citing people familiar with the talks.The move would be notable for the Facebook parent company, which changed its name to Meta in October 2021 to signal its pivot beyond social media.Zuckerberg said at the time that “the metaverse is…

Tech is racing ahead while society struggles to keep up. Masha Bucher, founder and GP of Day One Ventures, built her firm around closing that gap by combining venture capital with hands-on PR to help portfolio companies not just raise money, but actually break through the noise.   Day One’s been an early backer of companies like World, Superhuman, and Remote.com, with 12 of its portfolio companies hitting multibillion-dollar valuations.  Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sat down with Bucher to talk about why traditional PR is broken, how she picks founders, and why every startup founder now needs to…

Russian authorities said Thursday they have imposed restrictions on Apple’s video calling service FaceTime, the latest step in an effort to tighten control over the internet and communications online.State internet regulator Roskomnadzor alleged in a statement that the service is being “used to organize and conduct terrorist activities on the territory of the country, to recruit perpetrators (and) commit fraud and other crimes against our citizens.” Apple did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.Under President Vladimir Putin, authorities have engaged in deliberate and multipronged efforts to rein in the internet. They have adopted restrictive laws and banned…

Vulcan Elements, a rare-earth magnets startup backed by Donald Trump Jr.’s VC firm 1789 Capital, has secured a $620 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense, as reported by the Financial Times. The contract is part of a $1.4 billion partnership with the U.S. government and ReElement Technologies to expand and boost the domestic supply of magnets, according to the company. Trump Jr. joined 1789 Capital as a partner in 2024. The firm is said to have invested in Vulcan Elements around three months ago, according to Bloomberg. In August, the company announced a $65 million Series A led…

Earlier this year, home goods maker Kohler launched a smart camera called the Dekoda that attaches to your toilet bowl, takes pictures of it, and analyzes the images to advise you on your gut health.  Anticipating privacy fears, Kohler said on its website that the Dekoda’s sensors only see down into the toilet, and claimed that all data is secured with “end-to-end encryption.” The company’s use of the expression “end-to-end encryption” is, however, wrong, as security researcher Simon Fondrie-Teitler pointed out in a blog post on Tuesday.  By reading Kohler’s privacy policy, it’s clear that the company is referring to…

Shopping assistant chatbots were a novelty a year ago. Now, they’re everywhere. After rolling out AI-powered assistants, online retailers and tech companies have been adding more artificial intelligence features to make online shopping easier and more convenient.The latest crop of AI-powered shopping services and tools made their debut in recent weeks, just in time to kick off the holiday shopping season that begins with Black Friday. Here’s a rundown of existing and newly released AI services that can help with your search for the perfect gift in the run-up to Christmas:Retail chatbotsAmazon led the way by rolling out its Rufus…

In early October, DualEntry, an AI enterprise resource planning (ERP) startup, announced a $90 million Series A round led by Lightspeed and Khosla Ventures, valuing the one-year-old business at $415 million. The company seeks to replace legacy software like Oracle NetSuite with its offering that can automate routine tasks and provide predictive insights. The massive funding round from top-tier VCs signaled that the startup is likely experiencing phenomenal revenue growth. However, one VC who declined to invest told TechCrunch that DualEntry’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) was just around $400,000 when he reviewed the deal in August. DualEntry’s co-founder, Santiago Nestares,…