Author: GT

Los Angeles-based startup Moonvalley, which is developing AI tools for video creation, has raised a fresh $43 million in venture capital, according to an SEC filing. The filing lists 11 unnamed investors and comes roughly a week after Moonvalley launched its first AI video-generating model, Marey. Moonvalley previously raised $70 million in seed funding from backers including General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners. A spokesperson for Moonvalley told TechCrunch that the filing “does not dictate the total funding number” and that “the actual number will be formalized and announced in the coming weeks.” The wide availability of tools to…

Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser said that the company did not factor in possible tariffs from the U.S. when deciding on the pricing for its Nintendo Switch 2 console, according to Wired. Nintendo unveiled its highly anticipated Switch 2 last week and announced that the console would be released on June 5, priced at $450. But later that day, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would impose sweeping tariffs on goods imported into the country, sending the global economy into disarray. U.S. preorders for the Switch 2 were supposed to begin on April 9, but U.S. consumers won’t…

The crypto market continued to collapse on Monday as a hoped-for reprieve from President Trump’s tariffs has failed to materialize. While the stock market has recovered some of its decline, crypto continues to be in the red across the board. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is down 4.4% in the past 24 hours as of 1:15 p.m. ET, and is down 7.6% from Friday’s close. Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) has fallen 9.8% in the past day and 15% since Friday, and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) is down 8.4% and 14.5%, respectively, in that time. Cryptocurrencies may be sold as an asset class that runs…

In a recent memo to employees, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke made a bold policy change: teams must demonstrate why AI can’t perform a job before they’re permitted to ask for more headcount and resources. “Before asking for more headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI,” Lütke wrote in the memo, which he shared publicly on social media Monday. “What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team? This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects.”  Advancing the notion that AI and so-called…

On Apr. 7, Zettai Pte Ltd., the Singapore-based parent company of the Indian crypto exchange WazirX, announced that a majority of the exchange’s creditors have approved the restructuring scheme. A total of 141,476 creditors representing $195.65 million in approved claims participated in the voting process. The Kroll Issuer Services platform conducted the voting from March 19 to March 28, the exchange said in the statement. 131,659 creditors representing $184.99 million in approved claims voted in favor of the restructuring. The figure represents 93.1% of creditors by count and 94.6% by value, WazirX said. It required at least 50% of creditors…

Google is bringing multimodal search to AI Mode, its Google Search experiment that lets users ask complex, multi-part questions and follow-ups to dig deeper on a topic. Users who have access to AI Mode can now tap the feature to ask questions about photos they’ve uploaded or taken with their camera. The new image-analyzing functionality in AI Mode is powered by Google Lens’ multimodal capabilities, Google said in a blog post on Monday. AI Mode can understand the entire scene in an image, including how objects relate to each other, as well as their materials, colors, shapes, and arrangement, according…

Three genetically engineered wolves that may resemble extinct dire wolves are trotting, sleeping and howling in an undisclosed secure location in the U.S., according to the company that aims to bring back lost species. The wolf pups, which range in age from three to six months old, have long white hair, muscular jaws and already weigh in at around 80 pounds — on track to reach 140 pounds at maturity, researchers at Colossal Biosciences reported Monday. Dire wolves, which went extinct more than 10,000 years old, are much larger than gray wolves, their closest living relatives today. Independent scientists said…

Bitcoin prices fell below a key psychological threshold on Monday as the financial markets sell-off intensified, but cryptocurrency experts believe it’s likely to hold up better than other asset classes if a global trade war drags on. The cryptocurrency, which trades around the clock, was at $79,000 Monday afternoon, down fractionally since the morning and recovering some of its earlier losses. It is now down about 15% in the year so far. Bitcoin is a digital currency and virtual payment system designed to exist outside the control of any central entity, in contrast to fiat currencies which are controlled by…

Waymo is preparing to use data from its robotaxis, including video from interior cameras tied to rider identities, to train generative AI models, according to an unreleased version of its privacy policy found by researcher Jane Manchun Wong.  The draft language reveals Waymo may also share this data to personalize ads, raising fresh questions about how much of a rider’s behavior inside autonomous vehicles could be repurposed for AI training and marketing.  Waymo is working on Generative AI training using “interior camera data associated with rider’s identity,” provides opt-opts for this and data sharing under CCPAWaymo explicitly states in this…

Pierre Rochard, who calls himself a “bitcoin maximalist OG,” first discovered Bitcoin in 2012 while studying at UT Austin. With interests in Austrian economics and open-source software, he was “captivated” by bitcoin as the intersection of both. He became an early thought leader, co-founding the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute to house foundational writings and cypherpunk philosophy. Across roles at BitPay, Kraken, and most recently Riot Platforms (RIOT), his work has spanned bitcoin infrastructure and advocacy. At Riot, he led responses to environmental criticisms, including a viral parody video that “put the critics on the defensive” and reframed the debate around mining…