Startups & Business

Andreessen Horowitz’s new Machine Age Fund targets chips, memory, networking, storage, data centers, robotics and other physical systems behind AI.

Levanta's Series B will fund technology and marketplace expansion as retailers try to measure creator-driven sales across a fragmented commerce stack.

Liner's Series C backs an enterprise push built around source-backed search, but citations remain only one part of deploying trustworthy AI.

Life360’s new $7.99 scannable pet tags let families instantly receive a “Zoomie alert” and the animal’s last known location when the tag is scanned after a rescue. The addition of care‑tracking features—feeding, walks, medication logs—consolidates pet safety and routine management within the existing Life360 app.

Tonight is your final chance to snag a TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 pass with up to $300 off, so lock in your ticket now before the discount disappears at midnight. Don’t miss out on joining the Silicon Valley startup community in San Francisco from October 13‑15 at Moscone West.

Instagram’s new “First Draft” tool instantly creates a rough cut of a Reel in under ten seconds, giving creators a ready‑made starting point they can tweak before publishing. By cutting out the tedious manual trimming and sequencing steps, it speeds up the workflow and makes video creation far more accessible for novices and small‑scale creators alike.

Hugging Face is reportedly entertaining acquisition bids that could value the startup at roughly $13 billion, according to TechCrunch (24 Aug 2026). However, the founders' sense of responsibility toward the open‑source community they nurtured raises doubts about whether a sale will ultimately go through.

General Intuition has secured backing from Valor Ventures, Point 72 Ventures and Seven Seven Six at a $6 billion pre‑money valuation, marking a major vote of confidence in its foundation model that teaches AI agents to navigate space and time. The fresh capital will accelerate the startup’s push into robotics, enabling developers to reuse a single, generalized AI core across diverse hardware and tasks.

Frontier AI Labs have yet to publish a concrete strategy for reining in a rogue model, despite growing evidence that such safeguards are essential. This opacity leaves regulators, developers, and end‑users without clear assurance that the lab can intervene if an AI system behaves unpredictably or dangerously.

The DOJ has opened an antitrust probe into Andreessen Horowitz’s two board seats at rival data‑infrastructure firms, invoking a seldom‑used 112‑year‑old law. Investigators are concerned that Ben Horowitz’s role at Databricks and Martin Casado’s seat at Fivetran create a conflict of interest that could stifle competition in the sector.

Don't miss your final chance to save up to $300 on a TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ticket—this discount expires today. Secure your pass now and join the startup community in San Francisco from October 13‑15 at Moscone West before prices return to the standard rate.

日本の宇宙スタートアップ・レタラは、衛星用スラスター事業からハイブリッドロケットへ事業領域を拡大し、約1600万ドル（約260億円）の資金調達に成功しました。この資金は、より大型の打ち上げ機構や軌道上推進サービスの開発に充てられ、宇宙・防衛市場での新たな需要獲得を目指します。